“That Is a New Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact!”
A Historical Analogy in the Polish Energy Debate
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Historical analogies serve to polarise. If one takes them literally, they seem inappropriate. At the same time, they can point out parallels. In spring 2006, when Radek Sikorski, then the Polish defence minister, cast plans for the construction of the Baltic pipeline in the tradition of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, a storm of indignation broke out in Germany. The Polish media, for the most part, saw the matter more calmly. Even if the pipeline plans do not lead to a partition of Poland, the analogy has drawn attention to the fact that the project also has a political dimension.
(Osteuropa 7-8/2009, pp. 295–335)