Poland

The broad-range, deliberate robbery of Polish works of art by German and Soviet occupants left a thorough sensation of loss in the Polish culture. The database of war losses held by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland includes almost 66 thousand items, which is a fragment of the estimated number of 516 thousand lost items.

What happened to Poland and what occurred on its territories during the German occupation is a history of complete degeneration.

Germany never gave justice to its National Socialist past, they never compensated their victims. Heinz Reinefarth, the “Slaughterer of Warsaw,” was not only never punished but made a political career in Germany, prof. Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI argues.

Every mention of war reparations brings an allergic reaction from Berlin. In turn, payment thereof would be a milestone and an opportunity for Germany to lead to complete Polish-German reconciliation.

Shortly after midnight, on the night of August 23, 1939, Joseph Stalin drank a toast to Adolf Hitler.  The occasion, of course, was the signature of the Nazi-Soviet Pact – or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact – the non-aggression treaty between Moscow and Berlin which gave a green light to Hitler’s aggression against Poland and so paved the way for the outbreak of World War Two in Europe.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine not only brutally violated all international norms, but also triggered far-reaching economic consequences related to the re-orientation of trade and energy policies.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine makes us aware that Russia does not follow any rules of peaceful co-existence, partnership, or respect for international law.

On 1 August 1944, the Varsovians faced the last battle against the German Nazi totalitarianism.This was a struggle for everything that could not be provided by the Red Army tanks progressing from the east: for freedom, democracy, and the right to make our own decisions.

The inevitable split of the Visegrad Group does not discredit Central Europe. A rejection of the often disingenuous and pro-Russian ‘conservatism’ of Orban’s party is, in fact, a necessary precondition for the rest of the region to assert itself as a serious, constructive player.

There are still many documents abroad that are crucial for the story of the 20th-century fate of Poland and Poles.

There is no room for symbols marked with the red star in public space in free, independent and democratic Poland, nor in free Europe.

Once the war ends, we will face the challenge of helping to rebuild Ukraine. This is necessary for the development of our entire region.

There are two futures of Europe. Since the Treaty of Rome, the Treaties have included the ambition to forge “an ever-closer union” among the people (not peoples) of Europe. And then there is George H. W. Bush’s vision of Europe, “whole and free”.

The world must seek out-of-the-box solutions. Only in this way will we be able to head off the dangers of a domino effect. By changing the geometry of geopolitics, Ukraine has given us hope today

The ancient Romans used to say si vis pacem, para bellum, in other words “If you want peace, prepare for war”. However, this Latin adage conveys not only the basic doctrine of the art of war, but also the principle that guides Narodowy Bank Polski when taking its anti-crisis measures.

For the last quarter century, the Polish economy has been an underappreciated success story – underappreciated certainly in my country, the United States.

The providers of huge funds feeding Putin’s war machine still lecture Poland on the rule of law and pretend to see no difference between the defence against the migrants invading the EU from Belarus and the help offered to Ukrainian refugees. 

On the 3rd of May each year the Poles celebrate the anniversary of the passing of their 1791 constitution, the first such document of its kind in Europe and only the second in the world. 

The idea of Polish solidarity gives hope for a different organisation of our part of the world – one that is contrary to the “Russkiy mir”.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów) was a state that existed in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and was inhabited by Lithuanians, Poles, Belarussians and Ukrainians.