Ora la Polonia aspetta il voto della Chiesa
E. Bettiza, La Stampa
July 6 2010

The victory of the liberal Komorowski will certainly be reassuring for Europe that in 2011 will see Poland at the helm of the EU. The result is instead less reassuring for Poland as such. The outcome underscores a split of the country into two and does not put a clear-cut end to the “Polish-Polish war.” In short it is a Pyrrhic victory. Jaroslaw Kacynski has preserved if not reinforced the image of a hardened fighter and has been able to count on the emotion of many electors that have seen in him the face of his brother who tragically died in the airplane. Kacynski knows he can count on a country tormented by a serious identity crisis, he know he has behind him half of the electorate and he knows above all that he can count on fundamental sectors of the Church, gathered around Radio Marija. But here the question gets more complicated: what side is the Church really on? How will it react to the clash between the Parties in a democratic context that is no longer dominated by a single anticlerical party? Which cardinal does the more extreme wing refer to? And to which one does the more liberal and pro-European one refer to? Until these questions are answered the essential and definitive element for resolving Warsaw’s dilemmas will be lacking. For now it is necessary to be content with the transitory response. Komorowski’s election guarantees a promise of relative continuity with Tusk’s attempts to give Poland the space it deserves in the European arena.