European Anchor

The EU constitutional anchor that I wrote about two months ago ("Plus Minus" No. 128, June 3-4, 2023) is becoming a key element in ensuring Poland's security. Today, an exit from the EU can be done by a simple act of parliament. Neither a referendum nor a constitutional majority are needed.

A scenario is possible in which, for opportunistic reasons, a constellation would be formed to vote to leave the EU. This is, after all, how Boris Johnson joined a group of radicals in the Conservative Party, dragging others along with him. A scenario in which the request to leave would fall on a fertile ground in Europe is also possible. A palpable weariness of the disputes was the climate into which the UK's 2016 petition hit.

We are one of the most pro-EU countries in the Community. According to a June 2023 Eurobarometer survey, twice as many Poles trust EU institutions (57 percent) as those who trust the Polish government (31 percent). It is the government, not a part of Polish society, that lives in an imaginary reality without noticing where the sympathy and trust of that society is located. The EU constitutional anchor would thus be an expression of the existing will of Poles. It would build a barrier to exiting the Community commensurate with support for EU membership and the gravity of the problem.

It is natural to be a Wroclawer*, a Silesian**, a Pole. However, if Silesia wanted to secede from Poland, it could not do so by a simple act of parliament. The indivisibility of Polish territory is part of the Polish Constitution (Articles 5, 26 and 126).

It's also not surprising that someone is a Varsavian, a Mazovian**, a Pole and a European. Multiple identities - and this includes other social roles: husband, wife, dad, mom, etc. - does not put them at odds with each other. Being a father does not conflict with being a husband. Being a Silesian with being a Pole. Being a Pole with being a European. Placing Polishness as the highest, most important, only, dominant and ultimate identity is artificial and harmful. For above all identities there is still the first and most important one, the one we are with from the first beat of our hearts - the identity of being human. Placing nationality at the top of the pyramid is therefore - although not directly - placing ethnicity above our humanity.

The indivisibility of Polish territory is constitutionally protected, and Polish membership in the European Union should be subject to the same protection. Europe is us. Poland is us. Mazovia, Silesia, Pomerania, Podlasie, the Tatras, Greater Poland** are us. Gliwice, Warsaw, Nowy Sącz, Rzeszów, Suwałki*** - it's all us. Let's eliminate the risk of changing this state of affairs by a simple parliamentary act.

The value of EU membership is demonstrated not only by Ukraine - which pays in blood for the pro-Russian decisions of Yanukovych, who rejected an association agreement with the EU in 2013. The Turkish gambit linking Sweden's NATO membership to Turkey's EU membership illustrates the value of the Community to those who aspire to it.

Geography dictates politics. In Poland's geographical position, there is only West or East. In the long term, there is no room for neutrality. Neutrality, as a consequence of the existing balance of power, always transforms into belonging to the East in this part of Europe. There is also no other West in Europe than the European Community, of which we are a part. Those who reject the Union choose the East.

Pro-Eastern options - both in Ukraine AD 2013 and in Poland AD 2023 - seek to weaken the Union by loosening ties and pushing more members outside the Community circle. Anti-EU in form - and Eastern in nature - propaganda is in direct contradiction to the Polish raison d'état, given the civilizational and geopolitical consequences of Polexit for our country. Unfortunately, there are already supporters of such an option sitting in the current parliament.

While defending ourselves in this hybrid war, let's do what is possible and what has support in Polish society already today. Polish women and men have been expressing their European identity in all opinion polls for decades. An EU anchor in the constitution will secure Poland's western - and therefore European and secure - future.

* Wroclawer is a citizen of Wroclaw also known as Breslau.

** Mazovia, Silesia, Pomerania, Podlasie, the Tatras, Greater Poland are Polish regions.

*** Gliwice, Warsaw, Nowy Sącz, Rzeszów, Suwałki are Polish cities and towns.