Poland Wants to Pioneer a New Future for Europe
Prime Minister Morawiecki’s op-ed for Politico articulated Poland’s five-point plan for pioneering a new future for the EU after this month’s European Parliamentary elections.
The Political Context Of Poland’s Op-Ed
The upcoming European Parliamentary elections later this month will be a watershed moment in the EU’s history if EuroRealist parties gain like they’re expected to at the expense of their EuroLiberal rivals. The reformist forces of Hungary’s Orban, Italy’s Salvini, and Poland’s “grey cardinal” Kaczynski are working hard to inspire their countries’ domestic and international supporters to vote against the status quo and give their ideological allies a shot at changing continental affairs. Poland is the rising Great Power of the geostrategic “Three Seas Initiative” in Central & Eastern Europe and it’s therefore fitting that its Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki just penned an op-ed for Politco articulating his country’s five-point plan for pioneering a new future for the EU after this month’s elections.
A Modern-Day Decolonization Demand
“Poland’s Vision For Europe” is clear in its message that a decentralized EU that returns sovereignty to its member states is much stronger and more sustainable than a “two-speed” centralized one that treats the countries east of the former “Iron Curtain” as conquered vassal states. The bloc’s Western European core has the same relationship to its Central & Eastern European periphery as former imperial metropoles had to their colonies, so in a sense, Morawiecki’s manifesto is a modern-day decolonization demand to free these subjugated countries from Brussels’ overbearing control and create a British Commonwealth-like arrangement that allows each of its members to remain on equal and cordial terms with one another after this “imperial reform” that Warsaw wants to lead after the upcoming elections.
Point By Point
As proof of this, the Polish Prime Minister wrote about the pressing need to fight international inequality as the first point in his op-ed, emphasizing that “inequalities exist not just between citizens, but also between countries”. “Set[ting] up a European innovation strategy that sets the agenda on artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data and machine learning” would go a long way towards developing the Continent and promoting international equality if it’s successful, which is why he proposed a “bold EU budget” that could be partially funded by “the fair taxation of digital technology giants” as his second suggested policy. Third, he wrote that some EU states need to end their protectionist policies that discriminate against other members in parallel with “wag[ing] a real fight against global and regional monopolies, including online platforms and networks.”
His penultimate point is that defense spending must be increased and the protection of borders must be prioritized. This aligns with what Poland’s American ally has been demanding of the EU ever since Trump’s entrance into office, which isn’t coincidental since the ruling PiS party is in ideological alignment with the US President’s faction of the Republican Party and sees eye-to-eye with it on practically ever single issue, especially those dealing with hard power and national security. Morawiecki’s last point is indeed his most powerful, and it’s that Brussels mustn’t forget about democracy since he concludes his piece on the note that “Europe was founded on the idea that its member states are equal within the alliance and “only once [it] is truly a group of equal and self-respecting states, can the Continent become a superpower.”
EuroRealism In Practice
From the above point-by-point breakdown of Morawiecki’s manifesto, it can clearly be seen that Poland’s envisaged EuroRealist future for the bloc doesn’t involve the so-called “Polexit” that some of its critics have falsely fearmongered about as part of their infowar campaign against the country but is rather all about “balancing” between the bloc’s centralization and decentralization. Continental security and development strategies will be pursued collectively by the EU as a whole in order to make the continent more competitive in the 21st century, while socio-cultural and domestic legal issues will be decided individually by each member state. If Poland has it its way, then this reformed EU will fix its prior faults and be more efficient than before.
Concluding Thoughts
The EU is at a crossroads as the Polish-led “Three Seas Initiative” prepares to pioneer a new future for Europe if their ideological EuroRealist allies make impressive gains during this month’s European Parliamentary elections. Structurally speaking, the reforms being put forth by the Polish Prime Minister amount to modern-day decolonization demands somewhat modeled off of the decolonization process that some British colonies experienced prior to their admission to the Commonwealth, with Warsaw wanting to see the return of international equality to the European realm in a similar fashion. The Central & Eastern European “colonies” are much too deeply tied to the Western European “metropole” to allow for a “clean split”, which is why Poland’s proposal is the most pragmatic set of compromises under these conditions.
By Andrew Korybko
Source: Eurasia Future
