to Central Europe

controversial traditionalist views: women should not have the right to vote, women are less
intelligent than men, and other similar statements. 229
In an interview with the Russian RIA Novosti, Krowin-Mikke referred to the annexation of Crimea
as “completely natural.” 230 It comes as no surprise that the Kremlin-affiliated media frequently
quotes him, and that he was invited – although in the end he did not attend – to the “Russia,
Ukraine, Novorossiya: global issues and challenges” conference held on August 20, 2014, whose
special guest was the U.S. sanctioned Sergey Glazyev, an advisor close to Putin.
In one of his latest statements, Korwin-Mikke condemned the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement,
and referred to it as having no purpose other than provoking Russia. He also added that Ukraine
needs a dictator much like Augusto Pinochet or Deng Xiaoping, who could solve its problems;
furthermore, he claimed that Poland should not intervene in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, since “it’s
not [our] war.” 231
Institutions with indirect Russian influence
These organizations are anti-democratic, anti-systemic and conservative; they follow pro-life and
pro-family principles. They also present anti-abortion, anti-feminist and anti-LGBT agenda.
However, these regressive values are mostly not a result of Russian influence. Due to their
conservatism, anti-systemic and anti-democratic agenda, these organizations can adopt Russian
political and economic messages rooted in an authoritarian model. Interviewees agreed that
Russian influence is subtle and highly pragmatic in many ways:
“Russians are everywhere. They want to gain as much influence on the Polish economy as it is
possible. Yes, they use national movements now, but who knows, maybe in two years they will
support the bike riders’ lobby. Russians do what benefits them.”
An interviewed expert also acknowledged the weakness of Polish nationalist movements, which
might make the Polish youth receptive to the fundamental traditionalism openly or secretly
endorsed by the Kremlin:
“We do not have moral authority, young people need to believe in something, many of them decide
to believe in patriotism, used by radicals.”
National Movement (Poland) (Ruch Narodowy; RN) is an important political party established in
2014 and officially registered in 2015. This is the only organization that has a declared pro-
Russian geopolitical agenda, supporting the Russian intervention in Syria. Previously, it was a
social movement created in 2012 for the Independence March (Marsz Niepodległości), and it
consisted of the National Radical Camp, All-Polish Youth and the Real Politics Union (Unia Polityki
Realnej, UPR). After the proclamation of their political profile and their decision to run in the
parliamentary elections jointly with the KUKIZ party, the National Radical Camp left the National
Movement. 232 The ideological base of the National Movement is the inter-war nationalism of
“Roman Dmowski and his successors, adjusted to modern social, economic and cultural
challenges.” 233
All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska, MW) is an organization that was recreated from an
academic association in 1989 by Roman Giertych, who was the President of the League of Polish
229 See: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/nigel-farage-ukip-europe-janusz-korwin-mikke
230 See: http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/460407,janusz-korwin-mikke-gwiazda-rosyjskichmediow.html
231 See: http://natemat.pl/100807,korwin-mikke-o-ukrainie-racje-mial-prezydent-rosji-polska-nie-powinna-mieszacsie-w-ten-konflikt-to-nie-nasza-wojna
232 http://goo.gl/jZxX2T
233 www.ruchnarodowy.net/o-nas
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