Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

ole of Poland in the EU. They divided the political and media
scene. The bailout of Greece was met with harsh criticism
by the conservative media, and the right-wing opposition.
There was a sense that the Eurozone crisis should be
managed and solved only by Eurozone members. The left
wing and centrist media and politicians, on the other hand,
saw the recent financial crisis as an opportunity for Poland
to participate in shaping the future of the EU. For them, it
was imperative that collective action be taken, because if it
were not, European unity would be at stake.
The issue of EaP was approached with both optimism
and caution. By the time Poland began its six-month
period of Council of the EU Presidency, the issue of Greece
was looming. As a result, even though the EaP was one of
the top priorities of the presidency, it lost some of its initial
momentum and relevance due to pressing financial problems
of the Eurozone. Therefore, Poland was relatively limited
in its ability to address this matter, especially because
the western EU countries were more concentrated
on their domestic economies.
134