Don't worry, be happy
The Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," could probably sum up Poland in 2000. Following a rollercoaster decade of change during the 1990s, most Poles were looking to the new millennium for stability and prosperity. Unfortunately, they got neither.
The year started unpromisingly, with Poland expelling nine Russian diplomats for allegedly spying. The spat with Russia continued later in the year, with Polish claims of foul play over Russian monopoly Gazprom's plans to build an information superhighway along the Yamal gas pipeline. The Poles said the deal had been done in secret, the Russians laughed off the claims as nonsense. The story will run and run.
Also in January, public figures past and present were taken to task in the lustration courts, which tried to uncover closet informers during the dark days of communism. But instead of remedying past ills, all it did was instill a sense of paranoia and unease among Poles, who suddenly found they couldn't even look at such illustrious figures as former President Lech Walesa without doubt setting in. Nothing, it seemed, was what it seemed.
Politicians were also very much in the public eye with presidential election fever dominating the headlines and TV chat shows. It all got rather dirty. President Aleksander Kwasniewski was taken to task for ridiculing the pope by Solidarity Election Action (AWS) leader Marian Krzaklewski, whose demagogic style of politicking started to look more desperate. His disastrous showing in the elections finally sealed his political fate, eventually paving the way for Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek to assert himself as the new government champion. Meanwhile, Kwasniewski sailed to a comfortable victory at the same time as throwing Krzaklewski's enfranchisement baby out with the AWS bathwater.
The economy faltered, but managed to stay on course. Inflation stood at an alarming 9% and the current account deficit rose to 8.3% of GDP. Meanwhile, real economic growth set in at around 4%, while unemployment kept on rising at the official rate of 14%. Small and medium-sized firms continued to feel the pressure of interest rates of around 19-23%. This year has not been a good one for the small businessman in Poland.
Privatization proved to be a hot potato for the coalition government in 2000. Signs that an ill wind was blowing through Parliament came to a head with the snap resignation of Treasury Minister Emil Wasacz in August. Also the standoff between the treasury and Netherlands-based Eureko over Polish insurance giant PZU continued to embarrass the government's more bullish reformists.
But despite the gloom hanging over Poland, people had more reasons than ever to be happy in 2000. More hypermarkets opened along with chic shopping malls and multiplex cinemas in new family entertainment centers. In 2000, young Poles had far more fun than their counterparts a decade earlier in what is arguably now Central Europe's largest and most vibrant economy. Oh, and the Polish football team is still in with a chance of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup. Reasons, surely, for optimism for the nation's doubting naysayers.
