Poland is one of the few countries which still haven’t ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. The document was ratified by the Polish parliament earlier this year. However, Poland’s president, Lech Kaczynski, refused to do so after the European treaty was rejected by the Irish in the referendum. The official argument goes that the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon would be pointless now since all the countries must accept the document before its entering into force. Thus, Lech Kaczynski will wait for the Irish before setting his seal to European treaty…

For some, Kaczynski’s decision might look like a praiseworthy sign of solidarity with Ireland. However, the president’s entourage didn’t hide that the present legal framework provided by the Treaty of Nice is more favorable to Poland than what the Lisbon Treaty would offer. This is also what a prominent member of the president’s party (PIS) explicitly said in an interview earlier this week.

Can we reproach Kaczynski to defend the “Polish national interest”? At the end, every state does so. It’s certainly the case but there are various ways of protecting one’s nation’s interest. Sooner or later a new treaty (foreseeing the same “balance of power”!) will enter into force. It’s in Poland’s very interest to ratify the treaty. This is simply because those who participate fully in the making of the EU have a greater say in the European politics. If a country puts itself in a margin, it will have less influence on the shaping of the European policies.

In addition, European solidarity (so much sought for by the Polish leaders) is not a one-way process. If the Polish president expects the EU to be solidary with Poland (when it comes to the relations with Russia and energy policy), he should also show that his country belongs to the EU by ratifying a treaty a near totality of other member states already approved. The present strategy only worsens Poland’s image and is not likely to bear any fruit – neither on the European nor the national level.