People from Poland and elsewhere in the EU who come to the UK to work need to realize that they are entering a tough, competitive market. They need to sell themselves while adjusting to life in a new country. This is not easy. The British Government set up a new registration scheme for workers from the accession States including Poland: one advantage of this is that it allows people who were previously working illegally to regularize their status in our country – says Charles Crawford, British Ambassador to Poland.
CHARLES CRAWFORD British Ambassador to Poland
Henryk Suchar: How was the Polish President’s visit to London? Could you disclose some details, or describe some behind–the–scenes situations?
CHARLES CRAWFORD: President Kwasniewski’s state visit to London was a great success. It was the first State Visit in which I had the honour to participate as a member of an Official Suite, so I saw myself how beautifully it all was organised at the highest level of protocol. The events at Buckingham Palace hosted by HM The Queen were very much a family occasion with the Royal Family present. The luncheon at No 10 Downing Street hosted by the Prime Minister was a particularly warm and relaxed occasion. Hundreds of people attended the Guildhall Banquet in the President’s honour; his speech won a standing ovation, a highly unusual tribute. At the Downing Street and Guildhall events I noticed young Polish people among the waiters present.
Polish commentators do emphasize that Mr. Kwasniewski is a wonderful lobbyist for Polish interests abroad. Would you share this opinion?
President Kwasniewski certainly did an excellent job representing Poland during this State Visit. Many hundreds of people from all walks of life were able to meet him or listen to his various speeches. There is no doubt at all that he made a strong positive impression through his reasonable approach; his insights and his wit and good humour.
Do you not regret that your country introduced lax procedures, meaning basically no restrictions for the Poles wishing to work in Great Britain?
Some minor difficulties will emerge but as we expected the situation is not showing dramatic changes one way or the other. People from Poland and elsewhere in the EU who come to the UK to work need to realize that they are entering a tough, competitive market. They need to sell themselves while adjusting to life in a new country. This is not easy. The British Government set up a new registration scheme for workers from the accession States including Poland: one advantage of this is that it allows people who were previously working illegally to regularize their status in our country.
We think Poland and Great Britain do have a rather similar approach towards the so – called – Constitutional Treaty, now being hammered out by the European Community. How far can we march together in this respect?
As things stand today it is not easy to answer that question, since the detailed negotiations have moved to Brussels and the British Embassy here is not closely involved. The key point is that both Poland and the UK want a reasonable balance between powers at the EU level and powers at the Member States level. How precisely this will be worked out remains to be seen. We can expect intelligent compromises to emerge in the coming weeks.
Do you lose hope about Iraq, when you watch film footage on the BBC and read all these articles about how hard the situation in Iraq is getting day by day?
I follow events in Iraq mainly through the Internet rather than the mainstream media. A lot of positive trends are evident across Iraq and that these are not usually reported by the media. However, there are thousands of highly dangerous extremists in Iraq for whom a normal pluralist society is a deadly enemy. They are murdering and destroying as fast as they can to try to stop democratic development. Those Iraqi politicians and officials trying to build their country in these circumstances are being very brave. If you contrast North Korea and South Korea today it is striking to see in South Korea the outstanding results of the American-led intervention 50 years ago. Some of these issues are really a question of time-scale.
Do you think the Iraqi model can work as a trigger for change in other Arab capitals?
The Arab world is starting to realize that it needs to change in a more pluralist direction. Colonel Qadaffi has decided to work with the democratic world, surrendering a phenomenal quantity of highly dangerous weapons. This is a tremendous breakthrough. But there are within the Arab community reactionary forces trying to commit terrorist acts all round the planet, disrupting pipelines, blowing up diplomatic buildings, ramming aircraft into the World Trade Centre. How and with whom can you negotiate here? It is essential that Iraq start to set a positive example.
Poland does have special interests in Belarus or Ukraine, for example due to a large Polish minority living there. Now there is the Eastern Dimension policy being carried out by Brussels that seeks to put pressure on Belarus. How far Poland can pursue her own interests to the East of Europe, being a member of the EU?
The European Union’s policy towards its Eastern Neighbours is greatly boosted by Poland’s full membership. Polish insights and experience really do make a big difference to the quality of the EU’s understanding of the region. For example, we all have to look hard at the best choice for new energy pipelines running from Russia into Europe. Yes, we face some difficulties with Belarus which for me at least are reminiscent of the problems we previously had with Belgrade. Does the government in Minsk genuinely want to bring in European values and accept the “European package”? How best to deal with the current Belarus leadership while engaging with the wider society? We have to talk about all this. Kiev of course is closely watching the EU’s signals in this area.
As I said in a discussion between President Kwasniewski and Tony Blair over lunch during the State Visit, we need different policies towards Belarus, Ukraine and Russia because they are different countries with, currently, different approaches. Our policies towards each of these countries need to be consistent with local realities and consistent with each other. Finally, our policies need to be patient and sustained. There are plenty of Balkan examples of successes here, just as there are Balkan examples of situations deteriorating because we did not get this right.
Thank you.
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