Poland agitates against Germany: anti-German mood in the government

Good morning dear readers, you can’t choose your relatives, and neither can your neighbors. Sometimes you get along great with the residents next door, sometimes you just maintain a friendly neutrality. And sometimes there is trouble, and not too little. The relationship with neighbors can cover a wide range from like to dislike, that’s normal. One thing, however, happens less often: that people really worry about the well-being of the people next door. States also have neighbors. For example, we have a great nation thriving just across the eastern border. The economy is growing rapidly, you can’t overlook it: Everywhere people are hammering and building, houses are being built, some cities seem like a single construction site – things are making great progress. In the ranking of the largest economies in the EU, the hands-on people across the border are already in sixth place, and the trend is rising. The country ranks fifth in terms of population. Quite a lot of power, which could be a reason for just as much good humor. Instead, we have to be very worried. The powerful neighboring nation is called Poland. If you want to know why you can get scared and anxious while the country is apparently in the best of health, I have to ask you a few questions first. First of all, I would like to get the following information from you quite officially – from the authorities, so to speak: ” Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the compulsory admission mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?” Now before anyone complains, that’s a rather tendentious way of putting it: I’ll admit it. “Thousands” sounds like a rush, although it would be a tiny number compared to the size of a nation. “Illegal” also sounds dangerous – but whether the people fled for a good reason is of no interest to the bean. And the laboriously negotiated compromises, the joint decision of the EU member states? “Imposed by the European bureaucracy”. OK, oh well. Of course, there can be controversy over how to deal with migration. But one thing can be said for sure about the question I just put to you: it is not neutral. Speaking of leading questions, I have one more: “Support the sale of state assets to foreign companies, which will lead to the loss of control of citizens about strategic economic areas?” No, you don’t like that at all? I thought so. No wonder when you ask like that. Then you demonize investments from partner countries in the EU or the USA in future privatization and reform projects. Oh, isn’t it? As you can see: put it this way, things look completely different. I didn’t come up with the spin questions myself. The Polish PiS party did that. In parliament, the governing coalition has pushed through with its majority that its populist positions – cast in question form – be presented to the citizens as an accompanying program for the parliamentary elections in October. And actually formulated as above: unbridled tendentious and repeating the rhetorical maneuvers with which the PiS attacks its fiercest competitor in the election campaign. That’s the pro-Europe ex-Prime Minister and ex-EU Council President Donald Tusk. In a referendum, the Poles are supposed to give answers to the manipulative questions. The result has no effect on decisions that have already been made, such as the EU asylum compromise, but the questioning helps to incite the electorate before they immediately tick the next piece of paper for the future governing party. Election campaign in the voting booth – and only in favor of one side. The principles of fair voting are being thrown overboard in Poland with such verve that you have to let it sink in for a moment. This is not the first time that the PiS has been tinkering with the democratic foundations to secure its power. Undermining the independence of the judiciary and outfitting the Supreme Court with their own people is just as much a part of their strategy as attacks on independent media. Poland’s government is therefore constantly at odds with the EU. However, the sanctions from Brussels are not having a slowing effect. Undeterred, the PiS and its chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who came up with the idea of ​​the referendum, continue to push the boundaries of what is acceptable. According to his reading, the real bad guys in the whole story are of course others: namely us. It may not be news to you (I was also quite flabbergasted), but Germany’s compliant puppet, i.e. opposition leader Tusk, would organize Poland’s sell-out to Deutschland GmbH if he won the election. At least that’s what Mr. Kaczynski says. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, also from the PiS, promptly follows up and vilifies his competitor as the greatest threat to Poland’s security. You heard me right: That’s not Putin, it’s Mr. Tusk. Now one may dismiss such abstruse claims as election campaign bluster. But something always sticks. The anti-German propaganda of the PiS has a long tradition. It is poisoning the relationship of a significant part of the Polish population with their neighbors in the west, while internally the democratic foundations of the state are being demolished. Germany wants to turn the EU into a “Fourth German Reich,” Mr. Kaczynski once claimed. It’s tearing your hair out: Poland could be a brilliant success story and an enrichment for the community in Europe. Instead, the current course is jeopardizing the country’s enormous potential. The parliamentary elections on October 15 will decide whether our important, often underestimated and underestimated neighbor will find his way out of the undemocratic swamp – or whether he will sink even deeper into it. Incidentally, the PiS is ahead in the polls. Optimism is always good. Unfortunately, this time it’s appropriate that we really worry about our neighbors.Bambule in BayernThe coalition committee on the Hubert Aiwanger case met for three hours yesterday in Munich. Apparently not long enough to fully clarify the role of the Free Voters boss in the affair surrounding the anti-Semitic leaflet from the 1980s. His deputy should now answer a catalog of 25 questions in writing, Prime Minister Markus Söder demanded, without stating a time frame. In principle, he wanted to continue working with the Free Voters, said the CSU boss in his press statement – and included two subtle threats to his deputy: “Nothing more should be added” now, and coalitions are not dependent on individuals. In a beer tent speech, Söder made fun of Aiwanger in a voice reminiscent of Hitler. My colleague Tim Kummert describes his behavior as “cunning and oblivious to history”. Colleagues at the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” also have something to add: Aiwanger, who initially lied to the paper on various points, was probably worried earlier that the pamphlet could become public knowledge. As early as 2008, after entering the state parliament for the first time, he is said to have sent a party colleague to a former teacher to ask whether he was threatened by this “danger”. When the “SZ” confronted Aiwanger with the allegations of hate speech, the party friend contacted the teacher again. Pretty thin ice on which the Minister of State is moving. And quite certain that the affair will affect the state elections on October 8th. Reading tips When the anti-Semitic leaflet was written, the student Hubert Aiwanger was living in a small town in Lower Bavaria. Do the people there remember the case today? However, reports our reporter Carla Gospodarek. Refugee children in Germany often live in collective accommodation for years. My colleague Marianne Max reports that some are denied basic rights. The Ukrainian army is about to break through the first Russian line of defense. My colleague Patrick Diekmann explains what that means for the war. But that’s not proof of his innocence, writes my colleague Steven Sowa. Ear candy I’m still on the trip to Italy. Sweet as sugar.Finally,The Aiwanger method:I wish you a sincere day.Best regards,Florian HarmsEditor-in-Chief t-onlineE-Mail: t-online-newsletter@stroeer.deWith material from dpa.You can subscribe to the daily Tagesanbruch-Newsletter here free of charge.All Tagesanbruch- You can find the editions here. You can read all the news here.