The UK And Poland: Closer Together Or Further Apart?

Delegates to the second Polish-British Belvedere Forum, which took place in London last week, were asked to consider whether, in a changing Europe, the UK and Poland are coming closer together or moving further apart. In this article I will address that question head-on, using information and ideas gathered both before and during the Forum. It is a topic that is of great interest to me, since I have committed to working as an ambassador for British-Polish relations across the UK in the hope of securing a better, brighter future for the people of our two countries.

The beauty of Belvedere

Judging by what I saw and heard at the Belvedere Forum the future of the British-Polish relations looks very bright indeed. There was a tangible buzz of excitement, from the 250 or so people present, that relations between the two countries are the best in living memory. More specifically, I had conversations with many people who can report specific successes – or very encouraging progress – in their own areas of work, be that business, community relations, cultural matters or other British-Polish links. Encouragingly, the event also provided the opportunity to make fresh links, which will lead on to new projects, the results of which we will see in coming years. I can only echo what Professor Arkady Rzegocki, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, said at the end of the conference: Thank you everyone for making the Belvedere Forum a huge success! Polish-British relations are only getting stronger.

Challenges

I am enthusiastic, but not idealistic, about the nature of British-Polish relations. There are clearly many challenges facing us as we forge a new future together, and I noted that some people at the Belvedere Forum chose to speak out about domestic matters in the UK or Poland. Despite these challenges – and the fact that we may have to embrace the idea that friends do sometimes disagree – I spoke to so many people at the Forum whose minds are focussed primarily on cooperation between British and Polish people. Although we have our own, sometimes different, views on politics, I believe that we are united by the desire to work in a spirit of togetherness, knowing that we are stronger that way. This was the majority voice that spoke to me at this year’s Belvedere Forum.

Close friends

As a wider point, I would also like to draw attention to the genuine warmth that exists between British and Polish people, which I have enjoyed so many times in the past, and which was also on display so well during the Belvedere Forum. Britain and Poland are, in many respects, quite different countries, but Brits and Poles also share many values, enjoy a similar sense of humour and are passionate about making a difference. Good friends can with time become great friends, and I believe that future historians will be able to find much evidence to support the fact that this time in history was a period when the relationship between Britain and Poland was strengthened still further.

Shared past, shared future?

One of the bonds that will forever tie Britain and Poland together is our shared history, especially the heroic acts of service personnel from our two countries, who fought side by side to allow us to enjoy the freedoms we have today. I have described this shared history as ‚the cement that binds together our friendship today’, but the Belvedere Forum challenged us to also consider the following: can the UK and Poland have a shared future too?

A new chapter in the British-Polish story began in 2004 when Poland joined the European Union. As a direct result of that act hundreds of thousands of Polish people – many with their young families – came to live in the UK. There are now over one million Poles in the UK, with Polish the second most-commonly spoken language on these islands. This significant migration to the UK, the largest the country has seen for many decades, means that there are Polish children in most UK schools, tens of thousands of UK businesses enjoy the benefits of Polish workers (which are increasingly started or managed by them) and British people are being exposed to a new and distinctive central European culture. I am sure that sizeable numbers of Polish children will stay on to make the UK their long-term homes (many are already British citizens), in the way that a previous generation did after the horrors of World War II. In this sense, a shared future – a new chapter – in our two countries’ history is already being written in communities across the UK. I predict many happy endings.

We can be the change

I believe strongly that, through what we say and vitally what we do, we can build the preferred British-Polish future we are hoping for. We really can create a society where British and Polish people live, work, play and thrive together, enriched by each other’s culture, building on the successes that were reported at the Belvedere Forum and are being talked about across the country.

I am sure that British and Polish people are capable of building a rich shared future, with many benefits for both countries, but this won’t happen by accident. We will need to be the change we want to see. As part of that change The Belvedere Forum can provide an important platform for dialogue, learning and new projects, especially if it can be opened up to include more voices and fresh perspectives. I would also like to see the key points of the Forum disseminated more widely so that people who were not able to attend feel included and benefit too (this is one reason for this and other articles/social media posts that I have made).

The exciting idea, when considering whether Britain and Poland are moving closer or drifting apart, is that the future is in our hands – every week, every day, in every conversation we have with others. If you too are passionate about British-Polish relations, I encourage you to be part of the process of writing our future story together. The real change is happening not in lavish London mansions, but in vibrant communities across the UK.

Brin Best

Brin is the Founder of the POLES IN THE UK Project and co-author of ‚Poles in the UK: A Story of Friendship and Cooperation’. He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2018 for his contribution to British-Polish relations in the UK.