Polish Consulate...

Warsaw, April 27: President Aleksander Kwasniewski Tuesday signed into law an act reforming Poland's public health service in spite of his right to a 21-day respite on the decision. Presidential spokesmen said the haste was dictated by the act's urgency. "In light of this act's importance for the health service (...) the president has resigned his right to a 21-day respite period and has signed it earlier", presidential press officials informed PAP.Under the new law public hospitals will receive government loans to cover overdue wage hikes guaranteed by a special act and debts to suppliers. They will not be transformable into public utility units, as foreseen in a presidential health reform project.Health minister Marek Balicki said today that he was "happy" the president had not waited with the move. It's a good thing we have the law. This will enable public aid for (...) hospitals and help stop the wave of seizures, Balicki said.

Warsaw, April 27: Only 46 percent of Poles were satisfied in April with Aleksander Kwasniewski as the president of Poland which was the worst result scored by Kwasniewski since the beginning of his presidency 10 years ago, writes CBOS polling centre. Eleven percent positively assessed the Sejm (up 3 percentage points) but 77 percent of the polled (7 percentage points less than in March) were still dissatisfied. The Senate's rating was better than the Sejm's just because people in general know less about the work of senators, CBOS wrote without providing details.

Warsaw, April 27: The assessment of the Polish administration, local government and businessmen is very good but the coming year will be more difficult, said PM Marek Belka at a press conference summing up Poland's year-long membership of the EU. "In 2006 more EU money will be transferred to Poland and efforts will have to be made to allocate it wisely," he added. According to the PM during the coming 12 months Poland should fight to dispel myths about its citizens posing a threat to the EU labour market. The PM underlined that the balance of the 1st year of membership is favourable for Poland. Minister for European Affairs Jaroslaw Pietras stressed that integration was a huge logistic undertaking, fortunately successful even in such fields as direct subsidies for farmers. Prior to the press conference Pietras presented a report commissioned by the Office of the Committee for European Integration (UKIE) on experience on the 1st year of Poland's membership of the EU. Pietras stressed. After a year in the EU, Poland is a net beneficiary. The country received from the EU budget 1 billion 554 million euros more than it had contributed. The pace of growth of exports to "old" EU members grew by 60 per cent after May 1. Direct foreign investments in 2004 reached 7.86 billion USD, up 23 per cent on the previous year. The general balance is positive, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski said summing up Poland's first year in the EU. Saryusz-Wolski, vice-president of the European Parliament, said that "from the economic point of view none of the negative predictions have materialised." However, he did confirm that Poland experienced a slight post-accession shock in form of price adjustments which contributed to short-lived, according to him, inflation rise. also higher than expected price growth.

Warsaw, April 27: Lotos Group will be floated at the Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE before PGNiG and the refinery public trading is likely in May, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha told PAP on Wednesday. Socha counts on the Stock Exchanges and Securities Committee (KPWiG) to admit shares in Grupa Lotos to public trading which would pave the way for floating the Gdansk-based petroleum company in May. The value of Lotos Group offer is estimated at 900 mn zlotys (28.2 million USD). Socha predicts that PGNiG will be admitted to public trading at a KPWiG meeting on May 18. He said that KPWiG subcommittee will deal with amendments to the PGNiG issue prospectus still this Friday. PGNiG submitted its prospectus to KPWIG at the end of March. The company plans to make a debut on the WSE in June. The value of PGNiG issue is estimated at 1.5 billion zlotys.

Warsaw, April 27: At 81 percent, Polish support of NATO membership in a recent CBOS survey was highest among the Visegrad states. 79 percent backed Poland's EU accession.Sister surveys in the other Visegrad countries the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary showed respectively 61, 55 and 68 percent in favour of NATO. The biggest EU supporters were the Slovaks (83 percent), followed by the Poles (79 percent), Hungarians (73

percent) and Czechs (70 percent). 22 percent of Poles wanted to work in other EU countries. Most eager to work abroad were the Slovaks (28 percent). CBOS ran the survey on March 4-7 on a random group of 1,052 adult Poles in cooperation with Czech, Slovak and Hungarian polling centres.

Warsaw, April 27: Polish food exporters to non-EU countries have received 225 million zlotys (7.7 million USD) in export refunds from the Agriculture Market Agency (ARR) since May 1, 2004.ARR deputy head Krzysztof Salwach said Union subsidies are a significant support for exporters improving the profitability of their operations.The biggest sums have been paid out for the export of sugar, milk and dairy products, meat, processed goods, poultry, fruit and vegetables.

Warsaw, April 27: Extraditions of Poles to other countries under European Arrest Warrants (EAW) are unconstitutional, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled Wednesday. The Polish constitution forbids extraditions of Poles to other countries. The tribunal also informed that EAW rulings would be waived from the Polish criminal code within 18 months. The 2004-introduced European Arrest Warrant has replaced all previous EU extradition rulings.

Warsaw, April 27: Last year 6,000 Polish students enrolled in foreign universities under the popular Socrates Erasmus scholarship scheme, also more and more foreigners are coming to study in Poland, informed Boguslaw Szymanski from the Office for Academic Endorsement and International Exchange. Over 1,800 graduate and post-graduate students took government

scholarships, 300 more than in the previous year.According to Warsaw University officials EU accession raised scholarship funding in Poland and made Poland more attractive for foreign students.

Warsaw, April 27: Products of over 130 Belorussian producers are on show at the first National Exhibition opened in Warsaw Wednesday. The exhibition will run till April 30 and is expected to help boosting Polish-Belarussian economic cooperation. Ambassador of Belarus to Poland Pavel Latushka told journalists that this is the biggest exhibition of this kind outside Belarus and one of the most important events for the Belarussian economy in recent years. Presented are Belarussian furniture, clothes, foodstuffs, architecture, tourist offers, and other products. The aim is to demonstrate economic potential of Belarus and encourage Poland to cooperate with Belarussian firms. According to the ambassador tourism may be an attractive field for contacts. Belarus sees the need to open new border crossings such as the recently opened Bialowieza-Pererov border pass at Bialowieza Forest. Polish-Belarussian economic contracts are expected to be signed during the exhibition, for example on deliveries of Polish steel to Belarus. Ambassador Latushka said politics should not interfere with economic cooperation and encouraged Polish diplomats to show, like ambassadors of Russia or Turkestan, sympathy to Belarus.

Warsaw, April 27: City councillors of the Citizens' Platform PO will vote against approving the financial results for 2004 achieved by Warsaw President Lech Kaczynski (Law and Justice PiS), said Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the head of Mazowsze PO branch on Wednesday. The Citizens' Platform PO is jealous of our good results in the polls, Warsaw President and one of Law and Justice PiS leaders Lech Kaczynski told Zycie Warszawy daily while commenting on the PO's appeal for a no-confidence vote in him. The PO decided not to support Kaczynski during a vote of approval of financial results for 2004 despite the fact that the two parties are likely to form a future coalition government. Lech Kaczynski terms as untrue accusations brought against him by Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, head of Warsaw's PO branch. The charges concern mainly a growth of spending on administration, the lack of spatial development plans that hampers houses construction, a small number of constructed municipal flats and the falling number of municipal investments. "This is not a personal attack, this is our protest against Warsaw being strictly centrally managed. We have quite a different vision of managing the city," Gronkiewicz-Waltz told Radio Three. According to her the vote can be perceived as a "yellow card" for Kaczynski because he failed to fully use the EU funds and the number of new investments was 50 percent lower than between 2000 and 2002.

Warsaw, April 27: The rightwing Patriotic Movement believes Poland's right, especially Law and Justice (PiS) and the League of Polish Families (LPR), should put up a joint list for the parliamentary elections. Patriotic Movement and Catholic-National Movement (RKN) leader

Antoni Macierewicz said. Failure to field a rightwing list "seriously threatened with the continuation of the present political alignment". Macierewicz stressed that the Patriotic Movement's main objective was fighting unemployment and denied the group's patronage by the ultra-Catholic Radio Maryja broadcaster.

Warsaw, April 27: The Monetary Policy Council (RPP) commenting its Tuesday's decision on cutting interest rates, said that it assess that inflation, starting from the 3rd quarter of 2005, may stay below the inflation target for a period of several quarters. The RPP in its communique added that in a longer perspective it sees a risk of building inflation pressure linked with the revision of oil prices forecast. The council wrote that the risk balance for future inflation is shaping more favourably than it has been presented in the February inflation projection. Central bank governor Leszek Balcerowicz addressing a press conference on Tuesday afternoon did not exclude a transitional deflation in respective months, but without influence on the monetary policy. Marian Noga of the RPP said the council estimates 2005 inflation to reach 2.5 per cent and will stay below 2.5 per cent by the end of 2007.

Warsaw, April 27: In March Poles willingly invested via investment funds. New payments exceeded write-offs by 1.4 billion zlotys (437.5 mn USD) which is twice as much as in February. It was also the 2nd best result since July 2003, indicate Analizy Online.The company data show that in the 1st quarter of 2005 customers "brought" more than 2.3 billion zlotys to national investment funds. The value of bank deposits rose by 2.6 percent and the surplus of new retail bonds' sales over the previous issues totalled 760 mn zlotys. "This gives us a total of some 8 billion zlotys in savings which Poles wanted to invest in the 1st quarter," the company's statement reads.

Cracow, April 27: Low-rate Centralwings airlines belonging to PLL LOT will launch a new Cracow-Rome connection on Saturday, April 30. Centralwings planes will fly on the route three times a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Centralwings CEO P. Kociolek said that the new connection is the 2nd one opened by the carrier from Cracow's Balice airport after Cracow-London air connection that have been launched a few months ago. The carrier is satisfied with the number of passengers the route serviced six times a week.

Warsaw, April 27: Mittal Steel, which has the exclusive negotiation rights for the purchase of Huta Czestochowa steel works, offered 1.251 billion zlotys (390.9 million USD) whereas the Ukrainian Donbas industrial union proposed 1.108 billion zlotys, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha said Wednesday. "That is why we picked up Mittal Steel for negotiations," Socha

told PAP.April 29 is the deadline for the exclusive negotiation rights and the concern has so far failed to reach an agreement with trade unions on a welfare package. However, the concern representatives say the agreement is not vital for concluding the deal.

Warsaw, April 28: Fuels' sales at Orlen gas stations have drastically fallen down since the start of the year, writes Parkiet daily. According to the paper customers prefer to buy fuels at foreign gas stations networks or unaffiliated stations. Experts unanimously say that fuels from Plock are too expensive. Spokesman for the company Dawid Piekarz did not want to comment on the information. Parkiet has found however an e-mail sent by Orlen's director for logistics confirming sales' fall by 12 percent and more since the start of the year which poses a threat that the stations may fail to get rid of winter fuel by May 1. Thus, the director has asked for "an analysis of the level of prices or urgent consideration of a system of promotion so as to avoid reservations of the State Commercial Inspection."

Konin, April 27: Polish western city of Konin is to receive 42 million euros from EU funds for the construction of a second bridge on Warta river and for the modernization, in city

boundaries, of the Konin-Gorzow Wielkopolski national road. The total cost of the two investments is estimated to reach some 200 million zlotys (47.6 million euros). 75 per cent of that sum will come from the European Regional Development Fund.First construction works should start in the second half of the year and be concluded in 2007.

Rome/Gdańsk, April 27: Pope Benedict XVI greeted Polish faithful participating in the general audience in Polish. Addressing the Poles Benedict XVI said: "I am greeting the pilgrims of the Polish language. I would like to thank you for your goodness and prayers. I bless you from all my heart." Earlier the Pope greeted the faithful in Italian, French, English, German and Spanish. Polish pilgrims were presented to the pontiff in Polish by Father Pawel Ptasznik who later read out the translation of the pope's teaching, as he used to do it during the pontificate of John Paul II. The Polish language remained one of the main languages of general audiences. - Former president Lech Walesa, Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, Solidarity union leader Janusz Sniadek and head of the Pomorskie province assembly Jan Kozłowski addressed an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to pay visit to Gdansk.Gdansk mayor press spokesman Maciej Turnowiecki said Wednesday the related letter was conveyed to the papal nuncio in Poland, Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk. The authors of the letter recalled that the Second World War started in Gdansk's Westerplatte peninsula on September 1, 1939.

Warsaw, April 27: As many as 94 percent of Poles watched the funeral of John Paul II on tv, according to a poll run by OBOP and sent to PAP Tuesday. Nearly a half of those questioned (47 percent) think that people will become better after the pope's death and every fourth believes that public life in Poland will improve. Ninety-three percent of Poles watched the funeral on tv at home as many firms made that day free.

Warsawa, April 27: Dominican priest Konrad Hejmo was a secret police agent who informed on recently deceased pope John Paul II in his days as Karol Wojtyla, National Remembrance Institute (IPN) head Leon Kieres disclosed on Wednesday. Kieres said IPN possessed a 700-page dossier on Hejmo. Hejmo's superior, Dominican provincial Maciej Zieba, said he had seen the files, which he described as, "shocking and convincing". Kieres said the file dossier on Hejmo would be made public in May. Hejmo, 69, for years co-organiser of Polish pilgrimages to the Vatican and head of the Corda Cordi Polish pilgrim hostel in Rome, entered the Dominican Order in 1959.

Warsaw, April 27: "Symmetry," a movie by Konrad Niewolski, won two awards at the RiverRun International Film Festival in the U.S., Anna Hoodle representing SPI Polska company said Wednesday. Jury prized Konrad Niewolski the Best Director and Arkadiusz

Detmer the Best Actor in a Feature Film. "Symmetry" tells a story of 26-year old Lukasz, who, charged with an assault against an old lady, is sentenced for a prison term and has to adjust to the tough world. In 2003 Symmetry" won the Journalists Award at the Gdynia Film Festival."

posted by: Oborski at 21:27 | link | comments |

The Battle of Britain...

Letter from Poland...
By Peter Gentle of Radio Polonia

It’s one year since Poland entered the EU. But the only countries where Poles could look for work without any restrictions at all were the UK and Ireland. So how have Polish job seekers got on?

One of the most successful reality-type TV shows in Poland since last May has been the intriguingly titled: Battle of Britain. The programme followed the fortunes of several young Poles who had taken the opportunity after Poland joined the EU to leave home and see if they could make a living in the UK.

Most said that they had encountered little discrimination there, and had found work in bars, restaurants, clubs or as au pairs. Many of them then lost jobs in bars, restaurants, clubs and as au pairs, only to later find other jobs in similar places.

Many of my friends in London have noticed an increase in the number of Poles living there. In fact, Londoners seem to be of the impression that all the new young workers in the pubs of London are in fact Polish. And they are half right. Fifty percent of workers who have entered Britain since the EU’s expansion have come from Poland. This is not surprising as out of the 80 million people who entered the European Union last year, 40 million of them were Poles.

So, whereas many of the bars and pubs of London used to be staffed by people from Sidney, Melbourne or Brisbane, they are now coming from Warsaw, Krakow or Gdansk.

Poles in London are the new Australians.

But Poles have also been filing posts in the professions too – most notably in dentistry. Around 200 Polish dentists, for example, are now working in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, drilling and filing in British teeth for 50,000 pounds a year (that’s around 100,00 dollars). Which a large jump in salary. In Poland they get about a fifth of that amount.

And if George Orwell’s famous observation about English teeth is still correct, then they’ve got their work cut out.

The title of the Polish reality TV show I mentioned earlier, Battle of Britain, seems a strange choice. But what it is referring to is the fact that the last time a small wave of Poles hit the British coast was during the Second World War, when many of the finest pilots flying the spitfires and hurricanes in the RAF were Polish.

As newspaper reports at the time show, these dashing young Polish pilots were treated by British women as rock stars would be today.

But this positive attitude changed in the latter half of the war. The newspapers started to print negative stories about the Poles. This was mainly due to the fact that the British government was spending a lot of its energy trying to placate Stalin, who didn’t like the Polish government-in-exile in London.

But will the same happen this time? Will Brits tire of their new Polish friends?

There have been a few disturbing reports coming from loyalist, protestant areas in Northern Ireland. For instance, a group of Poles who had arrived over the Christmas period to work in a livestock stock factory in the Bushmills area of County Antrim were forced out of the area after receiving threatening phone calls from males claiming to be from loyalist groups.

And there have been other reports of attacks on Poles in these sorts of areas.

Some commentators have been trying to link these incidents with religious antagonisms between Catholics and Protestants.

But I think there is just a general breakdown in law and order in places like North Antrim. This is where some of my family are from. During the nineteen seventies and eighties – and if you exclude sectarian violence - crime was very low in places like Bushmills and other parts of NI. Working class communities basically policed themselves. If you got out of line then you could expect a visit from ‘the boys.’

But, ironically, since the Good Friday peace agreement was signed in the 1990’s, crime has risen in all areas of Northern Ireland. The tiny Muslim and Chinese populations there – around 10,000 at most, and who have lived there in peace for many years, have begun to experience attacks.

And violent crime against the indigenous population, along with housebreak-ins, and other sorts of crime, has risen as well.

So I don’t think that these attacks against Poles in Northern Ireland has anything to do with them being Polish or even being catholic. I just think they are in the right place at the wrong time.

There has also been a few strange articles in the British press about Poles. Since newspapers have found it hard to compete with the immediacy of the internet, radio and 24-hour TV news, they have all but given up writing news stories and filled more and more of their pages with opinion pieces.

One very highly paid columnist in the Times (London), Julie Burchill, wrote an article last year called, ‘Poles and Proles’. In it she stated that bringing in tens of thousands of eastern European workers to Britain, “robs those countries they leave of the young and the strong, and it robs [the working class] in the countries they go to of any pride they once had…” What chance have the British working class got, she goes on, “if east Europeans are willing to work for peanuts?”

She concludes by wondering if the only winners in this are rightwing neo-fascists like the British National Party.

Now, for a long time I have wondered if highly paid columnists like Julie Burchill are either being deliberately provocative, or are simply barking mad. I think probably the latter.

Anyway, over half the Poles that went to Britain last year have already come back. They probably got fed up with Britain’s public transport system. But the ones who have remained like it there and like the people.

Except that is for a few wackos in Bushmills, Antrim and Julie Burchill in the Times.

posted by: Oborski at 19:54 | link | comments |

The centre-right Law and Justice Party has shot to the top of popularity polls ahead of Poland's parliamentary elections later this year, outdistancing the liberal Civic Platform, which had been the favourite of Polish voters so far. Krystyna Kolosowska analyses the latest trends.

According to the latest survey conducted by IPSOS pollsters the Law and Justice party enjoys the support of 20 percent of the electorate, with the Civic Platform breathing on its back with just one percent behind.

This is the second poll conducted in April which indicates the leading position of the centre right Law and Justice. Two weeks ago it fared even better with 24 percent backing in a poll of the Public Opinion Research Center, four percent better than its main rival.

The party’s leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says that it will strive to consolidate its position. He attributes its success among other things to a campaign launched to promote the candidacy of his brother Lech Kaczynski for president. The campaign was suspended as premature after a verdict of the state electoral committee.

'A large part of the nation must have realized that our campaign was halted by illegal methods and that we are a party which is striving to introduce genuine changes.'

Presently, Lech Kaczynski is the leading presidential candidate, again proving that the Law and Justice Party responds to many public expectations. This is one of the reasons, why it shot up in popularity polls, says political analyst Krzysztof Mularczyk

The Law and Justice Party and the Civic Platform do not differ very much on issues such as law and order or on social issues, but there is a huge difference in their approach to the economy and the social legislation, which will make a future coalition between them quite difficult.

The Law and Justice Party is skeptical about radical reforms such as liberalization of the labor law or the introduction of the flat tax rate, which the liberal Civic Platform is pushing. The rising popularity of the former tells a lot about the attitudes of Poles. Analyst Krzysztof Mularczyk thinks that Polish voters may be too scared of reforms.

The third most popular party is the populist Farmer’s Self Defense, with 11 percent backing. The ruling Democratic Left Alliance has a meager 7 percent support in the latest survey. According to the previous one, it would not gain any seats in the parliament.

Despite bickering, leaders of leftist parties are discussing the possibility of running in the forthcoming parliamentary elections together. The Left is weak and needs unity, but agreement on the shape of election lists is not in sight yet.

posted by: Oborski at 00:43 | link | comments |

Going strong...
Listen

Three 1980s bands jostling for positions - the Polish charts!

posted by: Oborski at 00:39 | link | comments |

A difficult but important pontificate...

As Poles hail the German-born Pope Benedict XVI, the weekly Przekrój responds to their interest in the new pontiff publishing a 16-page supplement about him. It quotes Polish bishops who regard the election of Joseph Ratzinger as good news for the Polish church, because the new Pope knows Poland’s problems well.

The fact that he was elected so fast is also good news for the whole church, the bishops believe. They reject the opinion promoted by some western media that he is “a panzer cardinal” as unjust. He is a sophisticated man of great culture, the bishops told Przekroj.

The weekly predicts that the pontificate of Benedict XVI will be difficult but very important. Now is the time in the church for reaping what Pope John Paul had sown, to translate his teachings into life. It will be a difficult time, full of traps and challenges. Benedict XVI, a guardian of the Christian doctrine and an outstanding theologian, is an ideal Pope for this time, Przekroj writes.

The Polish version of Newsweek says that now is a trial time for Polish priests. In the weekly’s opinion, priests stuck in a routine pose a bigger danger to the Polish church than ideological disputes within it. Some priests did not live up to the challenges posed by the illness and death of Pope John Paul.

While some clergy spent whole nights with the faithful, praying for the late pope, others did not want to leave the churches open, arguing that they had to get some sleep. But the spirit of religious revival lives on among the Poles. The question is what the priests are going to do with it, Newsweek wonders.

Polityka, on its part, asks what of the late Pope’s heritage will become a lasting legacy. It writes that while Poles are pre-occupied with plans for erecting monuments to Pope John Paul II, the western world is engaged in a discussion about the good and bad points of his pontificate. And it predicts the biggest problems with its interpretation in western societies.

The weekly mentions the pontiff’s firm No to abortion and contraception. These issues may crop up on the agenda of the new pontificate. True, Pope John Paul failed to convince the enemies of the Church, who argue that his pontificate was a catastrophe, but then no one had expected him to succeed as this is the matter of fundamental ideological differences which make dialogue almost impossible.

Solidarnosc, the weekly of the Solidarity trade union, defends the decision of the union leadership not to invite president Aleksander Kwasniewski to events marking its 25th anniversary. Kwasniewski was invited to attend some events under the patronage of Solidarity’s first, charismatic leader Lech Walesa.

The former president and Nobel peace prize winner, Walesa had manifested animosity towards the post-communist Kwasniewski until their symbolic reconciliation and a hand-shake at the funeral of Pope John Paul. Afterwards, Walesa said it was natural to extend an invitation to his former foe to the Solidarity anniversary celebrations. The Solidarnosc weekly says that Kwasniewski was an enemy, whose career was founded on destroying the union. The 25th anniversary rally is for those who were or still are on the same side.

The decision not to invite declared enemies of Solidarity, who are now wooing it for political reasons, should be viewed in terms of respect for those who devoted their life to the struggle for freedom and democracy, says Solidarnosc.

The weekly Wprost argues against the presence of president Kwasniewski during events in Moscow marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. By not going there, Kwasniewski would have a stronger argument on his side than Russian president Putin, dictators Kim Dzong Il and Turkmenbasha as well as leaders of the free world who sold Poland together with central and eastern Europe to the Soviets 60 years ago. It is better to be conspicuously absent at events planned for 9 May 2005, which will be another falsification of history, than to endorse it with one’s presence. Wprost claims.

review by Krystyna Kolosowska

tygodniksolidarnosc.com
http://polityka.onet.pl/
www.tygodnikpowszechny.com.pl
www.wyprost.pl

posted by: Oborski at 00:37 | link | comments |

If parliamentary elections were held presently, the rightist Law & Justice (PiS) would top popularity ratings replacing the leading centrist Civic Platform (PO). The current support for Law & Justice stands at 25% with the Civic Platform gaining 22% of the vote, while the Catholic based League of Polish Families (LPR) and farmers Self-Defence (Samoobrona) parties received 13% each. However, according to the latest survey of the PENTOR Opinion and Market Research Institute a large majority of respondents are simultaneously convinced the Civic Platform would ultimately emerge victorious in the autumn planned general elections. The ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), now holding a majority in the House, would be expected to get barely 4% of support, running one point short of the required threshold guaranteeing parliamentary representation.

posted by: Oborski at 00:33 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"After his breathalyzer showed a 0.2 percent blood alcohol content, he suddenly started to curse the police officer, threatening him that he would cast a spell on his children so they died."
-Sergeant Izabela Grabowska from Kielce police on a monk from a monastery in Jasna Góra, caught drunk driving

"I basically receive no lobbies or corrupt proposals."
-Jan Maria Rokita, leader of the Civic Platform (PO), candidate for prime minister after the expected victory of the rightists in this year's parliamentary elections, on his current situation

"I am against it; we need to resist liberal utopias."
-Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczyński, a presidential candidate, on the idea of a flat tax rate

"You ask interesting questions. I'll have you checked out at the police station."
-Sławomir Wlekły, leader of Samoobrona in Słubice, when asked by a journalist how many members the party has in his region

"Sure, it happened once, when my dogs dragged some bills out of the mailbox and ate them."
-Paweł Nastula, a judo fighter and former Olympic medalist, on the accusation that he failed to pay back some of his debts when he used to run a business

"If these books are published on soft paper, they can be used for hygienic purposes; if the paper's hard, they'll be useless."
-Anatoly Lebedzhka, leader of the Belarusian opposition United Civic Party, on President Alexander Lukashenko's order to place customer comment/complaint books at political parties' headquarters

posted by: Oborski at 00:29 | link | comments (1) |

posted by: Oborski at 18:09 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice...

"I don't like to hear a candidate say he's honest. No one has ever declared they would be a dishonest president."
-Author Stanisław Lem on the start of the presidential election campaign of Lech Kaczyński, currently the mayor of Warsaw from Law and Justice (PiS)

"Today, promoting a new brand of margarine costs around zl.5 million; promoting a new political leader is far less expensive."
-Andrzej Drzycimski, former press spokesman of ex-President Lech Wałęsa, now an expert on political marketing

I demand that the culprit be prosecuted and penalized for destroying the pillow lining by tearing it; I have evaluated the loss at zl.5.40.
-from a memo written by Stanisław Bogdanowicz, head of a section at the Police Detention Center in Słupsk; the lining in question was destroyed when a 26-year-old charged with possession of stolen goods tried to hang himself

"For the Russians, anyone who doesn't drink vodka and doesn't smoke is a Wahhabi, and if he also has a beard, he must be a terrorist."
-Umar Khanbiyev, a representative of the Chechen separatists, on the Moscow's accusations against Abdul Khalim Sadulayev, who replaced slain President Chechen Aslan Maskhadov

posted by: Oborski at 14:40 | link | comments |

Fom Warsaw Voice...

Polish deputies and senators honored the pope April 6 by adopting an Act Commemorating the Memory of Holy Father Pope John Paul II during a special solemn assembly.

The ceremony was also attended by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Prime Minister Marek Belka, representatives of the diplomatic corps, the Episcopate, social organizations and trade union representatives. On a platform in the corner of the Sejm chamber was the chair used by the pope during his visit to the parliament June 11, 1999. The chair, as well as the national flag, was draped in mourning black.

"Poland is mourning for its most outstanding son. United by grief and pain, Poles honor the memory of a wonderful, wise man and an outstanding pope," said Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz. "During the pope's visits to his homeland, crowds of his compatriots asked him to stay with us. He abides with us now through his teachings and only we can decide how long he will remain," Cimoszewicz added.

posted by: Oborski at 14:37 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice...

Across Poland, crowds of people paid their last respects to John Paul II for a full week following his death up to the day of the funeral.

The death of the Pilgrim Pope on April 2 moved the whole world, but nowhere were the crowds of people who took to the streets and squares on hearing the news as large as those which gathered in Karol Wojtyła's homeland.

Many commentators believe this demonstration of national unity can only be compared with the Solidarity movement of the years 1980-81. Some even say that the sense of national unity created by the death of John Paul II surpassed that earlier experience.

posted by: Oborski at 14:34 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice...

Poles streaming towards Rome should not have taken anyone by surprise. It was only natural for them to make the trip, just as they had throughout the pontificate in large, happy groups. Even after his death, the Pope's compatriots certainly didn't forget which roads led to Rome.

The black ribbons and white-and-red flags fluttering from cars coming to Rome from Poland spoke volumes about the nationality of their passengers. If in Austria this sign was sometimes incorrectly interpreted as patriotic exhibitionism, in Italy Poles could clearly sense a silent understanding with Italians.

posted by: Oborski at 14:32 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice...

The number of people who flocked to Rome to pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II may have reached 5 million. In the Vatican alone, the funeral was attended by over 1 million.

It was the largest funeral in the history of Rome, the papacy and according to most commentators, in the history of mankind. It is hard to estimate how many other millions of people followed the ceremony via radio and TV on all continents. Over 200 highest ranking officials-presidents, prime ministers, royalty and religious leaders-traveled from around the world to attend the funeral mass in front of St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican. It was the largest group in the history of such official events. For the first time in history, a U.S. president attended the funeral of a pope, moreover, he was accompanied by two former presidents. Commentators emphasize that it was an easier task to list the world leaders who were not present in Rome-including the president of Russia.

posted by: Oborski at 14:28 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

A bunch of twerps got their teeth into the Polish president and he lost his cool, went into hysterics, got upset and lost it completely.
Aleksander Kwaśniewski was absolutely entitled to refuse to stand before the Sejm Investigation Commission that’s trying to untangle the corporate chaos in Orlen oil company, when it’s obvious to every child in Poland that the only aim of the rightist deputies in the commission is to hunt down the president.

posted by: Oborski at 22:23 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"I wasn't on vacation, I was performing my job as a deputy."
Jan Sieńko, a deputy from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) from Słupsk, on his participation in the Sixth Conference of Parliament Members of the Arctic Region, held in Greenland

"If my mom had chewed him out more about haphazardly tossing around his socks, he wouldn't have become so bigheaded and perhaps he would've accomplished more as president."
Jarosław Wałęsa, son of the former president, about his father

"Sometimes I listen to the religious broadcasts in the morning and I use the evening political broadcasts to work myself up so I don't fall asleep while driving."
Janusz Braun, a member of the National Radio and Television Council, on whether he listens to the radical Catholic Radio Maryja

"The Alliance, like a goose being fattened for slaughter, is meekly swallowing more and more humiliation."
Krzysztof Martens, leader of the SLD in the Podkarpacie region, on the party's situation

"The error occurred during computer processing; layers in the graphic software shifted."
Wiesław Makuch, co-owner of a company that designed an Easter postcard showing Jesus with four feet

"This is the second time
an office has made a mistake regarding me; two years ago, the computer put me on a list of children obliged to start elementary school-I received a summons, but it was addressed to my parents."
Waleria Hoffman, a 107-year-old resident of Łódź whom the local tax office ordered to report in her tax declaration a business she allegedly ran

posted by: Oborski at 22:20 | link | comments |

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Letter from Poland from Radio Polonia...
By Peter Gentle

When even Polish football fans from opposing teams unite in grief over the death of the Pontiff, you can be sure something truly exceptional has happened.

It could only have happened in Poland.

On the evening of 1 April, the night before John Paul II died, a football match was underway between teams from the cities of Poznan and Szczecin. The crowd watching the game was made up of the usual soccer fans who go to matches here. Crowds for normal league matches are not like their British, Spanish or Italian counterparts. Attendance is quite small – a few thousand at best. The middle class stay away. Dads think twice about bringing their kids, and you won’t see hardly any women at all. Facilities at the grounds are basic, to say the least, and the atmosphere, quite often, can be quite threatening. Polish football fans are a tough bunch, and a large part of the crowd can be seen sporting very short haircuts and rather large boots.

Though the crowd was made up of the normal bunch that night, the outcome of the match would be anything but normal. Towards the end of the first half of the game between Lech Poznan and Pogon Szczecin news started to filter through the crowd that the health the Pope had declined dramatically.

A chant started to go around the stadium, but this was not the chant of animosity or celebration that you usually hear at football games. This time the chant was for the referee to stop the game.

And that’s what happened. The game was abandoned. A minute’s silence was respected and even prayers were said. The two teams from Poznan and Szczecin stood with arms around each other in the middle of the pitch and several of the burly footballers could be seen with tears in their eyes.

The history of Polish football has never seen anything like it.

In the days after the death of the Pontiff was announced Polish football fans rallied round once again. On the Monday following the sad news from Rome a so-called ‘Reconciliation Mass’ was held between 30,000 fans of two teams from Krakow. It was held at the soccer stadium home to the Cracovia football club, the team that Karol Wojtila supported when he was a young man.

And last Friday night, after the funeral, many thousands of people walked silently through the streets of Warsaw in his memory. Among the crowds were the fans of two more soccer teams, this time from the capital.. Fans of Legia Warsaw and Polonia Warsaw - normally bitter rivals with a long history of animosity and street fighting – linked arms and scarves, united in their grief for the departed Pope.

So, as you can see, the last couple of weeks have been anything but normal here.

Solidarity
This spirit of unity, solidarity and togetherness has affected many other parts of Polish society as well. Where football hooligans have led, others have followed. If there is one group of people who are as despised as much as football hooligans are in Poland then it is Polish politicians. And even they have been showing an unusual eagerness to drop their old animosities.

Maybe this is even more unprecedented than the sight of Polish football fans linking scarves and holding hands.

The best example of this was when two archrivals, former president Lech Welesa and current president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, publicly shook hands when they were attending the Pope’s funeral in Rome. These two politicians are well known for their intense dislike of each other. Welesa, the former head of the Solidarity trade union, and Kwasniewski, the former communist. In 1995 they fought a presidential election campaign as bitter and nasty as any fight between Polish football supporters.

And now Welesa has even invited President Kwasniewski to take part in celebrations to mark this year’s twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Solidarity trade union.

When politicians and football supporters start acting like star-struck lovers then you know that normal life has been suspended in Poland.

And there has been much discussion by sociologists and political commentators over the last few days about how Poles – well known for their excessive individualism and anarchic attitude to life – have finally, and profoundly, come together at last. The old adage goes that if you get four Poles together in one room then you will hear five different opinions expressed. Even the Solidarity trade union disintegrated into bitter infighting before the ink was dry on the Round Table agreements of 1989 that brought communism to an end here.

Had the Pope’s death finally brought the country together, many commentators have asked. Some have wondered if the turnout in the general election this year will be higher than the normal , and dismal, 48% because of the events of the last few days.

Then, last Sunday, I turned on the TV to watch the news. And there were some more pictures of football supporters. Another story about a love-fest between Polish football supporters? Well, no, not exactly. There were Polish football fans knocking lumps out of each other amid the tear gas and water canon.

And the Solidarity trade union has refused to accept Walesa’s plea for Kwasnowski to take part in their anniversary celebrations.

Expect Polish politicians to be knocking lumps out of each other in the forth coming general election.

Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

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

The letter to the faithful by Krakow metropolita cardinal Franciszek Macharski is being read out during today’s masses in Poland. “Our sorrow and vigils” writes Cardinal Macharski “show our gratitude to God for giving us John Paul II “.The Cardinal appeals that the teachings of John Paul II be not forgotten and that the grief and memory that unites us should continue to unite us and that the life and death of Pope John Paul II be not wasted.

posted by: Oborski at 21:38 | link | comments |

A monument to John Paul II was inaugurated Saturday at Rakowicki cemetery in Krakow, where the late pope's family are buried.
The 1.6-metre high bronze, by sculptor Czeslaw Dzwigaj, depicts the pope kneeling on a prie-dieu, or kneeling desk.
Dzwigaj finished the monument four years ago but Krakow city authorities decided at the time not to place it in the cemetery.
On his visits as pope to his native Poland, John Paul II often prayed at the family grave at Rakowicki cemetery, where his parents and elder brother Edmund are buried.
Monuments to the pope are to be erected in several cities and towns around Poland, including Wadowice in the south, where the pope was born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, and at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw.
Pilsudski Square was one of the high holy places in John Paul II's pontificate, as it was there that on June 10, 1979 he uttered the memorable phrase: "May the spirit come down and renew the face of this land."
Those words were interpreted by many Poles as an exhortation to stand up to the communist regime and allow a new Poland to be born.

posted by: Oborski at 21:36 | link | comments |

Polish pilgrims have begun a massive return home. After 3750 km of route the last of special trains Warsaw Rome Warsaw arrived in the capital at 4 am in the morning. Special trains departing from Krakow have already brought back all pilgrims on Saturday night. All Polish border crossings are well prepared for the huge number of people coming back by cars and coaches. According to the estimates of the Polish border services on the Czech frontier over 50 thousand people have already returned to Poland. The border authorities on the Polish Czech crossing estimate that this border alone was passed by 120 thousand Poles who left for the Vatican ceremonies.

posted by: Oborski at 21:33 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 01:31 | link | comments |

From time to time our super Polish Ex-Servicemen's Club here in Kidderminster thows dinners at short notice just for the heck of it. Tonight we had cream of vegetable soup followed by chicken breasts in mushroom sauce accompanied by mashed potatoes, carrots, peas and beans. This was followed by two individual apple pies apiece with custard. Red and white wine was included. All for £4.50. On top of that there is a free film show - tonight "C.K. Dezerterzy"

He flew out from Luton at 7.10am on Tuesday and joined the queue to pay his respects to Pope John Paul II as he lay in State.

He then subsequently later rejoined the queue and did it all over again which must have taken some considerable stamina.

Not having pre-arranged accomodation he found a Convent who somehow found a hotel room for him.

While in Rome he was lucky enough to be able to concelebrate the Holy Mass as the Polish Church of St. Stanislaw.

He was also able to concelebrate the Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II for those around him in the crowd on St.Peter's Square on Friday morning. That must have been quite some experience!

He flew back this morning and made it back - exhausted but inspired - in time for the dinner tonight.

I think we are all extremely happy and proud that "our" Father made it to Rome! All of us who could not make the trip and had to watch everything on television feel that "we" and the whole Polish community in Kidderminster were "represented" in Rome.

posted by: Oborski at 01:19 | link | comments |

The Roman catholic church begins a nine day mourning after the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The mourning terminates with the opening of the conclave to choose the next Pope on 18 April.

On Friday around a million people gathered on and around St. Peter’s square to take part in the funeral ceremonies. And it is said that around a billion people world wide watched one of the most momentous funerals in history via television.

The Pope is buried in a crypt under St. Peter's Basilica. To the sound of choirs singing in Latin, the tolling of a giant bell and a seemingly endless wave of applause, 12 pall bearers carried away John Paul's simple cypress-wood coffin from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica as the Mass ended.

It was turned for one last time to face the square where the world's third-longest serving pope had said thousands of Masses and was then taken down to the crypt below for burial, encased in two further caskets.

posted by: Oborski at 16:34 | link | comments |

Life in Poland came to a standstill as people watched the Pope's funeral at home, gathered in churches or in squares, where huge TV screens were put up showing the ceremonies. At 9.37 pm , the hour the Pope died, lights were put out in homes and candles burnt in windows.
One hundred thousand Varsovians took part in a 'White March', giving thanks for the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. The march wound up in the Old Town Castle square with a mass. Hundreds of Varsovians met on the busy John Paul II avenue, which lit up with thousands of candles. The march came to a complete halt when sirens and horns signaled 9.37 p.m., people knelt down and prayed for the Pope.

Twenty thousand inhabitants of the Pope’s birth place of Wadowice in the south, met in the square named after John Paul II, while a special mass was said in the suburban Krakow Blonia common and at 9.37 a classic music concert “Krakow in tribute to the Pope” was inaugurated.

posted by: Oborski at 16:32 | link | comments |

President Aleksander Kwasniewski appealed to all Poles to remember the mood of reflection and mutual respect which accompanied the whole country in days since the death of the Pope..

Upon his arrival from the ceremonies in the Vatican , Kwasniewski underlined that Poles witnessed a huge spiritual change in the last few days, which may have surprised all of us. The head of state expressed hope that the many examples of integrity, goodness and confidence which were evident after the news of the Pope’s death will remain and that Poles will be able to make use of the “last gift of Pope John Paul II” and show more respect and kindness in everyday life.

The president said that one such example is his reconciliation with former President, Lech Walesa. Both politicians shook hands after the ceremonies in the Vatican and had a long conversation about the future of Poland. Kwasniewski added that both he and Lech Walesa owed this gesture to the Holy Father.Kwasniewski thanked Poles for their peace and dignity during those hard days in Poland and in the Vatican. The national mourning in Poland has come to an end after the day of the Pope’s funeral

"Cześć!"

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