Europe's eastern bulwark

Unless, of course, that journalist is not really a journalist at all, but Adam Michnik, the editor of Gazeta Wyborcza, the country's largest newspaper. He is one of the few people on friendly terms with both President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and former Prime Minister Leszek Miller, as well as a score of opposition politicians. But it is not Michnik's networking skills that account for his unique influence. Michnik, you see, has 'moral authority.' Indeed, many people say he personifies it. His daily newspaper has, for years, felt in a position to grant that title to those it liked and deny it to all others. No wonder he thought he could order the court around. It is difficult for outsiders to understand the sort of position Michnik enjoys in the country. Start with the title of his publication. In 1989, the paper held a poll of its readers, asking them whether it should retain its title, which translates as 'the Election Newspaper.' An overwhelming majority was in favor of keeping the reference to that memorable election of June 4, 1989, in which Solidarity won 100 percent of the seats that were up for democratic contention. It was to support the Solidarity campaign that Michnik's publication was launched, and it would be difficult to overestimate the role it played in that historic triumph that sent the country on its way to democratic and free market reforms. As a certain actress memorably put it on TV, "Ladies and gentlemen, on June 4, 1989, Communism in Poland came to an end." Communism is now safely over, and Michnik, who spent several years in prison for fighting for such an outcome, can rightly claim some of the credit for it. But, unlike many others who played an equally prominent role, most notably former President Lech Wałęsa, he has not yet become a political non-entity. Which, perhaps, would have been better for him. His arrogance and self-righteousness, coupled with his influence, have alienated many people, and he is surely one of the most unpopular people in the country, though few would admit openly to their feelings (or to the real reasons behind them, at any rate). Small wonder then that, when Gazeta Wyborcza's virtuous outing of the Rywingate affair led to revelations showing the extent of the paper's influence, many welcomed the opportunity to attack its editor with thinly veiled Schadenfreude. But long before the open attacks came the ridicule. When, in the early 1990s, Michnik wrote with pride, 'I am European,' it gave rise to a huge debate. European or Polish? Or both? Which comes first? Most people seemed to settle on a compromise formula: 'I am Polish ergo European.' And now newspaper headlines scream that, according to public opinion polls, 'we are feeling increasingly European.' Hang on. Wasn't that supposed to be what all Poles have always felt? And not even 'Eastern European,' but 'Central.' How many times have you been corrected by your Polish friends who insisted that the very geographical center of Europe is in Poland? Irritating as the Poles' insistence may be, there is no doubt that it is a true reflection of the national psyche. For centuries, the Poles have regarded themselves as the 'bulwark of (western) Christendom,' stemming the flow of infidels and heretics from Turkey and Russia. That self-image suffered a fatal blow in the wake of the Yalta agreement that delivered the country into Soviet power, but the people continued to hope against all hopes that they would be able to regain their rightful place in the family of Western European nations. It is partly that hope that explains the people's dismay at the outcome of the reforms after the end of the previous system. For a while, the exhilaration at regained independence was such that the people were quite happy to accept some pain. But soon enough a different attitude set in and persists to this day. Hey, the nation is saying, it wasn't supposed to be like this. In vain would people point out the economic progress made over the last decade and a half, the rising income levels and the substantial amount of wealth accumulated over that period. For affluence and political stability are to Poles their God-given rights that only the evil scheming of external forces have denied them. There must be something, or someone, who is keeping the country, and each individual Pole, from prosperity. All that is not to excuse the failures of the politicians and bureaucrats to deliver a basic level of efficiency and honesty in running the country. Incompetence, insolence and corruption have not helped. But a deep-seated culture of complacency has certainly not aided it, either. The country could do with a visionary who could convince the nation that great things are in store, if only we could all get down to work. Self-proclaimed moral authorities are ill-suited for the job.