TIRANA, Dec. 14- The political thought pillars of the late Polish president Kaczynski were the focus of a seminar organized by the Albanian Institute for International Studies and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tirana on Dec. 13. The seminar entitled ‘Political thought of Lech Kaczynski: Lessons for contemporary situation’ was addressed by Piotr Ariel Ukielski, a professor of the Institute of Political Studies (Central and Eastern Europe Department) who had collaborated with the late President during his time as a mayor of Warsaw for the establishment of the Warsaw Rising Museum.
The event was opened by HE Karol Bachura Ambassador of Poland to Albania who highlighted the fact that this event occurred on the 35th anniversary of a historical day for Poland’s communist past: the declaration of the Marshall Law in Poland which kept the dissent towards communism, at bay for an additional decade.
Ukielski elaborated on the two main elements of the political thought of Kaczynski: Politics of Remembrance, of historical reflection with the aim of building a future based on roots, a sense of shared identity and pride as well as Foreign Policy especially with a focus on the Region and the East. These policies were guided by a thorough importance he gave to remembering historical events and their interpretations, cautionary considerations of Russia, an approach encouraging energy independence and better overall coordination in Western Europe as well as a positive attitude towards enlargement of both NATO and the EU.
According to Ukielski one of the key achievement of Kaczynski was to turn around the general interest on history which in Poland in the 90s was not a priority, given the prominence in opinion of a barren concept of the future. His contribution Ukielski said, his political vision helped to identify the implications of history to security, foreign policy and the European future of the country and took a central part in policy. This was realized inside the country with setting up the necessary institutions for remembrance as well as outside with efforts to shed light on various historical key events. Kaczynski was interested also in the perception of Poland’s history by others and did considerable work also on recognizing the role of Jewish communities in Polish history strongly supporting the relevant museum as well.
Most importantly the seminar highlighted the contemporary relevance and meaning of Kaczynski thought in the current context. Kaczynski was keenly aware of geopolitical currents and underlying strata of history’s direction. His warnings are of great interest today as he rightly foresaw the Russian next step which materialized in Ukraine with Crimea’s annexation. After the Russian intervention of 2008 in Georgia Kaczynski rightly predicted the next step calling upon decision makers to react properly.
Professor Ukielski in the end spoke on the fact that the legacy of Kaczynski is preserved and cherished in today Poland where the governing party is still the one of President Kaczynski and even the current president has been mentored by President Kaczynski in the past.
Responding to the audience interest, Ambassador Bachura reiterated Poland’s support for the integration of Albania and of the Western Balkans in the EU, witnessed also in the recent visit of the Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo, to Tirana. Ambassador Bachura said that the EU needs to have a clear vision of its political future and that without the Balkans the European project is not complete.
