Poland is daring Brussels to blink. The PiS government has reactivated the infamous bus route 666 to the coastal resort of Hel. It is a deliberate provocation against EU safety regulators. The line was suspended last year after complaints from the European Commission about the ‘demonic’ route number and safety concerns on the narrow coastal road. But Warsaw has now quietly reinstated the service, branding it a ‘cultural victory’ over bureaucratic overreach.
Inside the transport ministry, the mood is defiant. One official told me the move is ‘a two-fingered salute to EU harmonisation’. The route, which runs from Władysławowo to Hel, had become a tourist meme. But the EU’s intervention turned it into a symbol of national sovereignty. The Polish right has latched onto it. ‘They want to cancel our heritage,’ said a PiS MP. ‘First the number, next our churches.’
Of course, the safety concerns are real. The road is a single-track lane through pine forests, with no hard shoulder. Buses have to reverse for oncoming cars. There have been near-misses. But the government has green-lit the route anyway, with a reduced timetable and a warning to drivers to ‘expect delays’. The EU has not yet responded, but the game of chicken is on.
This is classic PiS strategy. Pick a fight on cultural grounds, ignore the substance, and dare Brussels to act. The Commission is caught. Sanction Poland over a bus route? It would be a farce. But ignore it, and other member states will copy the tactic. The ‘Highway to Hel’ is a microcosm of a larger war. Watch this space.
Polling note: PiS is down 4 points this month. But this stunt will rally the base. The rural vote loves this stuff. For the urban liberal? It’s an embarrassment. But they don’t decide elections in Poland.
