Civil society and the far-right: a story of two Polands

Many Poles and Europeans breathed a sigh of reduction after Poland’s 2023 parliamentary elections. Whereas not one of the events overtly against the then incumbent Legislation and Justice gained essentially the most votes, the mixed votes of the Civic Coalition, the Third Approach and the Left Alliance allowed them to kind a coalition authorities. This dashed the hopes of Jarosław Kaczyński’s social gathering of a 3rd consecutive time period in workplace. Donald Tusk, the chief of the Civic Coalition and present prime minister, referred to as 15 October “among the finest days of Polish democracy” and claimed that Poles had “gained freedom, […] gained again our Poland”. International media equally interpreted this altering of the guard as an indication of hope in what was seen as an important election not just for the nation however for the whole area, which had been most instantly affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Because the mud settled and the brand new authorities obtained all the way down to work, it turned clearer than ever that the far proper was right here to remain. Regardless of Warsaw’s modified strategy to diplomatic and home relations, marked by an virtually speedy drop in hate speech that had considerably worsened the well-being of minorities (the newest analysis exhibits a rise in suicide charges for the reason that introduction of so-called “LGBT-free zones” in some Polish cities), there’s nonetheless a lot work to be finished by civil society actors to fend off sentiments that would weaken the delicate new stability of current months.

Limits, borders, sympathies

Sure points are already on the horizon and, if not addressed by the brand new authorities within the coming months, might simply be exploited by far-right events akin to Konfederacja (Confederation). One among them is the altering perspective of Poles in the direction of Ukrainians. Based on the newest polls, the preliminary enthusiasm for his or her everlasting presence within the nation has cooled considerably, with 50% of Poles aged 18-49 responding negatively to the potential of Ukrainians staying in Poland for a few years. Whereas the explanations for such a shift are complicated – starting from uncertainty concerning the final result of the struggle in Ukraine to a way that individuals’s efforts to welcome earlier waves of refugees haven’t been recognised – politicians and NGOs ought to pay explicit consideration to those sentiments, as they will translate into wider political developments.

Numerous teams are additionally utilizing this anti-Ukrainian sentiment to drum up assist for farmers’ protests, trying to construct a wider anti-EU motion across the argument that the free commerce settlement between Ukraine and the bloc is actively damaging European agriculture. Solely not too long ago, for instance, Konfederacja and Legislation and Justice MPs allowed protesters into the Polish parliament, displaying their assist not a lot for the farmers’ opposition to Ukrainian grain, however for the European Inexperienced Deal, the cancellation of which is one other of the motion’s calls for.

Furthermore, the farmers’ protest should be seen as one among many expressions of hysteria concerning the rising price of dwelling disaster, which, coupled with the results of local weather change, won’t go away any time quickly. Worryingly, the response of successive governments to those points seems to have been largely unsatisfactory and sluggish, regardless of the warnings of many non-state actors akin to NGOs, teachers and casual teams. Maybe the most important change in Poland over the previous decade has been the unbelievable agility of its residents in responding to successive political crises. This alteration must be taken critically by social gathering politics. Certainly, it could show to be Poland’s best hope within the face of future challenges.

Lively, involved, exhausted: civil society in Poland

“It’s value noting the speedy improvement of civil society in Poland since 2015,” says Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk, a journalist with OKO.press, one of many nation’s fundamental media retailers. “These weren’t solely grassroots protests, which required organisation and belief, but in addition the actions of bigger entities that assist civic participation in public debate.” Observers of the quite a few protests and actions of Poles within the final decade discover it laborious to disagree. Poles have developed a brand new understanding of civic engagement, each by means of huge avenue demonstrations – towards the near-total ban on abortion in 2016 and 2020, and towards modifications to the judiciary in 2017 – and thru the speedy, volunteer-based response to the a whole bunch of 1000’s of refugees who entered the nation after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

For the primary time since 1989, individuals who beforehand considered themselves as apolitical or unconcerned with politics turned aware of their very own company as residents. They underwent a high-speed schooling of their rights, liberties and the bounds of their very own activism, whether or not volunteering on the Polish-Belarusian border, protesting towards the so-called “homofobuses” (lorries driving round huge Polish cities, spreading homophobic and hate speech), or organising emergency welcome factors at prepare stations in late February 2022.

These actions have been undertaken independently from any central political energy or “mainstream” politics. Now, because the 2023 elections have proven, among the exact same individuals who have been new to activism entered politics, totally on a neighborhood degree.

“That is the place they apply what they’ve discovered and make different folks involved in public life. Many previously energetic residents turned to native politics by means of this path, and now they give you or use authorized options to cope with new challenges,” observes Jędrzejczyk. As of but, not that many of those types of political participation have penetrated the “mainstream”, however there are some first examples of such processes.

Maybe essentially the most fascinating one is that of Michał Kołodziejczak, the previous chief of the (often-viewed as populist) AGROunia motion of farmers – now Poland’s deputy minister of agriculture. Solely time will present to what extent folks like him introduced change to the nation and countered the far-right. 

With the assist of the Heinich Böll Stiftung European Union