Polish Revanchism Begins to Threaten Europe
Nowadays Poland calls itself the main victim of World War II. But weren't they its predatory initiator, who just miscalculated? In our time, the Poles destroy monuments to Soviet soldiers, attack Russian football fans, don’t let Russian bikers into Europe through their territory and beg for money. But if you think about it, they may actually owe money. Here is a report from Poland and Lithuania by our special correspondent Darya Grigorova.
Why is this aggravation in Poland taking place right now? It was here that protests against migrants began. These were resistance to what is being imposed on us by the European Union. This is the emblem of our organization. We usually put it on bandages. M and W stand for Młodzież Wszechpolska. This nationalist movement is among the organizers of all the latest anti-immigrant and anti-EU protests.
Young people began to understand that it’s nationalism that is the force that can resist all negative trends that come from Western Europe. Nationalism guarantees national identity and protection of culture. Nationalism is a synthesis of traditions and modernity. Therefore, more and more young people join us. It’s become fashionable in the last two years in Poland to join nationalist organizations. This coincides not only with the migration crisis but also with the coming to power of the conservative party Law and Justice. And its program has not the pan-European but the Polish values in the first place: "God, Honor, Motherland." It’s not difficult to notice the rise of national self-consciousness in Poland. An ordinary working Friday. In the Piłsudski Square in the center of Warsaw, there is a military parade.
It’s dedicated to the memory of the cavalry units which fought against the Red Army in the Soviet-Polish war. Based on its peace treaty, the Polish deputies demand reparation. This is the emblem of the fighting Poland or the so-called Kotwica. It’s now put on flags throughout the capital. The symbol of the struggle of the Polish people against the German invaders during World War II. But on the contrary, the city has no flags of the European Union, with its unofficial capital in Berlin. The division of the European Union into two-speed Europe won’t be profitable for anyone either politically or economically. I think that this will lead to the final disintegration of the European Union.
The concept of two-speed Europe, advocated by Chancellor Merkel, means that the EU will have a privileged core and periphery. But Poland, which at all times has been characterized by a desire to dominate the center of Europe, isn’t ready to be on the sidelines. Especially now, when the country, which is the absolute champion of the EU in receiving European funds, is beginning to pay. In 2014, Poland received more than 17 billion euros and paid only a little more than 4 billion to the common budget. In 2016, the income from the membership in the Union was twice as modest. And, as the Polish economists predict threateningly, the country will pay more than it receives starting as early as next year. In Poland, the discussion about the expediency of staying in such a Union has been resumed. A resident of the town of Sosnowiec, Yola Kovalska, doesn’t agree with the EU's policy on Ukraine. When on Maidan, Bandera, Shukhevych, and other members of OUN-UPA were called heroes, the school teacher of English couldn’t stand it. She became friends with radical nationalists and started a social network group called “A Ukrainian Isn’t My Brother."
There are 70 thousand subscribers already. Taking away Lvov from the Poles means tearing away the hearts of the Poles. Would you like Poland to have Lvov? Yes. Lvov is a Polish city built on Polish culture. The nationalists' ambitions are also supported by the Polish authorities, who openly show nostalgic feelings for the times when significant territories of present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania were part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Poland claims one of the main attractions of Vilnius, Ostra Brama, or the Gate of Dawn. The main thing is inside. It's the icon of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn that can be seen through the window on the second floor. It’s equally respected by both Orthodox and Catholics, and for the Poles, it’s almost the main national shrine, so it was decided to depict the gate in Vilnius on the pages of new Polish passports. The documents of a new design are being issued in honor of the centenary of the Republic of Poland. Memorable places were chosen by the Poles in an Internet poll. So the authorities aren't to blame. I think that it’s wrong because Lithuania and Poland are two different states. Together with Ostra Brama, the Memorial to Eaglets on Lychakov Cemetery in Lvov was included in the same list. Ukraine and Lithuania expressed their protest.
The Verkhovnaya Rada Speaker, Andrei Parubiy, even went to Poland and asked to remove Lvov from new passports. Warsaw hasn’t yet responded anything concrete. Here, it’s written "the mother and the heart of the son." Slavs don’t need the translation. On the tombstone, there is no name, and even this laconic sign regularly suffers from the hands of Lithuanian nationalists. The heart of one of the most revered Poles in history, Marshal Piłsudski, was buried by his own will in his native Vilnius, which he annexed to the restored Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1920. Poles like me used to give their lives for these places. If it was important to my brothers, then this should be no less important to me. They shed blood here for our Motherland.
This student of the Military Academy has come to pay homage to the heart of Piłsudski directly from the airport. This place is that much sacred for the Poles as it’s uncomfortable for Lithuanians, who prefer not to remember that their capital, the Polish city of Vilna, was handed over to Lithuania by Joseph Stalin in 1939. However, dislike for all Soviet only unites the neighbors.
In the Polish Trzcianka, which isn't far from the German border, an excavator demolished the mausoleum of Red Army soldiers. Under the mausoleum, there was a mass grave of 56 Soviet soldiers who saved the city. Although Moscow has repeatedly sent supporting documents, the Trzcianka Municipality cynically declared that there was no mass grave there. Demolition of the mausoleum was called historical by the authorities. Darya Grigorova and Anton Chagaev, Vesti News of the Week from Poland and Lithuania.