A Europe Policy without a Compass
Poland Seeks a Course in the EU
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
So far, the balance of Polish EU-membership is so-so. Fears that Poland would be a querulous member obsessed with its own interests have not been confirmed. In East European policy or the regulation of EU finances, Poland has acted constructively. Starting 2007, Poland will be the largest recipient of EU financial assistance. In questions concerning EU institutions or where Poland’s supposedly “vital interests” are concerned, confrontational elements hold sway. This parallel existence of cooperation and confrontation is an expression of the Polish government’s lack of conceptual clarity in foreign and Europe policy. The “patriotic foreign policy” posited by Jarosław Kaczyński and the ideological superstructure of a “self-confident otherness” are counterproductive: Poland is harming itself and with that its own interests.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2006, pp. 81–92)