The loud words of the German ambassador to Poland, Thomas Bagger, quoted by the British economic magazine “Financial Times”, really deserve attention. They touch the essence of the Polish-German disputes, which have been going on for more than a dozen years, and with particular intensity since the independence camp took power in Poland.
The ambassador states:
There is a certain asymmetry in our relations, because for every Pole Germany is the main point of reference, while for most Germans Poland is one of many neighboring countries. Poles are outraged by this asymmetry of attention, and they certainly don’t see themselves as a small nation.
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There is a large dose of condescension in these words, but you could also say that the ambassador hit the nail on the head. Yes, the Germans see us as one of many small countries in the eastern and southern parts of the continent, which fortunately, for a few pennies and peace of mind and a few hymns in some Zeitung, fit into the concept of dominating Europe by Berlin. And it has to do with both the feeling of weakness, the lack of an alternative, but also with and with the self-perception of his destiny, his destiny. Indeed, most of these small states – the ambassador does not mean Germany’s western neighbors – have been part of something bigger for centuries, sometimes millennia, and have status of the provinces of the empireone or the other. Today they subconsciously again agree to a similar fate, they feel good about it.
Poles (and to some extent Hungarians) are in a different situation. For us, the natural state we aspire to is the status of a strong European state, which counts in a big game. The partitions have not killed this “zero point” in us, they have not made us give up the pursuit of subjectivity. The status of an existing country with its own coat of arms and national anthem just doesn’t suit us. But it is also an objective fact: with our area, population, economic potential and long tradition of our own culture and state, we cannot be included in the “Mitteleuropa” scenario. Certainly not without a long period of painful potential reduction, which the PO tried to do during its reign, which in a sense exploded in its hands, and which still weighs on its chances of returning to power.
The most interesting thing is actually the ambassador’s surprise that the Poles “certainly don’t see themselves as a small nation”. You can expect more from an experienced diplomat. But it is a valuable testimony, which says a lot about the views of both the German political elite and the German Foreign Ministry in particular. It can be said that the continuity of the gaze, which dates back to Bismarck’s time, is nothing short of terrifying.
Current Polish-German tensions should be seen in this context. Poland has the right, as well as the duty, to strive for our rightful place in Europe, for the status of one of the host countries of the European Union. It is necessary for our security, for our development opportunities. We are not doing anything the state should not be doing about our position, potential and history. It is the Germans who have the problemurging us to enroll in the obsolete, and impossible to realize without blood and tears, concept of “Greater Germany and its small, numerous neighbors with names that are hard to remember”.
Tensions will continue until the Germans understand that we cannot accept the status that Berlin has proposed to us. We have the right to enter the room where decisions are made. We have the right to respect our interests, to independent development, to an independent foreign policy. We carry out activities that serve Europe wellbecause they make the whole great area between the three seas subjective. The situation in which such a large area, with such a rich heritage, is reduced to the status of a political and economic semi-colony is unnatural, sick and harmful. But our policy also serves the whole of Europe; after all, only we are able to build a dam against Russian imperialism – because of the potential, the knowledge, the experience and the willingness to spend on defense. Germany will, perhaps unconsciously, also because of the trauma of the Second World War, not erect such a dam. If they understand that victorious Russia and muzzled, it will be too late.
We have the right to all this and step by step we will create the right political space for ourselves. With respect for the neighbours, but also with a certain realization that it is not possible without a little well-understood self-confidence. After all, the statement of the German ambassador confirms our intuition: letting things take their course leads to Germany adopting the attitude of first the patron and then the feudal lord of the entire region. It’s some kind of instinctof which Berlin should be aware if it has really – as he claims – reworked its history.
The Polish-German border, Polish-German relations are today the area of the most intense sparks in all of Europe. This is not Poland’s fault. It is Berlin that seems to believe it is able to maintain the unnatural asymmetry of the early 1990s, when Poland was exceptionally poor, confused and naive, and Germany exceptionally rich.
It would be good if Ambassador Bagger’s message got through to Berlin. He rightly saw the core of the problem in German ignorance. Poland is not “one of many neighbours” of Germany. Poland is and will remain a country that co-decides the fate of Europe. A state that will “seize power”. The mere fact that the current government has endured such an open confrontation with Berlin that it passed the sanctions imposed by Brussels and retained the chance of a third term in office confirms that these are not empty words.
Poland will surprise its big neighbor more than once. A neighbor who has changed a lot in himself, but at the same time thinks surprisingly archaically in many matters.
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Source: wPolityce