"Hungarians and Poles vote for Orbán's vision of Europe"

We want to remain members of the European Union we entered, but our views often have no chance of reaching the opinion makers, but the opinion of such a large crowd cannot be ignored - Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of the Polish Gazeta Polska, told Magyar Hírlap about the Peace March. history was written by the participants of the huge movement.

- For almost a decade, hundreds of Hungarians and Poles have been visiting each other's national holidays every year. The Poles' trip to Hungary is organized by the daily Gazeta Polska and the Gazeta Polska clubs grouped around it, with the help of their Hungarian partners, the Civil Solidarity Public Foundation and volunteers who foster Polish-Hungarian friendship. He called their trip this year, in October, special. How different was this journey and their participation in the Peace March from previous years?

- Gazeta Polska has been maintaining close friendship and working relationships with its partners in Hungary for almost a decade. During our first trip, called the Great Journey, in 2012, we were shocked by how many Hungarians went out to the demonstration in support of the government. But what happened this year exceeded all our expectations. Although nearly ten thousand of us arrived in Budapest in 2012, the circumstances were different then: there was no covid, and the number of travelers was not divided by the parallel demonstration also organized for October 23, which called some Poles to Luxembourg.

Despite this, many of us still came, and the joy of that trip was repeated.
Politically, the situation is different: Viktor Orbán governed the country in 2012 as well, but he was left almost alone in the crossfire of EU attacks. Here, Donald Tusk was at the head of the government, and with our trip we mostly wanted to express that we want a Poland similar to Hungary, which fights for the sovereignty of nations in Europe. Although our trip was about the same thing this year, we are in a radically different situation, because even if the European Union puts pressure on us, there is a party in government in both Poland and Hungary that has a similar position on this issue. It can therefore be said that after all these years, we have not only social but also political tools, which can result in decisive changes so that our common vision of Europe can be realized.

– Common challenges and common successes?

- Yes, we have achieved visible results in both countries. Hungary and Poland have found themselves in a completely different situation in the last ten years. I think Hungarians and Poles will continue to vote for Orbán's vision of Europe. The Poles want to remain part of the European Union, but they reject the dictates of the European Union.

Those who claim that we do not want to be members of the union are deceiving people. We want to remain members of the European Union we joined, and the Hungarians share the same opinion. We do defend the European Union, but our views often have no chance of reaching the opinion makers and the European press. But such large-scale demonstrations provide an excellent opportunity for the information to reach Brussels, since the opinion of such a large crowd cannot be ignored.

- Do you believe that social movements like this can indirectly influence the development of public life, that the so-called civil courage can have a practical benefit in shaping the community, and can actually have a political significance?

- The impact of civil cooperation is manifested on several levels in the European Union. We witnessed the debate about Poland in the European Parliament several times. The speakers did not have real arguments, they formulated their opinions based on incorrect or wrong information, for example, about the persecution of judges in Poland. This is contrary to the truth, but the fact is that we convicted the judges who committed the crimes.

The arguments of the opinion makers were shaped by the demonstration organized by Donald Tusk, which was said to have been attended by hundreds of thousands of people, although we are talking about only 20,000 people. the many people who supported the view that they also promote, acted as a decisive argument for the representatives At the EU level, a kind of lower-level interpretation can be clearly observed, i.e. things are interpreted not in their complexity, but often on the basis of visual judgment.

- According to them, this type of decision-making superficiality can be exploited from the other side as well?

– A larger demonstration will definitely have an impact on the representatives, so this recent peace march in Hungary will certainly have consequences at the European Union level. The other, even more important result is mobilization. Those who participated in the Peace March received a charge of energy and positive information that strengthens their belief that everything they stand for has meaning. Such movements cannot be created artificially, such crowds cannot be paid off, these people form a spiritual community that is priceless and irreplaceable.

the full interview here .