Chapter 12. What Europe means for Poland

This chapter examines one of Poland’s most influential newspapers, Gazeta Wyborcza, and its front-page coverage of what is arguably the country’s most popular national holiday, Independence Day. Specific attention is given to how Gazeta’s writers discursively constructed a Polishness compatible with European values, both before and after the country’s EU admission. Within the newspaper’s Euro-Polish identity project, they reinforced the idea of a common past, present, and future, while introducing a concept of European supranationalism that, however, did not replace but instead served to complement Polish nationalism. Insofar as Gazeta gives space to many different voices, including those of its Euro-skeptic adversaries, its predominant strategy is one of inclusion.