Fjordman’s latest essay concerns his recent visit to one of the few remaining European strongholds of Christianity.

Thoughts After a Visit to Poland

by Fjordman

The medieval city of Krakow in southern Poland has a well-deserved reputation for beauty. I recently had the pleasure of spending several days there. The city has seen its fair share of unrest, and was sacked and burned by Mongols in the thirteenth century. Yet Krakow survived the Second World War more intact than did many other Polish cities such as Warsaw.

Outsiders often think of Poland as a land of vodka, and to a lesser extent beer or mead. However, there are several wine-producing Polish districts as well. This is unusual for a country that was never a part of the Roman Empire; even today, most important European wine districts were once under Roman rule. Zielona Gora in western Poland has an annual wine festival. In the vicinity of Krakow you can also find several vineyards, primarily producing white wines.

While Krakow is a fine city to visit at any time, December is certainly one of the highlights. Personally, I enjoyed the local Christmas markets. Krakow is famous for its beautiful nativity scenes representing the birth of Jesus. The best ones of these are true works of art. Krakow also feels quite safe for visitors, and it still looks like a European city. Many towns further west in Europe now look like they have been transplanted from the Middle East or Africa.

Several cities, such as Berlin on 19 December 2016 and Strasbourg on 11 December 2018, have suffered deadly attacks by militant Muslims specifically targeting Christmas markets. As a consequence, security against Jihadist attacks has been beefed up all over Western Europe. Even Scandinavian cities such as Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo have put up concrete blocks to protect you from being mowed down by an Islamic terrorist while drinking mulled wine.

I have previously reviewed the book The Camp of the Sane and The Camp of the Saints by author Max Denken, who has Polish roots. He hopes that the eastern half of Europe, where people have experienced Communist rule, may be more resistant to social experiments, indoctrination and decadence than Europeans further west. The Visegrád Group of Central Europe, consisting of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, form an important part of this bloc.

However, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in 2022 has created cracks within the Visegrád Four. It has inflamed anti-Russian sentiments in many countries, including Poland. Meanwhile, Hungary under its pragmatic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been criticized for being insufficiently willing to impose harsh sanctions against Russia. Orbán has suggested that the sanctions have backfired and may have harmed the economies of EU countries more than Russia.

Millions of people have fled from Ukraine because of the war. A large number of them have come to Poland. So far, Poles have been welcoming and generous. They have historically had strained relations with Russians and Germans, but sometimes also with Ukrainians. Nevertheless, at least Ukrainians are European Christians. If Poland and other European countries had let in a similar number of Muslims, tensions would be much higher and the situation would be more dangerous.

Anti-Russian views among Poles are perhaps understandable for historical reasons. Having updated and capable military forces is always a good thing. Many European nations have neglected this for too long. However, not all threats come in the form of tanks or armored vehicles.

Many Poles are still very traditional in their views. They want to defend their freedom and independence, their cultural heritage, their Christian religion and the preservation of their nation. Yet the most dangerous threats to all of these values currently come from the West, from North America and Western Europe. They do not come from Russia.

The European Union (EU) is systematically undermining the national identities and traditional values of all of its member states. The EU has for years been bullying countries such as Poland and Hungary to accept more immigrants from the Islamic world and Africa.

The American ruling elites are at least as bad as the EU, and sometimes worse. Under the Biden regime and the Democrat party, the USA is increasingly resembling a banana republic. Censorship is rampant. Radical propaganda is being disseminated in the education system, in the mass media and throughout society. A heavily politicized justice system is used to suppress dissent and persecute political opponents. As the largest economy and the dominant member of the military alliance NATO, such toxic ideas are being spread from the USA to other parts of the world.

We are now told that there are many different genders, not just two biological sexes. Being transsexual and choosing your own sex is promoted even to schoolchildren of pre-pubescent age. Young Europeans are taught that they are evil oppressors simply for being born with white skin. They are told that desiring self-preservation and resisting population replacement through mass immigration makes them extremists.

Such dangerous and destructive ideas are aggressively pushed by Western ruling elites. They are not promoted by Russians. This remains true even if you loathe Russian policies or President Putin.

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