Poles Try to Counter Negative Image

The French “non” campaign was specific: a yes vote means the “Polish plumber” will take French jobs. But these days, annoyed with the negative image of Eastern Europeans portrayed by richer western EU countries, Poles have come up with a creative way to fight back.

Hence the hunky Polish plumber, beckoning visitors to Poland.

“I am remaining in Poland,” reads the ad featuring a blond, well-built man, created by the Polish Tourist Board. “Come visit.”

“We didn’t agree with the negative image of Poles used during the campaign,” said Katarzyna Gubois of the Polish Tourist Board in Paris. “We wanted to show something else of Poland and tell people they are welcome to visit our country.”

Schizophrenic view

Poles and other new eastern members of the European Union have often been seen as second class citizens of Europe, say Poles. And it is a view that richer, more established countries such as France and Germany sometimes use to their advantage.

“It is quite schizophrenic how they look at us,” said Adam Krzeminksi, a journalist in Warsaw who founded the German-Polish magazine, Dialogue. “On one hand, they treat us as if we don’t exist. On the other hand, we are seen as a threat, taking their land, autos, jobs.”

Sabine Woelker, an expert on Polish-German relations for the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin says that negative stereotypes of Poland and its eastern neighbors still exist but are changing slowly.

“Poles are still seen as coming into Germany illegally, working as construction workers or cleaners,” she said. “The idea still exists that Poles are lazy, that one has to watch their valuables around them, and people still joke about how risky it is to take one’s car to Poland. But this is changing as German employers see that Poles are very flexible, work well and are worth their wages.”

Those stereotypes frustrate ordinary Poles who have lived in western Europe, particularly younger, more educated ones.

“I got tired of being looked down on, being viewed with suspicion” said one Pole, a government auditor from Warsaw who spent time in a German government ministry during an exchange program. “We are not all housecleaners or plumbers or car thieves.”

Defying stereotypes

These days, more than a year after joining the club, Poles – who are usually the most negatively stereotyped by western countries - are fighting clichés with the ad campaign and defying them with success.

For example, the Polish economy is one of the fastest growing ones in the EU. It grew by more than five percent last year. The country, which still receives millions of euros in subsidies from the EU, became a net development aid donor to poorer nations in Asia and Africa for the first time this year, according to the United Nations Development Program. And a massive labor migration predicted by western EU politicians has not materialized – only a few hundred thousand workers have migrated across borders since last May, mostly for seasonal work, Poland’s labor department reported.

Still, fears persist over western companies moving their manufacturing plants to the east where labor costs are as little as a quarter of western ones. This is going to the major factor in how western countries view the east in the future, says one labor ministry official in Warsaw.

“The French and German politicians played on people’s fears of losing their jobs,” the official said. “And if the economic situation of France and Germany continue to stagnate, then politicians will continue to do so, no matter what the reality is.”

Seen as politically unimportant, then and now

Poland, which has ceased to exist as a nation a number of times in its history, and has always been sandwiched between two larger powers, Germany and Russia, is just not so important for western EU members, say political scientists.

“Poland has never been an important partner for Germany,” said Woelker. “There has been too many conflicts about history and it is seen as very nationalist, conservative and focused on its own sovereignty.”

She says it is also seen as a thorn in the attempt to improve Germany’s relations with Russia, something viewed with suspicion in Poland.

At the same time, while France told Poland to ‘shut up’ during its initial opposition to particular provisions in the original draft of the EU constitution and both France and Germany derided Poland’s pro-US stance regarding the Iraq war, German President Horst Köhler made a point of visiting Poland first, before France, when he took office last year. That sent a message that Germany views Poland as an important neighbor.

“Poland’s word does have weight even if some don’t want to see that,” Woelker added. “And it has shown that it can be a good ally, particularly regarding the European Union.”

Poles picked on

Many Poles grumble that it is always Poland singled out for negative stereotyping. Why does no one mention the Spanish construction worker or Irish barman abroad, they wonder.

Political scientists says that is because that other countries such as Spain or Ireland are more established and that most new EU members are much smaller and less visible, have fewer aspirations to be a regional player and export fewer people abroad.

“Or maybe it is because Polish plumbers are more attractive,” Gubois joked.