Polish Consulate...

May 1 is usually associated by Poles with Labor Day. Starting this year, it will also be associated with Poland's accession to the European Union.

On the night of April 30/May 1 on Piłsudskiego Square, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski will hoist the flag of the European Union. The event will take place in line with the protocol governing state ceremonies, in the presence of the prime minister, Sejm and Senate speakers, diplomatic corps and personalities involved in European integration.

An open-air show will also be held May 1 on seven stages in the Royal Castle gardens with the participation of representatives of the highest state authorities. Artists from the National Philharmonic, National Theater and Stary Theater from Cracow will give a performance entitled Warsaw Castle-May 2004.

Public events are also scheduled to take place in Warsaw. The concert Welcome Europe, organized jointly by TVP, the German ZDF television station and the European Broadcasting Union, will be held on April 30. The event, with the participation of artists from EU acceding countries, will take place simultaneously on Warsaw's Zamkowy Square and in Berlin's Konzerthaus.

The Office of the Committee for European Integration (UKIE) and the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation will jointly organize European Breakfast, to be held in the courtyard of Ujazdowski Castle on May 1. On May 8, European City-a picnic for Warsaw residents and youth-will be held on Teatralny Square.

Border checkpoints between Poland and European Union countries will be decorated with European symbols and leaflets and informational posters will be distributed.

European ceremonies will be held simultaneously in Dublin, Strasbourg and Brussels. President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Prime Minister Leszek Miller will go to Dublin for the main ceremonies. Leszek Miller will arrive in the Irish capital in the company of the prime minister of the Czech Republic aboard German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's plane.

Apart from the meeting between politicians, on the night of April 30, the Irish capital will also host a fireworks display. Moreover, 24 huge screens will reproduce images sent via the Internet upon the sky over Dublin. Anyone can create an image at www.dublinelevation.net. Stalls and stands for Europe's Bazaar, with specialties from 28 countries on the continent-from Turkey to Finland-will appear May 1 on Merrion Square. Around 100,000 visitors are expected. A musical attraction at the ceremonies is a concert entitled Three Times Chopin to be held May 3 at the National Concert Hall, with the participation of Janusz Olejniczak, Leszek Możdżer and the Andrzej Jagodziński Trio.

Each of the 10 new member states will be presented in one Irish city. Letterkenny in Donegal county, Ulster, will be the place where Poland is presented. Polish violinists will play in the company of Irish bands.

From April 30 to May 2, Brussels' main square, Grand Place, will be a huge bandstand for artists from the 10 EU-acceding states. Poland received the best time from the Belgians-from 9:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. on the night of April 30/May 1. Polska Grupa Folklorystyczna (Polish Folklore Group), Rampa Quartet, Blue Café, Maja and Andrzej Sikorowski and the Orchestra of Opole Philharmonic will play during the Polish concert. Just before midnight, Małgorzata Walewska will perform A Polish Aria to Europe written by Krzesimir Dębski.

In Strasbourg, the ceremonies will take place on May 3. This is when parliamentarians from the 10 new member states will for the first time take their seats in the European Parliament as rightful members.

posted by: Oborski at 09:26 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"I don't have to enter the debates in order to be an active politician."
-Henryk Lewczuk, a deputy from the Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP), who for two and a half years since his parliamentary term began, has not spoken out in a debate and has not put forward any question or initiative

"We should wonder whether by supporting accession to the European Union, we are strengthening the destructive forces annihilating Christianity, or whether on the contrary, we are helping to save the remnants of the Christian civilization still defending itself in Western Europe."
-Deputy Antoni Macierewicz, leader of the Catholic-National Movement, on Poland's integration with the European Union

"I manage... I don't read newspapers and don't watch TV."
-Aleksandra Jakubowska, head of the political cabinet of Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who is constantly attacked by the media due to her involvement in the Rywingate scandal

"Did anyone catch me? I consider it a success when you cheat and they don't catch you."
-Sławomir Izdebski, a senator from Samoobrona, when asked whether he had cheated at the high school graduation exam he passed several weeks ago

"We are terribly sorry. The label said they were pacifiers."
-A representative of the organization committee of a children's poetry contest in Lublin, where by accident the laureates received mascots shaped like condoms

"The man said she was not committed to her work; besides, she scratched him quite badly. According to the law, we have to honor his complaint."
-A representative of the Romanian Commissioner for Consumers' Rights on a complaint filed by a dissatisfied client of a Bucharest prostitute

posted by: Oborski at 09:24 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"The court slapped him a zl.300 fine for stealing a pack of mini-cigars worth only zl.15 from a hypermarket in Bydgoszcz."
-A "police blotter" column in a regional newspaper about Michał K., deputy chair of the Law, Order and Public Safety Committee of the Council of Toruń County

"We Poles are the best-when it comes to robbery and burglary. We simply have the pugnacity and imagination for it."
-Krzysztof Rutkowski, a deputy from the Federative Parliamentary Caucus and a popular private detective, in an interview for an Austrian magazine

"If I were in the position of some of my colleagues who have one foot in one organization, and one in another, I would be very careful. For a man this is a dangerous position due to what he has between his legs."
-Aldona Michalak, a deputy from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), on party activists considering joining the ranks of a new leftist grouping

"It also took me four times to pass my driver's license exam."
-Jan Maria Jackowski from the League of Polish Families (LPR) on the fact that the Council of Warsaw, in the fourth voting, elected him council chair

"In the winter time more and more often people use such methods in order to save less than zl.20 on a cubic meter of water."
-Jerzy Radecki, director of the Heating Network Company in Łódź, on the fact that some tenants drain water from the radiators to bathe or do the dishes

"We checked out their story. The criminals installed a machine that distributed pills instead of soft drinks."
-A police officer from St. Petersburg, on detaining young people who said they had acquired ecstasy pills by inserting coins in a vending machine at a night club.

posted by: Oborski at 17:45 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski talks to The Polish Voice.

Poland's accession to the European Union crowns many years of effort to make Poland a rightful member of the Western community of free nations. Earlier, one step towards this goal was NATO accession. What historical events would you compare to all that is going to happen after May 1, 2004?

It's not easy to give an unequivocal answer because Poland's history is filled with events that changed our country's fate. Undoubtedly Poland's accession to the European Union on May 1, 2004 will be one of them. However, I would avoid comparing the turning points in our history and suggesting which event was more important and which was less so. The baptism of Mieszko I in 966 assured Poland an equal place among the countries of Christian Europe and lastingly bound us to Western European culture. In our most recent history, on the other hand, one such event was certainly the election of a Polish pope, which created a foundation for changes not only in our country, but throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The Round Table, the political, social and economic transformation of which Poland was the initiator, essentially supported democracy and the free market in our region. Joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 was a giant leap towards ensuring peace and lasting security for Poland and other countries in our region.

EU accession is a crowning moment on Poland's return to its European roots. A presence in the EU will give Poland proper conditions for development such as we have never had before. For us Poles May 1, 2004 is a great holiday and cause for joy. For the EU it is the first step towards creating-at the same time preserving the diversity of the individual countries-a genuine European unity.

Entry into the EU will begin a new stage in the history of the Polish state. What major goals should we attain in the coming years?

"A strong Poland in a strong Europe"-the motto I have proposed as the theme of our internal debate about Poland's future after the enlargement-best defines our goals for the next few years. On one hand, this means optimal preparation for functioning efficiently in the enlarged EU and making up for the distance separating us from the most-developed countries, and on the other-a wider look at cooperation with our eastern partners, developing transatlantic dialogue, active participation in regional cooperation.

I do not doubt that over the next few years we have to focus on taking the greatest possible advantage of the possibilities offered by EU membership. Nobody expects that in the first days after accession Poland will be a wealthier and better functioning country. But what's important is that Poland in the EU will have much greater possibilities for attaining these ambitious goals: joining the most highly developed countries on our continent, leveling out the developmental differences among Polish regions, increasing the Polish economy's competitiveness. At the same time we realize that without our effort and mobilization in precisely that early period of membership, we cannot count on strategic benefits connected with accession. The issue is first and foremost to increase the pace of economic growth, improve the situation on the labor market and improve the standard of living of our citizens.

A huge part of the work has already been done, the foundations for our presence in the EU have been laid. Today we have to focus on conscientiously carrying out the obligations we undertook during negotiations, making effective use of EU financial assistance, familiarizing our citizens with the EU, but also shaping the future tasks of an enlarged EU.

The tasks we face in the coming years will not be as spectacular as those of the previous decade, when we were carrying out the economic transformation and working towards NATO and EU membership. But they will be just as important for our future. When we make the first comprehensive evaluation of our presence in the EU in a few years' time, all of us-the Polish government administration, local governments, non-governmental communities, Polish entrepreneurs and representatives of the media-will be jointly responsible for whether we were able to take advantage of this opportunity.

What kind of EU would you want for Poland?

Together with obtaining EU membership a great opportunity is opening up to ensure our country's favorable development and improvement in citizens' quality of life. Poles have great hopes and expectations pinned on accession to the EU, which they expressed by taking part and voting "yes" in last year's June referendum. The great majority of Poles believe that EU membership is a chance for civilizational advancement for Poland, for making up for many years of lagging behind, for accelerated and balanced economic development.

Our expectations towards the EU are not fundamentally different from the expectations of the citizens of present member states. We want an effective, efficient EU, capable of solving problems that are important to us. At the same time we want a strong Europe-a Europe that develops, is safe, and counts in global policy. Our expectations towards the EU thereby go beyond a purely financial dimension. Citizens expect the introduction and implementation of high standards in such areas as food safety, consumer and environmental protection, more effective combating of organized crime and corruption, a faster decrease of the unemployment rate. In all these aspects EU membership could constitute unquestionably invaluable support and stimulate our own activity.

The model for the EU's functioning or detailed institutional solutions should be derived from citizens' expectations as to the tasks and role that the EU should fulfill. The average citizen shouldn't be expected to analyze the operation of an institutional and legal system that is extraordinarily complicated and hard to understand sometimes even for experts. Citizens do have the right to expect, though, that the enlarged EU will work out an institutional model which will ensure efficient functioning, will not involve excessive bureaucracy and will enable them to undertake the challenges that are of the greatest importance to them. It is also extremely important for this model to give citizens the possibility-through democratic procedures-to have a real influence on the shape and staffing of EU institutions. In other words, it is necessary to ensure democratic legitimization of EU actions.

It's natural that in a group made up of 15-soon to be 25-member states, there are contradictory interests, conflicts, tensions. However, EU members are united in following a common catalogue of values and in the belief that a parliamentary democracy and free-market economy are the most effective forms of organizing public life. I am certain this catalogue of values and community of interests-expressed also in the principle of solidarity-will remain in force after enlargement. In this context, the idea of creating a "Europe at two speeds," which has been put forward in various statements, would mean negating the community of interests and values as well as the premises that lay at the foundation of the concept of enlargement, it would mean creating new divisions. Integrating Europe through disintegration makes no sense. Our guiding principle, our philosophy is for the enlarged EU to develop jointly, at the same speed, over its whole area and not just among the chosen.

What do you think Poland will bring to the EU?

I would like Poland in the EU to be a country that counts and is active, and our membership to be compatible with Polish aspirations and ambitions, allowing us to take advantage of the new possibilities at the level of both the state or region and every individual citizen. Remember that Poland is an attractive and dynamically developing country of close to 40 million inhabitants. Poles are the youngest society in Europe. Nearly 60 percent of the population is under 40. Young Poles are well educated and eager to take action. We are counting that together with their neighbors they will build a strong Europe, providing good testimony for Poland. I see Poland's EU membership as a chance both for Poland and for the European Union itself.

Due to its location and historical experience, in the geopolitical sphere Poland is sure to make a valuable contribution to the development of relations between the enlarged EU and its eastern neighbors. We would like to see the "Eastern Dimension" playing an important role in an enlarged EU's foreign policy, modeled after the currently existing "Mediterranean Dimension" or "Northern Dimension."

By supporting an open Europe, Poland wants to create the best possible conditions for cooperation between the EU and its new neighbors. Doubtless one of the most important successes of Polish foreign policy after 1989 has been the building of lasting and friendly relations, based on trust, with all our neighbors. What we can contribute to the EU's joint policy is the trust that our eastern partners have in us, our experience in cooperation and our knowledge of the changes occurring in those countries.

In terms of the economy, I am certain that a number of Polish products, services and companies will be able to compete on EU markets. In fact this is already happening, in construction services, for instance. The lifting of existing trade limitations on one hand unquestionably constitutes a challenge for Polish businesses, but on the other-it will open up new possibilities for export expansion, also for agricultural producers. The examples of many Polish companies, to mention those awarded my Economic Award or the Teraz Polska mark, show that we are able to produce well and competitively.

For years Poland has been considered one of the best-if not the best-ally of the United States in Europe. How will relations between Warsaw and Washington evolve after Poland joins the EU?

Poland's EU membership will certainly have an impact on Polish-U.S. relations, but I don't think these will be far-reaching changes. Cooperation with the United States is of key importance for Poland. Poland attaches importance to maintaining Washington's leadership role in NATO and maintaining the U.S. protective umbrella over Europe. The presence of the United States in Europe is an important factor in stabilizing our direct international surroundings and the whole of Europe.

One cannot imagine building a security system in Europe without ties to the United States. It's a mistake to think that America can now be pushed away and that we no longer need it for our security. There is no alternative option in Europe that would ensure a similar level of security guarantees. Establishing this fact has implications in terms of Poland's stand in relation to new projects within security policies in Europe. This is in our common interests.

The EU is becoming an increasingly significant global actor, not only in the context of economic and trade relations, but political relations as well. That's why European countries are starting more and more often to think about European policy in an external context-as a part of global policy. Thanks to adoption of this approach, and with an equal, partner-like approach to all the members of the European community, Europe will stand a chance of becoming a genuine actor on the global stage.

Efficient implementation of EU joint foreign and security policy is critical for ensuring peace on the European continent and for developing transatlantic relations. The changed geopolitical situation in the world can be regarded as the main cause of disputes between Europe and America concerning the character and rules of NATO's cooperation with the EU. It is not the capacity for defense against a mass military attack that is the measure of transatlantic security today, but the ability to counteract dangers and challenges of a new kind. That's why European security interests do not contradict the interests of the United States, and developing a cohesive European policy in security and defense will allow Europe to formulate its political goals properly and cooperate better with its American partner.

posted by: Oborski at 17:41 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

Although Camp Babilon-where the headquarters of the multinational stabilization division commanded by Polish Gen. Mieczysław Bieniek is stationed-is peaceful and quiet, it feels as if Iraq has again become the scene of fighting.

An increasing number of helicopters fly over the base: not only Polish Sokół and Mi-8 but also American combat helicopters. In recent days, more and more U.S., British and Dutch uniforms are visible, while in the past soldiers of foreign armies were hardly noticeable in the crowd of Polish and Ukrainian troops.

This is not surprising: the riots which recently spread across Iraq also reached the central-southern zone, the area commanded by Gen. Bieniek. Riots and fighting took place not only in the Sunni triangle-chiefly Fallujah and its vicinity-which has been traditionally hostile to the coalition forces, but also in the largest Shiite cities in central and southern Iraq.

To date, this was the most peaceful part of Iraq and the Shiite majority's attitude towards the coalition forces was not hostile, if not openly friendly. In recent days, this attitude has changed and the rebellious actions of Shiite radicals, led by a Muslim religious leader in Najaf, Muktada al Sadr, meant that the coalition forces began fighting on two fronts. The first traditional front involves the pacification of riots in the aforementioned Sunni triangle, the area of the United States' responsibility. The second front is the pacification of riots and revolts among Shiites in the south and center of Iraq.

The existing situation in the Polish zone, chiefly in two holy Shiite cities-Najaf and Karbala-is especially complex. The rebellion of Muktada al Sadr's followers, grouped in the Mahdi Army, composed of a few thousand fighters, broke out several days before Arbain, the Shiite holiday which ends a 40-day period of mourning after the Ashura holiday that marks the martyr's death of Muhammad's grandson Hussein in the 7th century.

The Arbain holiday, banned during Saddam Hussein's rule, was celebrated this year for the first time in many years on such a grand scale. Pilgrims came to Karbala from the whole southern and central part of Iraq as well as from neighboring Shiite Iran. Four million pilgrims were expected to come to the city but the actual number was much smaller: slightly less than two million. This was a result of riots initiated by Muktada al Sadr's followers.

A dozen or so days before the holiday, fighting first started in Najaf and Karbala. The fuse which led to the explosion was a decision by Iraq's civil administrator Paul Bremer to close the Al Hawza weekly, connected with Muktada al Sadr, and to arrest one of his closest collaborators. From the political point of view, the two decisions were made at the least opportune moment. The outbreak of Sadrite dissatisfaction in the period preceding Arbain ceremonies could lead to unpredictable consequences. To make matters worse, the two decisions were made by Iraq's civilian administration without notifying the Polish military. As a result, the riots came as a total surprise to the central-southern division which, according to its spokesperson Col. Robert Strzelecki, was unable to prepare properly for the conflict situation.

The fighting started in Najaf, where rioters who broke into the Spanish base were killed. Coalition patrols lost control of the city. The Sadrites occupied the buildings of the interim administration. For a few days, Spanish soldiers stayed on the base.

Developments in Karbala took a different course. Polish and Bulgarian soldiers provided active support to Iraqi police and the Iraqi civil defense corps. For several nights, there was a regular exchange of fire in the city. Thanks to active defense by Poles and Bulgarians, the attacks of the Mahdi Army, designed to take over the city hall, police headquarters and the local prison, were repelled. Also, most of the city police stations remained in the hands of the local police but the number of coalition patrols in the city was reduced. The command staff did not want to expose soldiers to the risk of being hit by snipers.

At the same time, throughout the fighting in Karbala province and unrest in other cities of the zone, the division commanders conducted intensive negotiations with moderate Shiite leaders. The objective of the talks was the continuation of dialogue designed to pacify the wave of rioting. Gen. Bieniek reiterated on many occasions that negotiations had never been detrimental to any military operation.

Recent days showed clearly that the Polish command staff decided to act along two lines. In case of attacks, the coalition forces responded with fire but no offensive operation was initiated. At the same time, they continued talks with those Iraqi groups which are in opposition to the Sadrites. Commanders responsible for the Polish zone tried to avoid the solutions used by American forces in Fallujah, that is, offensive operations.

At the moment when I am writing these words, it is difficult to know whether this strategy on the part of commanders of the multinational division will produce results and whether negotiations will make it possible to pacify the situation in Najaf, where the Mahdi Army fighters and their leader found shelter. American forces, which according to local observers have orders to apprehend or kill al Sadr, are concentrated close to Najaf.

Chances for agreement did not seem great, especially after Muktada al Sadr's speech at a mosque in Kufah April 16. The radical Shiite leader declared he would not dissolve the Mahdi Army and that he was ready to die to defend Iraq against the occupiers. For the coalition forces and Iraqi interim authorities, Iraq is now the site of fighting with two enemies: the Sunni partisans, composed mostly of people who are still loyal to Saddam Hussein, and the Shiite radicals. The situation is aggravated by a wave of foreign civilian kidnappings, designed to force the governments and societies whose forces are stationed in Iraq to pull out. Taking hostages in order to exchange them for arrested Mahdi Army fighters and terrorists is a new element in this kidnapping wave.

Although the background of all these developments is not homogeneous, one can find their common roots. First of all, there is disappointment in a considerable part of the Iraqi nation about the changes which are taking place in contemporary Iraq. Unemployment continues to be high, especially among young people.

People who worked for the old regime are also hard pressed to find their balance in the new conditions. This increases the number of frustrated people. For some Iraqis, the presence of coalition forces in holy Shiite cities, Karbala and Najaf, is a problem. To that we may add frustration on the part of those Shiite leaders who failed to find a place for themselves among newly established Iraqi authorities. One of these is Muktada al Sadr, who was not invited to cooperate by the coalition authorities and the interim Iraqi authorities.

All these factors mean that one can hardly count on an early normalization of the situation. The implementation of numerous projects which might gradually change the picture of Iraq is delayed by rebel operations. Humanitarian organizations are withdrawing from Iraq, non-governmental organizations and civilian companies are limiting their activities. If, in the end, soldiers of multinational divisions are the only foreigners to remain in Iraq, full stabilization will become a goal with a distant future. The military will not solve all the problems which plague the local society.
Krzysztof Renik
Polish Radio special correspondent from Camp Babilon, Iraq

Spanish Pull Out of Iraq
Spain is going to withdraw its military contingent from Iraq within the next 15 days-this was announced April 18 by Miguel Angel Moratinos, the minister of foreign affairs in the newly established Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero government. The declaration from Zapatero, that Spanish soldiers would leave Iraq "as soon as possible," came even before the election won by his socialist party.

"The withdrawal from Iraq of the Spanish contingent is a sovereign decision of this state and this decision has to be respected," stated Gen. Bieniek. The Spanish contingent in Iraq is around 1,300 strong. They command the Plus Ultra brigade composed of soldiers from Spain, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The brigade's area of responsibility covers two fifths of the central-southern zone: Kadisiya and Najaf.

According to unofficial sources, the withdrawal of the Spanish contingent will probably mean the end of the mission for the remaining countries making up the brigade: they depend on Spanish logistics and communications. This would mean a loss of 1,400 troops for the existing 10,000-strong division.

posted by: Oborski at 17:34 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice
Minister Vs. Prime Minister
April 2 in an interview in Gazeta Wyborcza, former Minister of the Treasury Wiesław Kaczmarek accused Prime Minister Leszek Miller of abuse of power when in 2002 he ordered the State Protection Office (UOP) to detain Andrzej Modrzejewski, the then president of Orlen petrochemicals. The next day Modrzejewski was dismissed from his office by Orlen's supervisory board. The prosecutor's office charged him with disclosing confidential information concerning one of the companies from the Kwiatkowski National Investment Fund which he had previously presided over. As a result, he allegedly earned a considerable amount of money on that company's stocks. No judgment in the case has been issued yet, while modrzejewski's detention has been considered unjustified by the court.

Kaczmarek claims having participated in a meeting held in the Prime Minister's Office at which "various scenarios" aimed at preventing the then Orlen president from signing a contract for oil supplies from Russia considered harmful for Poland.

In a special TV statement Miller categorically denied having ever used special services in an unlawful way, finding Kaczmarek's statement an element of election campaigning taking place in the disintegrating left wing. The former minister and long-time member and deputy of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) is today connected with the newly founded Polish Social Democracy (SdPl). The accusations presented in Gazeta have also been considered "rank lies" by Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, head of the Intelligence Agency, who denies having participated in the meeting described by Kaczmarek.

In response to the accusations put forward against the prime minister, the Sejm special services committee held a special session. According to a committee member, Konstanty Miodowicz, a Civic Platform (PO) deputy, the detention of Modrzejewski was at the UOP's initiative, as documents available to the Sejm committee have proven.

Law and Justice (PiS) deputy Zbigniew Ziobro has applied to the minister of justice for an initiation of criminal proceedings concerning the alleged abuse of power by Miller favoring private political and business interests.

Poland a Terrorist Target?
According to information received by the Internal Security Agency (ABW), Poland is facing a real threat of a terrorist attack. Andrzej Barcikowski, head of the ABW, finds Poland a possible target of terrorist attacks. This view is supported by evidence such as the recently discovered Internet report in which Poland is classified by Al-Qaeda's supporters as an enemy country because of its ally role towards the United States and the pro-Western attitudes of a majority of Polish political circles. However, according to experts, Poland still remains a difficult target for terrorist organizations as neither a large group of local supporters nor a significant Islamic community exist in Poland. Nevertheless, rumors of planned attacks continue to appear. One of the suspected targets of such attacks is the Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa which will probably attract several thousand people during the Easter period. Special security measures have thus been taken in the city.

PO for Dissolution of Parliament
According to Donald Tusk, chair of the Civic Platform (PO), his party expects its motion for self-dissolution of the Sejm and the organization of parliamentary elections together with elections to the European Parliament to be decided upon by the end of April. Tusk finds a change of the government and the parliament a good way to defend the Nice system of voting in the Council of the European Union that is favorable for Poland among others. "We have to emphasize our determination in the defense of Poland's political potential in Europe," says Tusk.

Asked about his view of the chances for early parliamentary elections, Tusk says that convincing a majority of deputies to vote for a shortening of the Sejm's term of office seems difficult, yet "every day of the agony of SLD and Leszek Miller's government denotes a further growth of support for Samoobrona." According to Tusk, the PO is ready to create a barricade preventing Samoobrona from taking power. The PO's most natural, yet difficult, partner in those efforts is Law and Justice (PiS).

Archbishop Critical Towards Parliament
Lublin Metropolitan Archbishop Józef Życiński has criticized Polish politicians for "insufficiency of moral sensitivity." He has warned that such a situation may lead to a "social protest directed against democracy."

In his homily during World Youth Day in Lublin, Życiński compared the idealism and sensitivity of the younger generation with the race for success and personal gains which, according to the archbishop, can be observed in the case of numerous politicians. He referred to a recent idea of one of Sejm committees concerning the passing of special pensions for former parliament members. "It is hard to stay calm observing that in a country of great social poverty some deputies secure financial privileges for themselves that don't exist in rich European countries," said Życiński.

According to the archbishop, such attitudes of politicians open the way for an overthrowing of democracy. "The pathological initiatives of contemporary Sejm deputies trying to reserve privileges for themselves in ways common in the previous political system, can result in a desperate social protest," warned Życiński. "Social hostility can easily turn against parliamentary democracy, pointing to parliament members as examples and embodiments of evil, defining the Sejm as the source of corruption and indifference to people's poverty and, in that way, leading to a populist dictatorship."

Using Your Resources
Managers from the biggest Polish companies will attend the International HR Congress, organized April 22-23 by The Institute of Management and Polish Human Resources Management Association. The major themes of this conference will be: Leadership as the Key HR Management Function; Where Does the Worldwide HR Go; Knowledge Based Economy; HRM Trends; Best Practices in HRM; and European HRM Projects.

The aim of the conference is to build awareness, create an understanding, develop a need for constant learning, and present the new possibilities and solutions in the range of HRM.

The program is comprised of all the issues which make the difference in a modern Europe which will be especially beneficial when UE integration becomes a part of Polish reality.

During the conference various problems will be brought up by the presentations ranging from e-learning to cultural change. Prof. Jerzy Hausner, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Labor and Social Policy, will appear touching on the key points of Poland as knowledge-based economy.

Here is a sampling of the other topics: HR in Transition: Trends of Note for the Professional in Knowledge Economies; Measuring and Managing the Value of Human Capital; Intellectual Capital-the New Balance Between Intelligence or Ignorance; Leadership Development as a Strategic Imperative; New HR Challenges Facing International Development of Business; Where Does the Worldwide HR Go?-HR departments are going to disappear soon from the organization structures of companies.

posted by: Oborski at 17:30 | link | comments |

Warsaw, April 26: President Aleksander Kwasniewski denied reports of the Zycie Warszawy daily, according to which Marek Belka wanted to give up his mission of forming a new cabinet and that Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski was to be a new presidential candidate for a PM. "This is not true," the president said and stressed that Belka was still working and that the new cabinet would be sworn in on May 2. "If this government was not formed or if it did not win a vote of confidence then we would have elections in mid-August. And this is not a good date. So it's necessary to think of another date," the President said. According to him, first it's necessary to define tasks and then to speak of an election date. The President stressed that while thinking of the election date one has to decide who is to prepare a budget for 2005. Maybe it would be better if this was done by Belka's competent team, the President said.

Warsaw, April 23: President Kwasniewski received deputy head of the CDU/CSU faction at the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble to discuss European affairs linked with Poland's accession to the EU. The President thanked German politicians for support which Germany has granted Poland on her way to EU membership. Both stressed the need of working out, as quickly as possible, of compromise on the future European constitution. The two also discussed Polish-German-French cooperation within the Weimar Triangle. Kwasniewsski and Schaeuble also exchanged views on the situation in Iraq.

Warsaw, April 23: President Kwasniewski is scheduled to meet with sixteen presidents who will arrive in Warsaw to take part in the three-day European Economic Summit starting on April 28. The presidential aide Andrzej Majkowski said the talks will focus on the situation in the region as well as on the developments in Iraq and struggle against terrorism. During the meetings sides will speak about Europe after enlargement. "It is important that among guests will be representatives of countries which will join the EU on May 1, and of those which will not join the EU but have such aspirations," said Majkowski. The summit is expected to be attended by 1,500 participants.

Warsaw, April 25: PM Leszek Miller stressed in a televised address that the top priorities of his cabinet were the entry of the EU and achieving an economic growth helping the country to cut the gap between developed EU states. Miller said the gap between current Union’s members and Poland is still large: "Our GDP per capita is merely 42 pct of per capita GDP in the 15-member EU. (...). "I put my career at risk to start up the economic growth mechanism. I have focused not on political theatre but on the economy since I took over as head of the government," he said. Miller said he kept the promises he had made in his major policy speech 30 months ago. "Our economy has reversed: from sinking into recession towards growth (...) Poland can be the fastest developing country in Europe. The 24 percent industrial development rise is the best result in the country's 15-year period of transition. The GDP growth of 6 percent is appreciated by many European states," the PM said. and added that many companies and joint-ventures, including Treasury-owned ones, have improved their performance. "This is proof that companies can be successful regardless of their ownership status. All you have to do is to create proper conditions," he said, adding that his government had cut the corporate tax. Miller said the situation is also improving in agriculture. "The jobless rate has fallen a little bit for the first time in many years. (...) Up to 250,000 new jobs may be created by the end of the year," he said. Miller spoke of the tasks a new government will face, a reform of public finances, a passage of his cabinet-prepared economic freedom bill and the best possible use of EU funds. A the end of his address Miller said the economy after his government's two and a half year in power is in a much better shape than in fall 2001.

Warsaw, April 23: Poland's EU accession is a successful effect of work of many people and political options, PM Leszek Miller stressed during a meeting of the National Council for European Integration. Miller said that the road to the Union would have been much more difficult if not for "Solidarity", people from the democratic opposition, the Roman-Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II and "reformatory trends in the previous system." Accession does not mean the conclusion of all issues. We will start to struggle for Poland's position in the EU. This position will also depend on how far Poland's economy is competitive, said Miller. The coordination of Poland's European policy in regard to the participation in the decision making process must be strengthened. Stands presented by us on the EU forum must by uniformed and coherent at all phases of the decision making process, preceded by wide consultations, stressed the Prime Minister who will resign from office on May 2.

Speaking about European Convention president Valery Giscard d'Estaing's proposals on the EU voting rules and its constitution, Miller was skeptical. Poland has protested the EC plans to strike the EU's Nice Treaty voting rules from the constitution act and replace them with a new system. London’s Financial Times recently reported d'Estaing was now considering a double majority voting system and allowing Poland and Spain to vote by Nice rules in special cases until 2012. The daily also said d'Estaing had discussed the matter during a recent visit in Warsaw. Miller said he would prefer a different solution to the issue. He reminded that other suggestions included a blocking-minority system which would suit Poland better. This would be a good solution for us provided it is worked out in detail, he said. D'Estaing's idea was one of many and should not be be treated as official. If we are to reach a compromise we must keep looking for solutions. If Poland is expected to ease up on its demands, then we expect the other side to adjust a little too, he said.

Warsaw, April 23: There will be no restrictions on exports of Polish food products to the EU after Poland joins the Union, agriculture minister Wojciech Olejniczak said. A day before the EC announced Polish food products will not come under the EU's protective clauses after enlargement, which means there will be no limitations on sales of Polish food products in the EU countries. Now over 1,600 Polish food exporters were licenced to sell on EU markets and another 700 would soon receive permits. Polish food is very good, this is also the opinion in the EU countries, where sales of our food products are visibly on the rise. Olejniczak praised the EU's common agricultural policy and assured that the EU's transparent market rules would help Polish food industry stabilize and switch to better planning. The value of Polish land would also rise after Poland became an EU member. Until now land was not very profitable property. This will change, the minister said.

Warsaw, April 25: Dozens of military intelligence (WSI) agents are operating as high ranking state officials, and several "undercover" WSI officers are employed as Polish Pime Minister's and President's personnel members, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper wrote Saturday quoting many sources, including former WSI head Gen. Tadeusz Rusak, as saying WSI agents operate as high ranking state officials. One of them, identified as Grzegorz Rydlewski, the head of the PM advisors, denied any link with the service and vowed to take legal action against the authors of the report, which "is a libel." WSI head Gen. Marek Dukaczewski said Rusak's comments have been made in response to "some documented irregularities in the performance of WSI at a time when Rusak was in charge". Rusak disagreed, saying that slandering actions have been taken against him and persons forced to quit the service. Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said the comments made by the newspaper's informers are the sign of the rivalry between former military and non-military special service agents. Article co-author Malgorzata Subotic said that the authors had spoken with scores of people and read many officially unavailable documents. Sejm special services' committee member Konstanty Miodowicz (PO) said sweeping staff changes have to be made at WSI, but added that it would be bad to liquidate the service given the current international situation and the terrorist threat. Zbigniew Nowek, the UOP head under previous government, said that if what was written in the text is true, then "it is another very important argument in favour of dissolving WSI”. Dukaczewski has asked the Sejm committee to address the content of the article and Rusak's comments.

posted by: Oborski at 17:22 | link | comments |

This was in the "Express & Star" which is the main daily evening paper in the West Midlands. One of their columnists wrote rather neatly:-

"During the Second World War, when their capital city of Warsaw was systematically destroyed first by Nazi Germany, then by communist Russia, the Poles were our gallant allies. When the Gdansk shipyard strikes set in motion the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the Poles were heroic underdogs. If you believe some newspapers today, now that Poland is becoming one of our economic partners in an enlarged European Union, the Poles are nothing more than a swarm of job-stealing itinerants. Have they changed that much, or have we?"

posted by: Oborski at 20:28 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 13:53 | link | comments |

Lodz, April 14: Presidents of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, of Israel Moshe Katsav and of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus are to take part in the ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto in Lodz. Thousands of guests from all over the world, including ghetto survivors are expected to come. The main ceremonies will begin on August 29, the anniversary of deportation of the last Jews from the Lodz ghetto to death camps of Chelmno and Auschwitz in 1944. Only 830 people survived. Lodz Jewish Community leader Symcha Keller stressed that many Jewish intellectuals from Poland, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg were kept in this ghetto. "Very few people know that two sisters of Franz Kafka were kept here and next sent to gas chambers in Chelmno," Keller said. The Nazis set up the ghetto in Lodz in February 1940, and closed a total of about 220 thousand people in it. In 1944 the ghetto was finally liquidated.

Bielsko-Biala, April 14: Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Joseph Lapid will attend this year’s March of the Living due to take place in the Auschwitz-Birkenau former Nazi death camp site in Oswiecim on April 19, to commemorate the Holocaust victims.

Brussels, April 14: A special team of the European Parliament held hearing of the Polish EU commissioner-designate Danuta Huebner. She was the seventh future EU Commission member to undergo this procedure. Huebner had submitted written answers to a questionnaire sent to all ten candidates for new EU commissioners. She praised the draft EU constitution compiled by the European Convention, saying that "although the draft is not ideal it represents a very important step for the Union and deserves to be agreed on promptly within the framework of the intergovernmental conference." Huebner did not take any side in the dispute on the European Council voting system. She wrote that "the Council should simplify its decision-making procedures and ensure their smooth functioning." In a reply to another question Huebner did not reveal which portfolio she would be trying to get in the Commission except for saying this would be in the area of economic affairs.

Warsaw, April 14: As Christians and Europeans we want the full right to testify to our faith in public life as the Bible commands us to, Poland's bishops wrote in an open letter marking Poland's EU accession. The bishops underscored Christianity's role in shaping European spiritual culture and declared the wish to participate in contemporary European reality on par with other Europeans. For us this will mean a serious (...) reopening to the Scriptures and radicalism in our evangelical work, they stressed. The letter will be translated into English and published in the EU and candidate countries. It will be also presented to EU in Brussels and ambassadors of the EU states in Poland.

Warsaw, April 15: Presidential candidate for a new PM Marek Belka said he did not believe that the Sejm would decide to hold elections this autumn and stressed he was focusing now on forming a new cabinet. I think that there is not a two-thirds majority in the Sejm for early elections. (...) We should rather think now how to form a platform that can rule the country, he said and added he was sure he would be able to form a government and stressed he wanted it to last at least by next spring which (for parliamentary elections) is a good date. Belka did not mention any names but confirmed he wanted J. Hausner, W. Cimoszewicz and J. Szmajdzinski to continue to holds their posts.

Camp Babylon, April 14: Polish troops will not take part in the U.S.-planned strike against Shii'te extremists in the area of Nadjaf, south-central Iraq, Polish military spokesman in Iraq Lt. Colonel Robert Strzelecki said. He confirmed that several Poles were currently stationed near Nadjaf but they were only communications teams. He also denied rumours that Polish forces near Nadjaf will be strengthened. All offensive operations will be carried out by units sent by command in Baghdad.

Warsaw, April 15: Finance Minister Andrzej Raczko said that the current economic growth had already started to translate into citizens' incomes. Raczko said he expected an investment boom in Poland and added it would reduce unemployment. The economy is in very good condition and no one will be able to spoil this, Raczko said but admitted that connections between politics and economy were "quite strong". The minister stressed that a stable growth and its visible rise would surely improve the situation of ordinary citizens though this might be slightly delayed. We are witnessing a considerable growth of wages. In February it was 6 percent and this means that the economic boom had already started to translate into incomes. Raczko stressed that the economic growth was the best way of combating unemployment.

Warsaw, April 15: The finance ministry estimates that Poland's public debt amounted to 51-52 pct of GDP in 2003 and expects the public debt to be 51-52 pct of GDP in 2003, including guarantees. In 2002 public debt rose to 47.6 pct of GDP, or 353.84 bn zlotys.

Warsaw, April 14: Prosecutors demanded the maximum three-year prison sentence for film producer Lew Rywin on charges of influence peddling, closing a bribery scandal that has gripped the nation. According to the prosecution, in 2002 Rywin, co-producer of the Oscar-winning "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist", sought a 17.5 million USD bribe from Agora SA, the publisher of the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, in exchange for changes to a proposed media law which would enable Agora to buy a nationwide broadcaster. Rywin claimed at the time he was making the offer on behalf of PM Leszek Miller and "an unspecified group holding power". In her closing arguments, the prosecutor said Rywin had acted "to achieve financial gain" and that the trial had produced no evidence that he was representing Miller or anyone else in government. The Warsaw provincial court is expected to deliver its verdict on April 23. Miller, who testified during the trial, has vehemently denied any part in the affair.

Warsaw, April 14: The Grand Theatre National Opera company of Warsaw is going to London for a series of guest performances in Sadler's Wells (April 20 to 25). The British audience will have an opportunity to see masterpieces of Polish opera: Stanislaw Moniuszko's "The Haunted Manor", Karol Szymanowski's "King Roger" and Krzysztof Penderecki's "Ubu Rex". Grand Theatre artistic director Jacek Kaspszyk said that the choice of productions was "enthusiastically accepted by the British side." According to the prestigious "Opera Now" magazine, British audience is waiting "very eagerly" to see the Polish productions. The invitation of the Polish company to London was "a wonderful idea" because many British opera goers have never seen any opera of Moniuszko and know little about Polish music traditions. The program of the visit includes two performances each of "The Haunted Manor" and "Ubu Rex", and a concert version of "King Roger". All performances will be conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk. The performances in London will accompany the British release of EMI's recording of "The Haunted Manor" first released in Poland in 1993. This is the first work by Moniuszko to enter the EMI’s catalogue. London critic Edward Greenfield wrote in „The Guardian” that thanks to this "rare timing" the recording "provides the most tempting taster (...) The Haunted Manor is one of the hidden treasures of Polish opera". He praised Polish performers, all coupled "with superb playing and singing from the Polish National Opera Chorus and Orchestra dynamically conducted from first to last by Jacek Kaspszyk." Barkley called Szymanowski an "incredible" composer, and Penderecki "the trade-mark" of Polish contemporary music.

Warsaw, April 14: Antiglobalists planning demonstrations during this month's Economic Forum in Warsaw plan no riots, the demo-organizing Antyszczyt Wa29 (anti-summit Wa29) antiglobalist activists said. The groups opposed to the Forum are planning a major demo in Warsaw on April 29. According to the demonstration organizers, only several thousand demonstrators were expected. The protesters also announce appointing orderlies to watch for aggressive people in their midst.

posted by: Oborski at 22:15 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"He told us to study too much. We're athletes, not nerds."
-A student from a sports junior high school in £êczna, explaining why students insulted their English teacher by calling him names, spitting at him and tearing his clothes

"It's like a man who wakes up in the morning with a hangover and he is interested in nothing but his hangover."
-Krzysztof Martens, a leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) in Podkarpacie province, on why SLD activists are wondering how their party's popularity dropped disastrously-instead of discussing what should be done about it

"When you try to squeeze information from government documents, sometimes all you are left with is the paper clips."
-Józef Oleksy, deputy prime minister and minister of internal affairs and administration

"Financial exemptions for the Church are like a knife that can be used both for cutting bread and committing murder."
-Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, rector of the Papal Theological Academy

"I'm glad. But, you can't be very happy when someone who kicked you three years ago only now says 'I'm sorry'."
-Bogdan Zdrojewski, former mayor of Wroc³aw, on the court sentence acquitting the city in a trial in which Wroc³aw was accused of not paying VAT when he was mayor

"Perhaps it's because mail with stamps that might be attractive to collectors disappears more often."
-An employee of a post office in Kielce, explaining why clients sending letters or packages ask for ugly stamps

"A radio for a lifetime."
-An advertising slogan of the Czech private station Radio Kiss; the posters feature a photo of a smiling double murderer who is serving a life sentence

posted by: Oborski at 08:41 | link | comments |

Moniuszko: The Haunted Manor: Kruszewski/ Hossa/ Lubanska/ Stachura/ Nowacki/ Toczyska/ Polish National Opera/ Kaspszyk

(EMI, 2CDs)

Edward Greenfield
The Guardian

The Haunted Manor by Stanislaw Moniuszko is one of the hidden treasures of Polish opera, a lively piece that has been described as a Polish equivalent of Smetana's The Bartered Bride. Later this month (on April 20 and 21), the Polish National Opera brings it to Sadler's Wells in London and, with rare timing, EMI has come up with a recording that provides the most tempting taster.

Moniuszko, the leading Polish romantic after Chopin, is remembered - if at all - by his opera Halka, a tragic story set against a peasant background. Yet The Haunted Manor is more original, more inventive and above all more attractive, with its tuneful sequence of ensembles. Two shuddering chords at the very start reflect the title, but the first scene sets quite a different tone of voice in a rousing military ensemble, when two brothers, Stefan and Zbigniev, on leaving their comrades, swear they will never marry, so as always to be ready to fight for their country.

Needless to say, they meet their match when they visit an old friend of their father's, Miecznik the Sword-Bearer, and encounter his two daughters, Hanna and Jadwiga, each intent on finding a husband. The manner is as close to Gilbert and Sullivan as to Smetana, with a dash of Donizetti thrown in. A fortune-telling scene prompts a charming duet and ensemble for women's voices, when the sisters learn that they will marry soldiers. After that, the main haunting scene anticipates Gilbert and Sullivan's haunting scene in Ruddigore, with portraits coming to life. This, however, is no genuine haunting, simply a ruse by Hanna and Jadwiga, who take the place of the portraits.

Though the plot rather rambles towards the end, and Moniuszko fails to give the lovers the sort of duets one expects, what matters is that everything is happily sorted out. The denouement is helped by the unexpected arrival of a crowd of party guests; this, however implausibly, gives Moniuszko the excuse to insert a big mazurka number for the full ensemble, plainly designed to bring the house down.

Though ensembles predominate throughout the four acts, each of the main characters is given a big showpiece aria. The one for Hanna is particularly impressive, with its Donizettian coloratura brilliantly sung by the bright-toned Iwona Hossa. Anna Lubanska, with her firm, warm mezzo, is also impressive as Jadwiga. But the casting of the two brothers is not so strong: tenor Dariusz Stachura is strained as Stefan, not attacking notes cleanly, and Piotr Nowacki as Zbigniev is happier in fast music than sustained melody.

posted by: Oborski at 08:37 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

A publication in the controversial NIE weekly has set off an earthquake in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ). The weekly revealed that 12 hard drives had disappeared from the ministry, containing thousands of files, including classified and confidential materials.

NIE wrote April 5 that its editorial staff was in possession of the 12 hard drives. Documents saved on the drives came from 1994-2004 and contained materials such as operation guidelines for intelligence officers in diplomatic missions, security variants in MSZ buildings and the personal data of officers from the Government Protection Office (BOR) who guarded the ministry.

In the long article published on the front page, NIE presented a few excerpts from the documents, such as the blood type and passport number of Foreign Affairs Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz, the price of his official diplomat coat commissioned from a tailor in Warsaw, the license plate numbers of the cars of a few MSZ officials, fragments of records from official meetings, including one devoted to Polish diplomats in Iraq, and bits of private correspondence between MSZ employees. The weekly announced it was only the first episode of a new series about MSZ secrets.

On the same day, Cimoszewicz took full responsibility for the scandal and tendered his resignation. Prime Minister Leszek Miller did not accept it. Both Miller and President Aleksander Kwaœniewski, who made an immediate statement on the issue, decided that at that point of time, the minister's honorable resignation would have been extremely harmful to Poland's foreign policy, especially in the context of Poland's forthcoming accession to the European Union.

"Embarrassment, scandal, criminal negligence," Andrzej Barcikowski, head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW), said about the affair. ABW, together with the prosecutor's office, launched investigation procedures April 5. MSZ also started special verification of its confidential information protection system.

"We have good legal solutions in confidential information protection, but the human factor has always been the weakest link," Barcikowski said. In Barcikowski's opinion, every journalist who is aware of revealing secret information and does it deliberately will bear the consequences, including imprisonment. April 6, the director-general of the foreign service dismissed two directors: from the board of the MSZ service and the information office. Further personnel decisions were announced.

Cimoszewicz said the MSZ was working on recovering data from the missing hard drives. "So far, I have not been advised that the affair concerns any truly important documents," he said. "I do not want to formulate any final assessment yet; I want to first learn all details. But I say with all honesty: even if the documents turn out to be unimportant, this will not diminish the critical evaluation of what has happened."

On the following day, NIE handed all the hard drives over to ABW. Jerzy Urban, editor-in-chief of NIE, said, however, that the weekly would continue to publish excerpts of documents from the hard drives. In his opinion, "the material is very interesting and sensational; it will serve us for many months to come."

Urban and Andrzej Rozenek, author of the article, say they will take the confidentiality clause into consideration in further publications, but they emphasize that if such documents testify to criminal activities of MSZ officials, they will see the light of day. Both editors have not said whether they have copies of the drives, nor have they revealed how the weekly got hold of the drives.

On the night of April 7, ABW officers apprehended Mateusz K., a student of the Warsaw University of Technology who tried to sell the MSZ hard drives to a few newspapers in Warsaw. He probably sold the drives to NIE. Apparently, the price approximated $10,000. After a preliminary interrogation, the prosecutor's office charged him with a violation of confidential information. He can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

It soon became clear how the enterprising student had come into possession of the hard drives. A few hours prior to the ABW's operation, a technical worker at the MSZ was apprehended. He had brought the drives out of the ministry and sold them to a second-hand computer store for zl.10. According to the ABW, he had no idea about the contents of the hard drive and sold them as ordinary memory storage devices. It is uncertain if and what charges he will face.

It is still not entirely clear when exactly the wayward hard drives found new, unauthorized owners. A few other newspapers, including Poland's largest dailies Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita, reveal they were approached with proposals to buy sensational electronic material related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a few weeks ago. The two titles categorically declined the proposals.

The Sejm Committee for Foreign Affairs debated the hard drive affair at a special session April 8. The issue was presented by Cimoszewicz and Barcikowski. The minister assured the deputies that confidential documents dealing with Poland's membership in international organizations, NATO and the EU in particular, were subject to special security procedures and no violation of the rules of handling with such documents had been reported.

So far, the investigation conducted by the ABW and the prosecutor's office has not detected any political or intelligence motives in the entire scandal.

posted by: Oborski at 08:34 | link | comments |

Prof. Marek Belka, President Aleksander Kwaœniewski's candidate for prime minister, is seeking parliamentary support, yet all seems to suggest that it will not be easy to find even on the governing left.

In spite of his efforts and initial optimism, Belka did not manage to convince the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) to his program. April 8, after a meeting of the party's Chief Executive Committee, PSL Chairman Janusz Wojciechowski said that his party did not support Belka and would not take part in the consultations concerning his formation of a government. The leader of the PSL justified the decision saying that Belka was going to execute a "continuation policy" with a particular intention to implement Hausner's plan, which was unacceptable for the PSL.

According to Marek Dyduch, secretary-general of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the PSL's declaration "seriously complicates Belka's situation." In Dyduch's opinion, the new government needs wider support than that of the SLD, the Labor Union (UP), the Federative Parliamentary Caucus and one-time support of the Social Democracy of Poland (SdPl). Among SLD members opinions differ on whether, in connection with the PSL's declaration, another candidate for the new government's prime minister should be appointed who would gain PSL support, or rather if attempts should be made at constructing a new coalition around Belka. One of the top candidates of the SLD is Józef Oleksy.

Marek Borowski, leader of the SdPl, says his party will present its program suggestions to Belka so that he can consider taking some of them into account. "From the very beginning we have claimed that the government should be nonpartisan in character, since it will only stay in power for a short time and none of the parties ready to support it boast enough social support for the undisturbed formation of a government at the moment," said Borowski.

"Samoobrona will not support a government headed by Belka," said Andrzej Lepper after a meeting with the president's candidate for prime minister (see photo). In Lepper's opinion, parliamentary elections should be held as soon as possible. The meeting lasted only about 15 minutes. Belka managed to present his plan of activities for the coming weeks and a general outline of the new government's program.

In a recent statement, Lepper said that his party was ready to take over power with him as prime minister. His declarations followed the publication of a poll in which Samoobrona won 29-percent support, thus becoming the decided leader. This scenario is considered to be apocalyptic by a majority of Poland's political circles. Nevertheless, the public lends increased support to Lepper's party with every day.

In his Sejm policy speech, Belka intends to ask the parliament for 12 months for his government. In his opinion, a year of political peace would be needed for the necessary reforms to be introduced, particularly in the difficult period of Poland's accession to the European Union. However, even the greatest optimists doubt that, in the current stormy situation, Poland can afford several months of peace, not to mention a whole year. Belka says that if the parliament does not agree to his request, the only solution will be to hold early elections.

posted by: Oborski at 08:32 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

Prof. Marek Belka is working on the makeup of the new cabinet and soon will present his program. There is little time to write the program and carry out political consultations as May 2 Prime Minister Leszek Miller and his cabinet will resign.

Belka, an economist and former finance minister in the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) government-with which he found it difficult to reach agreement-is President Aleksander Kwaœniewski's candidate for the post of prime minister. What will be his economic program when he replaces the Miller government?

This issue intrigues not only financial markets that have met news about Belka's candidacy with relief, but also public opinion. His candidacy is opposed by part of SLD politicians who do not like the program of healing public finance implemented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Labor and Social Policy Jerzy Hausner-even though the SLD has officially promised to carry out the plan.

Hausner's reformatory acts are only at the beginning of the parliamentary path. There seems to be no chance for fast adoption of the whole package by the Sejm. Some renowned economists, such as the president's adviser Prof. Witold Or³owski, say that the plan will not be enough for ensuring a lasting improvement of public finances, and that the belt should be tightened even further.

On the other hand, among the leaders of the ruling SLD there are also such politicians as Krzysztof Janik who thinks that the fruit of faster economic growth can be consumed now, and that the cutbacks can be partly reduced.

"I will complete the cabinet and prepare a program, and in my policy speech I will put forward such a solution: either give me a year or cut this misery and vote for dissolution of the Sejm," Belka said at a meeting with the press held by Rzeczpospolita April 6.

A new government should be formed as soon as possible. The atmosphere of uncertainty hurts the economy. According to Belka, "political destabilization is a macroeconomic factor today and one of the reasons why investors withhold any decisions. They do not know what assumptions to adopt, what the interest rates will be," reported Rzeczpospolita. A lack of willingness to invest is the main reason why the economic growth, recorded by Polish statistics, is not reflected by the appearance of new jobs-and that is perhaps the biggest problem of the Polish economy that struggles with an unemployment rate exceeding 20 percent.

Belka has outlined an optimistic vision of the Polish economy. He is convinced that the economic growth is based on healthy foundations and is of a lasting character. After a period of recession, companies are stronger than before. The condition of the state budget in January-March 2004 was better than expected. In this situation, it would even be advisable to reduce budget deficit, so that financing it will be less costly. But this optimistic forecast was accompanied by a warning that the favorable economic conditions may be hurt and what has been achieved may be destroyed.

Belka attaches a particular attention to the proper use of EU funds that will be available for Poland after the accession. "Everything has to be done to make sure that not a single cent of the EU funds is lost, that all our opportunities of obtaining structural funds are used. I want to remind that Poland has made use of 97 percent of pre-accession funds. I don't know whether any other country has made better use of that money," Belka said on public television April 7.

Belka is an advocate of reducing Social Insurance Company (ZUS) contributions for all employed people. That would be achieved, among others, as a result of raising the currently relatively low ZUS contributions paid by the self-employed.

There is no talk about introduction of a flat-rate personal income tax that was recently promoted by, for example, the Civic Platform (PO), as a method of stimulating investment, because the new government will not have enough time for that over the next year.

The statements of the candidate for prime minister have included a certain discrepancy: on one hand, he announces a tight fiscal policy and a continuation of the Hausner plan that calls for cutting many social expenditures; on the other, he declares "a bigger social sensitivity," a lack of which is what the finance minister is usually accused of. This sensitivity is to manifest itself in actions for the poorest young people from small towns and villages who are threatened by marginalization. This may for example mean scholarships for the poorest youth.

Belka warns, however, that investment upturn that should finally appear in Poland, may make it more difficult to finance public debt; if more money goes for investment, it may be more difficult to sell the government's securities. This factor has to be taken into account while preparing the 2005 budget.

Belka has announced that he would entrust Hausner with command of the economy, and that he would keep in his cabinet National Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdziñski and Foreign Affairs Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz.

posted by: Oborski at 08:30 | link | comments |

It’s not how a man starts that matters, it’s how he finishes!

by Peter Gentle

I was passing a newsstand recently and noticed that the cover star of a widely read current affairs magazine was Polish Prime Minister, Leszek Miller. It was no ordinary photo on the cover, either. It featured the Polish PM dressed in a casual shirt that was open to his midriff. From between his unbuttoned shirt sprang, what looked like, a large ball of wire wool. On closer inspection the wire wool turned out to be the Prime Minister’s rather ample bush of graying chest hair. It was not a pretty sight, believe me! And under the photo read the headline: It’s not how a man starts that counts, it’s how he finishes!”

What was going on here? What was a revealing photo of the Polish Prime Minister, accompanied by a sexually suggestive headline, doing on the cover of a serious current affairs magazine? Had Leszek Miller taken some dodgy advice from a PR firm and decided to remodel his image as some kind of Polish Political Love-Sex God? For sure, he does need some urgent advice at the moment, as he is currently the most unpopular politician in Poland. But was recasting the ex-communist, 58 year-old politician as some kind of Polish political Burt Reynolds the right sort of advice?

On opening the pages of the magazine all became clear. The phrase, “It is not how a man starts it’s how me finishes,” was said by Leszek Miller early on in his premiership. He was asking to be judged on his term in office at the end of it, and not at the beginning. Well, the end of Leszek Miller’s premiership has come earlier than he expected. Things have not gone well for him and his left-leaning ex-communist SLD government since they won the 2001 general election. A new corruption scandal has appeared in the newspapers almost every week, unemployment has reached 20%, and the health service has become very sick indeed. In response to consistently low opinion poll ratings, the Prime Minister decided that enough was enough, and has announced that he will be resigning from office on May 2. This is a significant day as the 2nd comes after May 1st, and that is the day when Poland joins the EU. Miller wants to hang on long enough to be remembered as the Prime Minister that took Poland into a new political era.

Miller’s courtship of the Polish electorate two and a half years ago could not have been simpler. It was not that Polish voters found his party, the SLD, an incredibly attractive, dreamboat government-in-waiting. It was more the fact that the SLD were not the AWS – a parliamentary caucus of right-wing leftovers from the Solidarity trade union. The Polish electorate was like a woman at a dance being confronted by two men – one fat, ugly and sweaty, and his friend only slightly slimmer, slightly less ugly and without the sweaty bits. Which one would you choose, ladies? And so the SLD and Leszek Miller came to power because they were the only eligible political bachelors in town.

But those heady days of Lesek Miller’s honeymoon with the voters were soon over, and the relationship quickly turned sour. Trust is at the heart of all good relationships, and the voters just couldn’t trust Miller. He broke promises. The voters think he has lied to them.

Miller’s use of a sexual metaphor when talking about his term in office was never a good idea, I think. It must have raised voters expectations of his government to ridiculous and unobtainable heights. What was he planning? That his government’s campaign slogan when they came up for re-election would be: Voters – how was it for you? Or maybe even: Voters – did the earth move? And when election day came was Miller expecting the voters to put a cross on the ballot paper and then lean back in the polling booth smoking a post-electoral cigarette?

The expression he used – “It is not how a man starts it is how he finishes,” was never right in the first place. It should, of course, have been, "It is not how a man starts, it is WHEN he finishes." In Poland a government’s term is scheduled to last for four years. Miller has only managed two years and a half.

So, as Miller ‘withdraws’ from political center-stage will he be remembered as the Prime Minister who’s premiership was ended by a kind of Demos Interuptus?

Lask, April 8: It is too early to make an assessment whether the situation in Iraq has got out of control of the allied forces, according to Defence minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski."The situation has become more complicated, but only the coming days will show and let us make an assessment," he told. The rioting provoked by al-Sadr does not have to, and in the opinion of Szmajdzinski will not, lead to an uprising. "We deal with something we can call a rebellion, a desire to make al-Sadr's radical views publicly present," the minister said.Szmajdzinski visited an air base in Lask Thursday where he met soldiers and local authorities. The airfield in Lask in one of seven such facilities in Poland to be used by NATO forces. The first F-16 plane will land in the base in 2008.

Camp Babylon, April 12: Radical Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who last week launched several assaults on coalition forces, has a weaker following than may appear, general Mieczyslaw Bieniek, Polish commander of the south-central Iraqi stabilization force, said after a meeting with Shi'ite leaders in the Camp Babylon military base.The camp-surrounding province of Babil is one of the most peaceful in Iraq.Bieniek said the al-Sadr attacks had slowed down democratic change and reconstruction work in Iraq but assured the group did not have a strong backing in the country. He also warned that coalition forces would not allow "criminals" to decide about the Iraq's future.Tribal head Mohammed al-Kasim said Babil religious and political authorities were trying to keep violence down in the area, among others by appeals for peace to the local population. He also asked for less army patrols in local towns and villages. Asked about coalition plans for the recently recaptured city of Nadjaf (where support for al-Sadr is strongest), Bieniek said an attack on Nadjaf was still being considered despite its takeover by Iraqi police. Such an action by coalition forces would "help restore full order in the city", Bieniek said. Coalition officer Roberto Soria added that although Nadjaf was under control there were still "very many dangers" in the area, especially around the mosque in Kufa.Bieniek confirmed that preparation for "a determined operation" in Nadjaf were underway but refused to name details

Warsaw, April 13: Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leader Krzysztof Janik told Radio Zet on Tuesday that staff changes in PKN Orlen had been expected though the party parliamentary floor group as well as presidential candidate for the PM Professor Marek Belka had been against structural changes in the company before the formation of a new government. He added that such changes were not made. Janik announced that the SLD would ask Treasury Minister Zbigniew Kaniewski for explanation why there had not been any counter- candidate for the post of PKN Orlen supervisory board head. "It was inconsiderate of the treasury minister to say the least," he stressed. Janik added that he did not steer ministers who obeyed the law and those who violate it always face the Tribunal of State or other penalties of political nature. Last Thursday a PKN Orlen GSM replaced the company supervisory board head and former Nafta Polska CEO Maciej Gierej with Kulczyk Holding CEO Jan Waga as well as some of the members.

Vilnius, April 8: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland Thursday in Vilnius adopted a statement on agricultural cooperation after their May 1 EU accession. Our countries have their specific agricultural problems but our chief aim will be developing a common agricultural strategy, not national policies, said Polish deputy agriculture minister Jerzy Plewa. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia launched agricultural cooperation in 2001 and have voiced their satisfaction at Poland's joining the group.

Warsaw, April 13: Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna (PGF) will take over 81.5 percent of shares in Przedsiebiorstwa Zaopatrzenia Farmaceutycznego Cefarm Lodz Ltd., a new company carved out of Cefarm Lodz, for 22 million zlotys, PGF wrote in a statement "There will be a new company set up to which PGF will bring money and the state treasury will bring assets of a state-owned firm," Grzegorz Drozdz, PGF investment relations expert told. The founding capital of the new company, Przedsiebiorstwo Zaopatrzenia Farmaceutycznego Cefarm Lodz Ltd, totals 27.01 million zlotys and comprises 270,100 shares of the nominal value of 100 zlotys each. PGF will take over 220,000 shares or 81.5 percent for 22 million zlotys and the state treasury will bring 5.01 million zlotys taking over 50,100 shares (18.5 percent).

Warsaw, April 12: The Citizens' Platform (PO) would get 29 percent of the vote if parliamentary elections were held in early April, according to a poll run by TNS OBOP for Polish Television "Wiadomosci" main news programme. Next came Samoobrona (21 percent) and Law and Justice (PiS) party with 11 percent. The Social Democracy of Poland, a new political party formed by a group of left-wing MPs and led by Sejm Speaker Marek Borowski, can count on support of 10 percent of Poles. The League of Polish Families (LPR) scored 8 percent and the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) was supported by 7 percent. The Polish Peasant Party (PSL) was supported by 4 percent of voters. Seventy percent of the polled said the elections should be held still this year, and 18 percent said they should not.Thirty percent said Marek Belka would be a better PM and thirty percent voiced the same opinion about Jozef Oleksy while 21 percent said none of them should be appointed new prime minister.

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On the Saturday before Easter Polish Catholics take a small basket of food to church to be blessed. The basket is traditionally lined with a white cloth and contains bread, salt, decorated eggs, sausage, sometimes an Easter cake and a figure of a lamb, usually made of sugar. The food is eaten at a family breakfast on Sunday morning, after everyone shares an egg. The tradition of taking food to church to be blessed reaches to the 17th century – earlier priests would make rounds visiting individual homes. The tradition itself was already known in the 8th century AD. Another tradition observed in Poland on the eve of Easter Sunday is to visit tombs of Christ set up in churches.

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Warsaw, April 8: According to to-date findings, a Foreign ministry's technician, apprehended for taking hard discs out of the ministry, sold them for 10 zlotys (2.5 USD), head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) Andrzej Barcikowski said. ”The person in question was most likely guided by economic reasons. He was probably convinced that the discs were worth only as much as technological carriers of information can be and was not aware of their contents”, Barcikowski said after a meeting of the Sejm foreign affairs committee. However, the second person involved in the theft, a Warsaw Technological University student who wanted to buy the discs was surely perfectly aware of their content.

Warsaw, April 7: The leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Krzysztof Janik said that a majority in his party was ready to support Marek Belka for prime minister. He made the statement after talks held by Belka with SLD's national leadership and parliamentary caucus. After the meetings Belka said he was "a staunch optimist, as usual" and declared he would continue his meetings with SLD MPs, including provincial activists. However, several politicians from SLD's national leadership told PAP unofficially that there was a feeling in SLD that Belka had no chances for forming a cabinet in view of PSL's opposition to his candidacy for PM. Without the support of the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) it was impossible to create a stable majority in the Sejm, they said. Moreover, Jozef Oleksy enjoyed greater popularity in SLD than Belka.

Warsaw, April 7: The Union of Labour (UP) will support Marek Belka's efforts to form a new government provided Polish troops are withdrawn from Iraq or nature of their stay changes and Jerzy Hausner's economic austerity plan is supplemented with a welfare package, UP leaders told Belka. As regards Iraq UP leaders and Belka agreed that Poland should be more persistent in turning the nature of the troops into peace- keeping and not occupational.

UP leader Marek Pol said that the sides shared a common view on "removing glaring injustice in social policy including the raising of the lowest old-age and disability pensions."

Warsaw, April 7: Samoobrona may count on 29 percent support in parliamentary elections, the Citizens' Platform (PO) on 22 percent while the present ruling coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance - Union of Labour (SLD-UP) would not win seats in the parliament. From a recent poll Samoobrona gained 5 percentage points and the PO lost 4 percentage points. The Law and Justice (PiS) placed third with a 10 percent possible support (down 3 percentage points) and was followed by the League of Polish Families (LPR). The poll indicated that SLD-UP coalition would muster a 7 percent support and therefore would lack 1 percent to the legally required 8 percent for coalitions to enter parliament. The recently established Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL) can count on 6 percent of supporting votes and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) on 5 percent.

Kerbala, Warsaw, April 7: Polish troops killed the head of militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office in Kerbala during overnight clashes in the holy Shi'ite city, Reuters said citing Wednesday's report by Iraqi police. The news has not been confirmed by the spokesmen of the Polish general staff Col. Zdzislaw Gnatowski and the mulitnational division in Iraq Col. Robert Strzelecki. However Iraqi police spokesman Rahman Mashawi told Reuters Murtada al- MUssawi, who ran Sadr's Kerbala office, was killed in fighting with Polish troops. Gnatowski told PAP the shootout in Kerbala took place several hours earlier. The general staff so far had not obtained confirmation that Murtada al-Mussawi was killed in the street fighting involving Polish troops there. According to AP reports based on al-Sadr's office account Sadr's militias opened fire on a Polish patrol in Kerbala that triggered street fighting. Al-Mussawi was killed as a result.

Gdansk, April 7: There are no plans to enlarge Poland's Iraq force, defence minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said. Asked about NATO's recent promises of help to Polish Iraq forces, Szmajdzinski said the best support would be more NATO troops in the region and the recognition of Iraq as a NATO operation theatre.

Warsaw, April 7: Poland's accession to the EU will facilitate cooperation between Poland and Morocco which is an EU associated state, foreign ministers Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Mohammed Benaisa said "We see Morocco as a very important partner both in the political field, where we positively assess our relations, and in the economic field," Cimoszewicz told a press conference. The ministers signed an agreement on cooperation in culture, science and education. They devoted much attention to economic and trade contacts and also discussed international issues, including security, terrorist threat and proliferation of mass destruction weapons. Benaisa declared that Morocco was in the process of deep economic reforms and democratization.

Warsaw, April 7: The UN and NATO should play a bigger role in the Iraq reconstruction programme, Polish PM Leszek Miller and Iranian Ambassador in Poland Mohammad Mehdi Pourmohammad agreed at a meeting in Warsaw . During the meeting Miller stressed that Poland's presence in Iraq was important for future Polish-Iranian relations and praised to- date economic and political ties between both countries.

Szczecin, April 7: Rescue ships and maritime airforce from Poland and Denmark are taking part in Baltic manoeuvres which started north of Kolobrzeg. The goal of the two-day "Sarex 2004" exercise is the coordination of activities of Polish and Danish rescue services. The exercise involving a number of naval ships, a rescue helicopter and scuba divers is one of the biggest such manoeuvres held in the Baltic sea.

Warsaw, April 8: Jan Waga representing Kulczyk Holding was elected a new president of PKN Orlen supervisory board by the company GSM Andrzej Wygladala who chairs the debates said Thursday. Waga replaced Nafta Polska CEO Maciej Gierej. PKN Orlen GSM on Thursday dismissed 4 members of the company supervisory board. Apart from board president Maciej Gierej, the GSM dismissed Edward Grzywa (representing PZU Group), Andrzej Kratiuk (representing Warta) and the state treasury representative Orest Nazaruk.

Warsaw, April 7: Deputy minister of infrastructure Maciej Lesny tendered his resignation Wednesday, the ministry said. The decision was prompted by personal reasons, it added.

Warsaw, April 7: Budget policy in Poland has reached a critical point, with fiscal adjustment necessary, and the Jerzy Hausner austerity plan insufficient to prevent the public debt from growing, the IMF said. Stronger and farther reaching measures (that the Hausner plan) will be necessary, head of the IMF mission in Poland Susan Schandler said. The Hausner plan is to generate savings of 54 billion zlotys in 2004-2005 so that the public debt is kept within the constitutional limit of 60 percent of the GDP but some analysts believe that even full implementation of the plan will not prevent the debt from topping that limit.

Warsaw, April 8: The World Bank in its economic report has warned that in order to avoid a rapid growth of debt and budget deficit Poland needs reforms broader than the planned ones.

The World Bank warns that 2004 deficit will probably exceed 8 percent of GDP and the public debt 55 percent of the GDP before the end of 2004 together with expected guarantee payment amounting to 1.5 percent of GDP. The government has adopted this year's deficit at about 5.3 percent of GDP and the debt not exceeding the threshold of 55 percent of GDP. The plan of reforms is an important step on the way to reform public finances and to change the unfavourable dynamics of the growth. However, broader reforms will be needed to ensure a stable development path for public finances, it was written in the report. It is expected that the Polish monetary policy will be one of the most credible in EU countries, the authors wrote.

Warsaw, April 7: The World Bank will lend Poland 100 million euros for road maintenance and modernisation. "We are able to secure funds from various sources, not only the World Bank. But it is the World Bank that provides us not only with money but also some project implementation procedure that we have to apply. These procedures allow to economize on public funds," finance minister Andrzej Raczko said upon signing the agreement.

The loan is to be spend this year to modernise roads throughout Poland. The loan will be used to modernise 700 kilometres of roads. It is to be repaid within 10 years.

Warsaw, April 7: The EU will decide about controversies around public aid for Poland's Czestochowa Steelworks in 2-3 weeks, Polish deputy treasury minister Andrzej Szarawarski said. Conflicts around Czestochowa began in February after the Indian LNM Holdings Corporation won a tender for the plant, which was protested by rival bidder Donbas from Ukraine. Szarawarski has suspended the tender until clearance of the public aid issue with the EU.

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...Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Kidderminster, serving the West Midlands of the UK.

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Warsaw, April 6: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and his Bulgarian counterpart Georgy Pyrvanov discussed the situation in the central-western stabilisation zone in Iraq over the phone. Kwasniewski shared with Pyrvanov a report he had received from the zone Polish commander on the current situation and congratulated Bulgaria on its recent membership of NATO. Pyrvanov confirmed his attendance at the European economic summit in Warsaw.

Washington, April 6: U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer confirmed NATO’s willingness to assist Poland which is in charge of central-southern stabilisation zone in Iraq.

Warsaw, April 6: Reflection Group devoted to the future of NATO and NATO - EU relations met in Warsaw on April 5 and 6. On Tuesday the participants presented the outcome of their debates to President Kwasniewski. The NATO Secretary General and representatives of all member-states will learn about the group's report and recommendations before a summit in Istanbul. The group is made of outstanding analysts of international security from France, Germany and USA. Poland was represented by former Foreign Minister Professor Bronislaw Geremek and former Defence Minister Janusz Onyszkiewicz.

Warsaw, April 6: Warsaw regional prosecutor's office has waged an investigation to find out how a dozen computer hard disks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found their way to the Nie weekly. The disks may carry classified and top secret documents. Prosecutor's office will not inform the public on steps taken to secure the devices. Investigation proceedings will be carried out by officers of the Internal Security Agency (ABW). ABW head Andrzej Barcikowski said that the disappearance of the disks is a "scandal and unpardonable negligence." Nie wrote it had 12 hard disks from the ministry which include documents prepared between 1992 and 2004, including over 4,000 files. President Aleksander Kwasniewski met Nie chief editor Jerzy Urban. „I discussed with Jerzy Urban the case from one point of view: the interests of the state that may be in danger, the president said. Urban is not only the editor-in-chief of the weekly but also former member of the government who, I am convinced, is fully aware of what it is the state, its interests and the protection of certain important information and I think we have reached an agreement ... it may be a seemingly unimportant piece of information that may affect bilateral relations with a given country," the President said and added that "what has happened so far poses no threat to the interests of the state but we do not know what more can surface." According to Urban, his editorial office received only copies of hard discs. "Such things have been and are copied and I do not know how many copies may circulate Warsaw," he explained. He refused to disclose the price the weekly paid for hard discs and the source that sold them confirming willingness to publish all materials. Foreign Minister Cimoszewicz was for severe consequences toward the responsible for the leak even if it turned out that discs did not carry important information.

Warsaw, April 6: There is no breakthrough, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) does not foresee the possibility to support a government formed by candidate for PM Marek Belka, PSL leader Janusz Wojciechowski said after meeting Belka, the candidate of President Kwasniewski. Tuesday was a successive day of Professor Belka's political consultations on the formation of the new government. On Monday support was refused by Samoobrona leader Andrzej Lepper On Wednesday Belka meets with leaders of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and its caucusas well as with leader of the Union of Labour (UP) Marek Pol. Meanwhile President Kwasniewski said that former PM Jozef Oleksy was a possible candidate for PM only when Belka's mission failed. He believes Belka stands 50 percent of chances to form a cabinet.

Warsaw, April 6: The finance ministry revised upwards Poland's first quarter economic growth forecast to 5.3 pct. The finance ministry upheld the forecast for the whole 2004 at 5 pct. The ministry projected quarter GDP growth at 5.1-5.2 pct. According to economy ministry estimates the GDP will rise 4.7-5 pct this year from 3.7 pct in 2003.

Warsaw, April 6: Warsaw-visiting Shoah Foundation Council head and French Constitutional Council member Simone Veil lectured on European values at Warsaw's Diplomatic Academy. Veil stressed that remembrance, democracy and respect for human rights should be "lasting European features". Reminding about the horrors of nazism, Veil said that democratic institutions, freedom, peaceful coexistence, human rights, courage and tolerance were values which could "save whole nations from oblivion". She added that today's young generations should "work towards building a space of tolerance and friendship, a space where nothing is forgotten". As a gesture in this direction she named Poland's 2001 homage to the victims of the 1941 massacres of Jews by Poles in Jedwabne. This move gave us strength, Veil said. During WW2 Veil was an inmate at the Nazi Auschwitz death camp (1944-45).

Poznan, April 6: Mayor of Berlin and ambassadors of 25 countries of the enlarged EU accredited in Berlin will come to Poznan, western Poland, on Saturday, May 1 what will be part of the celebrations marking Poland's EU accession. The idea came from Poland's Ambassador to Germany Andrzej Byrt. "Berlin is Poland's nearest EU neigbour's capital. I want to take advantage of this and show Poznan, my home city, to my colleagues," Byrt said. The visit of the diplomats will be part of the festivities marking Poland's EU accession. A great, open-air "European Gala" concert will take place.

Warsaw, April 7: Samoobrona may count on 29 percent support in parliamentary elections, the Citizens' Platform (PO) on 22 pct while the present ruling coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance - Union of Labour (SLD-UP) would not win seats in the parliament, Rzeczpospolita daily informs. Comparing with the previous poll, Samoobrona gained 5 points and the PO lost 4 points. The Law and Justice (PiS) placed third with a 10 pct of support (down 3 points) and was followed by the League of Polish Families (LPR). The poll indicated that SLD-UP coalition would muster a 7 pct support and therefore would miss legally required 8 pct threshold for coalitions. Newly established Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL) can count on 6 pct of votes and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) on 5 percent.

Szczecin, April 6: Authorities in three west Polish provinces, the Czech province Hradec Kralove, the Bratislava region in Slovakia and Sweden's Scania district signed an agreement under a Central-European Transport Corridor including expressways, railway lines and waterways. The corridor will be financed from the EU's Interreg fund. It was necessary as the Baltic region would soon become the fastest-growing region in Europe.

Warsaw, April 6: In 2003 a total of 52.1 million tourists visited Poland, or up 2.7 percent on 2002 figure. Owing to Poland's integration with the EU, the number of foreign tourists will go up in 2005-2006 as a growing interest in the Polish tourist offer can be noted. The Institute of Tourism reported that 2003 saw a 7.6 percent increase in the number of tourists from Germany and a 1.1 pct fall in the number of tourists from the EU. However, the number of tourists from Germany and other EU countries in the third quarter of 2003 grew by 6.3 pct compared to the third quarter of 2002. Summer 2003 witnessed a growing number of tourists from Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Great Britain, Finland and Norway. A substantial growth was reported in the number of tourists from outside Europe including South Korea, Canada, Japan and the United States. October and November 2003 saw a 43 percent drop of tourism from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine due to the introduction of visa requirement for their citizens.

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"I estimate that some 5-10 percent of Telekomunikacja Polska clients are dead people."
-Tomasz Teluk, an expert with the Adam Smith Center, on the consequences of the high fee (zl.48.80) for taking over a deceased relative's telephone subscription with the country's telephone monopoly

"I can't imagine a life without my wife and journalists."
-Sejm Speaker Marek Borowski

"Please do not think it's about sticking with a popular group. This is a deeper philosophy: we are discussing how the state should be repaired."
-Karol Dzia³oszyñski, former deputy from the Freedom Union (UW), on why he's holding talks with the Civic Platform (PO)

"I have recently started to use the term 'Politicians' Trade Union.' Whenever you begin to monkey with their incomes or property, they display extreme solidarity, just like trade unionists."
-Julia Pitera, head of the Polish branch of Transparency International, on corruption in political circles

"This was not a political protest. They were hired by a merchants' association that wanted to ruin the competition. The participants were promised a hot meal."
-A police officer from £ódŸ, on the 90-minute blockade of a highway near a bazaar in which the local unemployed and homeless took part

"We confiscated over 170,000 pirate CDs. We estimate that the practice lasted nearly three years, and the dealings were headed by the prison director who provided cheap labor."
-A Russian prosecutor on a recording studio where CDs and tapes were copied illegally; it was located in a prison in Novosibirsk

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“Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys’ house.”
Nothing wiser than this sigh from Leo Tolstoy, on the disintegration of order in a peaceful nobleman’s family, comes to mind when one looks at the scattered props on the stage of Polish politics in the spring of 2004.

Over the past decade the picture was more or less clear. A strong, stable post-communist leftist formation, now in government, now in the opposition, but always with 30-40 percent support. At its helm for the past seven years—the macho-man of Polish politics, Leszek Miller. Around this axle, center-right parties that appeared and disappeared, now bloated like a Bedouin’s wine-skin freshly filled with water in the oasis, now flabby like a pricked balloon. On the fringes—a whirling dervish of leftist and rightist populist groups.

This whole structure collapsed in a matter of weeks, and the pace of change has caught the politicians themselves by surprise—even those who donned grey aprons and, in their role as scene shifters, earnestly got down to tearing down the set and smashing the props. There has been a split on the left, in the previously most strongly consolidated of Polish parties, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). The Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL) has been formed—an attempt to win back an electorate that abandoned the left en masse during its unfortunate rule. A weakened SLD remains, trembling with fear at the sight of every opinion poll and shaking from an internal reform fever. Both parties are trying to outdo each other in promising to return to the besmirched socialist ideals and to heal a state accused of being consumed by corruption.

The existence of two rival groups on the left doesn’t bode well. First, it’s not possible to design two different social-democratic programs. So, the battle between Janik’s and Borowski’s people will be fought only as a struggle for personal influence, a wrenching of deputies and local party cells away from each other. Even worse, the instrument used in the fight for voters may be a bidding on who’s more leftist and cares more about the man in the street. The budget will be a casualty of this, as will the agreement reached with such effort by Miller concerning social cuts.

Secondly, the divorce on the left is not an amicable one. As they say, “I know all the worst things about him, I was his best friend.” Among these former friends there is plenty of hatred, fury, negative emotions. It won’t be long before this finds an outlet. Even now Wiesław Kaczmarek, a leftist deputy who marched out of the SLD to join the SDPL, has reported to the media that Prime Minister Miller decided personally two years ago that the secret service should spectacularly arrest the then head of Orlen petrochemicals so that it would be easier to replace him with someone from the left. The prime minister reciprocated by calling his former minister a liar.

It’s certain that the left’s unity has been replaced with brutal jostling and a mutual kangaroo court.

If that isn’t enough, the icon of the left—Miller—has broken into little pieces. The prime minister’s unlucky streak: the awful poll results, the helicopter accident and his unfinished convalescence, the atmosphere of corruption scandals, the desperate effort of the president and Miller’s party colleagues to knock him out of the saddle, have ended in the announcement of his resignation. The strong man of Polish politics today treats the media to mournful stories about his wife’s tears and his granddaughter being persecuted at school because of her grandfather. Whatever you say about Miller, one thing’s certain: the Polish left has no other figure with such perseverance, charisma and character as its ousted leader.

What’s worse, the decomposition of the governing camp has come at the worst possible moment. Somebody has to lead Poland into the EU, and this country is no winner at preparing for the EU revolution. Somebody has to safeguard the public finance savings program. Somebody has to define Poland’s policies versus Europe and America, and obtain support for the ever more strongly questioned mission to Iraq. In the face of all these tasks Poland is going to be without leadership for long months, without a strong government and with squabbling tribes instead of a government camp.

■ If the SLD and Miller are the failures of the decade, the opposition isn’t looking much better.
The world of Polish politics has recently discovered, with the fascination of a teenage boy touching his girlfriend’s budding womanhood for the first time, that success comes from sharp populism and tough words.

The fascinating success of Andrzej Lepper’s poll-topping Samoobrona—the party of the disaffected that blames the condition of the state on the whole political and economic system, a party that questions the entirety of Poland’s foreign policy including its European part, a party that is outbidding traditional socialists in its leftist radicalism, has left the rest of Polish politics in a daze.

The plebeian populism, plebeian violence and clear plebeian language of Andrzej Lepper has unexpectedly become a standard for politicians until now associated with common sense.

The disease has painfully hit the recent hope of moderates—the conservative-liberal Civic Platform (PO). Under the leadership of a charismatic neurotic and brilliant orator, the PO is offering voters a fist fight with the barbarians from Samoobrona—a confrontation between extreme-leftist populism and rightist populism. Jan Rokita’s call that we should die for Nice or the “3x15” tax slogan are worth as much as the Lepperoids’ concepts. Only, instead of the words being said by a nugget from the depths of Poland’s rural interior, they are offered by the caustic pride of one of the world’s oldest universities.

■ The fever in the house of Polish politics will last until the nearest elections, or perhaps even longer.

No prime minister after Miller can count on stable support, nor on a sensible opposition. Neither presidential nominee Prof. Marek Belka—a liberal economist that populists use to frighten their children, nor anyone else who manages to patch together a government, will win strong support from the left. This is a left that has decided that the SLD and Miller’s government were harmed by their abandoning of the mythical principles of socialism for socialist-liberal ideas. The mantra repeated on the left today about the return to leftist roots will not help the socialists in the polls, and will certainly hinder the functioning of any government.

There is no pro-European opposition on the opposite side of the Sejm anymore, there are only contesters of all compromise. There are no critics of the economic program, there are only those who are prepared to negate everything just to win a few more ratings points. The one thing that most of the opposition shares is their call for early elections.

It’s hard to believe that elections will calm down the wild Polish political scene. Forming a sensible government coalition in the present circumstances is as difficult as playing a game of chess with an opponent who is playing tennis instead.

■ Everything is in confusion in the Polish house. The tenants are zealously lugging the furniture out into the street, only to carry it back inside a moment later; they dramatically tear the hair from their heads and tug at their beards. Nothing and nobody is in its place anymore.

The only thing is, around them things are improving. The Poles are producing and selling more, some are even starting to earn more.

But the frenzied tenants take no notice of such petty details.

posted by: Oborski at 22:41 | link | comments |

The floor of the Sejm April 2 became the arena of a dispute between the ruling coalition and the opposition. The subject was Poland's forthcoming accession to the European Union, the deputies heard the government's information on Poland's policy concerning the EU.

"The foundations for Poland's best possible position within the EU are strong," said Prime Minister Leszek Miller. "The government, whose mission ends May 2, has done everything that had to be done in this field." Miller emphasized that Poland's accession to the EU had been a fundamental goal of his government and Poland had obtained better conditions than other acceding countries. In Miller's opinion, one of the most important tasks facing the present and future governments is to competently seek compromises concerning the EU Constitutional Treaty.

Józef Oleksy, deputy prime minister and chairman of the European Committee of the Council of Ministers, assured the deputies the government was well prepared to the accession. He said he hoped for full support and commitment of all political forces.

According to Krzysztof Janik, leader of the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the prospect of European integration has resulted in changes in the mentality of Poles. "They are more oriented towards progress and competition with the most developed European communities in terms of economy, culture and education," Janik said.

Jan Truszczyñski, deputy minister of foreign affairs, presented the Sejm deputies with information on the work on the EU Constitutional Treaty. "When it comes to the decision-making system in the Council of the EU, Poland has been guided by a fundamental guideline that there has to be proper balance between major and minor countries of the EU," Truszczyñski said. In his opinion, the entry on the decision-making system in the Council of the EU that will be eventually included in the Treaty should guarantee Poland with a position comparable to the one it has according to the current regulations. Truszczyñski said all suggestions and proposals of compromise solutions that emerge during informal discussions of politicians were analyzed from that point of view. At the recent EU summit in Brussels, the European Council decided that a compromise about the ultimate form of the Constitutional Treaty should be reached before the next summit June 17-18.

Truszczyñski said a compromise was close for most unresolved issues. The issues are: the make up of the European Commission, the minimum number of deputies in the European Parliament from each country, the arrangement of presidency in the Council of the EU, the defense and security policy of the EU, the appointment of the European prosecutor and mechanisms to revise the Constitutional Treaty. In Truszczyñski's assessment, solutions currently proposed in those issues are in line with Polish postulates.

He said there was general consent to entrust the presidency in the works of the Council of the EU to a group of countries instead of just one country, which is in line with the Polish proposal of group presidency. There is a similar consent about more flexible procedures on future amendments of the Constitutional Treaty in its part that deals with the EU's internal policies and actions. "The European Council will have a possibility to make an unanimous decision to make a change, but each such change could only come into effect when it has been ratified by all member countries," Truszczyñski said.

Finally, he announced the Polish government would continue to postulate appropriate position for the Christian tradition in the preamble to the EU Constitutional Treaty. Around 10 countries of the 25 support such proposal.

In the discussion about the government's summary, the opposition attacked it all along. According to Donald Tusk, chairman of the Civic Platform (PO), the main problem on the road to Poland's success in the EU is not the "relatively small army of antagonists of the EU," but "the inept government with a mouthful of pro-European clichés." Tusk said PO was ready for any compromise concerning the EU constitution, without clinging to any doctrine to guarantee Poland with the strong position granted by the Treaty of Nice.

Kazimierz Ujazdowski of Law and Justice (PiS) warned against withdrawal from the defense of those entries in the Treaty of Nice which concerned the voting system. He used the term "leaks arranged by the government" to describe the information about a new compromise on the voting system in the Council of the EU, which introduced "blocking minority." He said nobody had answered the question what status the tool of blocking minority actually had. He made it clear there was no accord for the government to sign the "bad [Constitutional] Treaty" and together with the president, he specified the date of a possible referendum on the EU constitution. "Those are decisions of a new parliament, elected in new elections," he said.

Maciej Giertych (League of Polish Families, LPR) said a time would come when Poland would leave the EU, because "the politicians in Poland will be mature enough to demand Poland's return to sovereignty, to what is the Polish tradition." He remarked there were four countries in Western Europe-Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein-which were not part of the EU and, in his opinion, are just fine. "Poland should have struggled for this concept for itself," he said. In Giertych's opinion, the slogan of Poland's negotiations with the EU had been one of no alternative, so that Poland was ready to accept any conditions dictated by the EU. He said that unlike Poland, Ireland and Malta had been able to make sure the EU had no powers in "ideological issues that are important to those countries."

Giertych also said he hoped Poles would reject the European constitution in the referendum. He would like the pre-referendum campaign to be conducted on equal rights, that is, providing equal access to the media for both advocates and antagonists of the constitution.

According to Jan £¹czny (Samoobrona), if Poland enters the EU under the negotiated conditions, it will be a second-class member and then the only way out will be to re-negotiate the Accession Treaty.

posted by: Oborski at 22:37 | link | comments |

Last week, Marek Belka, the president's candidate for the new prime minister, started consultations concerning the creation of a new government and gathering a majority in the parliament. A week later, there are still more questions than answers.

In the morning of March 31, Belka flew to Poland from Kuwait, having completed his mission in the provisional coalition authority in Iraq. On that day, he met with Prime Minister Leszek Miller and with the leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Krzysztof Janik. In the evening, Belka was received by Aleksander Kwaœniewski. After the meeting with the president, Belka said the conversation had not really been devoted to arrangements within the party and calculation of votes, but to what the policy of the future prime minister should contain.

Belka says he believes in the success of the mission to create the government that has been entrusted to him. He hopes for support from SLD, Labor Union (UP), Polish Social Democracy (SdPl) and the Federative Caucus (FKP). He will also seek support from the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL). He admits he would be happy to see a number of members of this government in the one he sets up. He mentions the Minister of Foreign Affairs W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz and the Minister of Defense Jerzy Szmajdziñski. Belka says there will be definitely room in his government for Jerzy Hausner, the current minister of the economy, labor and social policy who also met with Belka on the first day of the consultations. Belka does not rule out some modifications in Hausner's plan, which would seek to alleviate the social effects of the process to cure state finances.

After his meeting with Belka, Hausner said the conversation primarily concerned possible elements of the economic policy of the future government. The meeting did not deal with who should perform what functions in the government.

April 1, Belka met with the Minister for European Affairs Danuta Hübner and the leader of SdPl Marek Borowski. Hübner says her meeting with Belka was an overview of the state of Poland's preparations to membership in the EU and challenges related to the European integration. Hübner and Belka talked about how Poland's presence in the EU would influence the Polish economy and they discussed the coordination of European policy, that is, the cooperation between the government and the parliament regarding the issue.

Borowski, in turn, said: "As of today, chances are slim for appointing a new government that could efficiently exercise power." According to him, if it is impossible to appoint the government, the only thing that will be left will be early elections. SdPl is working on a wider set of criteria for the new government so that it can rule efficiently and get SdPl's support. Borowski says there can occur a situation where SLD members of the parliament do not approve Belka's possible policy speech and the government makeup he proposes. SLD politicians seem very reserved when it comes to Belka's candidacy for the prime minister, primarily due to the fact that Belka is evidently regarded as Kwaœniewski's man, which in turn prompts fears of too large an influence of the president on the future government.

Józef Oleksy, a politician most frequently mentioned as an alternative to Belka, declared at a session of the National Council of the SLD April 3 that if necessity arose, he was ready to become the prime minister. His statement met with an ovation. Oleksy said that did not mean a vote of no-confidence on Belka and his declaration only should be interpreted as a "signal that the SLD is ready for different variants of the situation's development."

The discussion on Oleksy's possible candidacy was started by deputy leader of SLD Katarzyna Piekarska. "A clear political signal should come out of this room today," was her argument. Piekarska said Oleksy was "an emergency exit" in case Belka failed to create a government.

According to Janik, the enthusiastic reaction of the National Council was a clear sign that Oleksy was the council's favorite. However, Janik did not interpret that as a wish for Belka to fail to form a government. Janik stood by his previous opinion that parliamentary elections in the spring of 2005 were the optimal scenario for Poland, but that would take a stable, majority coalition.

Dariusz Rosati, former minister of foreign affairs and a member of the Monetary Policy Council (RPP), is considered Kwaœniewski's "spare" candidate for the prime minister on the political stock exchange. He says he can see no chance for a majority in the parliament that could support the economic reforms contained in Hausner's plan, necessary to overcome the crisis of state finances.

Developments on the market show that the financial world is anxiously awaiting any signals of the creation of the new government. Investors who have a lot of trust in Belka fear that he can have problems with finding a parliamentary majority, which could prompt him to a compromise on the conducted fiscal reforms, or even to resign from his candidacy.

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Foreign Minister Resigns

We’ll start with the latest developments at the Polish Foreign Ministry whose head W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz has just announced his resignation. According to unconfirmed reports, minister Cimoszewicz handed his resignation to PM Leszek Miller after the publication of the weekly NIE which got hold of the hardware of 12 computers from the ministry revealing confidential documents, codes, passwords to the ministry’s computers, diplomatic correspondence as well as plans of the building. As Polish Radio unofficially found out, the PM is not going to accept the resignation.

posted by: Oborski at 22:49 | link | comments |

Central Bank Chief Backs Poland's Early Euro Zone Entry

Polish central bank chief Leszek Balcerowicz again backed Poland's early entry into the euro zone and said the country was more strongly integrated into the euro area than Spain, Portugal and Greece before they joined. "Latest research shows quite clearly that the earliest possible entry is the best time to enter. We are now already more strongly integrated into the euro zone than Spain, Portugal and Greece were before they joined," Balcerowicz said in an interview with German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag. He said the earliest possible date for Poland to join the euro would be January 1, 2007. Balcerowicz said the prospect of euro entry was a very effective incentive for necessary structural reforms, adding that those favouring a later entry only wanted to delay those reforms. "From an economic point of view neither the delay of the reforms nor (the delay) of the euro entry makes any sense."

posted by: Oborski at 12:06 | link | comments |

SLD Favours Józef Oleksy As the Next PM

Józef Oleksy said during weekend's meeting of the Democratic Left Alliance SD that if the circumstances were favorable, then he would accept the post of the Prime Minister. "A second government with Oleksy as premier will become a fact anyway, but one needs to wait until Belka finally understands that he is not able of putting together a government which could win the support of a majority of Sejm deputies," said one senior SLD member. Meanwhile, Marek Belka has held discussions on forming a new government since he came back from Iraq last week. he may be able to count on the new Polish Social Democratic party, but the group first wants a detailed plan of the new government. The Polish Peasants Party has already said no to a cabinet headed by Belka, but Belka himself believes he will be able to create a government.

posted by: Oborski at 12:06 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 11:12 | link | comments |

Poland does not see the necessity to adopt its own, separate stand on the political situation in Ukraine and tensions related with the presidential elections scheduled for the fall, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in Kiev. We know the stand of the Council of Europe, the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Kwasniewski said. Poland belongs to both organisations, I do not see reasons for which we should formulate some special opinions outside these structures. I am convinced that elections in Ukraine are held with due respect paid to all principles, and the upcoming elections will be held in the same manner, Kwasniewski declared at a press conference held with Ukraine's President Kuchma. Referring to the inauguration of Polish Year in Ukraine under the motto "Poland and Ukraine Together in Europe", the President said "there could hardly be a better slogan”. Kuchma informed that both sides discussed such problems as the Polish visa policy after EU accession, illegal migration, terrorism, streamlining customs clearance and development of border infrastructure. The Consultative Committee of the Polish and Ukrainian Presidents will shortly discuss the problem of simplification of border procedures, both with the customs clearance and the traffic at border crossings. Kwasniewski also met with the group of the Ukrainian opposition leaders.

President Kwasniewski signed the March 11 law on cooperation between the government and the Sejm and Senate in issues related to Poland's membership of the European Union. Under the law, a Sejm committee for EU will be set up. 46 committee MPs representing almost all parliamentary caucuses will issue opinions on legal acts and will formulate draft positions for the government during its work on legal acts in the EU council. The committee will also issue opinions on candidates for the post of an EU commissioner and other important positions. The government will have the obligation to familiarise MPs and senators with its work in the EU every six months or at the Sejm or the Senate requests. The to-date existing European committee will be disbanded not later than on July.

Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz attends an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels April 2. The event follows ceremony of admitting seven new member states into NATO. The ministers are to discuss preparations for a NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29, military peace operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq and NATO's answer to a threat of terrorism.

Outgoing PM Leszek Miller met with candidate for the prime minister Marek Belka to familiarise him with the top priority tasks unfolding before the government. "Its very important for me that the professor has access to information so he may take over the premiership smoothly," Miller said. Belka, who flew back from Kuwait after completing his mission in Iraq's PCA, met also with head of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Krzysztof Janik who added they did not evaluate Belka's chances for forming new cabinet. "I informed him about the latest developments in the country, what matters most for us and what he may expect to come up in his first talks," Janik said. Final decision on Belka's candidacy for the PM would be made by the SLD caucus on April 13. At a joint press conference with PM Miller, Belka did not rule out the Hausner austerity plan would be revised, but said it is the key to the solution of economic problems, including protection of the poorest, which left-wing parties demand. Some SLD deputies, SDPL members and the ruling coalition partner UP call for including in the plan measures aimed at protecting the poorest. "The Hausner plans is not a program leading to painful cuts in social spending", Belka said. "Its implementation will help solve the problem of poverty, especially in the countryside. That will create chances for a more aggressive action towards improvement on the labour market", he said. Belka assured he would like to work with deputy PM Jerzy Hausner. Thursday has been the day of Belka’s talks with political partners on the program and composition of a future cabinet.

Deputy PM Jerzy Hausner said he was unsure of a post in the new government. Asked if he did not fear a government change could jeopardise his financial reform scheme, known as the Hausner Plan, he replied he had "cause for worry" in this respect but hoped Poland's political scene saw the plan's importance. The Deputy Prmie Minister added he would most like to see approval for those of his reforms which cut public spending and provide economic incentive.

Deputy Sejm Speaker Tomasz Nalecz said he had left the Union of Labour (UP) and its parliamentary caucus and joined the Social Democracy of Poland (SdPl). I have decided to leave UP to join SdPl because I believe that the Polish left-wing is going through a crisis and SdPl gives it a programmatic and organizational chance, Nalecz said explaining his decision. Asked whether anyone else left UP with him Nalecz stressed he neither convinced anyone to such a move nor organized any group. Sejm Speaker Marek Borowski officially declared the formation of the new left-wing party on March 26.

Marek Belka did not rule out the Hausner plan will be revised, but said the program is the key to the solution of economic problems, including protection of the poorest, which left-wing parties demand. "The Hausner plans has been modified many times. I cannot rule out more modifications", Belka told a news conference attended by PM Miller. Some SLD deputies, SDPL members and the ruling coalition partner UP call for including in the plan measures aimed at protecting the poorest. "The Hausner plan is not a program leading to radical and painful cuts in social spending", Belka said. "Its implementation will help solve the problem of poverty, especially in the countryside and small towns. That will create chances for a more aggressive action towards improvement on the labour market", he added.

A threat of a terrorist attack is realistic in Poland, head of the Intelligence Service Zbigniew Siemiatkowski told members of the Sejm committee for special services. "I am not sure whether we should be afraid of them, but we should be prepared as we are engaged in the solving of the Iraqi conflict and because we are an ally of the United States," he said and assured his agency is cooperating with other services in monitoring persons and groups of increased risk.

Polish, U.S., Spanish and Ukrainian instructors in the Polish-commandeered stabilisation zone in south-central Iraq have helped train an over 4,000-strong Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC), soon to number 5,000. Colonel Tomasz Bak, in charge of Iraqi security forces at Poland's Camp Babylon command base, said ICDC was already able to collaborate with stabilisation forces and would soon be able to operate independently. Present ICDC force was well-trained and competent. ICDC troops are currently aiding coalition forces in peacekeeping and security. In future they will take over bigger tasks in Iraq.

Some 6 billion USD have been invested by foreign companies in Poland in 2003, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) announced. In view of the May 1 EU accession, Poland arouses much interest as a possible place of investment, especially among small and medium business. FDI is very important as such investments are less expensive for the country, more efficient and produce many new jobs.

SkyEurope Airlines, which is another low-fare air carrier to start operations in Poland on May 3, intends to invest 20 million USD in its Polish operations. SkyEurope Airlines will open its base in Warsaw. As of May 3 the carrier will launch direct flights from Warsaw to Vienna-Bratislava and Budapest. From June 14 SkyEurope will start flights from Warsaw to London, Paris and Amsterdam, and from October 8 also to Rome, Milan and Zurich. Negotiations are in progress with other Polish airports to open new bases in the future. SkyEurope, with its bases in Vienna-Bratislava, Budapest and Koszyce, is the biggest company on the market of low-fare carriers in Central and Eastern Europe.

posted by: Oborski at 09:51 | link | comments |

Deputy speaker of Parliament Tomasz Na³êcz has quit the leftist Labour Union and joined the new left-wing party, the Social Democracy of Poland, which was formed a week ago by 23 rebels from prime minister Miller’s SLD Democratic Left Alliance. The founder of the new party is parliamentary speaker Marek Borowski

posted by: Oborski at 13:30 | link | comments |

Early Polls Possible, if Belka's Mission Fails

President Aleksander Kwasniewski has abandoned his outright opposition to early elections and admitted the country may have to go to the polls.
He admitted that if the team formed by Marek Belka failed to win parliament’s support, early parliamentary elections cannot be avoided.
Outgoing prime minister, Leszek Miller steps down on May 2, the day after Poland joins the European Union.

posted by: Oborski at 13:28 | link | comments |

Several people were hurt in Warsaw when the waiting crowd stormed a newly-opened shopping centre which had been advertising ultra-cheap electronics equipment. Police said none suffered serious injury although five hapless customers were taken to hospital.

posted by: Oborski at 11:54 | link | comments |

Belka Optimistic on Cabinet-Forming Mission

Marek Belka, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski’s choice for prime minister, has described his mission as fascinating and said that his cabinet will have an entirely new face and will bring together people of various backgrounds and political groupings.
Interviewed by Polish Radio, Belka, who is a professor of economics, said he would stick to the outgoing left-wing government’s austerity programme after Poland joins the EU. He added a revamped health care reform and the reaping of optimum benefits from the first year of Poland’s membership in the European Union will be the main goals of his cabinet. He pledged his cabinet will not get involved in the day-to-day political squabbles.
He said he would consult with all political parties in his search for a form a government, including those who have already said they would not support him, such as Farmers Self-Defence led by Andrzej Lepper.
In an earlier interview, Marek Belka said he intented to hold on the foreign and defence minister Cimoszewicz and Szmajdzinski in order to ensure continuity.

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

Lynch Opens Film Studio in Poland

The American film maker David Lynch, famous for the cult ‘Twin Peaks’ series and ‘Mulholland Drive’, is slated to open a film studio in the Polish city of Lodz. The local authorities have agreed to give Lynch a 15 to 25 year free lease on a building near the school. Lynch also intends to purchase nine hectares of land in the city for an ‘art for peace’ centre facilitating visual arts projects in the areas of photography, film and painting.
A long-time fan of the prestigious Lodz-based Camerimage Festival of cinematography, David Lynch has been a frequent visitor to the city. He is also a self-admitted fan of Lodz, a city which flourished a a centre of the textile industry in the 19th century. Last November he displayed his talents as a painter and photographer there with an exhibition of mixed-media oil paintings and photography in a Lodz gallery.

"Cześć!"

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