Norman Davies on Polish-British relations

Professor Norman Davies giving the keynote speech of the 7th Polish-British Roundtable. The speech was held at the Jagiellonian University's Collegium Novum. Photo: Villa Decius/Pawel Mazur

Davies opened the event with a lecture on 100 years of Polish-British relations, stressing that the balance of power has shifted to an unprecedented degree.

“The stage is now set for a dialogue of equals in an open, friendly debate,” he reflected on today's situation.

“It is not the unequal relationship which prevailed for much of modern history,” Davies later told Polish Radio reporter Nick Hodge.

“In the last ten years, Poland has not only been successful economically, its voice is becoming stronger and stronger in political circles.”

In this interview, the historian also discusses whether Polish immigrants in the UK will continue to be used as a political football, with numbers still rising ten years after Poland joined the EU.

He also looks back to a less widely publicised exodus of Poles during the Second World War and its aftermath, when many Polish soldiers and civilians settled in the UK.

The Polish-British Roundtable is an annual event that brings together academics, economists and movers and shakers in the political world.

The event is hosted by the Villa Decius in Krakow, and guests this year also included Neil Ascherson and Professor Timothy Garton Ash.

Norman Davies, author of the two-volume history of Poland God's Playground, is currently putting together both an online project and a book about Anders' Army.