Poland isn't the Kaczyńskis, Europe isn't Germany
Ending its EU presidency, Germany tried in vain at the European Summit to persuade the Polish government to accept its proposal for a new system of voting in the Council of the European Union. The discussions between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Lech Kaczyński at Meseberg Castle near Berlin were drawn out for more than four hours, but neither side was able to bring the other around to its view. German politicians remained loyal to their proposal of a so-called double majority, which would give their country significantly more power. Kaczyński repeated like a mantra that Poland could not accept this idea and instead proposed the complicated "square-root" system, which would give greater voting power not only to Poland but also to many other smaller EU member countries.
Those monstrous Poles
Personally, I have no doubt that Polish foreign policy is at its worst for many years. President Lech Kaczyński (the one who lives with his wife) and Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński (the one who has a joint bank account with his mom and lives with a cat) are perceived terribly on the international stage. Many Poles have a similar view of them, and the Kaczyńskis have scant support among educated Poles. Until the Kaczyńskis assumed the reigns of power, foreign policy was particularly biased in favor of relations with Germany - it built bridges of understanding and created joint institutions.
However, in editorials about Poland's stance, the German press has gone far beyond the bounds of good taste. Instead of writing about the Kaczyńskis and their policy, they have heavily criticized the Poles and Poland. Der Spiegel ran an article entitled: "Disliked neighbours: how the Poles are getting on Europe's nerves." Moreover, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, a German MEP, openly appealed to the Poles to leave the European Union if they didn't like it.
Love for the Union, a liking for the Germans
No less than 86 percent of Poles support membership of the European Union. Moreover, more and more Poles express a liking for Germans. German is the second-most popular foreign language after English in Polish schools. I think that even the tasteless editorials of the German press will not make Germanophobes out of the Poles. It is, therefore, unethical to identify Poland and the Poles with the traumatic activity of the Kaczyńskis, whose party at present enjoys about 25-percent support. The anti-Polish hysteria in Germany also has another effect. The criticism of the ridiculed and unpopular Kaczyńskis has in many countries obscured the picture of the real problem with the German proposal.
Germany's final battle
The system of double voting in the Council of the European Union supported by Germany would give Berlin a significantly stronger position than London or Paris. It would make Germany Europe's leader.
However, the problem is that the Union is not only Germany, but is a federal creation. The final weeks of the German presidency have been dominated by efforts to finalize the issue of the system of voting in Berlin's favor. All the more so, since the Germans already feel that the political situation in Europe is beginning to change. France's stagnation in the Chirac era has already ended. Nicholas Sarkozy is a politician who aspires to strengthen France's role in the international arena. Great Britain has said farewell to Prime Minister Blair, who has been replaced by the more politically resolute and economically successful Gordon Brown. German politicians see that the Portuguese presidency, commencing on July 1, will no longer be such a favorable moment to seek the most advantageous system of voting for Berlin.
Joanna Wóycicka is the former head of the foreign section of the Życie Warszawy and Życie newspapers and the former head of the foreign department at the Polish Press Agency (PAP)
