Poland’s modern trajectory is striking: from communist domination to democratic transition, followed by a period of democratic backsliding, and more recently, renewed efforts at re-democratisation since the 2023 elections. But for Kuisz, these political shifts cannot be understood in isolation from deeper historical legacies. Drawing on historical and cultural analysis, he argued that Polish politics is still haunted by the experience of being “wiped off the map”—first in the 18th-century partitions, again during the Second World War, and later through Soviet domination. This sense of impermanence and vulnerability, passed down through education, family memory, and literature, forms what he calls a "sovereignty trauma."
Kuisz traced how this trauma has been reactivated in recent decades, not only in relation to Russia, but also to the European Union. For many Poles, he argued, the EU was originally seen as a means of securing sovereignty—“escaping the trap of history”—but later came to be viewed, by parts of the political class, as a potential threat. During the Law and Justice government’s eight-year rule, this perspective was increasingly weaponised. Brussels was portrayed as a new Moscow, and sovereignty became a rallying cry not only against Russian authoritarianism, but also against perceived Western overreach.Chaired by Timothy Garton Ash, the seminar was rich with comparative and historical insights. Garton Ash opened the discussion by reminding the audience of the broader European context in which Poland’s experience is situated. He highlighted the differing legacies of empire across Eastern Europe—Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman—and how these continue to shape contemporary attitudes toward sovereignty and European integration.
Eli Gateva, acting as discussant, brought in a valuable EU-focused perspective. She noted that while debates in Central and Eastern Europe often frame EU membership as a loss of sovereignty, the French tradition offers a very different view: that sovereignty can be enhanced, not diminished, through European integration. In her view, this richer, more empowering concept of shared sovereignty has been largely absent from political discourse in the region. She also observed that populist narratives—casting Brussels as an alien elite—have flourished across the continent, not only in the East, but in Western Europe as well.
Gateva emphasised the importance of civil society in Poland’s democratic recovery. The scale of mobilisation ahead of the 2023 elections, she argued, was a testament to democratic resilience. Civil society groups were not only active at home, but worked transnationally, lobbying European institutions and framing Polish struggles in a way that resonated with broader EU values. This, she suggested, offers a necessary counterpoint to the dominant portrayal of Central and Eastern Europe as a region of democratic decline.
During the Q&A, participants explored the tension between historical memory and contemporary politics. Several asked whether trauma-based narratives risk overshadowing alternative visions of Polish identity—ones grounded in civic participation or democratic pluralism. Others questioned how Poland might move beyond a politics of grievance and victimhood, especially at a time of renewed geopolitical uncertainty.
Kuisz acknowledged the danger of trauma being instrumentalised—indeed, he noted that political actors can “choose” which traumas to amplify. But he also insisted that such memories cannot simply be discarded. They must be understood, critically examined, and integrated into a more nuanced account of Polish political development. He offered Poland not as a unique case, but as one of many countries—including Ukraine, the Baltic States, Taiwan, and Israel—where statehood has long been experienced as fragile, contingent, and deeply personal.
The seminar closed on a cautiously optimistic note. While post-traumatic sovereignty may still shape the Polish political imagination, the country is also undergoing profound generational change. As younger citizens—raised in a sovereign, democratic Poland—begin to assert themselves, new narratives may take hold. The challenge, as Kuisz suggested, is not to erase the past, but to transform it into a foundation for democratic renewal.
by Yangyang Zhao (ESC Research Assistant)
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