Because in this forum are a lot of members outside of Europe, maybe some polish members could objectively tell what are the biggest differences living in EU sphere of influence compared to living in Russian one. Also it would interesting to know if there is still widespread support in Poland to have closer ties with Russia. Poland was at least 50 years a member of a Warsaw pact....
Living standard in Poland when we compare old WarPac times and today... hey it's like heaven and hell, today I can go anywhere I want around the world, I can purchase anything I want.
You might not believe that but during the old times, you could have problems purchasing a toilet paper, yeah, it was that bad, there was litteraly nothing in the shops. Children could eat oranges only during large hollidays like christmass, because only then oranges were imported to the country. These were awfull times, and Soviet Leadership didn't help either. For example they forced our puppet goverment back then, to shut down any projects that our engineers started, that in the end could end with a better quality product than what could had been developed in SU. It was most obvious in civilian automotive sector, in 70's and 80's we had some promising projects.
Today support of Russia in Poland is minimal at best, general public is rather distrustfull to the Russian goverment.
However don't make mistake, Russians are generally welcome in Poland, any kind of incidents are rarity, and when I talk rarity I mean it. In fact in our eastern regions near Kaliningrad Olbast, relations between normal Russians and normal Poles are very good, Russian come here to Poland to purchase high quality and cheap food or other products they can't purchase or afford in Russia.
So how to explain it? Hmmm.... we Poles don't like Russian goverment, however we do not have problem with normal Russian citizens, and if they only obey law and behave properly, hey come here you are welcome.
Actually I found a video made by young Russian Sasha, who made a trip in Poland, and as far as my weak russian permitts me to understand, he was rather delighted by our country.
The biggest problem with Russian goverment, and also very popular these days ideologists in Russia, like Alexandr Dugin, is that nations and countries under Russian influance do not deserve to exist, so these countries will become just some regions, oblasts and so on, being part of Russia, and nations will be russified and literally destroyed.
Another thing is, that all these nations have a good memory about what goverment in Kremlin did to them. Ukrainians remember Holodomor, we Poles remember how our national elite, officers, teachers, scientistis were just executed by Soviet goverment. What is worse, it didn't happened just during WWII, but also after it.
Not many people know that several years after end of WWII, Polish Home Army and underground state were fighting for freedom with Soviet troops and traitors here in Poland. In the end they were defeated by NKVD troops and UB, a sort of secret police of that puppet communist goverment, which believe me, "UBecy" as we call them, were even more hated by Poles than NKVD troops.
So as I said, at least we Poles are not against common people, but we are against actions of agressive goverment. And as I said some time ago, if only Russia and Russians could have a normal, peacefull, not paranoid, reasonable overment made from young people, not affected by that cancer of socialism, that seen world outside Russia and understand it.
It's worth to know, that common Russians will suffer under such kind of goverments as they have right now, just like any other nation afected by it's actions.
