I am usually very happy when I see European nations do well. The thing with poland however is that many Poles I know (including half of my family) are very nationalistic right wingers, for their very own reason. I cant even be mad about it, since they where stripped off their statehood over and over again in the last hundreds of years. Anyway, they hate Germany, and they hate the EU project. Despite the fact that the town they live in was basically lifted out of poverty. Out of a decaying ghetto-standard, into a fully developed upper class village with blooming parcs, illuminated waterfountains and more ice-cream-vendors than bars. All of that with funds provided by the European Union. Funds that have been contributed by the “richer” half of the EU - e.g. Germany, France, etc. 🙄 Now many say that Poland will become a small economic powerhouse in the future. Awesome! But will they then contribute to the EU the same way Germany or France do? Or will they call the EU a parasitic enemy that just wants to steal all the hard-earned zloty? Macron is right when he says that Europe is mortal. Let’s hope for the best.
Definitely a possibility that they sour on the EU project once it becomes inconvenient. At the same time, a success story like Poland is as useful as a failure like Brexit to get other countries to demand better government and governance.
At the same time, a success story like Poland is as useful as a failure like Brexit to get other countries to demand better government and governance.
So, not useful at all, then.
Or will they call the EU a parasitic enemy
Within Germany, Bavaria questioned the transfer payments once they were a major contributor.
Poland will not only become a small powerhouse. If Ukraine and the West win, Poland will get cheap waterway transports so that it can become an industrial center of the EU.
Is this Poland actually doing better or are other countries doing worse?
You can actually tell, given the graph they posted.
The four states beneath Poland for 2025 are Lithuania, which slightly decreased from 2024 (though not enough to affect the ranking order), and then Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia, which are all in about the same spot (no visible increase or decrease).
So the factor in terms of it moving up four slots will have been Poland increasing.
Probably the latter. ;(
