Occasionally political posturing is so bewilderingly hypocritical that the corporate media do not attempt to defend it. Europe-watchers have been subject to such a development this month amid the latest Trump-related “national reckoning” in the United States.
In Poland, no stranger to foreign media this year, uproar has ensued over enactment of an American-style commission to investigate Russian interference in the country’s government. Only here the ruling government stands on the Right. The presumed subject of inquiry is the Polish Donald T.—Tusk, that is. He is the chief opposition leader, longtime Eurocrat, darling of the Western establishment, and owner of considerable political baggage. (Ironically, he demanded an investigation of political opponents for Russian collusion just last year; the European People’s Party, which he led until 2021, is subject to a European criminal corruption probe.) Opposition supporters fear that Tusk’s implication in Russia dealings could bar him from holding office, yet another fascinating parallel to the current state of American political wrangling.
The timing of all this is no accident: Poland will hold parliamentary elections this fall. Tusk called the creation of the commission “one of the most dramatic moments of our Polish democracy after 1989,” and his party promptly announced a protest march. Western media lionized the demonstrators—either half-a-million defenders of democracy or 100,000 mostly political activists, depending on whom you trust—and spoke accusingly of “autocracy” and “democratic backsliding.” The Atlantic decried a “New McCarthyism.”
Correspondents from American coastal mouthpieces could, of course, reliably explain why Moscow-focused machinations are vital to America’s very survival when Democratic politicians undertake them, yet semi-authoritarian on the part of Poland’s ruling Law & Justice (PiS) party. So far, they haven’t sensed the need. They enjoy a near-monopoly on Americans’ knowledge of a mid-sized country like Poland.
Those seeking to understand the region should overlook these narratives. Buried under the rhetoric of rule of law, Russian interference, and democracy dying in darkness is an unspoken truth: Deviation from the globalist consensus won’t be tolerated. The Polish government’s real crime, then, is evident in the form of a separate development last week: Poland’s rejection (along with Hungary) of the European Union’s latest migrant redistribution scheme, a concept that is deeply unpopular among Polish voters.
The issue is the primary reason PiS stormed to power in 2015. The previous ruling government, led by Tusk’s Civic Platform (P.O.) party, had unexpectedly agreed to accept the E.U.’s allotment of migrants. PiS resoundingly won the ensuing elections and promptly joined four other countries in dissenting from the resettlement scheme.
Eight years later, Brussels bureaucrats again insist they must decide who will reside in sovereign European states. Refusal will come at a cost of €20,000 per allotted migrant. Democracy, if it still has any connection to the will of the people, is not a consideration in this instance.
Western powers have exhibited a remarkably friendly attitude toward the Polish government throughout the war in Ukraine, but the political climate is shifting as the war lingers and the Polish elections approach. The West has eagerly used Warsaw to wage war; a Tusk government would allow it also to wage culture.
Tusk announced only supporters of abortion to twelve weeks or beyond can stand as P.O. parliamentary candidates. His deputy is Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, known among Poles for LGBT-issue advocacy; indeed, when Britain’s Prince William visited Poland this spring, his itinerary included a meeting with Trzaskowski and a visit to a so-called “queer space” restaurant. And, of course, P.O. has already demonstrated how it prioritizes Brussels and the Polish electorate in migration politics.
Polls suggest PiS will obtain the highest vote total but might struggle to build a majority coalition. Regional results don’t illustrate any obvious trends. Czechia rejected its Euroskeptic populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis in an unexpected result in late 2021; Hungary defied the Western political elite and re-elected the prominent Euroskeptic Viktor Orban in a landslide last year. Poland is far larger than both and commands more international attention. The international media effort to convince Poles the world stands against their government will only intensify in the coming months.
Thus, Poles will experience a phenomenon Americans have confronted for several years: “Democracy” is increasingly a rhetorical tool used to bludgeon those championing national interests, not necessarily a reflection of the people’s will. Which understanding Polish voters prioritize will determine much for the near-term future of Europe.
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