‘We identify with Europe, not our own country’ say young Poles

By Wieslaw Horabik

Date: 18/03/04

"THE basic difference between Poles and Germans is that while the former prefer to enjoy life, the latter opt for steady hard work," says Erike Neumüller from Berlin, currently employed in an international bank in Warsaw. "Perhaps that will change" she adds quickly, "but it will certainly take time".

Such statements may boost fears that have recently haunted Western minds, as the media spun apocalyptic images of barbarian hordes, impatiently counting the hours to accession day and preparing to invade 'old' EU countries.

Poles, Czechs, Lithuanians and others are said to ready themselves for storming the gates of this Western paradise; authorities in the UK, Sweden and Germany are allegedly having nightmares, thinking of the masses of unqualified workers from the East abusing their welfare systems. Even those governments that initially said they would welcome new countries' workers have now imposed restrictions.

Are these fears reasonably justified?

The leading Polish sociologist, Janusz Czapinski, says they are not. "The Western countries are not going to be infested by a cheap, poorly qualified workforce from Poland," he said. "The people in the age span of 35-50 are scared of any changes and are afraid of potential risks. This is not a mobile group."

Elzbieta Krynska from the Institute of Labour and Social Affairs agrees. "I do not believe in mass emigration of young people from Poland," she says. "The perspectives for them are not bad in their native land; the unemployment rate among university graduates will be falling more rapidly than the average. In a few years' time, the situation in the labour market will significantly improve."

Yet, the German Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) estimates that in the first twelve months following accession, around 335,000 people from the ten new member states will be seeking employment in the West, some two-thirds of them in Germany and Austria. Therefore, Berlin has insisted on keeping easterners out of their jobs market for up to seven years after accession.

But while opinions differ on the possible emigration of middle-aged and older people, there is no doubt that young Poles are eager to seek happiness outside their country. To express this, the popular weekly Wprost has three youngsters portrayed on a recent front cover, showing their country an obscene gesture of rejection.

According to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, six million young Poles would try to settle abroad. Although the figures are pure speculation for the moment, many young Poles admit they dream of a Europe without boundaries. "We take the ideas of the united Europe very seriously," says Karolina Pawlin, 19, a German philology student. "And it means a free flow of people and products. Why should we not take advantage of this?"

Young people who are likely to leave Poland can be an asset for their countries of adoption and a loss for their native land. They speak foreign languages, they diligently absorb knowledge and they are adaptable.

"It is the sacred right of these people to emigrate," says Wlodzimierz Mich, a professor of political science at Lublin University. "The fault is ours; it is our society that must be blamed for failing to create proper starting conditions for the new generations. The future Poland will soon feel the necessity to import workers from abroad. Otherwise, who will pay for our pensions? "

Students say the prospects of living well in Poland are blurry if not hopeless. They deny they are greedy and money-driven. They do not dream of millions of euro but of normal lives with basic comfort, they claim. "My country cannot provide me with fundamental needs: a good job, proper medical care, a car, money to lead a stable, predictable existence and a two-week vacation in an attractive place. That is all I'm asking for. Are my demands too high?" inquires Waldemar Mazur, 23, a Warsaw University student.

So far, Poles have been escaping poverty, wars, occupation and lack of freedom. Their diaspora is estimated at 15 million. Nowadays, youngsters want to leave their unfulfilled dreams behind them. They blame corruption and bureaucracy for blocking their careers. They say their country is not a place in which a person may advance through his or her merits.

"There are no clear criteria of professional promotion," says Agnieszka Augustyn, 20, a biology student. "You have to have 'connections'. You have to be backed up by somebody influential. The only thing that counts is whose son or daughter you are."

Their lack of faith in fair chances and in the political class and state institutions in Poland, was further dented by the corruption scandals that have been shaking the country since the mid-1990s.

"Apart from a thriving Warsaw, our country evokes images of absolute decline," says Andrzej Szaflarski, 23. "There must have been some dignity here once, but it has been reduced to a struggle for power by all possible means", he adds.

Some of them go even further. "Everybody knew it would be difficult to extract eggs from an omelette," argues Piotr Zawada, 34, an economist with the Millennium Bank, "that is, capitalism from socialism, but it seems now that it proved entirely impossible. The very foundations of the new Polish economic and social systems are shaky."

The main reason for the general disenchantment is high unemployment of 20% - reaching a horrendous 50% in some areas. There are no clear rules of taxation, bureaucracy flourishes, the judicial system is ineffective and loopholes in legislature encourage swindles.

A graffito on the walls of one Polish city cries philosophically: "The terror of novelty makes us buy emptiness."

Asked about patriotism, young people express allegiance to Europe rather than to their own country. Poland is no longer a place with which they identify themselves.

"The young Poles are probably the most globalized creatures in the world," muses professor Czapinski. "After a two-week stay in Tokyo they claim to have slanting eyes." He also points out that the Polish youth have totally absorbed Western positive thinking. "They are not going to sit on the ruins of their country and cry. They are ready to grab new opportunities in order to improve the quality of their lives."

Some young Polish people will probably come and go. After a summer in the West, they will return to their complicated reality at home. Some of them will remain, however.

Polish politicians, largely blamed by youths for their frustrations, are reluctant to voice their opinions.

Most of them say that the young émigrés, after acquiring experience in the West, will return home and form a new business and political elite leading Poland to a bright future. Only time will tell - will Poland become a desolate place where old people sit on narrow benches by the road, smoking their pipes and recalling former days of glory, or a bustling country, full of young hopes?

• Wieslaw Horabik is a Polish freelance journalist.