It Begain in Poland: 20-page e-supplement

A huge poster of a gun-slinging cowboy is draped down Warsaw’s Stalinist-era Palace of Culture to commemorate June 4 1989, the day that Poland had its High Noon showdown with the communists.

Solidarity’s victory at the ballot box in the semi-free elections two decades ago was indeed a showdown — but not a shoot-out. As a result, it set the tone for the remarkable year of 1989, the year of bloodless revolutions. If the fiery Poles could get rid of the communists without hanging anyone from the lamp posts, ran the logic, then there was hope for the whole region. Communist governors could surrender or develop exit strategies that would allow them to re-invent themselves in the new emerging order.

It was a remarkable achievement: by the end of the year, all the dominoes had tumbled. And it was the Poles that had defined the terms, shown the possibility of negotiationg a way out of a dictatorship.

Yet there was barely a squeak of triumphalism from the Poles today. Instead, the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk were at loggerheads over where and how to celebrate the anniversary. President Kaczynski preferred to mark the day in Gdansk, scene of the Solidarity shipyard strike in 1980. Mr Tusk, afraid that unhappy shipyard workers would demonstrate and spoil Poland’s image, is marking the day in sedate Krakow in southern Poland. It is a bit of a mess but typical of the tug-of-war between presidents and premiers that has marked much of the past 20 years. The political class that emerged out of the Solidarity dissident movement has never quite resolved its differences. The nationalists claim that Solidarity moderates, by striking a deal with the communists, ensured the continuation of communist networks. The more liberally inclined heirs to Solidarity say that the past is largely irrevelant — the priority is to modernise and europeanise the state.

The tensions still crackle. And the Poles seem a little despondent even on a day that marks one of their real achievements. “Why do we always end up letting our victories dribble away with endless arguments?” sighed a Warsaw friend.

So it is up to well-wishing foreign obervers to tell the Poles to shake off the gloom. The bottle is more than half full.

First, despite all the bickering, the Poles have successfully built up strong democratic institutions over the past two decades.

Second, the economy, though flagging a little, is still growing — 0.8 per cent growth in the first quarter, compared with severe contractions in almost every other EU country. Building projects for the 2012 European soccer championships, to be co-hosted with Ukraine, will help to keep employment up and will modernise the transport infrastructure.

Third, the exodus of Poles to work in western Europe is starting to enrich society at home. Young people are returning from Britain with some start-up capital and fresh ideas.

Finally, Poland is again emerging as a regional leader. The Hungarian and Latvian economies are hovering on the brink of meltdown, the Czech government collapsed in the middle of its EU presidency, Bulgaria is being branded as the most corrupt state in the EU. Poland, especially under the Tusk government, is steering a steady course. Certainly relations with the US and western Europe are on an even keel.

Poland could now set the pace for the region, as it did in 1989, by projecting itself eastwards to stabilise the EU borderlands.

Ukraine in particular needs to be told that it has a European perspective, that it is not doomed to permament limbo between an assertive Russia and and an unwelcoming EU. Poland already has a subtle and intelligent policy towards Kiev. Now is the time for the country to recover some of its confidence and build a solid bridge between the EU and its eastern neighbour.

All revolutionaries need a mission for when the barricades are dismantled. This is it: a strong, European-minded Ukraine is in in the interests not only of the Poles, but of the whole EU. Time to stop quarreling in Warsaw, and think about the neighbours.

Roger Boyes is one of the contributors to a special Times supplement marking the anniversary of the June 1989 elections in Poland.

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