Poland is being given an opportunity to matter in Europe

In late january, as energy prices soared across Europe, billboards across Poland offered peeved bill-payers a familiar narrative: blame Brussels. Fully 60% of the rise in power prices was the fault of the European Union’s green policies, insisted the state-owned utilities behind the campaign. This was, to put it mildly, a gross exaggeration. In any case, the campaign was quietly shelved after Russia invaded Ukraine a few weeks later, sending energy prices higher still. Poland’s bigwigs have switched to blaming someone scarier than any eurocrat for the rising cost of living. The new slogan is “Putinflation”.