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New European
10 hours ago
- Politics
- New European
Karol Nawrocki, Poland's MAGA president
France elected a socialist prime minister – and then almost simultaneously a conservative president. Italy elected a far right prime minister, Georgia Meloni, who obeys Italy ruling economic elites who depend on EU membership for their investment and profits. Europe now has several of these tandem governments, where different parties control different parts of the state and promote contradictory policies. Poland can now be added to that list. Poland's new president, Karol Nawrocki, admires Trump, is cool towards Ukraine and sports a 'Chelsea FC ' tattoo. He also embodies the dizzying, see-sawing politics of today's Europe. Fifteen years ago I spoke on a platform with Donald Tusk, the long – probably too-long – leader of the centre-right-liberal Civic Platform party, and current prime minister. Back then, Tusk was cheered at an economic conference, as he promised he would take Poland into the euro. It hasn't happened. Like every other EU leader, Tusk has a transactional relationship with Europe. When Tusk, first elected prime minister two decades ago, now 68, returned to power in 2023 he had to work with a president, Andrzej Duda, from the europhobic Law and Justice Party (PiS) headed by Lech Kaczynski. The president of Poland has to countersign laws and also controls the appointment of judges and other key posts, from museum directors to the head of the Polish equivalent of the BBC. The American writer, Anne Applebaum, is married to Poland's foreign minister Radek Skiorski and is the historian of the Soviet Gulag system. In her fine and very readable book Twilight of Democracy, written in 2022 she examined the political-social forces that gave birth to the Polish union Solidarity, which signalled the end of communist rule in Poland 40 years ago. The book goes on to show how that new political settlement fell apart in the face of the muddy compromises ushered in by the new of democratic era. The PiS Party which ruled from 2014-2023 is anti-women, anti-gay, anti-liberal and even embraced Holocaust denial. It was ultra-Catholic, banned abortion and objected to EU policy on climate change and LGBT rights. It opposed enlargement to take in Ukraine. Suggested Reading Here's how Orbán could be ousted Iván L Nagy There was an upsurge in the 2023 election similar to the enthusiasm that took Labour to power last year. Young voters, women, liberals, and greens voted out PiS, but Tusk did not know how to convert this youth-led wave into a new politics of change. The old parliamentary game-playing returned. Polish workers who joined Solidarity en masse in 1981 now turn their backs on trade unions, whose membership is among the lowest in Europe. There is no effective social democratic politics in Poland. Into this situation stepped Nawrocki, who has a PhD in Polish history and speaks English, and who made a career of reminding Poland of her confiscated national history. He wrote books on organised crime that had taken place during the communist years 1945-1990. He called for the replacement of monuments to Russian soldiers who are seen in Poland as Hitler's allies. He was elected a local councillor and headed a town council for a few years. He then was director of the Gdansk Museum of World War 2 Remembrance. The UK has just celebrated VE day but for Poles 1945 meant the arrival of a new occupying power, Stalin's Russia, helped by collaborators inside Poland and cruelties against anyone who opposed communist imperialism. It is this Poland that Nowracki appeals to. While the Civic Platform chose the Mayor of Warsaw, a nice liberal Sadiq Khan type politician, to be its candidate for president, PiS allowed Nawrocki to run as an independent anti-abortion, anti-EU, anti-gay, anti-woke candidate. His pre-election rally used the slogan MPGA – Make Poland Great Again. Poles are Americanphiles to the point of exaggeration. They hate Putin, but are fed up with 1 million Ukrainian refugees and don't want to allow poor Ukraine into the EU to get a share of EU funds. Like Nigel Farage (and, ahem, Sir Keir Starmer) Nawrocki backs large infrastructure projects, especially rail links. He opposes the euro. He opposed the Tusk government's liberal economics including reducing the healthcare contributions paid by business, while at the same time he opposed any reduction in healthcare funding. He has promised not to raise the retirement age, to ban businesses operating on Sundays, and to provide more cash for farmers and promote 'patriotic economics.' As president he has no power to legislate on any of these promises. But like Farage he can spot an opening in the political market as all mainstream liberal politicians as well as social democrats, from Poland to the British Isles, have forgotten that poverty exists. Nawrocki will ally with other nationalist populist parties in Poland as well as the PiS who hope to win full government power in 2027. Social democratic politics has been fading in Europe ever since the democratic left allowed the EU to become a centre-right liberal project. Nawrocki's election as president of Poland confirms this trend. Denis MacShane is the UK's former Minister of Europe. He wrote the first book on Polish Solidarity in 1982 and was briefly imprisoned in Warsaw for running money to the underground Polish Solidarity opposition movement
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
250 years ago, religion played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. Today, clergy are resuming the fight
'All of us are deeply concerned about the preservation of democracy, because without democracy, faith cannot flourish,' said Reverend Fred Small, a community minister at Arlington Street Church in Boston. 'Christian nationalism is not a future that any of us embrace, although there are many — the majority of us — are Christians.' The group was specifically protesting the Trump administration's Advertisement Among all Christians, 51 percent disapproved of Trump's job as president in an April Advertisement The march drew inspiration from religious leaders' prominent involvement in the American Revolution and the Civil Rights movement, Lerner said. Specifically, the group called for legislative protections for vulnerable communities as the Trump administration intensifies its 'In our country, having people taken off the streets and no opportunity to defend themselves — that is not an America we have been working on for thousands of years,' Lerner said. In the American Revolution, parishioners across religious sects used scripture to 'Clergymen were using their churches to talk about how this struggle against Britain was not just a political battle over taxes and tariffs,' Lerner said. 'It was one they saw through a moral lens, a religious lens, a spiritual lens.' Churches in the South also played a Clergy drew On Friday, the group of clergy stopped several times along the 12-mile route, drawing more than 300 people throughout its march, said Rabbi David Lerner, senior rabbi at Temple Emunah. Some joined for a few miles while others committed to the long walk. Advertisement While resting in Cambridge, Small, who walked all 12-miles, said he was feeling the exhaustion. He has arthritis in one knee and was wearing a knee race under his black clerical suit. 'It is a trivial sacrifice that I'm making compared to people who are presently incarcerated in an ICE facility, or worse yet, a Gulag in El Salvador,' he said. Speakers at the march cited scripture in their speeches and said Trump's actions are antithetical to their religions. Small held a sign reading reading 'Welcome the stranger,' referencing Matthew 25:35. 'The reason we have separation of church and state is not that they should live in separate spheres, but we can do our thing — worship, have integrity — and have a moral voice and stand up for justice,' said Willie Barnett, a pastor at Great Road Church in Acton. Barnett said his participation in the march doesn't indicate partisanship, but having 'a moral voice for liberty.' Small said it was important to him to not only confine his religion to a place of worship but practice it in the world. 'Universally, all faith traditions call for justice — visiting the prisoner, comforting and uplifting those who are suffering,' he said. 'The current administration seems to preach and live a gospel of cruelty.' As the group walked toward the Longfellow Bridge to enter Boston, cars honked and people rolled down their windows, cheering. As the group approached Boston Common, rain started to drizzle. It gave way to the sun as about 100 people gathered in front of the Embrace statue, praying and listening to speeches. Advertisement Mariama White Hammond, the founding pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester and former chief of energy, environment, and open space under Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, led the protesters in several songs. Barnett said the walk was encouraging. 'A lot of us as ministers right now can be discouraged about the state of the world and also what it means to lead our congregations in these times,' he said. 'There's a great community coming together, sharing experiences as we walk, and finding hope.' Emily Spatz can be reached at
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Putin's love of Stalin should terrify us all
When Britain released the satirical film the Death of Stalin in 2017, Russia accused the British Government of waging a psychological war by seeking to insult Soviet history, and banned it almost immediately. Ironically, the Kremlin itself is now engaging in a psychological campaign against its own citizens using Stalin's legacy. Last week, a statue honouring Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Moscow's metro station. This is not the first time that Vladimir Putin has sought to glorify the authoritarian leader. More than 100 such statues have been erected across Russia. These monuments are emblematic of a decades-long Kremlin-led effort to rehabilitate Stalin's image. In 2015, for example, when his government took over Russia's last intact Gulag, the 'Perm-36' memorial complex, it replaced content about the lives and struggles of prisoners with content honouring the guards and the camp's role in World War II timber production. Likewise, since 2020, Moscow law enforcement has prevented demonstrations commemorating victims of the Great Terror. In 2021, the government forcibly shut down Memorial, an organisation which documented Soviet human rights abuses, arguing that 'Memorial besmirches our history [by making] us – a generation of victors and the heirs of victors – to justify our history.' In 2023, Putin introduced new mandatory high school textbooks that effectively absolved Stalin of blame for the effects of Stalinism while unequivocally praising his successes. As Stalin himself stated: 'education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it.' In 2024, the government even began rescinding symbolic acquittals granted under Gorbachev and Yeltsin to millions of falsely accused defendants whom Stalin's regime tortured and killed These moves collectively reveal the regime's effort to rehabilitate a totalitarian dictator – one who orchestrated mass attacks and deliberate starvation against his own citizens, condemned millions to death in Gulag labour camps, and perpetrated atrocities across multiple countries during World War II – as a national hero. This makes perfect sense for Putin, who is capitalising on and amplifying Stalin's popularity to justify his own imperial ambitions in Ukraine. The two leaders have much in common. Both have committed horrific war crimes, both seek the subjugation of Ukraine, both demonise and persecute internal opposition, both control the information space entirely, and both see their citizens as replaceable pawns to be manipulated and taken advantage of. This overlap is no accident. Putin has shaped his rule in the shadow of Stalin's, and it is thus imperative that he reinforces positive public opinion about his reign. It seems to be working, with 39 per cent of Russians naming Stalin as 'the most outstanding figure of all times and nations' in 2021. Through these domestic information operations, nationalism has steadily risen in Russia as well, with 70 per cent of citizens regarding Stalin as a 'great leader' in 2019. To effectively respond to Putin's orchestrations, the UK must confront the realities of public opinion. Sending tales about Western democracy will not resonate with the Russians – London must instead appeal to nationalism by portraying Putin as a weak leader who destroyed Russian glory with his war in Ukraine. As the Kremlin basks in the glow of its recent Victory Day celebrations, the UK should revive old jokes about Stalin, unsettling the image of power and historical legitimacy that Putin seeks to construct. Effective information operations could show Russians how their country went from a nation of international respect and prestige to a global pariah. The UK should demonstrate that instead of 'Making Russia Great Again,' Putin has 'Made Russia Weak Again.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Putin's love of Stalin should terrify us all
When Britain released the satirical film the Death of Stalin in 2017, Russia accused the British Government of waging a psychological war by seeking to insult Soviet history, and banned it almost immediately. Ironically, the Kremlin itself is now engaging in a psychological campaign against its own citizens using Stalin's legacy. Last week, a statue honouring Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Moscow's metro station. This is not the first time that Vladimir Putin has sought to glorify the authoritarian leader. More than 100 such statues have been erected across Russia. These monuments are emblematic of a decades-long Kremlin-led effort to rehabilitate Stalin's image. In 2015, for example, when his government took over Russia's last intact Gulag, the 'Perm-36' memorial complex, it replaced content about the lives and struggles of prisoners with content honouring the guards and the camp's role in World War II timber production. Likewise, since 2020, Moscow law enforcement has prevented demonstrations commemorating victims of the Great Terror. In 2021, the government forcibly shut down Memorial, an organisation which documented Soviet human rights abuses, arguing that 'Memorial besmirches our history [by making] us – a generation of victors and the heirs of victors – to justify our history.' In 2023, Putin introduced new mandatory high school textbooks that effectively absolved Stalin of blame for the effects of Stalinism while unequivocally praising his successes. As Stalin himself stated: 'education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it.' In 2024, the government even began rescinding symbolic acquittals granted under Gorbachev and Yeltsin to millions of falsely accused defendants whom Stalin's regime tortured and killed These moves collectively reveal the regime's effort to rehabilitate a totalitarian dictator – one who orchestrated mass attacks and deliberate starvation against his own citizens, condemned millions to death in Gulag labour camps, and perpetrated atrocities across multiple countries during World War II – as a national hero. This makes perfect sense for Putin, who is capitalising on and amplifying Stalin's popularity to justify his own imperial ambitions in Ukraine. The two leaders have much in common. Both have committed horrific war crimes, both seek the subjugation of Ukraine, both demonise and persecute internal opposition, both control the information space entirely, and both see their citizens as replaceable pawns to be manipulated and taken advantage of. This overlap is no accident. Putin has shaped his rule in the shadow of Stalin's, and it is thus imperative that he reinforces positive public opinion about his reign. It seems to be working, with 39 per cent of Russians naming Stalin as 'the most outstanding figure of all times and nations' in 2021. Through these domestic information operations, nationalism has steadily risen in Russia as well, with 70 per cent of citizens regarding Stalin as a 'great leader' in 2019. To effectively respond to Putin's orchestrations, the UK must confront the realities of public opinion. Sending tales about Western democracy will not resonate with the Russians – London must instead appeal to nationalism by portraying Putin as a weak leader who destroyed Russian glory with his war in Ukraine. As the Kremlin basks in the glow of its recent Victory Day celebrations, the UK should revive old jokes about Stalin, unsettling the image of power and historical legitimacy that Putin seeks to construct. Effective information operations could show Russians how their country went from a nation of international respect and prestige to a global pariah. The UK should demonstrate that instead of 'Making Russia Great Again,' Putin has 'Made Russia Weak Again.'
New York Times
6 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Stalin's Image Returns to Moscow's Subway, Honoring a Brutal History
After a nearly six-decade absence, the face of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator who was not known for sparing lives to achieve his goals, is once again greeting commuters in one of Moscow's ornate subway stations. A new statue was unveiled by the authorities this month, showing Stalin gazing sagely into the distance, flanked by adoring workers and children holding out flowers to him. A replica of one that was removed in 1966 during a de-Stalinization campaign, the new relief quickly became an attraction, with people leaving flowers, stopping to pose for pictures, including with their children, or just watching pensively. The sculpture is part of the gradual rehabilitation of a brutal leader who still has the power to divide Russians, 72 years after his death. The Kremlin has revived parts of his legacy in its effort to recast Russia's history as a series of glorious triumphs that it is determined to continue in Ukraine. Among those admiring the work on a recent visit was Liliya A. Medvedeva, who said she was 'very happy that our leader got restored.' 'We won the war thanks to him,' said Ms. Medvedeva, a pensioner born in 1950, adding that she was grateful that Stalin didn't send her father to the Gulag even though he was taken prisoner during World War II — something that was equated with treason at the time. 'Yes, there were many mistakes, but everybody makes mistakes.' In a country where criticizing government action can be dangerous, it is unclear how many people disagree with Ms. Medvedeva's positive view, but some are dismayed, even enraged, by what they see as revisionist whitewashing of history. Vladimir, a 25-year-old history student who refused to give his last name for fear of retribution, said he came to watch the crowd drawn by Stalin, whom he called 'a bloody tyrant.' 'It is hard for me to express my own opinion,' he said. 'But no other monument would draw as much attention.' Stalin was responsible for mass purges, including the Great Terror of 1936 to 1938, when more than 700,000 people were executed, including military leaders, intellectuals, members of ethnic minorities, landowning peasants and others. Under his leadership, entire ethnic groups, like Crimean Tatars, were expelled from their homelands. His policies contributed to mass famine across the Soviet Union, including in Ukraine. But nostalgia for the Soviet era is strong, especially among older generations traumatized by the painful transition to capitalism, reinforcing memories of Stalin as a strongman who imposed order on a sprawling country and led it to victory against Nazi Germany. His admirers see purges, famines and mass deportations as 'excesses' for which overzealous local officials were mostly responsible. Since Vladimir V. Putin took power more than 25 years ago, at least 108 monuments to Stalin have been erected across Russia, and the pace has accelerated since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Ivan Zheyanov, a historian and journalist who has kept track of the statues. One was installed this year in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, currently occupied by Moscow's forces. But none of them have the visibility of the new sculpture in the subway, passed daily by legions of Muscovites changing between the main circle line and the purple line. Yelena D. Roshchina, an English instructor walking by it, said she recalled Stalin's death in 1953 and how people 'valued him.' But, Ms. Roshchina, 79, added: 'We should not go to the extremes. We always have it either black or white.' For years the Kremlin tried to maintain something of a balance, taking note of Stalin's repressions while opposing the liberal intelligentsia whose main ideological tenets included anti-Stalinism. President Putin has repeatedly condemned Stalin over the years, and recognized that terrible crimes were committed under his rule. He has visited the sites of mass graves and convened human rights activists and historians to discuss Stalinism. 'It is very important that we all and future generations — this is of great significance — know about, and remember this tragic period in our history when entire social groups and entire peoples were cruelly persecuted,' Mr. Putin said in Moscow in 2017, at the opening of the 'Wall of Sorrow' monument to victims of Stalinist repression. 'This terrifying past cannot be deleted from national memory or, all the more so, be justified by any references to the so-called best interests of the people.' In 2001, Moscow City Hall founded the Gulag History Museum, which vividly showcased how a system of mass labor camps led to as many as two million deaths. But for several years, something entirely different has been happening in parallel. The Memorial, the most prominent Russian civil rights organization founded by dissidents during late Soviet times, was declared a foreign agent in 2014. At the end of 2021, Moscow City Court ordered it to disband. In 2017, Mr. Putin told the filmmaker Oliver Stone that 'excessive demonization of Stalin has been one of the ways to attack the Soviet Union and Russia.' After a series of lengthy trials, Yuri A. Dmitriev, an amateur historian who discovered graves of Stalin's victims in a remote pine forest in northern Russia, was sentenced in 2021 to 15 years in prison. Mr. Dmitriev had been found guilty of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, charges his family and friends dismissed as fabricated. The Gulag History Museum was shut down in 2024 citing fire regulations and has not reopened. Roman Romanov, its longtime director, was removed from his post and the museum's exhibits are being redone under a new leadership. This April, the government renamed Volgograd's airport for Stalingrad, as the city was called from 1925 to 1961, honoring both the colossal battle fought there in World War II and the ruler it had been named for. 'The creeping re-Stalinization of the country is dangerous not only for society, as it justifies the largest government atrocities in the country's history, but also for the state,' said Lev Shlosberg, a Russian opposition politician and member of the liberal Yabloko party that started a petition to dismantle the monument in the Moscow metro. 'Sooner or later, repression consumes the government itself.' In the metro, activists left a framed poster in front of the new Stalin monument, a very risky protest by the standards of today's Russia. The poster contained Mr. Putin's quotes criticizing Stalin's methods. Security guards quickly removed it, and the police later detained one person who had taken part in the protest.
