After the EU-USA summit

Marian Miszalski

In Brussels President Bush focused his attention on the vast significance of the relationship between Europe and America; he did not agree, in a slightly weaker tone (but still), with the Russian interpretation of Yalta, which maintained that the Red Army had brought only 'salvation' to the Central and Eastern European countries. Poland is not indifferent towards these issues, especially in the light of the German attempts to dismantle NATO and the German-Russian 'strategic partnership'.
The acceptance of the so-called European constitution by the EU member states would mean a fundamental change of this so far international organisation: from the union of countries it would become a federal state - sovereign, one state, independent international entity. What would happen with the EU member states, their sovereignty, i.e. being an international carrier of rights? Naturally, it would be annulled: member states would become de facto and de iure only parts (states or provinces) of a new federal state, the European Union.
Taking into consideration the distribution and location of wealth, capital, social affluence, technology, and last but not least, military potential, one can easily see that the leading and real political role would be assigned to Germany and France, and this would happen to such an extent that the new European Union would be a French-German empire and an instrument of the French-German politics.
Where can the common, imperial French-German politics lead Europe to? What is certain today is the fact that such a politics leads Europe to weaken the relationships with the United States, the country with which socialistically wadded Europe loses more and more clearly in the global free market competition. Germany and France (especially Germany) are more and more intensively looking for 'a cordial agreement' with Russia, which has no longer been communist (enormous source of raw materials, big market), and their efforts have already been expressed in 'the strategic German-Russian partnership'. One can cautiously forecast that this partnership will become more and more significant, will develop and deepen, even to such an extent that with time the Berlin-Moscow axis can diminish the significance of the Paris-Berlin axis. By the way, it is worth noticing that the German politics aiming at loosening the bonds between Europe and the United States perfectly harmonises the former Soviet politics and the present Russian politics: to drive American influences out of Europe and to separate Europe from America.
A clear example of the German politics, which matches the Russian politics, is the latest proposal of the German government to 'reconsider' (read: annul) the role of NATO. This 'revision' (annulment) will open the doors to free the German Bundeswehra from the present NATO supervision. Moreover, the imperial German ambition is evidently recurring in the loud and frequent demand for making Germany the sixth permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations. In the meantime the old principle 'when there is a growing rapprochement between Berlin and Moscow the role of Warsaw is rapidly reduced' is not outdated at all.
It would be worthwhile to notice that since the partitions, apart from the short period of 1939-41, the German-Russian relationships have not been as good as they are nowadays... From the Polish perspective the presence of American forces in Europe, including the existence of NATO in its present form (alliance for the defence of every member state!), is the firmest guaranty of the political status quo, which is relatively favourable to Poland. It is not beyond doubt that if the European Union as 'the union of sovereign states' has been changed in 'a federal state', meaning the German-French empire, the stabilising role of America (which counter-balances the German-Russian influences) will be possible to maintain on the European continent. In this situation it is becoming more evident that the growing German-Russian 'partnership' can be completed at the expense of the vital Polish interests. One should remember that the German claims for the restitution of property in the Western Polish Territories have been only temporarily suspended by the scandalous and legally risky 'agreement' between Schroeder and Belka, which has all the hallmarks of pulling the wool over the eyes of the Polish public opinion. Most evidently, it is valid until the European Union becomes a federal state, thus a submissive instrument of the French-German politics...As the historical experiences show the Frenchmen and the Germans have never hesitated to accomplish their political and economic interests at the expense of other European countries, especially Poland. The German claims for the restitution concerning one third of the Polish territory and at the same time Poland's dependence of oil supply from Russia - what possibilities of a political 'deal' for Berlin and Moscow, especially if we voted for the European constitution and lost our legal subjectivity and sovereignty, and the American influences in Europe were limited!
In the meantime the European Union is plunging into economic stagnation as the result of the domineering leftist EU politics: high taxes, wide interventionism of the state, detailed legal regulations restricting the free market, extremely developed bureaucracy, enormous social weights (which only preserve the weak economic-social structure). If this stagnation slowly transforms into crisis, this crisis will only hasten the German-Russian rapprochement and the political axis between Berlin and Moscow can dominate all European relationships. Recently America has noticed that and decisively said 'no' to the German attempts to gradual annulment of NATO. It seems that Poland's politics, however limited and entangled in internal conflicts, can support the American presence in Europe, for example by rejecting the so-called European constitution and thus preventing the slow incapacitation of the European countries, especially the Central European ones, caused by the present French-German politics, which tomorrow can be German-Russian politics. One can even say that the referendum concerning the so-called European constitution is really the last chance.

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl