Updated Jan. 14, 2025 at 5:35 p.m.*
-Analysis-
WARSAW — “While the West is falling apart, one nation in Eastern Europe is building a superpower…”
“The truth about Poland’s success is inconvenient…”
These are just a few of the sentiments expressed by right-wing commentators in the West, who have bought in to a candy-colored vision of Poland, looking at the country with a mixture of admiration and envy.
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I’m used to hearing such comments. Several times while in the U.S. talking to Donald Trump’s voters at a rally, and I introduce myself as a reporter from Poland, the twinkle lights in their eyes. Not always, but it happens often enough.
People pat me on the back and begin to melt in admiration for my country that “has not given up its Christian values,” that “has not fell for leftist madness,” and that does not worry about political correctness. The Polish president wasn’t shy about saying “no immigrants and that’s it”.
They also remark about how “Poles work so hard,” and helped build America: “We need more of you, instead of all those people coming up from the south.”
Those better informed and interested in world affairs also praise our defense spending, sighing that if everyone in Europe armed themselves like this, America would not have to pick up the bill.
At a rally in Arizona, Nicole declared that Poland has the right abortion laws, and asks me how our government treats transgender people.
You may have seen the admiring comments for this viral post showing a prom night dance on Twitter. In a beautiful hall with a decorative lamp, young people perform a polonaise: straight-ahead boys in suits and white gloves, pale-faced girls in white shirts and long black dresses that Amish girls would be proud of.
An ironic caption from one of the sharers reads: “This shocking video from Poland may be very disturbing to progressive Westerners!”
I also saw recordings from the Warsaw metro (“I can’t believe how clean it is!”), a gas station (“First you fill up, then you pay – how is it possible that no one leaves?”) and the center of Warsaw, adorned with Christmas decorations, filled with dignified couples walking past.
In the eyes of foreigners, Poland has simultaneously become known as the eldorado of capitalism, and a haven of tradition. A country that — perhaps due to the historical traumas of communism — still appreciates hard work and the fight for a better future — and also believes in God, family and values. A country that did not allow itself to be carried away by “woke madness”, that cares about its citizens, and that instills patriotism in its young people. On top of that, it guards its borders.
An oversimplified picture
I don’t want to get too worked up over this vision of our homeland. After all, we all, to a greater or lesser extent, think about the world in terms of stereotypes.
Other than that, what can I say, I partly share their admiration for Poland, although not exactly for the same reasons. We have made quite a nice country for ourselves.
But Poland’s growing role is appreciated not only by home-grown geopoliticians from X, but also by serious analysts in key European capitals. Although they associate it with the return of our country to the mainstream of European politics since the fall of the Law and Justice Party last year.
Everyone picks what suits them from the pictures of Poland.
During a reporting trip to Brussels before the elections to the European Parliament, I heard more than once that Donald Tusk’s ideas on migration policy could be used to create broader solutions (which I think is becoming a reality). In Washington, my interlocutors emphasized how important Poland is to Europe’s security.
At the same time, it will be clear to anyone who actually knows Poland that the praise that many Western conservatives reserve for it are actually a rather selective collection of misrepresentations, simplifications and mere fantasies. Everyone picks what suits them from the pictures of Poland, ignoring the rest.
The admirers of Poland’s economic success forget about the millions of people who were painfully affected by the country’s transformation from communism to capitalism. Advocates of a hard line on immigrants are silent about our aid to millions of Ukrainians, and the visa scandal in which the Law and Justice government offered Polish visas to 350,000 foreigners in exchange for bribes on the other. Delighted with the political choices of the Poles, it’s as if they haven’t heard about the end of conservative Catholic rule in Parliament after last year’s elections.
Fans of the metro in the capital do not report that only two lines are in operation. Admirers of the traditional values of Polish youth widen their eyes in shock when I tell them that weekend parties in big-city clubs are a bit different from the polonaise video that went viral on X.
An inconvenient truth about Poland
The starting point that justifies right-wing fantasies about Poland is hard economic data.
It got to the point where a few weeks ago The Daily Telegraph was wringing its hands over the fact that it’s hard to find a Polish plumber or builder today, because the gap between living standards in the two countries, which fueled post-2004 migration, has narrowed significantly.
In May, British media noted Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s statement promising that on the 25th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the European Union, Poland’s GDP per capita would be higher than that of the UK.
“It’s simple: Poland has found the perfect blend of East and West. They combined: Western innovation without bureaucracy and Eastern work ethic and traditional values without authoritarianism. The results are mind-blowing,” X user Ole Lehmann argues in another viral post on X.
“While the West is falling apart, one Eastern European nation is quietly building a superpower: it is outpacing the American economy, [has] the strongest military in Europe, a new favorite hub for Silicon Valley investments worth .7 billion,” another post reads.
His point, however, is misleading. The latter figure comes from a 2020 report prepared by KPMG for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and refers to all U.S. capital invested in Poland in the previous 30 years, rather than the investments of Silicon Valley specifically.
Xenophobic undertones
There is also something troubling in the collective fascination with Poland. Maybe you have noticed that although Warsaw has become a multi-ethnic and multicultural city again, the videos spread by our conservative admirers show almost only whites?
Yes, the fantasy of a peaceful country on the Vistula River is also a story of how the combined forces of more or less anti-immigrant governments and Eastern European tradition (read: xenophobia) are holding back the invasion of strangers.
At a rally in rural Pennsylvania, I struck up a chat with a Trump staff volunteer, who convinced me that Poland and Viktor Orban’s Hungary were acting as the bulwark of Europe, protecting it from “foreign hordes.”
“You are defending European civilization,’” said my interviewee, Judith Weiss, a Trump supporter.
Not about Poland
It’s funny how often all of these simulacra of Polish reality are picked up by Poles themselves. Paeans to our country are also eagerly repeated, spread and multiplied by accounts with the red and white flag on their profiles.
If you dig too deep, you’ll still find something that doesn’t fit your simplistic vision of reality.
This is a broader phenomenon: faced with the overwhelming historical complex of Europe’s periphery, we love to see ourselves in the eyes of others. It is no coincidence that Polish media regularly publish foreign press reviews after every important event. By comparison, most Americans are completely indifferent to what Poles think of them.
Those who are singing our praises abroad are not really concerned with Poland. Rather, they treat it as an excuse to confirm their beliefs and prejudices. This explains the rather superficial knowledge of our country found abroad. If you dig too deep, you’ll still find something that doesn’t fit your simplistic vision of reality. And then, God forbid, the beautiful Polish myth will start to crumble.
*Originally published Dec. 26, 2024, this piece was updated Jan. 14, 2025 with enriched media.
