The European Union has done an exquisite job averting its gaze from the fiscal, social and political discrepancies member countries have perpetrated over the years. Don’t meet any of the economic standards to convert to the Euro? Not willing to give women standard reproductive health options?   Eh, you can come in. The cheap labor, potential to buy up the land we tried to conquer 60 years prior and an opportunity to add another place to fly the pretty flag is a fair trade.

 

But the unofficial power ranking and profound inequalities between member states, too often hidden behind politicians’ smiles or by flowery rhetoric, are being brought into broad daylight. And who do we have to thank for this exposure? The U.S.’ own CIA.

 

Several EU member states are not so keen on averting their eyes from the shortcomings of the U.S. and have expressed concern over the allegations that the CIA has been transporting suspected terrorists to secret interrogation centers throughout Europe.

 

The Swiss have condemned the United States for the practice. At a news conference a Swiss official said that, “There are camps in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay outside any legal system. Others have been taken in Europe and rendered to other countries for unacceptable treatment." He also accused the U.S. of “outsourcing” torture to European countries.

 

But the Swiss investigation didn’t just point fingers at the Americans. It also brought forth the allegation that the governments of countries where the temporary torture camps were set up knew about and granted permission for their existence. Among those implicated is Poland, named as the center for the operations by the Human Rights Watch.

 

So we Poles are in a bit of a pickle. We have to go along with the Europeans, whose mission is proving that at least once the U.S. government cannot get away with breaking international law to maintain our image as a true member of the EU.  In fact, our Prime Minister has launched a formal inquiry into the matter.

 

But there is a catch. If the inquiry yields the same results as that of the Swiss, the relationship between Poland and the U.S. will be severely strained. Poland does not have the economic and power capital that its western European neighbors do, meaning that it is largely dependent on them.

 

But until it can fully stand on its own two feet it cannot afford to put all of its eggs in one basket, and has made the decision to also maintain close ties with the superpower across the Atlantic.

 

The European Union isn’t so much about “Diversity in Unity” but “Diversity in Use.” To some nations the European Union is a means of advancement of political and economic agendas and exerting power over other parts of the continent. To others it is the only way to acquire relative security in an increasingly interdependent world.

 

Thus poorer, less powerful EU countries cannot afford to expose an important ally like the U.S., even if the transgressions outlined by the Swiss and Human Rights Watch are true. It creates a Catch-22, and a loss of trust by the EU or U.S. (or both) will result.

 

While the CIA is conducting Operation CYA, countries caught in the middle will have to pay the real price.

 

Although EU countries ranging from the most powerful to the lowest ranking are implicated, identical results of the investigations will mean entirely different things, depending on what’s at stake.

 

The U.S. cannot afford to break relations with Britain or France, even if their governments are instrumental in constructing a bullet proof case proving all the allegations that are currently being presented.

 

But a country like Poland, a much praised member of the Coalition of the Willing, can easily fall out of America’s good graces with little repercussions to the U.S.

 

No matter who prevails in the investigation- the EU nations that are making the accusations or the U.S. which is denying them- it’s those with allegiances to both who are inevitably the ones who will get the short end of the stick.