I find myself writing more and more about my adopted country instead of exploring others as Poland seems to slip more and more into authoritarianism. First it was the courts, then the media, now women’s rights and now….. cutting its nose off its face by submarining the EU budget with Hungary all because PiS cannot abide by the treaty they signed when they joined the EU in 2004.
PiS – ya signed it, ya signed the United Nations International Human Rights treaties with full knowledge of what those treaties meant/mean. Human rights, free press and the rule of law. Just because you are having a temper tantrum, egged on by the nationalists, doesn’t mean you can back out.
Contrary to your beliefs, you cannot change the rules. Keep going on this path and you will sow your own destruction. You keep complaining about the EU and its control? Then leave, and look what Brexit is doing to the UK and the rest of the world. Go be the island you want to be and watch the destruction of Poland. Russia will be lapping its chops and invade, and the EU will not save you. You leave the EU, maybe NATO will not come to your defense either.
Do you really want to cut off that huge money spiggot from the EU? You know the billions that the EU has funneled to you (Poland) for decades? The money that has allowed you to modernize infrastructure (roads, bridges, railways, transportation) and spurned additional millions of additional foreign direct investment? You forget, the public despises you (PiS) as seen by the massive demonstrations. Investors do NOT like instability.
With this in mind, I am showing photos from the Solidarity Center in Gdansk – the cradle of modern Polish freedom. I first visited when the museum was located underground and guarded by an old tank. Now there is the European Solidarity Center and opened in August 2014. It has meeting rooms, exhibits, shows and other community activities (not with COVID) and could be a real learning experience for PiS, a refresher in how things turned out the last time the state cracked down on its people.
While I hope history does not repeat itself, one can never rule it out, especially with the current ignorant, arrogant and uninformed PiS leadership.
Adventures in pictures 