 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Cashing In
Out With The Old and in With the Euro
[1/14/2002] |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
E-mail your letter to the editor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
WOTJEK LASKI/EAST NEWS
|
THE REAL THING:
Full membership in Europe beckons |
|
 |
Posted Sunday, May 25, 2003; 17.12BST
Poland has some peacekeeping experience, but not much cash or equipment: no humvees, no boats to move soldiers on the Tigris and Euphrates, not even a military cargo plane. The military effort got off to a rocky start when Poland suggested Germany might contribute troops too, which the German press dismissed as insolent. But last week, NATO, excluded from a larger role of its own in Iraq, agreed to organize headquarters, communications and other logistics for the Polish-led force, while several countries, including Bulgaria, Ukraine, South Korea and the Philippines, pledged to serve under Polish command. The force is expected to reach 7,000 soldiers before deploying in mid-July, according to a senior Polish defense official.
Poland's other battle is raging closer to home. The country's E.U. advocates got a nasty surprise in April when Hungary, arguably the E.U.'s most enthusiastic candidate, managed a measly 46% turnout in its referendum (pre-vote polls had predicted 70%). In Poland, 50% of voters must cast ballots to validate the result. As a result, the clamor to vote tak (Polish for yes) has reached fever pitch. Kwasniewski, who remains popular, ski-jumping sensation Adam Malysz and even some Dutch and Greek diplomats are barnstorming the countryside, touting the virtues of E.U. subsidies and the greater European family. In TV ads, children are shown dreaming of playing for Real Madrid, jobs are plentiful and every Pole is vacationing on the French Riviera. "It's their first time!" whispers one spot, showing young lovers on a date. "First time to vote."
|
|
|
 |
|
Poland is the most pro-American country in the world. It is more pro-American than America
— ADAM MICHNIK, Editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The former dissident Adam Michnik, who was jailed for six years under communism and now edits the country's biggest newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, says Poland's accession to the E.U. will seal its transformation from communist satellite to full partner in the Western world. Puffing on a Gitanes cigarette at his top-floor office in a leafy Warsaw suburb, Michnik says a yes vote is his dream, a no his nightmare. "I am not an enthusiast of Chirac or [German Chancellor Gerhard] Schröder," he says. "But I prefer them to [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko."
Not all Poles are convinced. Some may abstain to register their anger at the capitalist system, pollsters say. Poland's several million small and medium-sized farmers fear they'll be swamped by foreign competition and are expected mostly to vote no. Their loudest voice is Lepper, leader of the populist Samoobrona Party, which is now at 14% in the polls and just last week announced it backed a no vote. In an interview at his downtown Warsaw office, surrounded by a collection of sticklike modern sculptures depicting his party as the spiritual savior of Poland, Lepper warned darkly that the E.U. would be bad for 80% of Poles and that the government's real motive was to get its hands on "3,000 jobs in Brussels." At the European Parliament in Strasbourg in May, Lepper scoffed, fewer than one in six Members turned out to hear President Kwasniewski. "That is how Europeans view the Polish state," he fumed.
Even if the vote fails, the parliament, which is controlled by pro-E.U. parties, could still ratify the accession treaty. And surveys last week were predicting a 55-60% turnout. The clincher may be the Pope, a larger-than-life voice in Polish affairs, who last week finally gave his blessing. "Europe needs Poland," the Pontiff told Polish pilgrims in Rome, "and Poland needs Europe." One pollster said that was like giving Poland a ticket to the E.U.
Another reason why support for the E.U. may be gaining ground is the sputtering economy. It's shedding so many jobs that the only thing keeping many Poles off the streets is the "gray" or shadow economy, which experts say makes up about 27% of overall GDP, higher than Poland's southern neighbors, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but comparable, roughly, to Italy and Greece. Socialist-era dinosaurs have not modernized fast enough and face more layoffs. The coal sector alone was hemorrhaging $1 billion a year until a few years ago; that figure is down to $130 million now, but analysts say at least 12 more mines must shut, swallowing about 35,000 jobs.
|
|
