New Eastern Europe Issue 1

98 Interview The Caucasus, a Journey in Time – A conversation with Wojciech Jagielski
So, they are not seen as democratisation
and a chance for a better life?
Towards the end of his life, Polish reporter
and expert on Africa Ryszard Kapuściński,
during conversations we had together, spoke
of the third process of decolonisation. A successful
political decolonisation is followed
by a failed economic decolonisation and that
in turn is followed by cultural decolonisation.
Th is aspect has been missed by the
West. I am somewhat terrifi ed when I read
news captions on TV. Th ere are some automatic
clichés used whenever referring to
forces standing in opposition to Muammar
Qaddafi – they are called pro-democratic
forces. As if protesting against Qaddafi was
enough to become a democrat. If that is
the case, then Libyan democrats with the
longest seniority are the Muslim extremists
who had been the fi rst to oppose the
colonel before they joined al-Qaeda.
We know so little of the rebels, of their
political or religious convictions. It would
not be true to say that Qaddafi was anti-
Western during the last years of his rule.
Everything that has been happening there
might lead to the loss of Western infl uence
in that region.
Is there anything Europe should fear?
Of course there is. However, Europe
should not be afraid that the expansion
of Muslim civilisation will go hand-inhand
with the growth of terrorism. What
is more probably is that Europe might lose
its cultural identity. I would like to refer
once again to the words of Kapuściński
who really had a fi rst-hand understanding
of the developing world. What we are
dealing with right now is the next stage
of mass migration. Th ese people migrate
to Europe for economic reasons. Muslims
from North Africa, from Pakistan, or Afghanistan
do not come to Europe to become
Europeans or to integrate. Th ey come here
to earn a living. A Pakistani who moves
to Birmingham can earn a hundred times
more than in Pakistan. It is enough to go
to Berlin, Paris, or London and visit the
city suburbs to see that the immigrants
do not want to integrate or become European.
Th is migration process cannot
be stopped. However, the idea of creating
a perfect European is absurd. It is similar
to the once propagated concept of homo
sovieticus. How many generations have to
go by until an African considers himself/
herself a European? Are there going to be
mosques all over Europe? Similar questions
arise when we look at the war on terrorism.
Th e West is using the same methods
of those who started the war. Was the killing
of Osama bin Laden really a triumph
of Western civilisation? Perhaps it would
have been, had he been killed in combat
or taken to court and found guilty.
Poland is currently holding the EU Presidency.
We believe that our key political asset
is our understanding of the continent’s East,
as well as promoting the Eastern Partnership.
Will we really be able to achieve progress
with Europe’s attention focused south?
What is going on in Arab countries
can be problematic for the Polish Presidency.
Active involvement in the East and
good knowledge of the region are truly
our strong points. Poland is perceived