Poland s history will play a vital role in its election | The Spectator Australia
In addition to defence, illegal immigration has become a key issue in the campaign. Poland has come under increasing pressure from human traffickers attempting to cross the Belarusian border with the blessings of the Lukashenko and Putin regimes. Against this backdrop, the EU has introduced a poorly-timed pact on migration and asylum, which will require member states to take in quotas of refugees. The European People s party, which Tusk led until last year, is a strong supporter. Law and Justice, on the other hand, has dubbed it the EU s enforced migration mechanism ; the Polish government boasts of having initially thwarted it in Brussels in 2018.
The referendum on immigration that will coincide with the Polish election will include questions on both the future of the Belarusian border wall, and the acceptance of the EU-mandated refugee quota. While separate, the two issues are often conflated in the government s focus on cultural cohesion.
The Civic Coalition alliance foresees a defence policy closely coordinated with the EU, including participation in the European sky shield initiative, but isn t clear on what Poland s role in it should be. It also aims to purchase a significant number of new helicopters but has not elaborated on specifics, or explained how this pledge differs from the government s existing promise to purchase 96 new Apache helicopters alone.
Only six of the 100 campaign pledges put forward by Civic Coalition for their first 100 days in power relate to defence. The opposition seems more interested in spending the next half-decade helping Poland ideologically catch up with the West an approach which risks leaving the country a politically correct limbo mired in parliamentary gridlock over an outdated culture war while an actual guns and steel war rages on its doorstep.
Poland s location on the borderlands of a Belarusian dictatorship and Russian aggressor state puts it in a unique position to shape the fate of Europe. Looking to the future, with this election, the Polish people face a decision between being leaders or followers on a continent at war.
The world has moved on from the politics of liberal consensus to a realpolitik of hard-power strategic advantage. Russia and China already know this and Europe needs to catch up, or risk being left behind. Law and Justice understand this too and are prepared to lead the continent into this new reality kicking and screaming or otherwise.
I liked Poland and Warsaw was a beautiful if sobering city. I couldn’t shake the sense though that it was built on top of a giant cemetery, which of course it is.