POLAND: Poland's long journey out of the darkness visited upon it in the last century concludes tomorrow when it rejoins Europe, writes Derek Scally
Poland's journey back to Europe will end tomorrow night with pomp and ceremony as the EU flag is raised over Warsaw Castle.
For former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, the journey began in 1981 at a top-secret meeting with the then German Foreign Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a meeting that was equal parts Cold War thriller and Pink Panther farce.
"We met secretly in Paris, in disguise. Genscher had a long raincoat on, I didn't recognise him at first," Mr Walesa recalls, laughing. "I didn't want any problems with the KGB. Genscher was interested in what we had planned. I explained to him: the end of communism and the reunification of Germany and Europe."
Poland was the first central European country to overthrow its communist leadership and Mr Walesa gives 50 per cent of the credit to Polish Pope John Paul II, 30 per cent to Solidarity and himself, and the rest to the political personalities of the time: Kohl, Reagan and Gorbachev.
Few of those personalities will be present in Warsaw this weekend as Poles celebrate their hard-won EU accession, a day which, they hope, marks the end of the tragedy in their history in Europe. "Poles have always been oppressed, either from the communists or the Nazis. With the EU accession, that is now over once and for all," Mr Walesa says.
Despite the historical significance, EU enthusiasm has been waning. News that Polish farmers would only receive 25 per cent subsidies initially caused great anger.
There was despair as one existing member-state after another closed its doors to Polish workers through the work moratorium of up to seven years.
The disappointments are bitter but have helped increase awareness that the EU is not a cure-all for the country's problems, such as its 20 per cent unemployment rate and huge number of subsistence farmers.
The final blow to Polish patience with the accession came when, having voted in favour of EU accession last May, it emerged that the Nice Treaty would be superseded by a new treaty which could decrease the weight of Poland's vote at the Council of Ministers.
The Irish EU Presidency faces a huge task in coming weeks: to propose a compromise that is acceptable to all but which doesn't create a sense of betrayal in Poland, a country well used to being sold down the river.