Bye-Bye, America!

TOL ^ | 19 July 2008 | Marek Ostrowski

[forkinsocket]

Not so long ago, Poland was said to be America's Trojan horse in Europe and its 51st state. Indeed, America was our shield and our unattainable ideal. Did we suddenly stop liking it? Did the American dream recede in the minds of the Poles?

Studies of the Polish public's favorable attitudes toward foreign countries show that America has lost 20 percentage points over the last four years. It is not fully clear when this happened, but let us recall two warning bells. In October 2006, [Foreign Minister] Radoslaw Sikorski, who was then defense minister in the Law and Justice [PiS] cabinet, wrote two surprising comments on a confidential memo about a U.S. diplomat's visit to the prime minister's chancellery. One – "we can do without it" – referred to a proposal related to the missile defense shield. The other – "traditionally cheeky" – referred to a person who represented Washington. These notes, even if they were made in self-defense as an alibi for the opinion of "the biggest American" in our [ruling] establishment, signaled that Warsaw's love of Washington was no longer passionate.

Shortly after that, during an international seminar in Warsaw, Sikorski made the audience realize the shocking proportion between U.S. assistance and European support for Poland: $30 million from the United States and 90 billion (not million) euros (not dollars) from the EU. This comparison may have been stretched a little because it does not refer to the same things, but it does put the previous irritating question of whether Poland is more attached to America or to Europe in a different light. (Do you remember it? It was said to be as problematic as the question of who we love more, mom or dad.)

[rjp2005]

Bullcrap. Poles love America and vice versa. Stop this nonsense.