Poland: A champion of solidarity

When reading history I am often drawn to genealogies, the line of descent that connects a present-day figure to the past. There is always something revealing about a repeated pattern. Not to mention the fact that with the discovery of DNA we now know what a person is because of what his forefathers and foremothers were. Sometimes, a glaring exception draws attention to something one might have missed. It is in this light that I have recently thought about Poland.

It currently occupies the presidency of the EU. Its tenure reaches the halfway mark at the end of this month. It is not the first member state from the 2004 enlargement to occupy the presidency but it is the first to have, at the same time, one of its citizens, Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament.

Here is where genealogies come in. Ever since the EP became an elected body in 1979, the presidency of the Parliament has basically rotated between the representatives of four large countries, the UK, France, Spain and Germany. The Netherlands, early on, had a shot. Strangely, Italy has not. Mr Buzek himself was preceded by a German, Hans-Gert Poettering, and will almost certainly be succeeded by another, Martin Schulz, the head of my own EP parliamentary group and, I may add, a dear friend.

So it says something important about Poland that it has managed to insert itself into this line of descent. Poland is a major country. It does have significant pockets of rural poverty (60 per cent of its land is agricultural). However, it has managed a 3.5 per cent GDP growth rate in a time of economic crisis. While it is not a member of the eurozone, it does have important trade with eurozone members.

Perhaps, most importantly, Poland has been able to step so confidently into the European limelight because it has had a change in government. From having a national reputation of bickering with European institutions and its major partner, Germany, it has gone to wanting to play a constructive role in Europe.

And what a role! The EP speech by the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, on assuming the presidency, was praised by Martin Schulz for the leadership it gave.

I was myself impressed by the historical perspective that Poland brought to Europe and its current economic and financial crisis. It is nothing, said Mr Tusk, compared to the crisis of debt and economic ruin that the former communist countries endured after their independence from the Soviet system.

He noted how it had been the EP that had insisted on debt relief for the former Warsaw Pact countries at the time. He underlined how it had been “more Europe” that had been the solution, not less.

His comment on Greece was on the same lines but more long-sighted. Let us think of Greece, he said, in terms of Pericles, not in terms of this current crisis. Greece is in debt, he said, but Europeans are in Greece’s debt for the invention of democracy.

Such arguments need to be understood for what they say about Poland’s perspective on Europe. Poles still have a living memory of when things were much worse than today. It takes a Pole, perhaps, to stand up in the EP and say, as Mr Tusk did, that while illegal immigration calls for action, it also calls for celebration. People outside Europe want to move in. Hardly anyone wants to move out.

And it takes someone coming from a country with a millennial history to take a long-term view. My memory of Warsaw is that of a city where such a long-term view is difficult to avoid. The old part of the town is imposing, its fortifications and especially the castle were restored beautifully. The cobbled streets, old lanterns, houses painted in different colours and old market square are lovely. The city is a museum paradise and its monuments for example, to Chopin and to Copernicus remind one of Poland’s contributions to European arts and sciences. Its monument to the Unknown Soldier is also a poignant reminder of the country’s participation in major European wars.

Maybe it takes a member state with this ancient and recent historical experience to remind Europe that it has every reason to have confidence in itself. And to remember that European confidence in the past also stemmed from confident acts of solidarity. As Mr Tusk reminded his audience, solidarity is not a matter of giving alms but of taking action together, the stronger helping the weaker.

The Polish presidency’s programme is not of course just fine words. There are three major areas of action, all based on strengthening Europe. Most relevant for Malta, at least in terms of popular concern, is action taken to protect Europe’s borders. The initiatives of my colleague Simon Busuttil on Frontex deserve all our admiration. However, this comes with a commitment to engage and help neighbouring non-EU member states, including those in the southern Mediterranean.

However, it is the general thrust of the speech that I would highlight. It shows how one can insist on matters of national interest while putting them into the context of Europe’s common good.

Dr Attard Montalto is a Labour member of the European Parliament.