Thoughts on the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence

I didn't feel any need to celebrate this occasion on any special way. I do not feel the need to demonstrate my patriotism in any way (other than hanging a Polish flag outside our house). The presence of neo-Nazis at the city-centre commemorations somewhat takes away the sense of pride in being Polish on this day; I didn't venture into town.

Nor do I consider this day to be particularly historic. This is the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence - not the centenary of Polish independence. And the many government cock-ups in organising the event, not least the hooha about tomorrow's public holiday, have not helped swing my mood towards backing the official celebrations.

A brief reminder; after 123 years of being partitioned by its neighbours, Poland reemerged on the map of Europe on 11 November 1918. It remained there for twenty years, ten months and six days. Then Poland disappeared again - partitioned for the fourth time, this time by Hitler and Stalin. One brutal murderous dictator was replaced by another after five years of hell; Stalin's henchmen and their successors kept Poland a vassal state, utterly beholden to the Soviet Union, until 1989.

Communist Poland was called the Polish People's Republic - NOT Poland. An adjective describing the people whose 'republic' it 'was'. A one-party state, that party steered from Moscow, the Polish People's Republic had no say on macroeconomic policy (only a centrally-planned Marxist economy was permitted for most of its history) nor on foreign policy (its allies and enemies were chosen by Moscow). The Polish People's Republic officially ended on 29 December 1989, fifty years, three months and twenty nine days after Hitler, aided by Stalin, invaded Poland.

So today, an independent Poland has been around since for less than fifty years. Worth also remembering that Poland had been an independent kingdom for over eight centuries, which puts a bit of perspective on today's celebrations. Also worth bearing in mind that the far right Nationalist Movement won 1.2% of the vote in last month's local elections.

My wishes for Poland's future - above all, security. The biggest threat is from Russia, whose soldiers are currently shelling and machine-gunning Ukrainian positions in the Donbass. Security within a strong NATO, and a strong, reforming EU that can get its act together on innovation and competitiveness and takes more heed of the concerns of the citizens of its member states.

Next - Poland needs to tackle its hidebound university professors - in my eyes, the biggest single obstacle to genuine Polish innovation. Although Poland's economy is moving up the value-added ladder, with simple contact centres giving way to knowledge-based outsourcing and global tech hubs, and with simple metal-bashing giving way to advanced manufacturing in the aerospace and automotive supply chains, Poland is still using technologies devised elsewhere to do things for other countries at a lower cost than they could themselves.

Poles are clever people, hard-working people. It's just that the brightest and the best are developing the fruits of their innovative thinking in universities in the US, UK, Germany or Australia - but not at home. Here, geriatric professors still cling on to their tenures, blocking the promotions of much younger lecturers and researchers who can still make a difference. The habilitowanie process at Polish universities is a time-waster, and doing habilitacje in Polish rather than in the global language of research means that citations in foreign journals are few and far between. The very best Polish universities language around the 300 mark in the global Top 500 rankings.

So - all the very best to my fatherland - I'm proud to be Polish, I'm proud of Polish economic and scientific successes, I feel very happy living in a dynamic country which has transformed itself in leaps and bounds since I moved here over 21 years ago. The chart below sums Poland's progress.

Great to be here. Let's see the Polish government applying itself to reform of the universities with the same zeal (misplaced, in my view) that it has shown in shaking up the law courts.

This time last year:
Globalisation in retreat

This time five years ago:
Leeds, a city made uglier by crooked developers

This time six years ag0:
Węzeł Lotnisko (now Węzeł W-wa Południe) - works continue

This time 11 years ago:
Its Independence Day