It is a pleasure to read your leader and article about Poland’s economic and political success in recent years (“A Place at Top Table” and “Tusk in Time,” April 30, 2011). With close to forty-million inhabitants, Poland is not far behind Spain in size and potential clout. With some luck, the current economic and political stability may indeed lead to a place at the top table of the European Union. And the Union may well need Poland in dealing with Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Forever a bridge, often bloody, between Germany and Russia, Poland is in the key position to help redefine relations between the two worlds—the proverbial east and west. This appears not to be such an important thing at the moment, but it is likely to remain so for a long time. To wit, the Union needs Poland as much as Poland needs the Union. Let us hope both sides understand this well enough.