"Cześć!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THREE DAYS IN MAY

Find out how we will be celebrating Polish entry to UK in Kidderminster!

posted by: Oborski at 16:19 | link | comments |

Heard in passing...

from Warsaw Voice

 

"The method is both effective and humane."
-Halina Czerwik, manager of a MarcPol supermarket in Czêstochowa, about the idea of getting rid of sparrows that fly into the store by hanging a large stuffed hawk from the ceiling

"It's a simple equation. If there are 230 deputies instead of 460, the amount of harm done will be cut in half."
-Donald Tusk, deputy speaker of the Sejm, justifying the idea to cut the number of Sejm deputies by half, put forward by his party, the Civic Platform (PO)

"This is a man with competencies from a different system... Actors in silent movies did not survive films with sound."
-Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, former president of the National Bank of Poland, on the appointment of Stanis³aw Nieckarz, former finance minister from the communist era, to the Monetary Policy Council (RPP)

"It's hard for me to say which foreign languages our deputies speak, since I speak to them in Polish."
-Adam Bielan, press spokesman for the Law and Justice (PiS) parliamentary caucus, when asked what Western languages its members could speak

"In Poland, if you play the piano, you have to love Chopin-they'll hammer it into your head in every possible way. And I find it hard to feel love when I sense I'm being coerced into it."
-Piotr Anderszewski, a Polish pianist very well-known outside Poland, on why his repertoire includes mainly works by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven

"It turned out that the child simply did not want to go to school, and the mother could not handle him, so she called us."
-A police officer from Szczecin, where a woman called the police saying that her 10-year-old son was smoking marijuana at home 

posted by: Oborski at 12:32 | link | comments |

Leszek Miller's Got A Grandkid, too

By Slawomir Majman

From Warsaw Voice

Years ago, the top echelons of Poland's communist party included Andrzej Werblan; a tough man, a dogmatic post-Stalinist, an apparatchik widely disliked for his orthodoxy. And suddenly, in the Solidarity period, just after 1980, he loudly started demanding democracy and consequently was chucked out of everywhere. During martial law a well-known dissident met Werblan at one of the Western embassies, and asked him, "How is it possible that you, an old fox and old party devil, suddenly started believing that democracy was possible under communism?" Werblan replied, "No, I didn't think it was possible, but I have a granddaughter, and I thought of her reading about Poland's history one day and asking, 'What did you do for democracy, Grandpa?' So I had to do something."

Nice explanation.

Prime Minister Leszek Miller has started working for his place in history.

Malicious people are saying that's all he's got left. No other prime minister in free Poland had such negligible support. None lost so much in such a short time in the eyes of public opinion. No PM's party was ever headed for such an election defeat as Miller's Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)-as things stand today.

Miller is working for his place in history, where he wants to find himself as the man who eradicated, once and for all, any remnants of socialist, wasteful social policy from Poland's free-market economy, as a pioneer of reducing taxes and the businessmen's Hammurabi granting them a code of economic freedom. These are necessary steps that no other government ever dared take, and it's a paradox that it was a socialist prime minister who decided on a liberal revolution. But, in the short term, Miller's actions are meeting with a lack of understanding and aversion on the part of the left's traditional electorate, and to gain the support of leftist politicians there had to be some arm-twisting and sticking of pins under fingernails.

Because, people didn't elect Miller to drive a stake through the heart of the socialist system of welfare spending. People didn't elect Miller this ex-communist to offer a lofty apotheosis of his new ally and ideal, the fierce anti-socialist and economic liberal, Spain's Prime Minister José Maria Aznar.

On the other hand, no normal politician will go for a vision of unavoidable defeat and work only for history. So, resorting to unexpected tactical ploys, Miller is able to show that despite falling ratings, he is the one and only true boss in the government camp. A strong leader of the SLD and a strong prime minister. By introducing into his government as a deputy PM the narcissistic hedonist and individualist Józef Oleksy, he killed two birds with one stone. He drew into the government center its greatest critic, depriving of all hope those who had been counting on a split of the leftists, and refreshed his team's image with the Falstaffian visage of the last popular politician on the left side of the wall.

Poland has a better government than would seem from reading the Polish papers.

During its two years in power, the SLD has cured itself of socialist utopias and remnants of populism, however painful that might be for the bumbling socialists and professional defenders of the working classes. He has learned what you can do when in power, and what you simply cannot do. The prime minister is able to give the Poles a show of vigor once in a while, something they really need.

The way Miller's government undertook its independent game on the international chessboard is worthy of respect. The resolute betting on the American card has changed Poland's importance on the diplomatic scene. On the European front, Miller and his colleagues worked really hard to negotiate decent terms of EU accession, and the Polish resistance to the Franco-German dictate in the EU induced even a fierce enemy of the left, the leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS), Jaros³aw Kaczyñski, to offer a pompous compliment: "You have done something worthy for Poland, gentlemen."

After years of recession, the economy has gotten off to a rapid restart, exports and production are growing, the government has employers' unanimous support, and Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner's plan for economizing is opening the door to the recovery of public finances and a lasting return to stable economic development.

However, hardly anyone in Poland today doubts that just as the government policy starts to bring results after four years, and the government stops making schoolboy mistakes, Miller's team will be removed from power in the next elections.

The prime minister and his government have a terrible reputation in Poland.

Two years in power have shown that the Polish left is infected with all the nasty diseases of power: corruption, nepotism, buddy-buddy arrangements and cynicism hidden behind a screen of pragmatism.

Hardly a week goes by without scandal, leftists being accused of corruption, the accusations inflated beyond all proportion by media unfriendly toward the left. The government camp is bleeding closer to death every day under a barrage of accusations. Though in many cases the exaggeration is pretty obvious, resulting from the media's overwhelming hostility toward the government, there's no doubt that there has been a demoralization of part of the left's leadership.

Poland in reality has a three-chamber parliament today: the Sejm, the Senate and the Investigation Commission checking out the Rywin scandal. This corruption scandal has not only demolished the government's public image, but has turned some of the commission's members into heroes of a previously anemic opposition, to mention but today's unquestioned prime-ministerial candidate Jan Rokita.

Does the pandemonium of scandals that the Poles have been witness to over the past two years mean that catastrophic corruption has occurred in Miller's Poland? I'm afraid the Poles have let themselves be driven into hysteria, persuaded that in their country, especially on the left of the political spectrum, corruption is beating world records. Corruption is an inseparable, deformed sister of politics, a fact that the French, Belgians or Italians are seeing constantly, actually on a greater scale than the Poles.

In corruption, the facts aren't really the point. Nobody can hope to convince the Poles that the government's political backup are not a gang of degenerate thieves. And that's a nail in the Miller government's coffin.

Tripping over its own mistakes, Miller's government is wading toward the end of its term.

Mistakes as horrifying as the carelessly caused nightmarish mess in the health service early in the year. The mess was the result of the government ignoring the demands of family doctors; demands that may or may not have been egotistical. Closed doors to doctors' offices will linger in voters' memories much longer than the prime minister's international successes.

The government wades on through its mistakes, governing better than it did in the beginning, always hoping that it can win back the Poles' trust, though nobody else believes it can.

Meanwhile, it's better at inscribing itself into Poland's latest history than fighting for voter support. Unluckily, this will only be noticed by the children of those who are going to the ballots in 18 months' time.

posted by: Oborski at 12:28 | link | comments |

The Stormy SLD

From Warsaw Voice

 

The political position of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) went from bad to worse after the party suddenly lost its parliamentary majority and was defeated in a vote on the national budget.

This came on the heels of long-awaited reshuffles in the government and the SLD parliamentary party. The opposition triumphed in parliament Jan. 23. The ruling coalition of the SLD and the Labor Union (UP) failed to enlist enough support to defend the government's version of the budget bill. In a 222:214 vote, the house passed a key amendment providing for a more than half-a-billion-zloty subsidy to the PKP state railway company. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Labor and Social Policy Jerzy Hausner said this threatened to destabilize state finances.

The defeat of the Leszek Miller Cabinet was due to an about-face made by deputies from a parliamentary circle led by Roman Jagieliñski's Democratic Peasants' Party (PLD). After enlisting five new deputies, who have either left or been tossed out from their parliamentary groups, the PLD circle has transformed itself into a 15-member Federative Parliamentary Caucus (FKP). Unofficial information suggests that Jagieliñski demanded several government jobs from the prime minister, in addition to seats on the supervisory boards of Treasury-owned companies, in exchange for his circle's support in the Sejm. Rumor also has it that a major role was played by Mariusz £apiñski, the former SLD health minister who was kicked out of the government, the SLD parliamentary group and eventually the party some time ago. £apiñski has now joined the FKP as its secretary. Miller reportedly refused to bargain. Later, clearly irritated, the prime minister said that he had "no intention of bending to blackmail." However, under the current circumstances, the government can count on no more than 214 votes in the Sejm, while the required majority is 231. Pessimists warn that this may end with a rejection of the public finance rationalization plan authored by Hausner, the key economic blueprint of the ruling coalition for the rest of its term.

The party's parliamentary failure has encouraged internal consolidation within the SLD. A day later, the Hausner Plan was unanimously approved by the SLD national council. However, this does not alter the fact that in order to secure safe support in the Sejm, SLD politicians must now negotiate, looking for either permanent or one-off alliances. Unexpected assistance may come from the largest opposition party-the liberal Civic Platform (PO). PO leaders, even though they are critical of many of Hausner's ideas and spare no criticism for the government's economic policy, admit that they are uninterested in toppling the government by rejecting the Hausner Plan, because this could spell chaos for the economy.

The latest change in the arrangement of forces in parliament stole the show, overshadowing the recent reshuffles within the SLD. As expected, Jerzy Jaskiernia resigned as head of the SLD parliamentary caucus. He was replaced-predictably-by Krzysztof Janik, until now minister of internal affairs and administration. A major surprise, on the other hand, was the appointment of Józef Oleksy to replace Janik as minister of internal affairs and administration. In addition, Oleksy, who served as prime minister in 1994-95, was provided with the status of deputy prime minister. Before joining the government, Oleksy was one of Miller's main critics within the SLD.

The opinions of observers are divided. Some say the prime minister has thereby neutralized one of his main adversaries; others suggest this may be a step toward replacing Miller as SLD leader and prime minister in the coming months.

posted by: Oborski at 12:25 | link | comments |

‘Visa regime for Poles travelling to the US will be retained’, heard president Alexander Kwasniewski, while visiting Washington...

 

The American side, however, promised to ease visa restrictions that the Polish citizens face when making a journey to the United States. During his meeting with George W. Bush president Kwasniewski said ‘the future of the world is without visa, not with visa. That should be our goal.’ Poland had hoped that one reward for its help in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, involving the deployment of 25 hundred troops, would be an easing of visa rules to match the visa exemptions enjoyed by other European nations, including those that opposed the war, such as France and Germany.
To conclude the visit to the United States the Polish head of state was received by US defence minister Donald Rumsfeld who praised the Polish troops stationed in Iraq. The American government promised to increase its funds for the modernisation of the Polish armed forces from 12 to 66 million dollars a year as of 2005.

Prime Minister Leszek Miller said he would call for early elections if parliament rejected his leftist minority cabinet's austerity plan aiming to prepare Poland for euro zone membership...

 

Miller's declaration came after the cabinet finally approved a package of measures set to generate about 30 billion zlotys, that is nearly 8 billion dollars, in savings until 2007. The savings amount to 3.8 per cent of Poland's current gross domestic product. "If this plan could not be carried out because it did not gain support in parliament, there would be no other solution than early parliamentary elections," said prime minister Miller.

The zloty and bond prices have risen in reaction to yesterday’s approval of minister Jerzy Hausner’s austerity programme...

 

Despite today’s rise in the value of the Polish currency some experts predict unstable months on the financial markets and possible weakening of the zloty flowing from the uncertainty over the introduction of the ambitious plan.

MP of the ruling Democratic Left Alliance - Zbigniew Kaniewski – will become new treasury minister. His main task, experts say, should be the speeding up and completion of privatisation...

 

Witold Orlowski, economy advisor to president Kwasniewski points to frequent changes on the post of treasury minister and to the negletion of the privatisation process in Poland. This is said to be spoiling the image of Poland in the eyes of foreign investors. The new minister will replace Piotr Czy¿ewski dismissed last week. The nomination will be handed by president Alexander Kwasniewski later this afternoon.

Talks on EU constitution as well as Polish-Irish relations will constitute the core of Polish prime minister Leszek Miller’s working visit to Ireland tomorrow...

 

The head of the Polish cabinet will be received by his Irish opposite number Bertie Ahern and president Mary McAleese. Poland is concerned with further development of its already good relations with Ireland. Currrently trade exchange between the two countries amounts to half a billion dollars annually, while the level of Irish investments in Poland remains at the level of over 1 billion dollars. Tomorrow’s visit was planned for December 5th, yet it had to be postponed due to the crash of the helicopter carrying the prime minister.

Now the weather

 

– it is a cloudy day except for the north-west. It is snowing in places, the snowfall may be heavy in southern and south-eastern Poland. temperatures range from minus 8 degrees Centigrade in the north-east to minus 2 in the west. Winds are light and moderate.

posted by: Oborski at 12:20 | link | comments |

Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski is expected to meet president George Bush later today...

The main subjects of their talks will be Polish participation in rebuilding the Iraqui economy, F-16 fighter planes bought by the Polish airforce, military cooperation and the controversial issue of visas for Polish citizens travelling to the US.

According to Jan Rokita, leader of the Civic Platform opposition party, there is little chance for success in the latter issue – Poland should have demanded lifting visa restrictions before it joined the US in the Iraqui military operation.

According to news agency reports Iraqui terrorists attempted to attack Polish military checkpoint in Karbala, the capital of Polish military zone in Iraq...

When Polish soldiers responded with fire, the terrorists attacked the house of the commander of Iraqui police force in Karbala. Two local policemen were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. This was one of several attempted attacks in the zone within last 24 hours. Ensign Zbigniew D¹bkiewicz, spokesman of the first multinational brigade, says that four suspects were detained and the terrorists probably were preparing an attack against the Camp Szczecin Polish military base.

The Polish government prepares the final version of budget cuts...

The programme which includes cutting government expenses by 8 billion US dollars by 2007 one third of which by limiting social security programmes is described by critics as quite controversial. A large part of the project had to be scrambled to secure support of the MPs from the government coalition. The opposition says it will vote against the programme although there is still a chance that the centrist Civic Platform will support it.

Aleksander Malachowski, the doyen of the Polish labour movement, honorary president of Labour Union and ex-deputy speaker has died in Warsaw...

Malachowski was also a writer, journalist and in the 1960s a radio reporter. Elected in 1989 to the first democratic Polish parliament he opened the first session as the pro-term speaker. After the 1991 election he was the deputy speaker of the lower house of Parliament.

Police from Lubuskie province in Western Poland have arrested a drug dealing gang in the town of Miêdrzyrzecz...

The enquiry into a drug dealing network which distributed amphetamines at local clubs has continued for several months. Initially, only small-time dealers were attained but the ring leaders, two women aged 20 and 25 were arrested. According to the police more arrests are expected soon.

More news about a success in fighting drug dealing just in from the Baltic port city of Gdansk...

Polish custom officers have found drugs worth approximately a quarter of million dollars aboard British ship the “Green Freezer”.

Tuesday is Polish Day at Midem International Music Fair in Cannes...

The programme includes a concert by top Polish jazz singer Anna Maria Jopek – who last year teamed up with Pat Metheney on a successful album - and a gala concert at Cannes Festival Palace of music by the renowned contemporary composer Wojciech Kilar. The Polish Radio Orchestra will perform his most famous works including the suite from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dracula” and “September Symphony”, a musical homage to America after September 11th. This is the first time Poland participates in the Music Fair on such a scale.

And now for the weather – it is a reasonably nice day all over Poland – cloudy but in the South and East a fair amount of sun...

The temperatures range from minus 2 degrees Centigrade in the north-east to minus 7 in the south and south-east. Winds are light and moderate.

posted by: Oborski at 16:41 | link | comments |

Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski is expected to meet president George Bush later today...

The main subjects of their talks will be Polish participation in rebuilding the Iraqui economy, F-16 fighter planes bought by the Polish airforce, military cooperation and the controversial issue of visas for Polish citizens travelling to the US.

According to Jan Rokita, leader of the Civic Platform opposition party, there is little chance for success in the latter issue – Poland should have demanded lifting visa restrictions before it joined the US in the Iraqui military operation.

According to news agency reports Iraqui terrorists attempted to attack Polish military checkpoint in Karbala, the capital of Polish military zone in Iraq...

When Polish soldiers responded with fire, the terrorists attacked the house of the commander of Iraqui police force in Karbala. Two local policemen were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. This was one of several attempted attacks in the zone within last 24 hours. Ensign Zbigniew D¹bkiewicz, spokesman of the first multinational brigade, says that four suspects were detained and the terrorists probably were preparing an attack against the Camp Szczecin Polish military base.

The Polish government prepares the final version of budget cuts...

The programme which includes cutting government expenses by 8 billion US dollars by 2007 one third of which by limiting social security programmes is described by critics as quite controversial. A large part of the project had to be scrambled to secure support of the MPs from the government coalition. The opposition says it will vote against the programme although there is still a chance that the centrist Civic Platform will support it.

Aleksander Malachowski, the doyen of the Polish labour movement, honorary president of Labour Union and ex-deputy speaker has died in Warsaw...

Malachowski was also a writer, journalist and in the 1960s a radio reporter. Elected in 1989 to the first democratic Polish parliament he opened the first session as the pro-term speaker. After the 1991 election he was the deputy speaker of the lower house of Parliament.

Police from Lubuskie province in Western Poland have arrested a drug dealing gang in the town of Miêdrzyrzecz...

The enquiry into a drug dealing network which distributed amphetamines at local clubs has continued for several months. Initially, only small-time dealers were attained but the ring leaders, two women aged 20 and 25 were arrested. According to the police more arrests are expected soon.

More news about a success in fighting drug dealing just in from the Baltic port city of Gdansk...

Polish custom officers have found drugs worth approximately a quarter of million dollars aboard British ship the “Green Freezer”.

Tuesday is Polish Day at Midem International Music Fair in Cannes...

The programme includes a concert by top Polish jazz singer Anna Maria Jopek – who last year teamed up with Pat Metheney on a successful album - and a gala concert at Cannes Festival Palace of music by the renowned contemporary composer Wojciech Kilar. The Polish Radio Orchestra will perform his most famous works including the suite from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dracula” and “September Symphony”, a musical homage to America after September 11th. This is the first time Poland participates in the Music Fair on such a scale.

And now for the weather – it is a reasonably nice day all over Poland – cloudy but in the South and East a fair amount of sun...

The temperatures range from minus 2 degrees Centigrade in the north-east to minus 7 in the south and south-east. Winds are light and moderate.

posted by: Oborski at 16:40 | link | comments |

President in Davos: bilateral meetings, panel debates...

President Aleksander Kwasniewski during his visit to Davos for the 33rd World Economic Forum has met with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney to discuss the most difficult problems in Polish-U.S. relations, including the visas issue. Kwasniewski described how this situation negatively influences the society. Reportedly Cheney assured him "that President George Bush and his people are working on answers to problems annoying Poles," and that they will be presented to Kwasniewski during his this week’s visit to the U.S. Kwasniewski also met with President of the Iraqi Governing Council Adnam Pachachi to discuss the process of the renconstruction of Iraq and the gradual taking over of power by the Iraqi people. Pachachi also praised Polish soldiers stationed in Iraq. The Polish President met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and discussed the reform of the U.N. Panel teams set up by Annan are currently working on proposals of changes in the U.N. It is not excluded that one of the teams will hold its meeting in Warsaw this summer. Kwasniewski also stressed that the U.N. should play a greater role in the reconstruction of Iraq. The situation in the Middle-East was the key topic of his meeting with Israel's Foreign Minister Silwan Shalom and Israeli Labor Party leader Shimon Peres. Kwasniewski’s meeting with Swiss President Joseph Deiss encouraged Swiss businessmen to invest in Poland and appealed for a more flexible approach towards seven-year protective period of the Swiss labour market vis-a-vis new EU members. The Swiss president invited Kwasniewski to pay an official visit to Switzerland in September. Kwasniewski also met with Georgia's president Mikhail Saakashvili who asked Poland for assistance in the training of Georgian diplomats, the military and police.

Polish delegation in Baghdad...

The participation of Polish companies in the Iraq reconstruction program was the main topic of talks between a Baghdad-visiting delegation of Polish politicians and businessmen and members of Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The delegation head , deputy foreign minister Sergiusz Najar was received by Iraq's civil administrator Paul Bremer. Bremer's deputy David Nash met with the remaining delegates. Nash and Bremer stated that the best way for Polish firms to get on the Iraq program would be as subsidiaries of larger corporations. CPA economic aide Marek Belka pointed out that Polish companies were not only interested in USAID Iraq projects but also wanted regular commercial ties with Iraq. Najar announced a debate on Poland's participation in Iraq reconstruction projects in mid-February. Members of the delegation also discussed with their Iraqi partners the training of Iraqi police, the rebuilding of the structure and forces of the border guard as well as technical aide for the fire service. Also discussed was assistance in the environmental protection.

SLD-UP loses key vote as PLD breaks off parliamentary alliance...

The ruling coalition of SLD-UP lost a crucial vote in the Sejm Friday after a parliamentary circle of the Peasant-Democratic Party (PLD) had left SLD-UP parliamentary coalition. The Sejm rejected Senate amendments cutting subsidies to the national railways (PKP) and the Warsaw subway. As a result, the Sejm awarded 550 mn zlotys to PKP and at least 150 mn zlotys to the underground. PLD wants to form a new caucus (FKP) which will have 16 deputies altogether.. SLD caucus head Krzysztof Janik confirmed the withdrawal but said he wants to talk with PLD on future cooperation. PLD leader Roman Jagielinski did not rule out re-joining the parliamentary coalition. His caucus FKP will discuss further cooperation with SLD. PM Miller called the vote a test of responsibility for Poland as PO members, a thinly veiled allusion to PO, who had repeatedly stressed the necessity to rationalise public spending. The opposition is sure the government has lost a working majority. "It is the defeat that shows that the government has no majority in parliament and cannot govern. If the government loses a vote in such an important vote, it is the high time to offer resignation," PiS (one of the most influential oppositional parties) chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski said. When asked who will join the SLD-UP coalition ahead of next key votes related with the Hausner plan, Miller said that "anybody who feels responsible for the future of Poland. We will talk with anybody who is ready to support our Hausner plan proposal," said the Prime Minister.

PiS calls for talks on future government...

The Law and Justice (PiS) party called on opposition parties to start talks on policy grounds of a future government. PiS head J. Kaczynski appealed for the self-dissolution of the parliament and early general elections in June this year. The party said that firm defence of the Polish national interest in the EU, including the Nice voting system, and the struggle against corruption, should be ground for the policies of the future government. PiS leader stressed that Miller government has lost majority. He also called on the opposition parties to reject Jerzy Hausner's austerity programme.

2003's GDP up 3.6 pct, Hausner ...

Poland's GDP growth in fourth quarter of 2003 was 4.5 percent, and the economy grew by 3.6 pct in the whole year, Deputy PM Jerzy Hausner said a meeting of SLD leadership. Poland's economic situation in 2003 are good and even very good data, excluding unemployment and debt growth. Hausner expects investment to grow this year: "I can say that 2004 will be the year of investment boom."

Sejm passes electoral law to European Parliament...

The Sejm passed the law on elections to the European Parliament according to which persons 21 years of age or older will be eligible to run for EP seats. Thus the Sejm rejected a controversial Senate-proposed change calling for raising the age requirement to 30 years. The Sejm also rejected a possibility of voting through mail. Furthermore regional lists of candidates will have to be signed by at least 10 thousand people. Now the bill will be directed to the president.

Opposition against Huebner in EU...

The government should withdraw European minister Danuta Huebner's designation as Poland's EU Commissioner and put the issue through parliament, opposition parties Law and Justice (PiS), Polish Peasant Party (PSL) and League of Polish Families (LPR) said in the Sejm calling on the government to resign posting Huebner to Brussels. They also demanded a Sejm debate on the commissioner appointment next week. Huebner have declined answers to many queries. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski criticised Huebner's behaviour during the EU access talks and her role in fielding a recent Poland-rejected EU constitution draft. Sejm deputy speaker and PSL member Janusz Wojciechowski said his party's reservations towards Huebner were connected with her stance during Poland's EU talks, especially her assurances to Brussels that Poland would not make use of an Access Treaty clause allowing candidates to file alterations to their EU membership conditions.

Kwasniewski tops 2003 ranking...

22 percent of Poles in a CBOS survey named president Aleksander Kwasniewski as 2003 Politician of the Year, runners-up were parliament's star corruption investigator Jan Rokita (15 pct) and farmer leader Andrzej Lepper (10 pct). 18 pct declared no Polish politicians deserved the title.

Weary of left-wing SLD Poles would like centre-right at power...

41 percent of Poles believe Poland should be ruled by a coalition formed by the Citizens' Platform (PO) and the Law and Justice (PiS). Rzeczpospolita daily informs. According to its recent survey, Poles have been weary of presently ruling left-wing Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) as only 13 percent of the surveyed would pick this party in a would be elections.

EU funds for new roads...

The EU Cohesion Fund will co-finance 202 kilometres of motorways and 30 kilometres of expressways in Poland, the Polish infrastructure ministry has informed. Total value of all projects exceeds one billion euro. Some parts of motorways and expressways will be cofinanced from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDP), which will also cover modernisation work on some national roads and railways.

Szczecin shipyard-built cargo tanker selected ship of 2003...

The "Bow Sun" chemical tanker, built by the Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa shipyard for the Norway’s Odfjell ASA, was chosen the Ship of 2003. The title was awarded by the London-based Royal Institute of Naval Architecture. "Bow Sun" is the biggest chemical tanker in the world, it can carry over 50,000 cubic meters of liquid cargo.

President Aleksander Kwaœniewski has begun a three-day working visit to the US...

 

While in Washington, the Polish president is to meet with G.W.Bush, defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and leader of republican majority in the senate – Bill Frist. One of the topics to be discussed is strict visa regime introduced by the US on January 5th and including collecting „biometric identifiers” such as fingerprints in an inkless process along with a digital photograph. The visa regime has been a questionable issue in Poland’s relation with the US for quite some time Washington’s new procedure of checking visitors’identity will not be applied to the citizens of 27 European countries and Poland is not on the list. Other issues include the possibility of relocating American bases to the Polish territory and the Polish participation in the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.

Meanwhile leaders of the United States Helsinki Commission called on President George W. Bush to raise the longstanding issue of property compensation with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski in their meeting in Washington...

"Two years ago, President Kwasniewski assured me and other congressional leaders that Poland would have a law on property restitution or compensation ready by early 2003," said Helsinki Commission Chairman Christopher H. Smith. "Unfortunately, Prime Minister Leszek Miller's government, like others before it, continues to place this issue on the back burner. I again urge President Bush to raise this issue with his Polish counterpart during their upcoming White House meeting. The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords.

The Irish presidency of the EU starts a big push today to revive talks on a proposed constitution for the bloc, with foreign ministers discussing it for the first time since negotiations collapsed last month...

While they meet in Brussels, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, holder of the European Union's rotating presidency until June, flies to Madrid for talks with his Spanish counterpart, one of two leaders most strongly opposed to the charter's text. Ahern is also due to meet Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller in Dublin later this week. Ireland has been mandated by the European Council of EU heads of state and government to consult members about the best way forward and report back at a Council meeting in March.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands announced that it would curb the number of workers it will accept from the 10 countries joining the European Union this year amid concern new EU citizens could put pressure on its job market...

The Netherlands said it would restrict the number of workers it would allow in from new EU states to 22,000 until May 2005 because Dutch unemployment rates have risen recently. The EU's 15 current member states are allowed to limit or block access to their labour markets for two years after the EU expands in May with the entry of new member states. Germany, Austria, Finland and Belgium have already said they would use a so-called "two-year option" to keep their labour markets closed. Britain and Ireland have said they will open their markets to workers from new EU members.

Dutch unemployment level stood at 5.5% at the last quarter of 2003 while Poland's official unemployment rate ticked up to 18.0% in December from 17.6% in November, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office...

The figure was slightly above the consensus of 17.9%. According to analysts, the rise is mostly due to seasonal effects, but it should be stressed that the Polish labor market situation is still weak and there are still only a few signs of improvement. Poland's leftist government has approved preliminary macroeconomic figures for the 2004 budget that write in a year-end jobless rate of 17.8% but the country’s unemployment rate has remained high, holding above 17% since November 2001 in the wake of an over two-year economic slump, continuing corporate restructuring and falling investment. Some analysts claim, however, the country's economy has begun growing more quickly, and is set to grow by 3.5% or so this year and maybe even 5% in 2004.

The Catholic Church in Poland celebrates the Day of Islam today...

Prayers in the intention of islam followers are included in today’s services in churches all over the country and meetings of catholics and muslims have been scheduled in many parishes. Muslims have been living in Poland for the last 600 years. Currently their number have been estimated at 20 thousand, e.g. coming from Turkey, Bosnia and the Arab countries. Joint Council of Catholics and Muslims – the only organisation of that kind in Europe - has been operating in Poland since 1997. It associates muslims from central and eastern Europe, organises many international conferences and issues statements on the subject of relations and cooperation between christians and muslims in the world.

posted by: Oborski at 09:38 | link | comments |

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the web site for full report!

posted by: Oborski at 11:34 | link | comments |

A rather cold weekend in store for us – today’s noontime mercury highs (if that’s the right expression in this case) ranged from 10 centigrade below freezing in the eastern Podlasie region to a „bare” minus 4 degrees Celcius up north, along the Baltic coast...

It is mostly sunny, with only the southeastern corner covered with snow bearing clouds, which might produce some of the white stuff during the dark hours. The night is expected to be definitely colder with temperatures from 15 to 10 centigrade below freezing point.
That’s the weather and now, the major news stories:

Prime Minister Leszek Miller has said the government will not yield to any kind of political blackmail...

During a conference of his SLD party, which is currently the House majority grouping, Miller said he hoped part of the opposition would endorse important legislation. This remark had been clearly in reference to yesterday’s surprise SLD defeat in voting on State Rail and Warsaw Metro subsidy cuts when the small Peasant Democratic party chaired by Roman Jagielinski associated with the ruling coalition refused its backing for reason of unfulfilled personal ambitions.

Speaking at the same Warsaw hosted SLD conference, deputy premier and economy minister Jerzy Hausner stated that although the Friday approved excessive subsidies will create an additional burden on the planned national budget, he is still confident that his proposed recovery and reform scheme for the Polish economy is bound to be successful...

Hausner has modified the main tenets of the scheme for 2004 to envisage a 55% public debt threshold, 5% GDP growth rate and unemployment figures well below 3 million. Savings would be sought over a three year period in limitations on administration and social spending.

The country’s General Sanitary Inspector Andrzej Trybusz has said that there is no risk of a bird flu epidemic in Poland...

He recalled there has not been any recorded case of the viral infection being passed between humans, though there is a theoretical chance of the animal virus being genetically combined with the human variety. However, given the few individual cases spotted in Asia there is no need for introducing hightened alert procedures in poultry imports to Poland, concluded the General Sanitary Inspector.

And just a brief look at the winter sports scene....

... Poland’s star ski jumper Adam Malysz has placed 12th in the World Cup event in Sapporo on Saturday, well behind winner Roar Ljoekelsoey of Norway. It seems that the Japanese leg of the current World Cup tour has not been the best for title holder Malysz, who hadn’t even qualified for the second round during yesterday’s competition. The general classification is lead by Finland’s Janne Ahonen – Malysz trailing in 6th place.

posted by: Oborski at 11:53 | link | comments |

Holocaust Memorial Day...

Outside St. Mary's Church in Kidderminster at 12 Noon today. See you there if you can make it. Bring a flower.

posted by: Oborski at 11:50 | link | comments |

President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that the lifting of visas for Poles travelling to the US and the participation of Polish companies in the reconstruction of Iraq will be the major issues on the agenda of next week’s talks in Washington...

Aleksander Kwasniewski added that Poles cannot expect immediate lifting of visas , first he said ,Poland should obtain a liberalisation of the visa system which may then result in a visa free traffic to the US.The Polish head of state said that during his Washington visit he intends to concentrate on the involvement and increased role of both NATO and the UN in Iraq. Talks in the US will also focus on the application of the offset projects. 25 projects have been embarked upon in Poland by the Lockheed Martin company. The US plane producer, who won the tender for the supply of F16 fighter jets for the Polish Air Force, is obliged to invest over 6 billion dollars in Poland by 2013. By the end of March Lockheed Martin must present the Polish economy ministry with a detailed report on the scale of projects prepared last year.

Former head of Radio Free Europe and an expert in political matter Jan Nowak Jezioranski considers, that suspending of visas for Poles will be a tough nut to crack...

He said that a lot depends on how Poland will conduct the negotiations adding that the issues of visas is vital in Polish US relations.Commenting the statement made by US ambassador to Poland Christopher Hill who said that Poland’s participation in the Iraq mission can have no influence on suspending the visas, Jan Nowak Jezioranski said it was a most unfortunate expresssion.At the same time Nowak Jezioranski said that Poland should take into consideration the US security interests. If Poland will play a tough hand on the issue of visas it may bring quite the opposite effect , he said.

A Polish delegation of ministry representatives and members of Polish consortia arrived in Baghdad today to take part in discussions on Poland’s role in the reconstruction of Iraq...

The delegation is headed by deputy foreign minister Sergiusz Najar ,responsible for economic matters among them contracts in Iraq. The details of the visit are kept secret for security reasons.

The Polish Peasant party, the rightist league of Polish Families and the Law and Justice opposition movements demand that the government withdraws the candidature of Danuta Hubner as the country’s candidate for the post of EU commissioner...

On Tuesday the lower house has decided to forward Poland’s EU affairs minister Danuta Hubner as the candidate for EU commissioner. The vote followed a heated debate in which arguments of both support and disapproval were voiced. Eventually, 23 MPs of the European affairs commission discussing the candidature voted in favour of Danuta Hubner, while 19 MPs voted against.Those opposing the choice claim that minister Hubner is too soft to defend Poland’s interests in the EU and claim that the selection had been made without the participation of the necessary number of MPs. The parties questioning minister Hubner’s candidature have not as yet forwarded their own candidate and claim that anyone could be a better commissioner than Danuta Hubner.

A special commission investigating the causes of the accident of a government helicopter early in December stated that the blame lies on the crew...

As a result of the crash several members of the government delegation were seriously injured with prime minister Leszek Miller suffering from a broken vertebrae. The commission has declared that the crew neglected to switch on special which led to cutting off power from the engines due to icing. On Tuesday the premier said that no matter what the commission’s conclusions he is certain that his life was saved by the pilot who managed to put down the machine causing the least possible damage to its passengers.

Three Polish best known hip hop musicians are to perform before Pope John Paul II this coming Sunday...

The presentation has been made possible thanks to the initiative of the Carousel of Culture Foundation which aims at bringing together artists representing so called “higher echelons” of culture and those from the “street culture”.The three hip hop artists are convinced that the performance before the Pontiff will be the most important experience in their lives.According to well known Polish film director Krzysztof Zanussi,who heads the foundation, the Sunday show of Polish hip hoppers has attracted the interest of world media.

120 EU citizens currently studying in Poland are meeting in Szczyrk ,south eastern Poland , at the First Convention of Foreign Students from the Erasmus programme...

The aim of the Socrates- Erasmus initiative is the exchange of students and researchers of high schools participating in the programme which concentrates on creating a Europe without frontiers on each levels of education. The three day meeting in the mountainous resort encompasses workshops which will help foreigners understand Polish realities. The Economic Academy in Katowice in Upper Silesia , which organises the Convention, has been co-operating with EU states for more than six years now, with already over 200 EU institutions being involved in the programm.

posted by: Oborski at 19:18 | link | comments |

Government information on the Polish foreign policy in the year 2004,

presented at the session of the Sejm on January 21, 2004 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

Click here for full text in pdf format

"Poland treats very seriously the discussion on the future of Europe. We are aware of our rights and the responsibility that we have been entrusted with. We listen attentively to the voices of our partners, but at the same time we are capable of presenting our own position and defending our views like other states of the Union. This might be the reason why we are not an easy partner in the Union. However, we will certainly be an honest and responsible partner. We will be ourselves. "

posted by: Oborski at 09:57 | link | comments |

Cimoszewicz presents directions of Polish foreign policy in 2004...

Poland's foreign policy in 2004 will be determined by the country's membership of the EU as well as political and military involvement in the stabilization process in Iraq, Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said in the Sejm while presenting an annual government report on foreign policy directions. The minister explained that 2004 opened up new opportunities for Poland which, on the one hand were related to Poland's membership of the EU and on the other to close relations linking Poland to the U.S. These two opportunities required answers as to the way Poland saw its role in the changing Europe, the type of tasks faced by NATO and the development of EU-U.S. relations. Presenting Polish priorities in work on a future EU constitution, the minister spoke out against solutions that would weaken the role of NATO and for sticking to the Nice vote-taking system. "We believe that the EU can and should be based on the principle of coherence and solidarity in action. This will let it take into account the interests of all states irrespective of their economic potential and demography," the minister stressed. Speaking about bilateral relations within the EU, he attributed key importance to "the reconstruction of climate of special trust" in Polish-German and Polish-French relations. The minister went on to say that Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Ireland will be Poland's most important partners in the EU. He also drew attention to the special rank of relations with the U.S. He announced actions in favour of building an eastern dimension of the EU and improvement of economic relations with Russia. With the EU accession on May 1, Poland will realize the last strategic goal of its foreign policy mapped out over 10 years ago. "Today we are facing the necessity to map out new horizons for our policy, and consolidate our position in NATO, the European Union and international community," Cimoszewicz said. "We must state precisely what Europe we want and how we see our role in it, in what direction the NATO should go, what identity our region may assume in the enlarged Europe and what our engagement outside Europe should be." Referring to the EU Constitutional Treaty, the minister stressed Poland's priorities, that is a reference to Christian traditions in the preamble, a group model of EU chairmanship, elimination of solutions that would weaken the role of NATO, preservation of the Nice vote weighing system in the European Council. He assured that Poland's position in the EU will be determined by "our national interests" which must be reconciled with the European interest. He went on to say that NATO will remain the fundamental platform of partnership. "The Alliance is a guarantee of Poland's security, and consolidation of its coherence and significance is invariably a prime goal of Poland's policy. Poland also wants to join in the construction of common foreign and defence policies of the EU. In his opinion, Poland's posture during the Iraqi crisis enhanced the rank of its relations with the USA and also contributed to its growing position among European partners. "Common service of American and Polish soldiers in Iraq strengthens our partnership." Poland has one goal of its presence in Iraq which is to help Iraqis to take over responsibility for their future, build a state of law, and establish order and security. Poland counts that alliance with the U.S. will favour development of economic cooperation and American investments in Poland. In 2004, Poland will continue its engagement in the initiative "Broader Europe, New Neighbourhood" concerning relations with eastern neighbours. In his opinion, good climate in Polish-Russian bilateral contacts should also embrace economic relations. He assured that Poland will be an advocate of Ukraine's integration with NATO and the EU. In its policy vis a vis Belarus, Poland will strive to consolidate its sovereignty and position in international relations, and support structures of civic society. Poland will strive to strengthen cooperation in Central Europe within the Visegrad Group, the Council of Europe and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Poland also attaches essential importance to development of relations with Latin American, Asia and African countries.

President on foreign policy: main goals reached...

The Polish foreign policy is entering today a very special stage as the main goals which is presence in NATO and EU, have been already reached, said President Kwasniewski having heard a report by Foreign Minister Cimoszewicz on tasks of the Polish foreign policy in 2004. Poland is an important country on the international arena owing to our alliance with the U.S. and our participation in the stabilisation mission in Iraq, the president added. The president stressed that the second stage of the international policy should be based not on setting new goals but on building a proper quality of Poland's presence. The point is to make Poland more significant in NATO and the EU. Poland should know how to include Ukraine in European structures, build best possible relations with Russia, consolidate our presence in the regions in which it is too weak, for instance, in China, South America and Asia and the Pacific. According to Kwasniewski, Poland should have grounds for satisfaction as 15 years after the beginning of transformations it is safe as a NATO and EU member and because it enjoys respect in the world and is not afraid of any of its neighbours. He expressed hope that in 2004 Poland would be able to conduct as effective foreign policy as in 2003.

Visa, offset, Iraq to dominate Kwasniewski U.S. talks...

Easing U.S. visa regulations for Poles, offset contracts on Poland purchase of U.S. F-16 aircrafts and Poland's share in the Iraq reconstruction program will dominate President Kwasniewski's forthcoming Washington talks. At a press conference in the parliament, Kwasniewski said visas would be the toughest issue. This is the issue that is most generally felt in Poland as U.S. visa procedures are difficult and sometimes degrading. The President said he expected a tough U.S. stance regarding lower visa fees as the same fees applied in all countries whose citizens needed entry visas and lowering them for Poland would mean lowering them elsewhere. Obviously, proposing cuts for Poland alone will be very hard. However, in the long run the U.S. will have to abolish visas for Poles as "Poles constitute no threat to the U.S.". During his working visit next week Kwasniewski will meet with President Bush, Defence Secretary Rumsfeld and Senate majority leader, senator Frist. Kwasniewski is also expected to solicit for support for weapons maker Bumar Co. competing to win a 565 million USD contract for the delivery of hardware for Iraqi troops.

President in Davos: bilateral meetings, panel debates...

During his visit to Davos for the 33rd World Economic Forum President A. Kwasniewski plans to meet twice with US Vice-President Dick Cheney, and hold talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Georgia's president-elect Mikhail Saakashvili. He will also take part in panel discussions devoted to Central and Eastern Europe. While in Davos, The President will also meet with business VIPs, and encourage them to take part in a European economic summit which will be held in Warsaw at the end of April. Kwasniewski will also talk about Polish economic undertakings in Iraq.

Cimoszewicz calls on Poles to be diligent before joining EU...

We've got to be diligent during the coming 100 days to be fully ready for EU membership, Foreign Minister Cimoszewicz told Radio One. Concluding changes are required mostly in the sectors of administration, economy and legal regulations. Poland's biggest problem here are agriculture and food production, the adjustment of administration to EU structures and the ability to absorb assistance would influence future trade relations with EU partners. The minister noted that May 1 would be of symbolic nature as on that date Poles would not wake up to a new reality: "As regards the foreign policy practically nothing will change". Cimoszewicy expressed hope that a European constitution would be adopted in 2004 even though a consensus should still be reached. "Everything now depends on Ireland, that is holding EU rotating presidency in the 1st half of 2004," he explained.

PM will pay official visit to Iran after February 20...

PM Leszek Miller will pay an official visit to Iran after the parliamentary elections in that country (Feb 20), deputy Foreign Minister Boguslaw Zaleski said after Warsaw talks with his Iranian counterpart Hamid Reza Assefi. Iran borders with the Polish stabilization zone.Assefi said that irrespective of changes in Iranian parliament, Poland would remain an important partner of his country.

Treasury Minister sacked, Oleksy formally installed as deputy PM...

President Kwasniewski dismissed Piotr Czyzewski from the post of Treasury Minister but did not appoint a new minister. Czyzewski's replacement may take place next week after the President's return from the U.S., Prime Minister Leszek Miller added. According to speculations, odds are for Przemyslaw Morysiak, a finance ministry director to be appointed. The President also appointed Jozef Oleksy, who replaces Interior Minister Krzysztof Janik, Deputy Prime Minister. Kwasniewski said that he was convinced that Oleksy's nomination is strengthening the government and means consolidation of both the coalition and the ruling SLD party. Miller added he wanted Oleksy to supervise and coordinate the preparation of Poland's administration to the EU membership.

Orlowski: Economy grew over 3.5 pct in 2003...

Presidential adviser Witold Orlowski said Poland's economy grew more last year that the budget-projected 3.5 percent. "The growth was caused by higher investments and exports, with low import demand”. The Central Statistical Office is due to release 2003 GDP growth data late this monthin January. Orlowski also believes that the Polish zloty will begin to firm in the second half of the year, after Poland joins the EU. "The zloty may be more unstable in 2004 than it would be justified by the foundations of the economy. Its rate may fluctuate," the expert said. What will impact the zloty most will be uncertainty on the financial markets but the currency may begin to firm in the second half of the year.

Most Poles pessimistic about future...

Despite a 6-point public optimism rise from December, only 25 percent of Poles in a January CBOS poll said events in Poland were moving in the right direction. 63 pct were pessimistic about the country's future (7 pts down from December), 60 pct criticised the political situation (4 pts down). Only 4 pct showed optimism about Poland's politics. 62 pct were pessimistic about the national economy (4 pts down), 27 pct said it was developing at an average pace (2 pts up). 41 pct said they were satisfied with their work (6 pts up) whereas 26 pct were displeased with their jobs (4 pts down). 22 percent were pleased with their living standards, 24 pct were dissatisfied (unchanged). 54 pct said their living conditions were average. 24 pct said their household budgets were sufficient, 31 pct claimed otherwise. 36 pct believed Poland's situation would deteriorate over the current year (5 pts down), 41 pct claimed nothing would change, 13 pct forecast improvement (2 pts up).

Poland’s EU affairs minister Danuta Hubner has been chosen by the lower house as the country’s candidate for the post of EU commissioner...

 

The vote followed a heated debate in which arguments of both support and disapproval were voiced. Eventually, 23 mps of the European affairs commission discussing the candidature voted in favour of Danuta Hubner, while 19 mps voted against.

Opposition League of the Polish Family has forwarded a bill in the parliament calling on the cabinet to renegotiate the Accession Treaty signed by Poland and the European Union...

 

The party’s members claim that the conditions on which Poland will join the bloc are unfavourable and the costs of accession are constantly growing. The League of the Polish Families hope that other opposition parties will endorse its initiative.

Irregularities, whose value amounts to over 1 billion euros, have been disclosed by inspections carried out by the Supreme Control Chamber last year...

 

The most frequent wrongdoings committed by the employees of the inspected institutions included the confirmation of untruth and fabrication of documents.

25 offset projects have been embarked upon in Poland by the Lockheed Martin company...

 

The US plane producer, who won the tender for the supply of F16 fighter jets for the Polish Air Force, is obliged to invest over 6 billion dollars in Poland by 2013. By the end of March Lockheed Martin must present the Polish economy ministry with a detailed report on the scale of projects prepared last year.

The participation of Polish police officers in the stabilisation mission in Iraq is the goal of deputy interior minister Pawel Dakowski’s visit to that country...

 

The idea of sending Polish police units to Iraq was first voiced last July, yet the state budget could not afford such a mission. Despite talks with the US side the Polish police officers were not sent to Iraq. During his current visit to the Middle East minister Dakowski will reiterate the Polish officers’ ability and readiness to train the Iraqi police and to serve in the Polish stabilisation zone.

5 miners of the Halemba colliery in Ruda Slaska, southern Poland, have sustained slight injuries in a tremor which occurred there this morning...

 

The accident happened 8 hundred and 30 meters under ground, the epicentre of the tremor was located 60 meters from the place where a team of 12 miners were working. With slight injuries 5 of them were transported to hospital.

More low sub-zero temperatures are expected tonight...

 

Thermometers in eastern Poland might show 20 degrees below freezing again. Last night this winter’s record low temperature was reported in north-eastern Poland, where it dropped to minus 28 degrees Centigrade. The north-east is generally the coldest part of Poland. Other regions of the country can expect temperatures of up to minus 9 degrees tomorrow.

posted by: Oborski at 09:12 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice...

Can America Take It?

By Slawomir Majman

"It simply seems to me that the Americans, living in a world of stale stereotypes, find it hard to believe that the developing Poland, fortunately, has more and more people making quite a good life for themselves in their own country who really don't dream of cleaning American houses for a few dollars that are worth less and less every week."

"What's your first name?"
"Helena."
"Surname?"
"Modjeska."
"Are you married?"
"Yes, my husband is Count Ch³apowski."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm an actress."
"Can you prove it?"
"They say I'm the most famous tragic actress in Poland."
"Why do you want to go to America?"
"To play the part of Adriana Lecouvrer."
"Sorry. You haven't convinced me that you're not planning to work as a cleaner. Visa refused."

Today, Poland's greatest actress wouldn't have made a career in America because she wouldn't have obtained a visa. Today Gen. Pu³aski would have peacefully lived until his retirement in a cozy Polish manor house, surrounded by grandchildren. He wouldn't have been killed at Savannah because the U.S. immigration officer wouldn't have stamped a visa in his passport. Gen. Koœciuszko, led away in handcuffs by U.S. officials, his visa annulled, would have passed by his friend Marquis de Lafayette at JFK airport. Being a Frenchman covered by the VWP visa-free system, the marquis would have gone on to slaughter the English, while the Polish general would have shot himself at Okêcie airport out of shame.

The U.S. visa policy is curing more and more Poles of their love for America.
To get a visa, Poles have to stand in long lines, pay a growing fee for which they won't be reimbursed even if they are turned down, they are subjected to humiliating interrogations by arrogant officials, they are often publicly escorted in handcuffs if they're turned back at the border, and now they have to let themselves be fingerprinted at the airport.

Poland's politicians are speaking in one voice about the necessity to abolish the visas. When Poland unilaterally abolished visas for U.S. citizens in 1991, the Americans promised that the visa obligation for Poles would be lifted as soon as Poland became a stable democracy. Years have passed, Poland has been a NATO member for some time and it will be a member of united Europe any moment: nothing is putting Polish democracy and free market in danger. It's time to fulfill that promise.

Meanwhile, the issue of the treatment of Poles traveling to America is taking a turn for the worse. To understand the mood among Poles, just stand in front of the U.S. embassy in Warsaw and look at the line of people kept outside the building in the freezing cold. Just listen to how the immigration service treats Poles at U.S. airports: they are put in chains like cattle and sent back home with no reason given. Poland's Minister of Internal Affairs Krzysztof Janik was subjected to a personal search at the airport because the energetic functionaries failed to tell him apart from the herd of other Poles, while Senate Speaker Longin Pastusiak complained that even a diplomatic passport didn't help him as he faced the immigration officers-he had to set off towards the Statue of Liberty in his socks, because his shoes were kept behind for a search.

The Americans explain that the restrictive regulations and rigorous officials are due to the huge percentage of visa refusals. But that percentage is largely the work of the Americans. It is the effect of the excessive suspicions of U.S. officials, whose inquisitiveness has all the features of persecution, and their refusals-of either arrogance or ignorance of reality.
It simply seems to me that the Americans, living in a world of stale stereotypes, find it hard to believe that the developing Poland, fortunately, has more and more people making quite a good life for themselves in their own country who really don't dream of cleaning American houses for a few dollars that are worth less and less every week.

There is no other country in Europe that loves America as much as Poland does, with such a selfless and faithful love.

There is no other society that succumbs so completely to the charms of Americanism.
There is no other country which, so far, feels so little discomfort at such unequivocal support for U.S. policy.

In Poland, the pro-American line unites all political factions, apart from a few orthodox leftists and rightists from the political margins.

Americanization has not been as rapid in any other country. Poles are not critical towards American values, lifestyle or mass culture, which definitely sets them apart from Western Europeans.

Americans are the nation best-liked by Poles. As many as 70 percent of Poles believe the American myth "from bootblack to millionaire," and Poles admire the Americans for their professionalism, openness, hard-working nature and happy spirit.

In the EU, Poland will be a significant counterbalance to the countries that want to build a united Europe on anti-Americanism.

They say Poland is the most pro-American country in the world; the United States included.

But this pro-Americanism is costing Poland. Because of Iraq, Poland as America's ally has come into conflict with the powers of Europe.

Doesn't Washington find all this worth the risk of abolishing visas for Poles, even if a few thousand do make a few bucks illegally in the process? Can America really not take it?

In great politics, Poland is considered America's closest ally in Europe, but this in no way translates into the way Poles wanting to go to, and arriving, in the United States are treated.

On the contrary. Each year, it's harder for a Pole to get a visa.

Even the cautious Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated recently that the measures used towards Polish citizens give the impression of unequal treatment.

For Warsaw, the U.S. visa regime is by no means a weighty economic issue. Forget it-the days are gone when dollars sent home by Poles in America had an impact on the Polish economy. The abolishment of visas is, first of all, an elementary issue stemming from the necessity to maintain equal relations with an ally. Second, it is a matter of prestige. Third, a quick way of preserving public support for the government's radical pro-Americanism. Today most Poles condemn Poland's military involvement in Iraq, though this view has not found a violent outlet as yet. After EU accession, when the Poles' ties to anti-American Europe tighten, a spontaneous battle for the souls of the younger generations of Poles could begin-generations that will probably be more European than the older generations, for whom America has been the embodiment of their dream of freedom.

The Polish-American alliance needs new fuel other than the political flattery-hot as the sands of the Sahara-flowing from Warsaw to Washington.

This is precisely why for Polish President Aleksander Kwaœniewski, visa abolishment is one of the main issues in his talks with President George W. Bush.

So that Poles can just go on loving America.

posted by: Oborski at 13:47 | link | comments |

Heard in passing...

From Warsaw Voice

"The police are investigating this. Here, we can have a coincidence of several crimes, including lack of authorization for fishing and abusing the fish."
-Maria Niedzió³ka, head of the State Fishing Guards in Opole, on the alleged crime perpetrated by three scuba divers who during a traditional New Year's Eve swim caught a pike and treated it to champagne

"I can't say anything good about him, but I also don't want to say anything bad."
-Lech Wa³êsa, when asked to comment on the choice of Civic Platform (PO) deputy
Jan Rokita as Man of the Year by Wprost weekly

"In Italy, the state's economic situation was best during the times when the government changed every two months; they didn't have time to hurt the economy."
-Entrepreneur Jan Kulczyk, the richest Pole, on the fact that the state should be involved in regulating the economy as little as possible

"Perhaps only crooks have worse ratings, but at least they are admired by a significant part of the unemployed."
-Writer Andrzej Stasiuk on the popularity of Polish politicians

"It's obvious there's no point sending high heels or mini-skirts there, but with other stuff we have no problem."
-Marek Wojteczek, vice-president of Wtórpol company exporting second-hand clothes to Iraq, on his company's market success

"Now I will have to explain this absurdity to the Tax Office. This is the result of hasty introduction of untested equipment."
-A Warsaw taxi driver, whose newly installed fiscal register printed a daily report stating that the man worked on Dec. 54, 2031

posted by: Oborski at 13:44 | link | comments |

Shots were fired in Baghdad today at a Polish Radio car in which a Rumanian journalist was travelling...

The incident happened early this morning. The car was shot at by Iraqi police or security guards in front of one of the city’s hotels. The Polish Radio reporter was still in the hotel. The Rumanian journalist, who for two months has accompanied the Polish Radio team, lost control of the car and crashed into a concrete block, suffering some injuries.

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has put forward the candidature of Minister for Europe Danuta Huebner for the post of Poland’s EU Commissioner...

The government press spokesman informed after today’s cabinet session that the candidature met with full support from the Council of Ministers. It is now to be put to the Polish President and Parliament’s European Committee, and later to chief of the European Commissions Romano Prodi. The candidature has already met with strong criticism from opposition parties, with the exception of the centrist Civic Platform, who do say however that they would prefer to see a harder bargainer for the post than Minister Huebner.

Also today Prime Minister Leszek Miller requested the Polish President to name Józef Oleksy as the new head of the Interior and Administration Ministry to replace Krzysztof Janik.

According to an opinion poll carried out by the OBOP office, if parliamentary elections were held in Poland at the turn of the year, they would be won by the Civic Platform with 29% support, and a total 21% for the ruling leftist coalition of SLD Social Democratic Left and Labour Union parties...

This gives the Civic Platform a 3-point increase since December, while support for the SLD has remained at 17% and for the Labour Union at 4%. Third came the rightist Law and Justice with 13% - also an increase of one point in comparison to December, while the populist Self-Defence dropped by two points to 11%. The rightist League of Polish Families recorded two points more to 10%, while the PSL Peasants Party remained at a steady 6%.

Poland’s Speaker of the Senate Longin Pastusiak, now on a tour of the Middle East with a group of parliamentarians, faced criticism from Secretary General of the Arab league Amr Musa that the presence of Poland in Iraq was ‘unnatural’...

Mr.Pastusiak said that the opinion ‘surprised’ him and underlined that since the threat of terrorism was real, there were natural reasons behind Poland’s presence in Iraq, also saying that the regime of Saddam Hussein had been unnatural. At the meeting in Cairo, Amr Musa also stressed the necessity to turn over government to Iraqis as soon as possible, which Mr.Pastusiak agreed was convergent with the stance held by Poland.

Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdziñski has named colonel Tadeusz Sapie¿yñski as the new commander of the Polish GROM commando force...

The information from the Polish Defence Ministry confirmed reports that the head of special operations at the Polish General Staff and previously a commander with SFOR in Bosnia was being considered to replace colonel Roman Polko. Earlier today Minister Szmajdziñski accepted Colonel Polko’s resignation and his request to retire from service. Minister Szmajdziñski refused to disclose the reasons for the resignation. Unofficial reports claimed that the “Grom” commander had objected to the Defence Ministry’s activities related to the reorganization of the unit.

One of the main power plants for the southern city of Kraków had to be evacuated when a twenty-tonne oil tank at the plant caught fire...

Reports said there were no casualties among the staff. 20 firefighting units were called in to contain the blaze, causes of which are not known. The Kraków power plant belongs to the French concern EDF and is the biggest heat supplier for the city.

On the economic front: industrial production in Poland was up by 14% in comparison with the previous year, topping predictions...

According to analysts, the rise was caused by increasing production for export, which includes mechanised vehicles, furniture, electronics, chemical products and plastics. The increase is having a marked impact on Poland’s GDP, which according to Financial Ministry estimates grew by 3.6% last year and is expected to reach around 5% this year.

Customs guards in Belarus have seized an illegal transport of 50 tonnes of apples from Poland...

The apples, packed in 4 lorries, were being brought in via the Mokrany crossing by a Belorussian company, which claimed that the fruit had originated from Moldavia, which entitled them to a lower import duty than if the apples had come from Poland. Apples cost twice as much in Belorus than in Poland.

Wojciech Kilar and the Polish Radio Orchestra conducted by Wojciech Rajski, as well as jazz diva Anna Maria Jopek and music poster artist Ros³aw Szaybko are to represent Poland at the annual MIDEM music fair in Cannes...

For the first time in the event’s almost 40-year history Poland will have its own national stand and January 27th, is to be a day devoted to Polish culture. The day is being jointly organized by Polish public television TVP and Polish Radio.

posted by: Oborski at 12:43 | link | comments |

Poland strives to adopt EU constitution in its present shape...

Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said in Berlin that he was for reaching a compromise and adoption of the EU constitution within the nearest six months to come. "We believe it would be good if the constitution was adopted in the first half" of 2004, Cimoszewicz said after his meeting with his German counterpart, Joschka Fischer. "The Treaty is important and needed," he stressed and added that adoption of the European constitution would have a positive impact on the political atmosphere in Europe before the elections to the European Parliament, due June 13. "If an agreement fails to be reached by that time, a compromise will become less urgent to attain later," the Polish foreign minister declared. Discussion on the constitution might then be postponed for a year or longer, he added. Cimoszewicz and Fischer met for the first time since the fiasco of the December EU summit in Brussels that was to adopt the European constitution. According to Fischer, compromise will not be easy to attain, and "the sooner it is worked out, the better for Europe." Cimoszewicz assured about Poland's "political readiness" to seek an "authentic and reliable" solution that will be acceptable to all sides, but did not elaborate. In his opinion one of the possible solutions may be a "list of options" concerning the system of vote weighing, that may be included in the Constitutional Treaty.

Cimoszewicz for "Le Monde"...

Poland's foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said his country would stick to basic arguments on voting rights in the EU but added he was convinced a deal was possible. Cimoszewicz made the statement during an interview for the French daily "Le Monde". The Polish position on the key question of voting rights in the European Council will not change as far as the fundamental principles are concerned, because it is based on very serious arguments, wrote Reuters quoting the Polish foreign minister who stressed that Poland was open to discussion. We are not blind to the reasons, the arguments and the expectations of our partners. Finding an agreement starting from such divergent positions may seem out of reach. I am firmly convinced that it is possible, Cimoszewicz said. The Polish foreign minister is meeting this week with his German and French counterparts.

Balcerowicz: targeting early entry of EMU is good strategy...

Aiming at the fastest possible date of entry into the EMU in applicant countries is the best strategy because it mobilizes European Union candidates to carry out reforms, Polish central bank President Leszek Balcerowicz said. "Targeting the earliest possible date of entry into the EMU is the best strategy as it mobilizes candidates to carry out structural reforms and rein in debt to meet Maastricht criteria", Balcerowicz told the Euromoney Forum in Vienna. "It also shortens the interim period, which may be turbulent due to volatile short-term capital flows", he added. Balcerowicz said the early adoption of the euro would allow the accession countries to be highly integrated with the EU economy, and costs associated with abandoning an independent monetary policy and and flexible exchange rate would not be significant. Balcerowicz said it is important that the EU policies, that are most important for economic growth, should be strengthened. He also added that variety of tax systems should be kept: "nobody wants to see the EU as the centralized state. There should be a wide spectrum of variety, including tax systems, to keep competitiveness".

2.9 billion euros for Polish countryside from EU...

Poland will receive a total of 2.9 billion euros from the EU budget to be earmarked for the development of rural areas, according to data released by the EC. The total sum for the development of these areas in all ten new member states between 2004 and 2006 is to reach 5.7 billion euros.

Ukrainian gov't approves agreement on oil pipeline...

Ukrainian government has approved an agreement with Poland on the exploitation of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline and its extension to Plock, central Poland. An official signing ceremony of the accord will take place in Warsaw on Friday. The construction of the 556-km-long Brody-Plock pipeline is to start in the second half of this year to be concluded in 2005. The cost of the project is to reach some 300 million USD. The construction of the 674-km-long Odessa-Brody pipeline has been concluded in 2001. It is used to transport Caspian sea oil.

„Rzeczpospolita” poll: Citizens' Platform tops popularity ranking...

With a 26-percent support the Citizens' Platform (PO) would win parliamentary elections if they were held in early January. The PO's rating has gone up by 7 percentage points since December, according to a poll commissioned by the „Rzeczpospolita” daily. Next came Samoobrona (Self-Defence) which received 18 percent, up 2 points. With a 17-percent support the Democratic Left Alliance and the Union of Labour (SLD-UP) ruling coalition placed third (2 points down). Next came the Law and Justice (PiS) party backed by 12 percent of the prospective electorate (unchanged). The League of Polish Families (LPR) enjoys support of 9 percent of those polled (down 3 points) while the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) may count on 6 percent of the electorate (down 2 points).

Poll: 34 percent know what "globalisation" means...

62 percent of Poles heard about "globalisation", 34 percent declare they know what the term means, while another 35 percent of those polled by the CBOS agency never heard of it. 53 percent of respondents understand globalisation as a process taking place in economy, and 32 percent believe the term has a more general meaning, like "globalisation, uniformisation, unification". 49 percent of those who link globalisation to economy think that economic globalisation is a positive phenomenon, while 19 percent declare the opposite.

Fiat Auto Poland: Positive financial result in 2003...

Fiat Auto Poland SA expects to have posted a positive financial result in 2003 thanks to production and sales growth, the company revealed. In 2003, FAP produced 203,630 cars, up 28.5 percent against 2002, including 115,504 Seicento cars, 86,046 Pandas and 2,080 Palios Weekend. A total of 27.5 percent of 2003 cars were exported to Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Spain and Britain. 2003 sales rose 18.2 percent against 2002.

German artist's works on show in Museum of Art in Lodz...

An exhibition "Kurt Schwitters 1887-1948" opened in the Museum of Art in Lodz. Schwitter is considered to be one of the leading artists of the 20th century and is compared with Picasso, Bracque, Ernst and Duchamp. The exhibition which presents the whole of the artist's work and is accompanied by Jack Ox's exhibition, is the first such event in Poland. Ox is an American artist who found and published in 1993, the original recording of Schwitters' composition - Ursonate, considered as lost until then. She also translated Ursonate into the language of painting.

posted by: Oborski at 19:58 | link | comments |

Germany and Poland have to step up efforts to overcome a deadlock over voting rights that prevented agreement last year on a European constitution...

 

After a meeting with the German head of diplomacy Joschka Fischer Poland’s foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said that an agreement on many issues concerning the EU is possible though it requires a lot of effort on both sides

"There is disagreement on the issue of voting rights, that has become obvious. But we agreed we will work more closely on these matters to help the Irish presidency move forward." Said Fischer adding there would be more intensive discussions in the months ahead as Poland prepares to take up membership when the 15-member bloc expands to 25 members in May.

Along with Spain, Poland blocked the adoption of a European Union Constitution in December by refusing to surrender voting rights that give them almost as much clout as much more populous countries like Germany and France.

Fischer and Cimoszewicz are scheduled to meet French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Friday to try to make progress towards settling the row. According to Wlodzimiezr Cimoszewicz, Ireland, which now chairs the rotating EU presidency will play a major role in the negotiations on the constituion.

The trilateral commission for socio-economic matters has discussed the government programme to reduce public spending and rationalise social expenditure...

The National Trade Union Alliance and the Solidarity Trade Union have sharply criticised the government programme. Union leaders said they would not endorse any cuts hitting those in the lowest-income bracket. According to the Union, the upper house of Parliament should be liquidated, state administration trimmed and Poland’s participation in the military mission in Iraq reduced.The union leaders a unanimously declared that the project of changes in social securities and pensions is the most outraging , and warn that if the plan is put into practice it will be put before the Constitutional Tribunal.

The Senate has discussed the electoral law for elections to the European Parliament...

Poland is to become a member of the European Union on May 1 and in June Poles will be electing 54 deputies to the European Parliament. According to the draft approved by the lower house, Poland will be divided into 13 constituencies. The vote counting method gives preferences to large groupings.Candidates will be put forward by political parties and voters’ committees. The Upper House has not agreed to an earlier proposed voting by mail. The Lower house suggested that voters could cast their votes on special cards and then send them by post. The Senate commission for foreign affairs has stated that this method had not been prepared and there might be a door open for forgeries.Whether the proposal will be put into practice still depends on the Lower house which will vote on the Senate amendments next week.

The director of Warsaw Municipal cleaning Services has been sacked for incompetence ...

On Monday heavy snowfall paralysed the capital and the municipal cleaning services could not cope with the masses of gathering snow and sleet which created gigantic traffic jams and caused over 400 road collisions in the city. The mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski said the person responsible for the chaos will pay for his incompetence.Not only did head of warsaw’s municipal cleaning services prove incompetent in his decisions, said Lech kaczynski but he also tried to lay the blame for the city paralysis on weather forecasters.

The rotation of the Polish contingent in Iraq is continuing...

Some fifteen hundred troops have left Camp Babylon over the past two days. They are to fly back home after spending several days in the American base in Kuwait. For security reasons, the rotation is divided into several stages. The Polish contingent in Iraq numbers some two and a half thousand troops.

Polish hotels offering historic features have joined their marketing efforts into a Centre of Historic Polish Hotels...

It groups 126 hotels and guest houses offering a total of 3,200 beds. All of them are housed in old monument buildings ranging from royal palaces to farmhouses. Several of the hotels offer a traditional Polish cuisine while others advertise walks for tourists in their expansive castle gardens.

Some 50 thousand fans are expected in the Tatra resort of Zakopane over the weekend for World Cup ski jumping contests...

Among them are president Kwasniewski and the ambassadors of several countries, including Britain, the United States and Japan. The fans hope for a fine performance from Poland’s star Adam Malysz whose recent results were very mediocre.

Weather conditions worry Malysz’s fans however , snow is rapidly melting and rain prevailed throughout the country today, with sleet and black ice in the east of the country. Day time temperatures ranged from freezing point to plus six degrees Celsius .

posted by: Oborski at 15:02 | link | comments |

SLD Mid-Term Blues

(Article from Warsaw Voice. Inclusion here is because it is an interesting article. Inclusion does not necessarily imply agreement with thee content)

Less than two years before the next parliamentary elections, which this time will be held together with the presidential elections, the ruling left-wing party is in crisis.

The most frequently discussed topic in the Polish media is personnel changes in the government of Leszek Miller. The position of the prime minister himself is being questioned once again-this time not just by the opposition, but by activists from his own party.

"A change at the level of prime minister would be very disadvantageous on the eve of accession to the European Union and it would threaten Poland with chaos," said President Aleksander Kwaœniewski. He added that his relationship with the prime minister was "excellent." However, there have been reports in recent months of significant differences between Kwaœniewski and Miller. A description previously used by the president-"tough, manly friendship"-was interpreted as a sign of recurring conflicts between the two men.

Miller is temporarily coordinating the government's work from his hospital bed, to which he returned after Christmas in order to continue treatment following a crash in a government helicopter Dec. 4. Miller announced that he will leave the hospital Jan. 16. Three days later, he will meet with the board of his party and with the SLD caucus. Some have speculated that at the meeting, Miller will present his proposals for personnel changes to both the government and the management of SLD.

The prime minister delivered a special speech on public television Jan. 10. It did not contain any announcements on restructuring the government. Miller only discussed-in very general terms-the tasks facing his government in the coming months. According to the opposition, the speech lacked the substance that SLD electors and the broader public had been waiting for.

Two days earlier, Miller met at the hospital with deputy chairmen of the SLD Andrzej Celiñski, Jerzy Szmajdziñski, Krzysztof Janik and Józef Oleksy, and party secretary Marek Dyduch.

Celiñski is regarded as the politician with the most liberal views in the SLD's management and the strongest supporter of reform within the party. He told journalists that after the SLD congress last June, the party had been on "the right way to eliminating negative phenomena and events," but that the opportunity was "wasted."

In the later half of 2003, several scandals discrediting the SLD saw the light of day and the media have been uncovering new ones ever since. As a result, the party has lost over half of its support in the opinion polls, compared to the triumphant elections in the autumn of 2001. Apparently, a remedy to restore the faith of the electorate will be shifts in the management of the party and the government.

According to rumors concerning changes in the government, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Krzysztof Janik will leave the government and take the place of Jerzy Jaskiernia as head of the SLD caucus. For months, Jaskiernia has been criticized for poor leadership in the caucus. This is coupled with the not entirely clarified question of Jaskiernia's presumed involvement in the "slot machine scandal"-involvement of SLD deputies in pushing the law on gambling, which would enable higher profits for owners of slot machines and arcades.

The media have mentioned Deputy Minister of Defense Janusz Zemke and head of the National Security Agency Andrzej Barcikowski as candidates for the vacant post, after Janik. Both politicians have categorically refused to comment on the issue.

Minister of the Treasury Piotr Czy¿ewski would be replaced by Deputy Minister of the Economy Jacek Piechota. The media give few chances to Marek Pol, the extremely unpopular deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure, associated with the poorly implemented project of freeway construction. Another minister whose job is uncertain is Minister of Culture and National Heritage Waldemar D¹browski.

Deputy Jerzy Wenderlich, the SLD's spokesperson, said after the prime minister's meetings at the hospital that personnel questions had not been discussed. Marek Dyduch, the SLD secretary general, said the main issue was the crisis in the public health service.

The health of the government is not the only problem facing the SLD. Vetting of party members, conducted in the past months in all SLD structures, resulted in a decrease of the number of members by nearly one half. Forty-five percent of SLD members were either verified negatively or did not want to undergo vetting and gave up their membership. Over 70,000 people left the party; today, the SLD has an estimated 78,000 members.

Dyduch admitted the SLD had never anticipated such significant losses; the party expected that 20-25 percent of members would leave at the most. According to Dyduch, the vetting was necessary and the SLD remains the largest party on the Polish political scene.

posted by: Oborski at 14:59 | link | comments |

Heard in passing...

"Shooting at animal shapes is out of fashion. Today, the images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are the most popular."
-A shop assistant from a military gear shop in Katowice where you can buy targets by special order

"Lots of people want to get to know the content of my speeches; scientific papers are even written on the subject."
- Andrzej Lepper leader of Samoobrona, on his intention to publish the first volume of his parliamentary speeches

"Let the president start the savings with himself."
-Bronis³aw Komorowski, a deputy from the Civic Platform (PO), on why the president's bill on the reduction of deputies' salaries has been waiting for over two years to be discussed by the parliament

"The thinking-which is quite popular, by the way-that by sending troops to Iraq, every Pole should have the right to work illegally in the United States, is childish."
-Prof. Zbigniew Lewicki, an expert on American issues, on the U.S. visa policy for Poles that has been sharply criticized in Poland recently

"There appears a vision of a vassal Poland that, while giving up its traditions and Christian values, is to voluntarily hand itself over to contemporary Teutons along with atheists from
the banks of Seine."
-From a letter of a reader of the Catholic daily Nasz Dziennik on the entrance of Poland into the European Union

"The reason for the low price soon became clear; by mistake, the game's Czech version appeared in Poland."
-A client of a hypermarket in Lodz where the board game Scrabble was on sale before Christmas with a very attractive price

posted by: Oborski at 14:55 | link | comments |

01/14/04

National Holocaust Memorial Day

WYRE FOREST
ACT OF REMEMBRANCE

At The Wyre Forest Holocaust Memorial - outside The Church of St. Mary & All Saints, Kidderminster at 12 Noon on Sunday 25th January 2004.

Please bring a flower!

posted by: Oborski at 18:22 | link | comments |

Kwasniewski: 2004 a year of great challenges...

President Aleksander Kwasniewski meeting the diplomatic corps said the past and present year is a time of great challenges and exceptional developments. Among "historic dates" he mentioned April 16, 2003 – the date of the signing of the European Treaty in Athens and May 1, 2004 when the EU will "embrace 25 countries and almost half a billion people." The president thanked "all friends who have backed us in our efforts to achieve this ambitious goal." Kwasniewski recalled that Poland takes active part in the shaping of future of the union - in works on the Constitutional Treaty. "Poland has showed that it is able to defend its stand," said the president. He stressed that Poland wants the EU to be a strong and effective organism. "Surely the idea of a Europe of 'two speeds' does not serve this end as we are walking a joint road leading to a joint success which we can achieve only together." Speaking on the presence of Polish troops in Iraq, Kwasniewski said that „one cannot have a passive attitude towards threats seemingly far away from our borders," and assured that "we will withdraw when Iraqi people will be able to take control over their country in conditions of stability and just peace," the president declared. The New Year’s meeting held at the Presidential Palace was attended by representatives of over 90 countries and international organizations. The guests were greeted by President Kwasniewski and his wife Jolanta, PM Leszek Miller and Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

Conference on Bush's PSI initiative...

The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), announced by President Bush in Cracow last May, can become a well-considered, coherent method to effectively prevent trade in arms of mass destruction, according to Susan F. Burk of the U.S. State Department. A meeting devoted to the PSI was held at the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw Monday, with the view to informing the states from outside the initiative about PSI actions. The conference was attended by diplomats and experts from 27 countries, among them 11 states participating in the PSI and countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Summing up the PSI goals Burk said that the initiative already serves as a deterrent, as a signal that there is a group of states determined to undertake joint actions to prevent proliferation of mass destruction weapons. President Bush in his speech delivered in Cracow on May 31, 2003, stressed the need for cooperation in combating the threat of proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. One of the methods is seizing such weapons or its components in transit. The U.S. has invited 10 states to the initiative: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Great Britain. The PSI is open for cooperation with other states which want and are able to support the PSI actions. As a country cooperating within the PSI, Poland will organise land exercises in seizing illegal transports of mass destruction weapons on the ground, in the seas and in the air in the first half of 2004.

Sejm delegation holds talks in Kiev...

A delegation of the Sejm met Ukrainian MPs to discuss the crisis in the Ukrainian Supreme Council caused by the so called constitutional reform and prospects of Ukraine's integration with the EU. The Polish delegation is led by Jozef Oleksy, head of the Sejm European Committee. Oleksy said that apart from discussing the constitutional conflict itself, sides also discussed how this situation may influence opinions about Ukraine abroad. "My impression is that the conflict continues to go on, while sides stand firm on their positions," said Oleksy. Polish MPs meeting with the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn also discussed bilateral cooperation following Poland's May EU accession and prospects for Ukraine's EU membership. According to Oleksy Poland will never change its priorities - "we will continue to speak in favour of an open Europe and here Ukraine is our priority." However, Oleksy did not exclude that following May 1, there might be new problems in trade with Ukraine as Poland will find itself in a new economic zone.

Hausner plan to be modified, but remain effective...

The retirement age for men and women will be equalized 5 years later than originally proposed, and disability pensioners with 10-year history will not be subject to  pensions review - these are some of the changes to the so-called Hausner plan that its author, deputy PM Jerzy Hausner wants to introduce after analysing the public debate on his original proposal. "I will present my appraisal of the public discussion at the cabinet meeting next week," he said Monday. "I will recommend the implementation of the modified plan that will however retain all major thrusts of changes." "I will propose to accept such changes that will not spoil the essence of the plan, consisting in bringing the public finances to equilibrium, but will ease some of the solutions," the minister said. The cabinet will adopt a detailed implementation timetable of the plan at its meeting Jan. 27, and draft laws necessary for the implementation will reach parliament by the end of March.

Poland, U.S. sign trade protocol...

Poland and the United States signed here a protocol to their bilateral trade accord of 1990 that adjusts the accord to the EU law by admitting worse treatment of U.S. companies that EU companies (including Polish firms). The 1990 accord secured equal treatment of U.S. and Polish firms. However, especially in its agricultural and audiovisual policies, the EU applies rules and subsidies that give preferential treatment to EU entities. The protocol signed today makes such preferences admissible. The protocol comes as a result of talks between the Polish and U.S. governments and the EU Commission. The protocol, approved by the Polish cabinet Jan. 6, was signed by the Polish ambassador Marek Grela and U.S. charge d'affaires James Foster.

Days of Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Poznan...

Meditation on peace is planned as the most significant event of the Days of Christian-Jewish Dialogue, now under way in Poznan. The programme of the event planned for January 15 envisages a meeting of Poznan metropolitan archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki with Rabbi Michael Schudrich and a panel discussion, to be attended by Rabbi Daniel Epstein from Jerusalem and father Lukasz Kamykowski from Cracow. The Days of Christian-Jewish Dialogue are held in a different town every year. So far they were held in Warsaw, Cracow, Lodz, Wroclaw, Lublin and Bialystok.

posted by: Oborski at 15:18 | link | comments |

01/13/04

Some two thousand railwaymen have protested in front of the Parliament building against planned cuts in state subsidies for regional rail services...

The protest ended peacefully after Senate Speaker Longin Pastusiak pledged to discuss their grievances with the prime minister. Additional outlays for regional rail services were allocated by the Parliament in mid-December but the railwaymen fear that the Senate will not approve the funds. A vote on the budget is expected on Thursday.

Polish foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz is to have talks with his German counterpart Joshka Fischer in Berlin tomorrow...

The consultations focus on the EU constitutional debate which ended in a fiasco during the December summit in Brussels. In an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel, Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski expressed worries about Poland’s tensions with Germany in the dispute over voting powers under the future EU constitution. He said there should
be ‘greater trust’ between Germany and Poland if a compromise is to be reached.

The Senate has discussed the electoral law for elections to the European Parliament...

Poland is to become a member of the European Union on May 1 and in June Poles will be electing 54 deputies to the European Parliament. According to the draft approved by the lower house, Poland will be divided into 13 constituencies. The vote counting method gives preferences to large groupings.Candidates will be put forward by political parties and voters’ committees.

A group of members of the ruling Democratic Left Alliance SLD in the city of Lodz want prime minister Leszek Miller to be brought to account before a party tribunal...

They accuse him of failing to implement the party programme in the fields of economy, finances and health care. The tribunal of the SLD £ódz branch, of which prime minister Miller is a member, will hold its first sitting on January 31.

The National Trade Union Alliance has sharply criticized a government programme to reduce public spending and rationalize social expenditure...

Union leaders said they would not endorse any cuts hitting those in the lowest-income bracket. According to the Union, the upper house of Parliament should be liquidated, state administration trimmed and Poland’s participation in the military mission in Iraq reduced.

The rotation of the Polish contingent in Iraq is continuing...

Some fifteen hundred troops have left Camp Babylon over the past two days. They are to fly back home after spending several days in the American base in Kuweit. For security reasons, the rotation is divided into several stages. The Polish contingent in Iraq numbers some two and a half thousand troops.

Although the proceeds are still flowing in and being counted, the 12th edition of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Aid held last Sunday raised an equivalent of almost 7 million dollars for the purchase of medical equipment for children’s wards in Polish hospitals...

The charity is the brainchild of broadcaster Jurek Owsiak. This year’s campaign involved some 100 thousand volunteers. Concerts, fairs and auctions were held across Poland, in Britain, France, the United States and among Polish troops in Iraq and Kosovo.

Polish hotels offering historic features have joined their marketing efforts into a Centre of Historic Polish Hotels...

It groups 126 hotels and guest houses offering a total of 3,200 beds. All of them are housed in old monument buildings ranging from royal palaces to farmhouses. Several of the hotels offer a traditional Polish cuisine while others advertise walks for tourists in their expansive castle gardens.

The Karol Szymanowski Foundation has announced the names of recipients of its annual awards for the promotion of music by this outstanding 20th century Polish composer...

They are the Polish soprano Zofia Kilanowicz and Reilninda Mees from the Dutch ‘20th-century Song’ Foundation. She initiated the recording of Szymanowski’s entire song output in the Netherlands.
Past recipients of the Szymanowski Award include the famous British conductor Sir Simon Rattle.

Some 50 thousand fans are expected in the Tatra resort of Zakopane over the weekend for World Cup ski jumping contests...

Among them are president Kwasniewski and the ambassadors of several countries, including Britain, tghe United States and Japan. The fans hope for a fine performance from Poland’s star Adam Malysz whose recent results were very mediocre.

posted by: Oborski at 18:47 | link | comments |

01/12/04

‘Poland has real chances for further progress and development in 2004’, said prime minister Leszek Miller in a televised address to the nation last night....

Polish economy is developing 3 and a half himes faster than 2 years ago, which places the country among the fastest developing states in Europe. The planned growth for the end of the year is 5%. Government’s next task is to guarantee Poland proper place in the European Union, added the prime minister. The process will start on May 1st and will mark the struggle for the best conditions for Poland as a new EU member. Poland will also strive to continue to develop its relations with the US and efforts will be made by the Polish side to make sure Poles are treated as citizens of other nations on the borders of the US, said prime minister Leszek Miller.

Today marks the annual charity action called the Grand Orchestra of Christmas Aid staged throughout Poland...

Just like in all previous 11 editions of the event funds are being raised for the purchase of medical equipment. This year the goal is to buy equipment for wards for newborns and small children. Almost 1 hundred thousand volunteers are in the streets collecting money and offering heart-shaped stickers in return. The fund-raising has spread outside Poland to Great Britiain, Germany, Greece, the US and Polish stabilization zone in Iraq. The event was initiated in 1993 and has earned the reputation for being the biggest media-supported charity undertaking in the world. So far the donations it collected facilitated the purchase of medical equipment worth 44 million dollars.

‘Bulglaries into houses and cars, careless drivers and assaults is what Poles fear the most’, shows a public opinion poll commissioned by the Police Headquarters...

It also points to a growing feeling of security after dark near one’s place of residence. As regards people’s trust in police – it remains unchanged at the level of 72 per cent, 57 per cent of respondents assess police officers’ way of performing their duties as good. The survey confirms prior polls of this kind that police is viewed by Poles as one of the least corrupt institutions in the country.

Adam Ma³ysz has been selected the best athlete of 2003...

The ski jumper was followed by swimmer Otylia Jedrzejczak and walker Robert Korzeniowski. This is the third distinction for Adam Malysz who last year won two ski jumping World Championship titles and the third consecutive World Cup. In the ranking he collected over 1 million six hundred thousand votes. The ski jumping world cup competition in Poland’s winter resort of Zakopane has been selected as the sports event of the year, while the national women’s volleyball team, who won the European Championship in 2003, are the best team of the year.

Next the weather...

– it is a pretty cloudy day around Poland. it snowed in the south-east earlier today, the evening, in turn, will bring rain to north-western Poland. Currently the temperatures range from minus 10 degrees in the north-east to plus 2 in the west. Winds are light and moderate, southerly.

posted by: Oborski at 14:54 | link | comments (2) |

01/11/04

Annual Dinner...

Superb Annual Christmas Dinner ("Oplatek") at the S.P.K. Polish Ex-Servicemens' Club in Kidderminster last night.

Photos show S.P.K. Chair Maria Lee welcoming everyone. Guests included Cllr Helen Dyke, Mayor of Kidderminster and Town Clerk Charles Talbot (front right in third photo).

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posted by: Oborski at 18:15 | link | comments |

01/10/04

Bigos at La Brasserie in Kidderminster...

This was special! It was "Polish night" at the marvellous "La Brasserie" Restaurant in Kidderminster.!

This is a superb Restaurant which we invade on a fairly regular basis (we don't seem to be able to avoid it!) because of their excellent cuisine, very reasonable prices, truly excellent service - they have some of the best waiting staff in the business - and very warm, relaxing and welcoming atmosphere. You could not really ask for more.

Tonight, however was different! Tonight was "Polish Night!

From a wide range of choices I had battered herrings, Bigos and pears in chocolate.

I am still in a state of shock. I have never, ever expected to see Bigos (Hunters Stew) on a menu in Kidderminster. It was superb!

All of this and the many other dishes (Fran fell for the wild boar) were truly, truly excellent

What can we say? If you want a good night out in Kidderminster then phone "La Brasserie" now. O.K., it won't always be Polish night but it will always be a first rate meal with first rate service!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brenda and Henry Lemiech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cllr Rachel Lewis & Cllr Paul Harrison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cllrs Mike & Fran Oborski

posted by: Oborski at 02:27 | link | comments |

01/09/04

Britain in Poland...

...online "Warsaw Voice" supplement!

posted by: Oborski at 19:04 | link | comments |

The Polish Senate upper parliamentary chamber begun a two-day session devoted, among others to the electoral law to the European Parliament...

 

In June for the first time Poles are to elect 54 deputies to the Parliament after Poland’s EU accession on May 1st. Also for the very first time Poles may be able to vote on an official card at home, then send in the card by post. In the meantime, the bill has been sent down for work in commissions.

Fog delayed the departure of the Polish replacement contingent for Iraq...

A group of 145 troops from the 4th command force from Bydgoszcz was scheduled to leave today from Strachowice airport near Wroc³aw, south-west Poland, but the plane in which they were to travel did not arrive on time because of the fog. Also leaving today were soldiers from the 17th Mechanized Battalion from Miêdzyrzec, mid-west Poland. The first replacement group of 150 commandos which flew out yesterday from the southern city of Kraków has arrived at the Polish base in Camp Babylon. Poland, which has around 2500 troops in Iraq commands an international force in the south-central sector. The return home of most of the replaced soldiers, who have now spent six months in Iraq, is scheduled for next week.

Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdziñski has said that the first consultations have been held with the US concerning plans for American military bases in Poland...

 Minister Szmajdziñski said that the Polish government wants more consultations and told journalists at a press conference that he was ‘more in favour’ of the bases established here. He added that among the advantages would be improvement of Polish-US political, military and economic relations, as well as assistance in modernization for the Polish army and a definite end to cold-war concepts of the displacement of military bases in light of new challenges, especially in relation to the fight with terrorism. It is not yet known how much Poland would have to pay towards the maintenance of the prospective bases.

The Polish Parliament has nominated 3 members of the Monetary Policy Council:

Stanis³aw Nieckarz, who was finance minister in communist-era Poland in the government of General Jaruzelski in the mid-80s; Jan Czekaj who is currently a member of the Council and an ex-finance minister in the cabinet of Leszek Miller, and Miros³aw Pietrewicz from the PSL Peasants’ Party, one-time Deputy Premier to W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz.

Between October 13th and January 5th 83 people died from exposure or froze to death in Poland, according to data from the National Police HQ...

Most of the victims of winter temperatures were aged over-50 and many had been under the influence of alcohol. A special action has been launched by the Polish Police to help prevent more casualties. Police are appealing for more sensitivity on the part of the public to people in evident distress. They say all it needs is a phone call to the police or municipal guards to stop someone from increasing the tragic statistics.

Speaker of the Senate Longin Pastusiak has said he hopes the US administration will make some gestures towards lifting the visa requirement for Polish citizens...

In an interview for Polish Radio today, Mr.Pastusiak, who has championed the cause against US visas for years, said that the 10-million strong Polish-American community should exert pressures on congressmen and on Washington, firstly in order to lift the $100 visa charges and cut down on rejections. Currently one in three Poles have their application rejected. He also spoke out against the treatment of Poles by US border and immigration services. The matter of US visas has again come into the limelight after America’s new requirement to fingerprint and photograph citizens of some countries at the point of entry. This includes travellers from Poland and has met with a strong negative response in this country, which is one of the major supporters of US policy in Europe.

A Polish and a British man have been detained France during an attempt to smuggle 7 tonnes of contraband cigarettes...

The container with the cigarettes was seized by French customs in the port of Le Havre. The cigarettes were probably manufactured in Asia and were being transported via Poland to Britain. French police questioned 4 people in connection with the smuggling attempt, and released two Polish drivers.

The city of Bydgoszcz has inaugurated operation of the organizational group for a Nato Joint Forces Training Centre, the only institution of its kind to be formed within the Alliance...

The JFTC, which is to be subordinate to the ACT Allied Command in Norfolk in the USA, is to start functioning in July and is to streamline command processes in Central and Eastern Europe. It will be manned by around a thousand servicemen and headed by a Danish commander, deputised by a Pole. 

posted by: Oborski at 04:23 | link | comments (1) |

Heard in passing...

From Warsaw Voice

"He didn't fine me, but took my phone number and soon called and demanded cakes. Over many months, he forced me to hand over baked goods worth a total of close to zl.400."
-From the questioning of a Slupsk baker, who was stopped by a police officer for driving without his headlights on; the officer subsequently demanded bribes in kind

"I don't have the president as a husband, and that's something acting in her favor. Plus, she's an attractive woman and I'm not."
-Samoobrona leader Andrzej Lepper, asked about Jolanta Kwasniewska's advantage over him in the polls before the 2005 presidential election

"If two men want to file a joint tax return, let them establish a company in accordance with the law; they can even call it a 'Marriage'."
-Janusz Korwin-Mikke, leader of the radically rightist Union for Realpolitik (UPR), on legalizing same-sex marriages

"Such publicity might not have be so bad for a leftist politician, but for Adam S³omka who wants to be seen as a rightist-even a fundamentalist-it is."
-Leszek Moczulski, founder and leader of the Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), commenting the news that S³omka, an ex-deputy from the KPN and Moczulski's rival in the party struggle for power, was once involved in making porn movies

"It would be a day without speaking."
-Hubert Stadnicki, a copywriter at a Warsaw-based advertising agency, on the idea of having a "day without swearing."

"Listening to the same few songs for a month, for more than 10 hours a day, has destroyed our mental health."
-From a suit filed by a group of employees of a Czech supermarket, demanding damages for being forced to listen to Christmas carols over the loudspeakers during the holidays

posted by: Oborski at 04:16 | link | comments |

The Conspiracy Against Poland

By Slawomir Majman
From "Warsaw Voice"

"I don't think anyone has any special obligation to show an interest in the affairs of a medium-sized European country, even if it does have a population of 40 million people, whose ancestors contributed greatly to defending the continent from Islam and Bolshevism."

The Conspiracy Against Poland

Long years of traveling the world with a Polish passport close to my heart has taught me a philosophical humility towards the things foreigners know and think about Poland.

I remember sitting alone sipping beer 20 years ago at the counter in a pub near Covent Garden, where uneducated customers seldom appear. A nice Englishman carrying The Guardian under his arm joined me, and after a few pints of friendly conversation said as he was leaving, "You Poles are actually quite okay, but why did you build that stupid wall across the middle of your capital?"

In Paris once, a very competent marketing manager at a chemical corporation enthusiastically praised the beauty of the Polish capital-Prague. Noticing my weak protests she grudgingly agreed to switch...to Budapest.

Quite recently the organizer of an international conference in New Jersey tried to place a white-and-red flag pin on a map to mark the presence of a delegate from Poland. Before he finally put it in the right spot, his hand wavered in the vicinity of Istanbul for quite a while.

None of many similar incidents have excited me for a long time, because I don't think anyone has any special obligation to show an interest in the affairs of a medium-sized European country, even if it does have a population of 40 million people, whose ancestors contributed greatly to defending the continent from Islam and Bolshevism. Neither do I feel an urge to whine about the poor system of educating the young French or Americans thanks to which the horizon for the former ends in Brussels, and for the latter-barely reaches Nome, Alaska. God be with them.

However, what dramatically separates most Poles from other developed nations is one quality: a neurotic curiosity as to how the world perceives them. Hence the hysterical clipping from third-rate Western tabloids of even the smallest mention of Poland, and the bitching sometime reaching government level, that someone in some one-horse town in Nebraska or some drink-befuddled Bavarian with a huge beer belly failed to appreciate the achievements of the nation of knights and poets which today marches bravely in the avant-garde of NATO and the free market. Hence the nervous scouring of foreign almanacs to make sure they include the names of great Poles, and the bitterness of the correspondent of one of the large dailies that the French Great Atlas of World History "contains just one, rather small map of Poland and doesn't even mention any of our national uprisings."

On the other hand, every Polish jazz musician's gig at a New York club is reported in Polish papers as being a conquest of Broadway, while a volume of poems published by a small-town German university for a few hundred enthusiasts is reason for a national fiesta. This euphoria usually takes hold of people who never listen to jazz and never stoop to reading poetry.

Strangely, the Polish neurosis with respect to the world's perception has not been cured by some unquestioned successes-the smoothly effected democratic revolution, the triumph of the free market, stifled inflation, and NATO and EU accession. The Polish psyche is suffering as ever before.

The anger of neurotics explodes unexpectedly.
Thousands of Polish Internet surfers took the trouble to condemn the latest edition of the Encarta Reference Library 2004.

What caused the just fury of the descendants of Pu³aski and Koœciuszko? A section titled "Images From Poland" is dominated by wooden barns, peasants in dirty work jackets sorting potatoes, smoke billowing from a Silesian factory chimney, and haymaking-with the comment that harvest yields in Poland are lower than in the rest of Europe due to frequently changing weather.

The surfers' anger did not spare the Americans: "don't forget who the ancestors of the Americans were-simple losers from Europe", "what nation doesn't know how to use a knife and fork"; their standard of education: "Educated Poles clean the houses of stupid Americans," "in general, the average American is dumb, lacking basic knowledge. I know because I checked personally"; Microsoft, the publisher of Encarta: "boycott them", to find a release in appealing for revenge: "Pay them back in kind. If the American and Western European media promote such an image of Poland, then with a clear conscience we need to have our media show the foulness, poverty and stupidity present in America and the West."

One can try explaining rationally that Poland does have its poor farmers and they really do have wooden barns, that there are smoking chimneys-though fewer and fewer every year, that the climate is different here than in Provence, so the hapless Encarta isn't lying. One can also assume that the Internet was accessed by three thousand idiots. But it's not about rational arguments when something touches neurotic complexes and sore spots. Any pretext is enough to give vent to them.

Another vent for frustration can be great politics.
The European leaders' recent war expedition to Brussels ended in a more rigid stance from the Germans and the Poles, and it wasn't just because Prime Minister Leszek Miller couldn't bow his head due to having to be wrapped in a back brace.

The vision of a new European constitution has become more remote, and France, Germany and their closest allies blame the unrelenting Spaniards and Poles for the fiasco of the Brussels conference. "Europe hasn't reached here yet-it has stopped on the Oder," stormed Corriere della Sera, claiming that, being nationalists, the Poles don't understand the idea of a common Europe. The Guardian, on the other hand, argued that a bank over which creditors have the same amount of control as debtors has to collapse, meaning that poor Poland cannot have almost as many votes as the wealthy Germany. There were many such voices of disappointment and condemnation.

How did the Poles react? "There hasn't been such a massive campaign against one country for years in Europe like the one now being waged against Poland," cried Wprost, a major weekly, going on to write of a conspiracy of the rich against Poland and of Western journalists following orders from their governments and party headquarters.

The view that the Poles, painted as the troublemakers and idlers of Europe, are the victims of a media conspiracy, is a widespread one in Poland. Again, one can argue over and over that the Polish viewpoint is hard to explain, to the Germans especially. Nothing doing; an aftertaste will always linger in the Polish consciousness-Poland, fighting proudly against the dictate of Berlin and Paris, has been ridiculed and spat upon because of a conspiracy. As usual, as always.

The Poles try to fight to change their image.
When they do so officially, that's where the trouble starts.

I recently watched a few promotional films about Poland, prepared by various government agencies. They were an exact reproduction of the neurosis and the complexes, but the other way round. They give us a cart filled with hay, we give them the neon lights of Citibank and Canon. They give us peasants in quilted work jackets, we sock it to them with interviews with 43 intellectuals on the meaning of life. They give us a barn-we give them the office high-rises of Warsaw.

Poles care about how the world perceives them. The world cares little what the Poles are like. The asymmetry is very strong. In the West, with some insignificant exceptions there is a slight degree of dislike towards Poland. Most often, though, the attitude is one of great indifference.

posted by: Oborski at 04:08 | link | comments |

01/08/04

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karel Szymanowski...

We have just launched a web site about the great Polish composer! Please drop in!

posted by: Oborski at 19:09 | link | comments |