Fear And Loathing In Central Europe
	With the prospect of E.U. membership looming, why are so many Poles worried that they'll end up being treated like second-class citizens? Meet populist firebrand Roman Giertych and his League of Polish Families
	By JENNIE JAMES

Posted Sunday, Oct.13, 2002; 16.04 BST
As he zips between appointments in his chauffeured car, Roman Giertych describes in fine detail a plan to create a single European economic community stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. But he's not talking about the admission of 10 new countries, including his native Poland, into the European Union. He's talking about Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's blueprint for German domination in the 19th century. "These were the plans of a hundred years ago, which today are close to realization," he says. "We are afraid that the E.U. is a realization of the economic interests of the German state." Giertych may be only 31, but his political memory is long. And as president of the Congress of the League of Polish Families (L.P.R.), he fronts a small but influential political alliance that is vehemently opposed to Poland joining the E.U.

The L.P.R. was put together 17 months ago from 10 small right-wing parties that stood little chance of getting into parliament on their own. The group's platform was pure right-wing populism — staunchly Catholic and strongly nationalistic — and it appealed to the most conservative and xenophobic parts of Polish society. But that was enough to win the L.P.R. 7.8% of the vote and 40 seats in parliament in last year's elections. This month, the L.P.R. will contest local elections, and is expected to grab as much as 13% of the vote. Now Giertych and his allies are using their newfound influence to stir up opposition to the E.U. — and their doomsday warnings about German domination are finding a receptive audience among Poles who remain mistrustful of their neighbor to the west.

One of the L.P.R.'s key issues is the widespread fear that once Poland is in the E.U., Germans will flood the country to buy land. "One-third of Poland's territory was returned to us only 50 years ago, after several hundred years of German occupation," says Giertych. "In Germany there is a very strong fondness for these lands, and we are afraid that accession will consolidate those proprietary attitudes." Certainly, there are economic attractions: land in Poland is much cheaper than in Germany. But should Poland join the E.U., the country has put temporary restrictions in place on foreigners who buy land — especially agricultural property. Giertych also worries that as Germans stream in, Poland's best and brightest will stream out to better jobs and higher wages in Western Europe.

Giertych's party does not speak for all of Poland — 51% still think E.U. membership is a good thing. But the L.P.R.'s unofficial alliance with Radio Maryja, the national Catholic radio station, gives it a high profile in the national debate. Surprisingly, mainstream politicians have not spoken out to rebut the L.P.R.'s arguments. That may be because the party is not yet perceived as a threat. "They only throw slogans around and stamp their feet," says Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, director of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Warsaw think tank. "They don't introduce new threads into the discussion." That may change when the Poles hold their own referendum on E.U. membership next year. That's when Giertych's message from the local elections — "Let's win for Poland, not for Brussels, not for Moscow" — might take on a greater resonance.

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