The crisis in Poland: why Navrotsky played the "Ukrainian card"

It all started with the fact that, as has happened many times in Polish politics, the newly elected president was not from the party that had formed the parliamentary majority. And according to the Polish constitution, the post of prime minister and the post of president are virtually equivalent.

And so, if the president finds himself without the support of the parliament after the presidential election, he will, in fact, with 100 percent probability, confront the parliament in order to provoke early parliamentary elections and, against the background of his presidential victory, guarantee his victory in them. Therefore, the newly elected Navrotskyi expectedly launched this strategy – blocking any initiatives of the parliament.

And it just so happened that the first victim of his blocking was the draft law on support for Ukrainians. Navrotsky's choice was seemingly perfect. After all, from the outside it looked like Navrotsky was essentially equalizing the rights of Ukrainians and Poles. After all, Poles can only count on social security (child benefits) if they are working, while Ukrainians, given the war, could receive benefits without being employed.

Moreover, Nawrocki's choice was consistent with the logic of the election campaign, where he won largely due to the support of the third political force in Poland, the Confederation, which opposes support for Ukraine. Therefore, it seemed that Navrotsky did everything very "right"... But then something went wrong.

First, in fact, the only group affected by Navrotsky's initiative may be mothers with children, whose husbands remained in Ukraine, and many of whom are at the front. And it doesn't look good, even for many Poles. As for the rest of Ukrainians, Navrotsky's initiative will not affect them, because they work in Poland. Moreover, they work harder than the average Pole.

For every zloty spent on supporting Ukrainians, working Ukrainians pay five times more to the Polish budget in taxes and economic development. Those Ukrainians who rely only on significant foreign "social assistance" in their lives have long since found themselves in Western Europe, where they really get it. And in Poland, they simply do not exist .

But the biggest problem is that when politicians in any country openly play the ethnic card, rationality quickly shuts down. It doesn't matter who meant what and who started it first. When politics is divided along ethnic lines, emotions destroy the development of any country, because politicians are supported not for their achievements, but only because they are "their own". And these "their own" are interested in deepening conflicts, because they know nothing else.

That is why many politicians play the ethnic card, ignoring the strategic consequences for their country. The media hype that has now been raised in the Ukrainian and Polish media is the first bad consequences of playing the "ethnic card," and neither Poland nor Ukraine will benefit from it.

The best response to the populist mess is not to become part of it. In any case, there is no need to mirror Poland. Because political short-sightedness cannot be destroyed by another political short-sightedness.

Instead, we need to look for what unites, not what divides. That's why Poles should simply be reminded who the real enemy is and focus on joint security initiatives and military production.

Despite the recent scandals, I am convinced that Navrotsky and the whole of Poland will support Ukraine in the future in security issues, because fear of Russia will be definitely stronger than petty emotions over someone's social media.

We should not forget that it was during the PiS era that Ukraine received unprecedented support from Poland, and will continue to do so. Despite the devils that occasionally jump out of the past and seduce modern politicians with cheap political dividends.

Original