Welcoming the newest Poles

How does a Polish man greet a woman? What is the difference between oscypek and bigos? Who was Jan Matejko?

If you are a citizen of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan or a number of other ex-Soviet countries and you want to become a Pole, those are the kind of questions you need to be able to answer.

Population boost

Births, deaths, citizenship changes - over the year these things will naturally alter the number of Poles in the world, though no one knows by exactly how much. One thing is certain, though - thanks to the new Pole Card Law, which came into force at the end of March, Poland will soon be swarming with completely new Poles.

They will speak with melodious eastern accents, and some may have quite exotic features. Citizens of the former Soviet Union can apply for card, by filing a declaration that they "belong to the Polish nation" and by fulfilling several other conditions. Among these is a visit to the Polish consulate, where they must pass a test of general knowledge about Poland, its customs and traditions, and demonstrate Polish ancestry.

In exchange for belonging to the Polish nation they will receive, among other things, the unlimited right to work and study in Poland, to right to participate in academia, the possibility to set-up their own business in Poland and access to free emergency medical care. However, they will not be able to vote or to cross other European Union borders without a visa.

Nationalist spirit...

The law was passed by Parliament back in September 2007, and its ideological and spiritual aspects were emphasized by the Nationalist-Populist coalition which was then in power. Thanks to this legislation, it was argued, Poland would fulfill its moral duty toward its compatriots from the East, who, as a result of historical upheavals, had lost their Polish citizenship.

Moreover, the legislation was presented as a way to fulfill a constitutional regulation that calls for assistance in keeping the Polish diaspora in touch with its cultural inheritance. This was seen as especially important for those with Polish heritage in regions such as Belarus, where national minorities are persecuted.

...and practical results

Whether or not it fulfills its great national mission, the Pole Card may give the Polish economy a considerable impetus for growth. For many inhabitants of the former USSR, Poland seems an affluent paradise, in which many of them would like to work and study. Economists have noted that these "new Poles" have a chance to plug the gaps which developed in the labor market after the departure of unskilled workers to Western Europe.

Employers in Poland anxiously await construction workers, carpenters, plumbers, nurses and doctors. The card will particularly please small Polish employers from the service sector - they will not have any qualms about employing citizens of countries beyond the eastern border, who are ready to work for lower salaries than Poles.

This will lead to other economic effects - salaries will stop growing at the current astronomical rate, for example. These new workers will also speed up the development of  national infrastructure, which in turn will significantly improve conditions for business and for new investments. Insurers, meanwhile, are betting that the new Poles will form a sizeable group of clients for health insurance policies, since the card guarantees them medical care only in case of emergency.

Thus, in a completely unexpected way, lofty nationalist rhetoric has changed before our very eyes into pragmatic business. It is also heartening to note that the new Poles will be able to visit Polish museums for free - at least this much will remain from the lofty words about bringing the national cultural inheritance closer.

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). j.woycicka@hotmail.com