The Batory Foundation Debates

The Batory Foundation Debates are an attempt at establishing an independent meeting and discussion forum for politicians, professionals, public intellectuals and journalists. The Foundation has long organized conferences and seminars on transition in Poland, international affairs, Poland’s foreign policy and the situation in Central and Eastern Europe. Our goal was to initiate public discourse on subjects material to the future of our state and the region.

Polish foreign policy – continuation or severance?

February 5, 2004

The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation

Panellists: Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Premier of Poland, Andrzej Olechowski, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, and Dariusz Rosati, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland. The debate was summarized by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz,Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

After joining NATO in 1999, in May 2004, we received full membership rights in the European Union, thus further becoming a player in regional and European politics. Additionally, our decided support for the United States in the Iraqi crisis suddenly and unexpectedly made Poland a participant of global politics. The position on the Iraq war and military involvement during and after the victorious military operation have led to the evident cooling of relations with Poland’s hitherto closest European allies. The establishment of good relations with our neighbours had been a great achievement since 1989. The current poor state of relations with Germany seems to have its origins, though not exclusively, in the above-referenced factors. The state of our relations with other states of the region, including the Visegrad Group, also requires urgent consideration, especially in light of Poland’s regional leadership aspirations. Debate participants discussed how the change of Poland’s international position may impact our participation in shaping the Union’s future foreign policy, especially its Eastern dimension.

Series of debates Will the European Union Save Poland?

On the eve of Poland’s accession to the European Union, the attendant mood changed drastically. After the mild and optimistic atmosphere preceding the referendum came a time of hesitation, at times even dislike or enmity, toward the Union. In this situation, in April 2004, we began a cycle of debates entitled Will the European Union Save Poland? Our goal was to return equilibrium to the evaluation of the benefits and possible threats to our interests arising from Union accession and evaluation thereof on various levels: development opportunities, civilization of state and legal institutions, openness of borders and mass capital flow, openness of Europe to workers, students, thought and creativity. In a group of renowned politicians, specialists, participants of public life, we discussed the various pros and cons of Union accession.

State, law, society
April 5, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Michał Boni, former Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Ludwik Dorn, deputy to the Polish Parliament, Law and Justice Party; Michał Kleiber, Minister of Education and the Chair of the Scientific Research Committee, Ewa Łętowska, Justice of the Constitutional Tribunal and former Ombudsman, Mirosława Marody, sociologist, Institute of Social Sciences at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Marek Safjan, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Tribunal.

The discussion concerned the impact of the Union primarily on our non-economic institutions: the state, law – and, as a result, our society. In their speeches, participants referred to the following issues: How will transferring a portion of state sovereignty to the Union impact the actions of member states? Does the functioning of Union institutions constitute a threat to nation-states, or, conversely, will it favour their reinforcement? What influence does the Union currently have and what influence will it have in the future on the law and its application: protection of civic rights, guaranteeing individual and minority rights? How will European law and other European institutions exact increased efficiency and transparency from our courts, police and administration?

Economic opportunities
April 26, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Leszek Balcerowicz, President of the National Bank of Poland, Janusz Lewandowski, Deputy to the Polish Parliament, Citizen’s Platform Party; Dariusz Rosati, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, former member of the Monetary Policy Council, Włodzimierz Grudziński, President of the Bank BISE S.A., and Prof. Jan Winiecki, economist.

Participants responded to the following questions: Does accession to the European Union create opportunities or threats for the Polish economy? Will Polish businesses be able to withstand Union competition and function on the Union market, what benefits could arise from accession for employees, companies and regions? Participants agreed that EU accession alone does not guarantee success and much depends on us - from the successful carrying out of necessary reforms to the rational use of Union assistance. The very regulated EU economy sometimes puts up barriers to economic growth. However, Poland, as a member state, will have influence on the economic regulations to be put in place; it should be an active partner, an initiator of change and reform. Increased competition on the Union market, in the mind of the participants, is beneficial to consumers and companies. Polish businesses know how to act in the new environment, are used to changes and can evaluate their chances to face the challenges of the European market.

Union goals, Poland’s goals
May 17, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation

Panellists: Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Premier of Poland, Krzysztof Michalski, philosopher, Director of Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Zbigniew Nosowski, editor-in-chief of the Więź monthly, Wiktor Osiatyński, attorney, constitutional specialist, and Sławomir Sierakowski, editor-in-chief of the Krytyka Polityczna quarterly.

Against a backdrop of an ongoing discussion in the media regarding the preamble to the European Constitution, the moderator, Aleksander Smolar, posed the question: how important is the reference to Christian values in the political constitution of the community, where those distant from Christianity as well as members of other religions live? Should the community of European states be formed based on formal market and legal rules? The most important issue for all participants was how to “infuse soul” into the European community being built, how to cause the societies to feel a sense of community, how to engage people to feel a part of an important and vibrant society, and for all negotiated documents to be significant to the citizens of Union members states.

Security issues
June 24, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Bolesław Balcerowicz, retired Division General, Academy of National Defence, Antoni Podolski, International Relations Centre, former advisor to the Parliamentary Commission for Control of Secret Services, Adam Rotfeld, undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, former head of the Intelligence Agency, deputy to the Polish Parliament, Democratic Left Alliance.

Security issues in today’s world are far larger than just the question of protection against possible external attack. They also include questions of internal security. Debate participants attempted to answer the question whether in both dimensions – external and internal – Union membership will benefit our security. All agreed that enlargement of the European Union placed new challenges before member states in the realm of providing for their citizens’ security: international terrorism, frailty of state institutions in poorer countries as well as the uncontrolled proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. They further deemed that development of cooperation mechanisms in the realm of European security is necessary in light of the new global threats. Even though numerous institutions for international cooperation to assure security are already active within the enlarged European Union, cooperation with NATO is still necessary. After questioning the United States’ leadership in the North Atlantic Treaty, it is important for the European Union and NATO to develop a new partnership model.

Series of debates State Crisis and Possible Ways Out

In 2004, we continued a series of debates on the crisis of the state begun in September 2003.

An expression of the crisis of the state is the growing negative attitude toward the systemic changes taking place in Poland after 1989. There is no doubt that societal distrust toward political elites and non-political authorities is deepening. The feeling of crisis has various sources, however, the primary locus lies in the functioning of state institutions, political parties, the law, in ties between the political and business spheres, in the connections and tensions occurring between politics and the media. The relations of parties and politicians to the state and society, the process for selecting the political class, and frailty of control mechanisms to which politics are subject all play important roles. We sought answers to the questions on ways out of this crisis from a circle of politicians of various leanings, academics, business people and journalists, i.e. those who share our concern.

Delegated democracy – opportunity or threat for democracy?
January 22, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation

Panellists: Leszek Balcerowicz, President of the National Bank of Poland, Marcin Król, editor-in-chief of Res Publica Nowa, Mirosław Wyrzykowski, Justice of the Constitutional Tribunal, Andrzej Zoll, Ombudsman for Civil Rights Protection.

Delegated democracy is the establishment of institutions, which, though formed through a democratic process, are insulated from it in their activities. Such institutions are subordinated solely to their applicable goals and tasks, established in the constitutional document that appointed them. Their multiplication comes from the conviction that effective functioning of democracy requires a rigorous drawing of borders for the democratic process, an exclusion of certain important spheres of collective life from political wrangling. There are several such institutions in Poland: Constitutional Tribunal, Monetary Policy Council, the Public Radio and Television Council. The problem of delegating certain realms of democracy engenders numerous philosophical reservations - as to the principles of democracy and abridgment thereof, as well as reservations of a practical nature – with respect to the results of institutional activity not subjugated on a daily basis to the “will of the people” as expressed by parliament. These reservations were taken up as the subject of our discussion.

How to repair politics?
September 13, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Marek Borowski, former Marshall of the Polish Parliament, Social Democratic Party, Jacek Kurczewski, social scientist, Warsaw University, Radosław Markowski, Director of the Political Science Institute, Donald Tusk, Vice Marshall of the Polish Parliament, Citizen’s Platform, Jacek Żakowski, publicist, Polityka weekly.

A feeling of distrust, distance and alienation toward governing elites dominates within society. There are also problems with respect to politicians and democratic processes and procedures. The cause of this state of affairs is the low evaluation of political efficiency as well as the professional and moral qualifications of the political class. Debate participants discussed what this Parliament and present government could and should do to repair our politics and rebuild social trust. They discussed political boundaries: what such should be so as not to take away citizens’ voice and limit freedom while assuring effectiveness, transparency and the necessary control in fundamental state institutions and the form of electoral laws.

Media and democracy
October 25, 2004
The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Jerzy Baczyński, editor-in-chief of the Polityka weekly, Jan Dworak, Chair of the Polish Public TV Board of Directors, Helena Łuczywo, managing editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Jan Skórzyński, managing editor-in-chief of the Rzeczpospolita daily.

In light of the weakness of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, the media in Poland play a tremendous role in investigating the truth regarding the functioning of the political sphere and institutions of law in Poland. Thus, we considered what is the balance sheet of media accomplishments and sought answers to other questions of import: Do media succumb to manipulation by political circles, secret services and lobbyists? Is it the media’s ambition to influence the political process or even institutional forms of democracy in our country by promoting certain concepts, political personalities or parties? Do media facilitate the rise of populism in politics?

Poland’s local government. Balance of hopes, worries and doubts

November 29, 2004

The debate was moderated by Aleksander Smolar, President of the Batory Foundation.

Panellists: Witold Gintowt-Dziewałtowski, deputy to the Polish Parliament, Democratic Left Alliance, Lech Kaczyński, President of Warsaw, Marek Kuchciński, deputy to the Polish Parliament, Law and Justice, Michał Kulesza, former Government Plenipotentiary for Reform of Public Administration, Jerzy Regulski, President of the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy.

Transfer of a significant majority of authority to local governments was one of the great hopes of the Polish transformation after 1989. Today, however, problems related to their functioning have moved into the background. What is the evaluation of their achievements at the mid-term? What is the current situation with respect to expectations? To what extent can we speak of achievements? Those are just some of the questions our panellists attempted to answer.

Series of lectures About the Repair of the Republic of Poland

Citizens have a bad impression of the effectiveness of politics, the opinion about the professional and moral qualifications of the political class is quite low, though there are clearly extreme differences in popularity and the electoral chances of various parties. Polls indicate a high level of distrust, distance and alienation toward governing elites. This situation breeds serious threats – not only is the authority of politicians being questioned but the greater majority of citizens seem to doubt democratic procedures and institutions.

We asked important political figures to respond to questions about what the Republic of Poland is like today, how it may be repaired and what activities should be urgently undertaken.

A lecture by Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
December 13, 2004
The lecture by the President of Poland inaugurated the series. The President called for restraint in judgement; he reminded that although we were dealing with a pathology in Polish public life, detrimental and harmful occurrences, such were also accompanied by a healthy pace of economic growth, Poland’s membership in the European Union, international esteem for our country, a secure place in alliance systems and finally our complete and uncontested independence. The President accepted the opinion that the state is undergoing a crisis. He felt consideration should be given to a repair strategy but notes that democracy has built-in self-corrective mechanisms. Democracy thus should not be limited, law cannot be applied in a shortcut manner, and extraordinary control institutions or permanent investigative commissions should not be appointed. Of the institutions that should be reinforced, the President named the justice administration and also indicated a need for the discussion of the media’s role in democracy. He admitted that over the course of changes in the last few years, Poland was not successful in building a civil society – aware of its rights, participating and engaged in public life.

Detailed reports on the debates are available on our Website.