A Paradise on the Oder? - Department of Scandinavian Studies

<strong>Paradise</strong> on theOder?Pinocchio, the quintessential fairy-tale liar (see Fig. 3), holding asign reading: “In the EU it will be better” (W UE będzie lepiej)—thepervasive slogan of the “Yes” campaign. This poster suggests notonly that Poland will become a puppet of the EU, but also that the“Yes” campaigners are already the puppets of an unseen master. Asecond fairy-tale poster is a scene from Snow White in which thewitch, disguised as an old woman and dressed in an EU-flag cloak,offers Snow White, dressed in Polish white and red, an apple thathas been secretly poisoned. In this case, the apple bears a Eurocurrency symbol. An ominous slogan reads, “Don’t let yourself bedeceived” (Nie daj się oszukać). The central theme of both thesefairy tale advertisements is that appearances can be deceiving,and what might look inviting and wholesome, like an apple orthe European Monetary Union, might actually be dangerous andharmful, and the people offering them might only be interested inbenefiting themselves.The borders of EdenLocal politicians and municipal administrations in Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder) have demonstrated a relatively high commitmentto creating a transnational urban environment,and in 1993 an agreement was reached between the two cities thatmandated a meeting schedule between the mayors, formal cooperationbetween the town councils, as well as infrastructure (commonwater supply, sewage, and energy), economic, and cultural integration(Słubice Municipal Government 2005). In 1997, Słubice andFrankfurt(Oder) also created a common urban development plan,the first transnational plan of its kind in of either country (SłubiceMunicipal Government 2003).Perhaps the most public example of the commitment to crossborder cooperation took place in 2003, when the two city administrationsundertook the “Europagarden 2003,” an ambitious projectto promote integration between the cities through cross-bordercultural exchange and urban renewal. Funded by both EU regionalfunds and the municipal governments, the Europagarden can beconsidered part of a broader pro-EU strategy and demonstrates alocal enactment of the utopian vision the EU promotes of a borderlessEurope. Lasting from May to October, the Europagardenimplemented a multifaceted group of events, projects and festivals.Most of the Europagarden’s cultural events took place on the IsleZiegenwerder, a small island in the German side of the Oder Riverthat was developed into a large park with several performance ven-143