NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

“forefathers” of the Poles “did not die for the sake of a nation that is going to melt into Europeanism and globalism” 97 , while the spokesman of the party, Ryszard Czarnecki, lobbied against European integration saying that “the concept of the United States of Europe is dangerous for Poland” and might lead to the “loss of national identity”. 98 On the other hand, Włodzimierz Dobrowolski from WAK noted that “Polish democracy can only be built on traditional values” 99 and the PSL leader, Roman Bartosze, reduced the most important ideological fundaments of the party to three points: “Catholic religion, patriotism and opposition to the economic policy of the government”. 100 The second category was that of economic nationalism. Although foreign investors and companies were of relatively low interest to the political leaders at that time, which can be explained by quite a low level of investments in the Polish economy in 1991 and the domination of other domestic issues in the discourse, there were nonetheless several examples of the use of economic nationalism in the political appeals. Some of the political parties and their leaders accused the West not only of destroying traditional values and beliefs, but also of the economic exploitation of “poor” Polish citizens. In general, foreign investors were viewed with suspicion by significant part of the political elite. The most active parties handling the issues related to economic nationalism were ZChN and Polska Wspólnota Narodowa Polskiego Stronnictwa Narodowego. The third category referred to ethnic prejudices and animosities against “others”. In 1991/1992, the relations between Poland and its neighbours were perceived as very sensitive by the Polish political elite, but also by the general population. The reunification of Germany and the developments that took place in the former Soviet Union completely changed the geopolitical situation beyond both the Western and Eastern borders of Poland. The presence of national and ethnic minorities in Poland became more apparent after 1989. Apart from the existence of the German, Ukrainian Belorussian and other minorities living in Poland, an equally important issue for Polish politics was the state of the Polish minorities living in the former Soviet Union countries – namely in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. It is apparent that national and ethnic minorities became an influential factor in the process of the developing relationships between Poland and its neighbours. While some of the neighbouring nations were perceived negatively, other managed to gain sympathy among representatives of the political elite and 97 Statement of Henryk Goryszewski, Gazeta Wyborcza (24 June 1991), p. 2. 98 Statement of Ryszard Czarnecki. See Gazeta Wyborcza (17 March 1992), p. 4. 99 Statement of Włodzimierz Dobrowolski, Wyborcza Akcja Katolicka. See Gazeta Wyborcza (29 October 1991), p. 3. 100 Statement of Roman Bartosze, PSL leader. See Gazeta Wyborcza (24 June 1991), p. 3.

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