Poland's Europe Problem Has Deep Roots

On a sunny day in Warsaw, it’s difficult to understand why the city’s well-kept streets simmer with anger and discontent over the European vision. The economy has been growing at 3.6 percent, roughly twice the overall European rate. And there’s little or no influx of Syrian or Afghan refugees: Warsaw must be whiter than any other major city in Europe, including Budapest. Yet the far-right Law & Justice Party, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski and known as PiS, bitterly denounces the European Union for invading Polish “sovereignty” -- language reminiscent of the advocates of British exit from the EU.

Poland is, or should be, Europe’s greatest success story. Repeatedly invaded and divided by other European powers, the country didn’t even exist between the late 18th century and the end of World War I. It was divided again when Hitler and Stalin both invaded in September 1939. The country’s post-Cold War independence seems like a miracle of Europe’s peaceful economic order.