In the past year IDEE--Warsaw hosted several groups of interns from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The internships were for NGO leaders, local self-government activists, journalists, and politicians.

The general aim of all the internships was to introduce participants to Polish democratic institutions in the public and non-governmental sectors. The last group, came to Poland in October 1998 to observe the electoral campaign and election procedures in various Polish cities.

Following are what some of the interns and elections' observers said after they returned home:
 

OBSERVING A NEIGHBOR
Learning from Experience
by Ivan Lozowy,
Institute of Statehood and Democracy/Kiev, Ukraine

Based on the experience of young activists participating in an IDEE internship to observe local council elections in Poland on October 11, 1998,  there is much evidence that Ukrainian-Polish exchanges for civic activists has a significant positive effect.

A Total Immersion Experience of Openness

To begin with, Polish is a language quite similar to Ukrainian (and only somewhat more distant in relation to Russian), so the participants were immediately immersed in the experience of observing election campaigns, the functioning of local councils, and the workings of everyday life. The relative closeness of Polish and Ukrainian societies was also a very important factor in allowing the participants to immerse themselves in the local situation, rather than remain in a stand-off position due to an unfamiliarity of the situation.  In many ways, the world view is similar as are the physical circumstances.

For instance, the way in which local branches of political parties rely on personal contacts and contributions from supporters is very familiar to the post-communist mentality of Ukrainians, where the "clan" phenomenon is widespread. The historical context, according to which at certain stages in history Poles and Ukrainians shared a common state framework, adds to the ease of establishing meaningful communication between visitors from Ukraine and Poles. Though Poland is indisputably economically more developed than Ukraine, Poland is not so far advanced as to "boggle the mind" of a Ukrainian visitor who cannot possibly imagine how his country can achieve the level of progress of a country like France or Germany.

Learning by Experience: The Positive Effects of Observing a Neighbor

The Ukrainian participants who traveled to Poland for two weeks 14 became visibly enthused through their observations of Polish society, which has gone much further on the road to democracy and reform than Ukraine.  Specifically, participants were amazed at the openness which manifested itself in the almost complete, as compared to Ukraine, absence of a police and military presence, and the positive, highly cultured and sincere attitude of the people with whom they met.  This was reflected in a change in attitude of the participants themselves, who became more lively, animated, and enthusiastic about themselves and the potential of their home countries to achieve progress.

As perceived by the Ukrainian visitors, the Poles take responsibility for what is happening around them as a sine qua non of their daily lives, as compared to Ukrainians, who are in a state of waiting for someone---the communists or a Pinochet figure---to appear and bring order to what is perceived to be chaos.  Though it was agreed by the program participants that the level of intensity of campaign activity, for example, is lower in Poland because it had "turned the corner" of reform and progress. The deep involvement in the political process by Poles of stature and a high level of ability was seen by the program's Ukrainian participants as the best possible recommendation for working in the socio-political arena.

Conclusion: An Effort Worth Continuing

For Ukrainians, Poland contains the best combination and interplay of societal factors. Thus, because Poland shared, for over four decades, the communist experience which had encompassed Ukraine, the level of conscious, and even subconscious, relating to what is going on in Poland today is established easily and quickly. Reactions to the IDEE program of the sort characterized by, "This is all well and good, but has no relation to Ukraine" or "Matters are very different in Ukraine as compared to Poland," were absent. Instead, the accessibility of Polish society to the Ukrainian participants was such that the next, and perhaps most important step, in their change of attitude---  "How can we in Ukraine move in the direction that Poland has taken" was taken almost automatically. In the four-hour long round table discussion which took place on October 13, for example, participants concentrated exclusively on the issue of what could be done to improve (meaning: move closer to where Poland is headed) the situation back home, precisely the conclusion which was sought on the part of the visiting participants. All in all, the Polish-Ukrainian exchange program run by the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe for the October 11 elections demonstrated conclusively that the best possible experience serving as a model for energizing and accelerating democratic development in Ukraine lies in precisely these types of "East-East" exchanges.