Yesterday passed unnoticed a rather important anniversary in the history of the Polish pro-Russian option. Four years ago, the name “Konfederacja KORWiN Braun Liroy Narodowcy” was publicly announced. Sam Liroy, a musician and politician, died a year and a half later and publicly spoke about his real reasons for stepping down:
We started talking about Poland’s cooperation with Russia. And we asked a question: if there was a conflict between Russia and Poland and Russia said it supports you in these imaginary things of yours, who would you support? Russia [odpowiedział Korwin-Mikke]. Word, he said it in front of all of us.
In the past year, Janusz Korwin-Mikke or Grzegorz Braun, as well as activists (former and present) of the structures of this coalition, such as Piotr Panasiuk or Magdalena Ziętek-Wielomska, only dropped their masks. “Good, conservative Russia”, bad West and so-called “Banderian” Ukraine – in the era of Russian invasion and genocide against Ukrainians, one must be strongly committed in its service to make such claims. It is no coincidence that there is much sympathy in this circle for Dr. Leszek Sykulski or Wojciech Olszański, who directly encourage friendship with Russia. Robert Winnicki was able to praise the media of Russian disinformation – Sputnik. Wojciech Sumliński threatened Ukrainians to kill Poles in Krakowskie Przedmieście, and Wojciech Cejrowski tells unbelievable things about Russian victories. Examples could be multiplied.
But the Polish tradition of siding with Russia is not so short or so marginal either. It was always a supposedly higher “need” that justified the views that ultimately turned out to be pro-Kremlin, even in times – like today – that are blatantly criminal. Let’s emphasize it clearly – pro-Russism has softer masks than hard ones: “yes, I prefer Russia to Poland.” Yes, Adam Gurowski announced the metaphysical triumph of the Empire over the Commonwealth in the 19th century and declared himself victorious, but the activists of the Stronnictwo Polityki Realnej (the 19th-century movement referred to by Janusz Korwin Mikke in the UPR ) had a different concept: why fight, why die, you need to come to terms with the stronger, Russia means order, stability, it is a shame to shed Polish blood. In turn, Targowica was not pro-Russian, it was only concerned about “freedom” and “the rule of law”, while Jakub Berman or Władysław Gomułka – oh no, they weren’t pro-Soviet, they were – as we read in late interviews with them – just “realists” who just lived in such “political conditions”. This is how the Kremlin, hated in Poland, made pro-Russian pills easier for Poles to swallow. Not “treason” but “reason”, not “concessions to Moscow” but “realism”, not deploying Russian forces but only “defense of freedom” – and so on. Today, pro-Russian attitudes also have their eugemisms. It is also “reason”, also “realism”, and it is also supposedly pacifist, anti-war, as the KGB invented half a century ago. Another concept is “multi-vectorism”, which under the guise of political and economic diversification opens the door to dependence on authoritarian China and Russia. No one on the Vistula River will say that he wants to trade with criminals, but this concern for “several options” allows you to smuggle the Moscow vector.
A pro-Russian stance need not result from simply taking money from Kremlin agents. In Poland, the trauma of the struggle against the empire paralyzes some elites, intellectuals are sometimes overwhelmed by the vastness of eastern spaces and legends of power. Sometimes pro-Russian positions are used when a conservative lacks the will to fight for the real West – a soft and cowardly attitude encourages raising the white flag in the fight for traditional values and committing to what I promise to maintain the old order. Finally, some people, in their exuberant individualism, think they have penetrated the history of this part of Europe better than ten generations of our ancestors, and while they theorize on a comfortable couch, they make plans to deal with the Kremlin.
Today there are also postulates in the political space that have different masks of rationality. In their consequences, however, they would lead to simple damage. Stopping the arming of Ukraine (“not our war”), scaring Poland with refugees from Ukraine, spreading false information about alleged incidents involving Ukrainians in Poland, sometimes even doubting whether the war is really happening, or accepting responsibility for the Russian invasion attributing it to Jews or Americans – they are all notes that resonate nicely in the orchestra of Russian disinformation. And that there are more of these notes in one volume? Well, the last noble confederation was called Targowica, so perhaps the first parliamentary confederation didn’t choose its name without reference to its 18th century counterparts?
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Source: wPolityce