Here's a European political pop quiz: What do Poland's Kaczynski twins and Spain's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero have in common? Discuss.L'International Herald Tribune també s'ha adonat de quin peu calça Zapatero:
Ideologically, the men hail from different planets. Just for starters, the Polish duo wants to limit gay rights; Prime Minister Zapatero expands them with gusto. But on the global stage, these national leaders stand together, having both marginalized, needlessly one hastens to add, themselves and their once up-and-coming countries.
In the next months, Spanish and Polish voters can pass judgment on this feat. At EU summits, Spain is ignored and Poland's nothing more than a thorn in the side. Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's nominee for the opening atop the International Monetary Fund didn't even get a hearing in July. Across the pond, Mr. Zapatero claims few ears and fewer friends in Washington, which in his three-plus years in office he hasn't even visited.
Similarly sized countries (of around 40 million) with fast-growing economies and located strategically on Europe's eastern and western edges, Poland and Spain were poised to lead "a new Europe" and challenge the monopoly of the big three -- Germany, France and Britain -- atop the EU. For a while, the countries met this promise, pushing Europe to think and act more ambitiously.
As the largest Eastern European member of the EU, Poland was a strong advocate for free markets and democracy further east. Previous President Aleksander Kwasniewski played a crucial role in mediating a peaceful end to Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004. Warsaw stood up for Belarus's beleaguered opposition and sounded a warning about rising authoritarianism in Russia. Under previous Prime Minister José María Aznar, Spain took a lead in the Mediterranean and, following its investors, Latin America.
What made this possible was their strong commitment to the trans-Atlantic link. Mr. Aznar built Spanish foreign policy around a close friendship with Washington. From the moment communism fell in Europe, Warsaw worked closely alongside the U.S., particularly on Ukraine. Then came the change of political leadership in both countries, and the inheritance of international capital was fast whittled away.
A decade of soaring economic growth and corporate expansion overseas has put Spain in the big leagues, but the country's political profile is shrinking under the leadership of a man deeply preoccupied with domestic reform and lacking in international experience.
(Via F.C.)
