Editorial: Be careful what you wish for

Poland's political landscape has been anything but lacking in drama lately as Roman Giertych of the League of Polish Families (LPR) and onetime Solidarity darling Marian Krzaklewski latched onto domestic and international events to garner much-needed media attention for themselves and their marginalized movements - while cashing in on their aversion for Prime Minister Leszek Miller. In the case of Giertych, the ambitious 31-year-old leader of the extremely Euroskeptical LPR, he proclaimed the success of ultra-nationalistic Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen as evidence that the European Union is over "as we know it," thereby undermining support for EU expansion and bolstering the league's chances of achieving a "no" vote in a referendum next year. That a young, seemingly educated man like Giertych (he owns a successful law firm) could so fervently argue against his country joining the EU is nutty enough (even Andrzej Lepper is more progressive), but his choosing to ignore the reality that Poland is located in Europe and not in North America, where he would evidently like Poland to be, boggles the mind.

Giertych's alternative plan of forging a strategic partnership with the United States and Ukraine - a sort of transcontinental power bloc of the three nations - is not only embarrassingly unrealistic, it's downright kooky. While Giertych hasn't said why the U.S. would be interested in such a set up, at least he hasn't overlooked the fact that whichever countries Poland nuzzles up to, at least one of them better have some money to share with its new friends. Probably, though, Giertych believes little in the far-fetched ideas he expouses, instead banking on the long-term benefits today's media attention will provide for his law business. Cynicism is not a new concept in politics, after all. In the meantime, as Miller unveils his party's EU information campaign this week, Giertych is promising that the league will be just as ubiquitous with its anti-EU message. Years from now, however, long after these two campaigns are over and Giertych is celebrating his 50th birthday - when Poland has already been in the EU for a good 15 years - it will be interesting to hear what spin he puts on his past antics.

As for Krzaklewski, the Solidarity leader chose a union rally in Warsaw to reclaim his stage as the premier spokesman for the working-class Pole. Krzaklewski was one of the most powerful politicians in the country until he lost his bid for the presidency 18 months ago, and since the disappearance of Solidarity Election Action (AWS) from government after last fall's elections, he has all but vanished himself. But during April's rally of tens of thousands, the Krzak was indeed back, condemning Miller's proposed changes to the labor code and saying they would lead to "massive conflict" and that the only way to resolve the dispute is through dialogue. Yeah, right. While the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) receives its fair share of criticism in this space, it does deserve credit for attempting to implement some genuine positive reform, namely by making Poland's labor law more flexible for employers. Meanwhile, the rhetoric of politicians like Giertych, and to a lesser extent Krzaklewski, may serve to remind us that politically and economically speaking, things could be much worse.