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Poles and Norwegians Discuss Democracy
01 June 1990
The Norwegians wanted help in rediscovering the true value of freedom in their own society as well as to give support to the Polish nation.
By BJORN OLE AUSTAD
Four Members of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) were among nine young Polish leaders who visited Oslo, Norway, for two weeks earlier this year to study `how to make democracy work'.
The other Poles came from Lodz and Gdansk. One was a secretary in the Solidarity trade union and another was secretary to Lech Walesa.
The programme, mainly organized by Moral ReArmament, was conceived as a two-way process. The Norwegians wanted help in rediscovering the true value of freedom in their own society as well as to give support to the Polish nation.
Jo Benkow, the President of the Norwegian Parliament, several MPs, the Mayor of Oslo and city councillors met the Poles. Well-known Norwegians gave seminars on such topics as `the challenge of moving from a statecontrolled to a free-market economy', `the role of political parties in a democracy - how to avoid the misuse of power' and environmental issues. Evening discussions went into less technical subjects such as `honesty in public and private life', family life, and how to make the right decisions under pressure.
The programme was partly funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry but the remaining costs were covered by voluntary donations. Fifteen Poles living in Norway translated without pay for the visitors, who stayed in homes.
At a meeting on the mass media, Erik Egeland, who writes for the conservative newspaper, Aftenposten, spoke of `an invisible war between those who believe that good journalism means reaching the greatest number of people and those who believe the media to be a tool for truth'. A journalist on the Labour paper, Arbeiderbladet, agreed that `the main struggle in the future will not be between right and left but between those who believe in spiritual power and those out solely for commercial gain'.
Twisting of values
One of the Poles said that his country was suffering from ,an injured conscience'. There had been one set of morals in the family and a different one in public and at work. `Children have learnt different values at home and at school. That is a dangerous twisting of values that are eternal.'
Boguslaw Palka, a Member of the Sejm, also expressed a sense of urgency. Poland, a country with four million farmers, could still blame the communists for the food shortages, he said. `But in two years' time we will no longer be able to do so.'
Przemyslaw Wilczynksi, a student from Lodz, said the seminar had persuaded him that morals and politics could go together.
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