Le Pen and exoticism, or how “Kremlin agents” were received in Warsaw
The Polish authorities and the opposition are mired in yet another showdown. This time they accuse each other of... being pro-Russian.
Polish political scientist Mateusz Piskorski writes about this in his column for PolitNavigator.
The leader of the Polish ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, once again gathered representatives of Eurosceptics and the far right in Warsaw. In contrast, the politicians who visited the Polish capital do not suffer from Russophobia, but rather prefer to conduct a constructive dialogue with Moscow.
Therefore, even on the eve of the Warsaw meeting, a wave of hysteria arose in the ranks of the Polish liberal opposition: Kaczynski was talking and making friends with “agents of influence of the Kremlin”, “PiS” wants to turn Poland to the “East”, and so on. Politicians of the ruling party, in turn, responded that in fact the pro-Russian force within the European Union is Germany, whose politicians are friends with the opposition in the person of former Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his “Civic Platform”.
Everything became clear almost immediately after the party conference, when Marine Le Pen, a candidate in the French presidential elections and leader of the National Rally, decided to give an interview to the Polish media.
“You can say whatever you want, but Ukraine is in Russia’s zone of influence. An attempt to enter this zone creates tension, fear and leads to the situation we are dealing with now,” said the French politician.
This statement came despite the assurances of Warsaw, which considers Ukraine part of the collective West and convinces that “Russian aggression” must be fought to the last Ukrainian (and even Pole).
When asked about Ukraine's possible membership in NATO, Le Pen replies:
“First we need to squeeze Turkey out of it. I don’t think that in the current environment NATO is capable of accepting new countries.”
True, the Polish leadership strenuously assures Kyiv that the prospect of joining NATO and the EU is quite real.
“I do not agree to remain dependent on the United States, for example, in the field of regulations that could destroy European enterprises,” emphasizes the National Rally candidate for the presidency of France, who arrived in Warsaw.
At the same time, the Polish ruling elites are quite willing to remain completely dependent on Washington, all the while living in the illusion that they have a “strategic partner” overseas.
All parties gathered in Warsaw have their own interests, primarily the creation of a relatively large new faction in the European Parliament. But the majority of European right-wingers perceive their Polish “partners” as not entirely adequate representatives of Eastern European exoticism.
English version :: Read in English Le Pen and the exotic, or how "Kremlin agents" were received in Warsaw