"Cześć!"

 

HEARD IN PASSING

From Warsaw Voice...

"I will get new ones, refunded by the National Health Fund, in five years. I've got dentures passed down from my brother, but I'm using only the upper plate, because the lower one wouldn't stay in place-my brother had only one tooth and I've got two."
-A 68-year-old retiree from Zduńska Wola, on why he's using his dead brother's false teeth

"If you really think I did that, then I wish you as good a metabolism as mine."
- Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka to Renata Beger, a Samoobrona deputy, who accused her that when she was the commissioner for gender equality, she "spent the whole budget of her office at luxury restaurants"

"Belka is having a political romance with Cimoszewicz, and when you are a public person, you cannot engage in private affairs."
-Władysław Frasyniuk, leader of the Democratic Party (PD), criticizing the prime minister who at first announced he would be a PD member and would help promote it, but is now backing the candidacy of the SLD's Sejm speaker in the presidential elections

"One should mobilize body and mind and cure this sickness."
-Elżbieta Ratajczak, a deputy from the League of Polish Families (LPR), protesting against the attempts to legalize same-sex partnerships

"A deputy handles state-level issues, so they have to work with people they trust implicitly."
-Maria Wiśniowiecka, a Sejm deputy from Samoobrona, explaining why she employed her husband, son and sister

"Maybe now, in the name of tolerance, the police should start protecting thieves heading to a burglary, thugs hunting their victims, or road hogs; after all, they are also breaking the law and need help."
-From a letter to the Catholic daily Nasz Dziennik, whose author protested against police protection for the illegal gay parade in Warsaw

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

Terror Hits Home

Warsaw Voice reports...

Recent developments in London have neither increased nor reduced the terrorist threat in Poland; the danger is there, Prime Minister Marek Belka said July 8, one day after the attacks. Meanwhile, in the week following the tragedy in Great Britain, Warsaw witnessed two bomb scares.

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

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

Paying tribute to victims of the London bomb attacks. ..

At 1 p.m. local time sirens wailed in Polish cities and a special announcement was given in the Warsaw underground.

The Polish Senate - in session today - stopped the debate for two minutes to join in the silent tribute.

posted by: Oborski at 16:11 | link | comments |

 

posted by: Oborski at 23:25 | link | comments |

Hot on the heals of the Polish Tourist Board in Paris’ sexy ‘Polish plumber’campaign comes the sexy Polish nurse. Kryria Kolosowska reports.

The mythical Polish plumber, seizing the job from his French counterpart, was one of the most exploited images by France’s euroskeptics, campaigning against the adoption of the European constitution. When France said No, the Polish Tourism Organization decided to employ the plumber in its scheme to promote Poland. One of the brains behind it is media director Krzysztof Turowski, explains how the idea originated.

Model Piotr Adamski - sexy, tanned and athletic model – is sporting bulging biceps and a seductive gaze in addition to the usual plumber’s paraphernalia. He is shown amidst photos from the historic city of Krakow and Warsaw’s Old Town, saying “I’m staying in Poland – come one, come all”. The ad was shown on the French website of the Polish Tourism Organization and immediately generated a tremendous response, says Krzysztof Turowski.

Now, the Polish plumber has been joined by a gorgeous girl – a Polish nurse, who says smiling: I am waiting for you”. Krzysztof Turowski says they wanted to capitalize on the first part of the promotion campaign.

The new poster was unveiled Monday in Warsaw and is designed to draw attention to the pretty face of Poland, and try to breal the stereotype of Poladn as a gray, ugly place.

posted by: Oborski at 23:24 | link | comments (1) |

60th Anniversary of VE & VJ Day in Kidderminster...

...Members of Polish Community at the War Memorial

- Kidderminster SPK Standard and Father Edward

- The Holocaust Memorial

 

posted by: Oborski at 18:11 | link | comments |

How safe is Warsaw...

From Radio Polonia...

The latest act of terror in London has raised concern over just how safe Warsaw is, and whether authorities have an effective search and rescue scheme in the event of a possible attack..

According to a new toll issued in London 52 people are now believed to have been killed in the terrorist attacks, which hit three Underground trains and a bus late last week.

Officials at the Polish embassy in the UK are looking for 15 people, including three suspected of being among the dead.

London is open for business. Authorities were quick to implement search and rescue plans in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

24 hours after the London attack Warsaw authorities have stepped up security in the nations’ capital. So just how safe is it in Warsaw as compared to other European capitals.?
Roman Polko security adviser to the Warsaw Mayor’s office says that Warsaw is in a much better position than other European capitals

Though Warsaw has well trained Police and Fire department , coordination and logistics seem to be Poland’s Achilles’ heel.

Last month a busy underpass in the heart of Warsaw was closed for three hours and the area cordoned off after Police received an e-mail warning that a bomb had been planted near the central underground station.
The bomb scare paralyzed the entire city for several hours.
Security experts argue no city is safe from acts of terror.

Observers feel that a city’s main concern should be in the way it handles itself in crisis.

So far Polish law enforcing agencies have scored high marks in apprehending suspects believed to be responsible for carrying out bogus bomb threats. They have also shown the public at large that in case of a crisis, medical, Police and Fire personnel rush to the scene in record time but totally uncoordinated.

posted by: Oborski at 18:06 | link | comments |

 

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

60th anniversary...

Speaking at the Polish Ex-Combatants Club in Kidderminster today Cllr Mike Oborski, Consul of the Rpublic of Poland for the West Midlands, said:-

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We meet here today to mark the 60th anniversary of both VE Day and VJ Day.

Poland’s struggle for freedom has a longer history than the Second World War. A much longer history.

“Poland is not yet lost”

Those words were written by a Polish patriot when it seemed to the rest of the World that Poland was already finally, totally and irrevocably lost.

By the time he wrote those words Poland—once the greatest and largest of European powers—had been removed from the map of Europe—partitioned by Germany, Austria and Russia.

Poland was destroyed not because she was weak but because she was reviving and because her new message of extending freedom from the nobility to the whole of society terrified neighbouring despots because—if unchecked—it would lead directly to their own ruin. It was an Englishman, Edmund Burke, who described the Polish Constitution of 3rd May 1791, which unleashed the storm, as “the most noble benefit received by any nation at any time”.

“Poland is not yet lost”.

Those words were written as General Henryk Dombrowski led Polish soldiers, under the overall command of the young General Bonaparte, into the Italian Campaign.

Polish eagles were wreathed with glory in Italy, in Spain and in Russia—and in particular in Spain at Sommo-Sierra as Polish cavalry charged up the mountain side into Spanish gun emplacements and took them all to the amazement of the watching Emperor himself.

Till the very end Polish troops were loyal to the Emperor. How strange. For the English he was a tyrant. For Poles freedom always followed upon his eagles.

Still, “Poland is not yet lost”.

Removed from the map Poles fought on. The November Uprising of 1830. The 1848 Rising of the Nations. The Rising of 1860.

“Battle for freedom once begun, passes from father, passes to son”.

But by 1900 Poland did appear lost. Precious few still believed.

But again “Poland is not yet lost”.

A young Socialist Revolutionary—Jozef Pilsudski—did believe.

In the First World Ward the Polish nation suffered the highest casualty rate of any nation—but the figures are hidden and buried. The Poles who died fell in vast numbers under the Austrian, German and Russian banners under which they had been conscripted. Pole fired on Pole.

We’re kept apart, my brother,
By a fate we can’t deny.
From our two opposing dug-outs
We’re staring death in the eye.

In the trenches filled with groaning,
Alert to the shellfire’s whine’
We stand and confront each-other,
I’m your enemy: and you are mine.

So when you catch me in your sights
I beg you, play your part,
And sink your Muscovite bullet
Deep in my Polish heart.

Now I see the vision clearly,
Caring not that we’ll both be dead;
For that which has not perished
Shall rise from the blood that we shed.

Meanwhile other Poles fought under the standards of Pilsudski’s Legions which fought for Polish freedom alone!

“The Legions stand for a soldier’s slog
The Legions stands for a martyr’s fate
The Legions stand for a beggar’s song
The Legions stand for a convict’s death

We are the First Brigade
A regiment of rapid fire
Our fate
Our very lives are at stake
We’ve cast ourselves on the pyre”

On the Western Front vast numbers also died but there the front was at least relatively static and so damage was restricted to a limited area and the casualties were predominantly soldiers.

In Poland—which became the main battlefield in the East—the front ebbed and flowed backwards and forwards and so towns and villages were pillaged again and again with each advance and retreat of German, Austro-Hungarian or Russian armies. Civilians were brutally murdered by passing armies of occupation and everywhere disease and hunger followed close behind the flowing armies.

But always “Poland is not yet lost”.

Jozef Pilsudski had predicted that Russia would be beaten by the Central Powers who would then in turn by beaten by the Western Allies. So he aligned his troops with the Austrians to beat the Russians ready then to break free and establish a free Poland. His prediction was remarkably accurate.

Led by Pilsudski the reborn Poland of 1918 struggled to pull together the devastated ruins inherited from the three previous partitioning Empires but the fighting did not stop. Poland continued to fight for its borders in the West and for its borders in the East.

On one and the same day British troops, aiding the Germans, fired on Polish units in Silesia while at Archangel British and Polish soldiers fought together side by side against the Soviets. History can be very strange!

But  “Poland is not yet lost”.

Throughout 1919 and 1920 the Poles were fighting the Soviet hordes. Eastern Poland was devastated yet again. British dockers blocked military supplies for Poland. Churchill said the Poles deserve a bloodied nose. Lloyd George denounced the Poles.

As Soviet troops pushed through to the outskirts of Warsaw a distraught Polish Officer told Pilsudski “everything is lost”. Pilsudski replied quietly “Yes, everything is lost—except Poland”!

At the gates of Warsaw Polish troops destroyed the Red Armies which had pledged to water their horses on the Rhine and to sweep across the rest of Europe. The red hordes were thrown back to the East.

“Poland is not yet lost”. Now these words became the first line of the Polish National Anthem.

The Poles had barely 20 years—a period that was to see the Great world wide Economic Depression of the late 1920s—in which to build the new Polish State.

The Polish Leaders of the late 1930s had no illusions.

They knew that both the Russians and the Germans desired to destroy Poland at the very first possible opportunity.

They knew that war was imminent. They knew it would be catastrophic. They did not have the economic resources to compete with Germany or Russia. They knew that their task was impossible.

Of course there was another option—to co-operate with the Germans—to become their partners in crime. To their eternal credit those Polish Leaders never faltered—not even for a single second. They would lead Poland to the grave if they had to but not to moral degradation, dishonour and disgrace.

Such hope as they had depended on the clear assurances they had been given that within two weeks of a German onslaught on Poland then France and Britain would attack Germany from  the West.

The Poles went down under the German onslaught launched on 1st September 1939 and the Soviet onslaught launched on 17th September 1939.

It is interesting that the Soviets did not intervene until it was clear that Britain and France were not going to launch military action in the West at that time.

For the record Polish Cavalry did NOT charge German tanks and the myth that Poland depended entirely on cavalry is also exactly that—a myth. In 1939 less than 10% of the Polish Army was cavalry. The Polish airforce was not destroyed on the ground and performed well. Where do you think the Polish “aces” of the Battle of Britain learned their trade?!

And so Hell came to Earth.

Poles fought at the gates of Warsaw, in the sky over Poland, on the Polish coast Westerplatte became synonymous with heroism and they fought in the Baltic. They fought in France and in Norway. They fought in the Battle of Britain and in the skies over Europe. Polish ships were in the North Sea and the Mediterranean and on the Arctic Run. Polish troops were in North Africa and Italy. Monte Cassino fell at the end to Polish troops. Poles fought across Belgium and the Netherlands into Germany. Poles fought in the East at Lenino and at Berlin. At home, always and always and always there was the AK—the Home Army—fighting German brutality and oppression—ultimately in the horror and glory of the Warsaw Uprising.

Always they believed “Poland is not yet lost”.

Led by General Sikorski  Poland contributed the fourth largest number of troops on the Allied side in World War II. The largest number of troops were provided by the United States, then the Soviet Union, then Great Britain and then Poland.

By the end of the war 200,000 Poles were fighting in the West and in the east another 400,000. In addition to those 600,000 regular troops a further 700,000 underground soldiers were in action in Poland in the last two years of the war.

In the years 1939-1945 Poland was subjected to the extermination policy of the Third Reich, which set forth to biologically annihilate the nation and its material and cultural heritage.

Over 6.4 million Poles lost their lives as a result of German aggression. 644,000 died as the result of direct German military action. 5.4 million died as the result of German terror. Over 2,800,000 Poles became forced labourers. 2,500,000 Poles were evicted from their homes.

It is impossible to list all the sites of execution and torment on Polish soil. Official investigations record 50,000 major crimes committed by the Nazis at some 20,000 locations on Polish soil.

Over 4 million people from 30 countries, mainly Poles and Jews, were killed in Auschwitz and its 45 sub-camps.

“A word there is, a single word so tragic -
Heavy as stone and painful as a wound,
Inscribed in memory for ever…
Say it! Your throat contracts, before you start:
A word that stabs the heart…
Auschwitz!

At sound of it, all mothers’ faces pale
And wives are fit to faint with mortal fear:
Blind terror robs the lungs of every breath…
Each syllable of that blood-stained word spells death -
A fear from every letter drips…
Repeat it, yet again, with trembling lips.
Whisper it ceaslessly in undertone.
And in your heart, deep hidden, let it lie
until the heart itself grows hard as stone;
Wait, just wait! The time is drawing near
when they will learn what’s meant by eye for eye…

Suddenly comes word from Pawiak prison:
They’ve sent him tro the camp! Your senses swim…
Days of immeasurable anguish and despair…
The tortured spirit craves—not overmuch -
Only to know that he’s alive! You go to church,
Lie prostrate there and kiss cold stone,
Believing as you pray God will have mercy…

At last, a letter comes, the postmark: Auschwitz.
He say’s he’s well and managing all right!
He asks to have his woollen muffler sent!
Eyes blind with scalding tears seek second sight
Of thoughts concealed, for simple words too grim:
Commas cry out.. But who can tell what’s meant?
I’m well …pray God that means...they haven’t beaten him!

For want of hope your heart’s half-dead;
When suddenly, the fading gleam’s revived::
A parcel reached him—every crumb is precious.
Bread chokes...You know that, there, he has no bread!
A sudden telegram: “You may collect his ashes…”

A word there is, a single word so tragic.
How hard it is to hide eyes’ baleful gleam,
An ashen face conceal with mask of peace -
The daily round resume, as though by magic…
How hard to wait amid the flames of war
Till they are judged and hear their fate!
How bitter to endure humiliation…
To hear the awful burden of our hate!

For all youth’s strength by tyranny destroyed,
For death, inhuman torture, camps and jails,
May all that blood incontinently shed
Be on your heads a thousandfold and on your sons!
Ten generations long, be you pursued
And punished by the fearsome wrath of God!
Tremble, the hour of judgement is at hand!
Each mother’s wailing-urn now overruns -
A sea of tears they’ve shed while cursing you:
Our blood on you and on your sons!

That was written in Warsaw in 1942.

Meanwhile the Soviets had seized a third of Polish territory and deported 1,800,000 Poles of whom 600,000 died of malnutrition and diseases.

Another 600-800,000 Poles were murdered in the east by the subsequently advancing Germans and by Ukrainian nationalists.

The total biological losses on Poland’s eastern territories are estimated at approaching 1.6 million people.

Poland became a blood drenched heap of rubble.

If you would like a way of comparing losses let’s put it like this:-

In the Second World War out of every 1,000 people of their population the United States lost 1.4, Great Britain lost 8 and France lost 13. the USSR lost 124.

Out of every 1000 Polish Citizens Poland did not lose 1.4 like America, or 8 like Great Britain, or 13 like France, or even 124 like the Soviet Union. Out of every 1000 Poles Poland lost 200.

At the end of the war three flags flew over Berlin. The white flag of surrender, the red flag of the Soviets and the white and red flag of Poland.

Poland lost more nearly 8 million people and 38% of her national assets. So severe was the damage in Poland that in many places it can still be seen today!

When the Germans decided to detonate Warsaw after the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 they flew into Warsaw the leading German University experts on architecture. Why? So that these learned men could go round and number the most beautiful and historic buildings in order of  cultural and architectural significance so that the most important got blown up first in case they ran out of time to finish the job.

In Warsaw alone 800,000 people were killed and 85% of the city was destroyed. In January 1945 there was some 720 million cubic feet of rubble in Warsaw. In the first few months after liberation some 98 thousand unexploded mines and shells had to be cleared from the city.

Graves of Polish soldiers and partisans can be found in more than 1,200 cemeteries in Poland and abroad—from Narvik to Torbruk and from Lenino to Manchester.

The fighting in the Second World War lasted the longest for Poland: officially 5 years, 8 months and 8 days—but in reality fighting dragged on several years longer as nationalist partisans fought the Soviets and their puppets in the forests.

In a way it is quite remarkable that we are here today in a Polish Ex-Servicemen’s Club marking the 60th Anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day.

Remarkable because Polish troops were not allowed to parade in London in the original VE Day celebration for fear of upsetting Great Britain’s Soviet allies!

Remarkable also because for Poland the suffering did not end in 1945. Betrayed by her Western allies at Yalta Poland was to be subject to a further 44 years of oppression and exploitation by the Soviet Union.

They ran to us shouting,
“Under Socialism
A cut finger does not hurt.”
But they felt pain.
They lost faith.”

In 1989 the endeavours of the Polish Solidarnosc trade union movement—whose 25th anniversary we also celebrate this year—finally brought down Soviet power in Poland and triggered the collapse of the whole morally and politically bankrupt Soviet Empire.

Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski described 1st May 2004—the day on which Poland final entered EU—as the day on which the Second World War finally ended for Poland—because on that day a free, independent and self governing Poland returned to take up its role at the heart of Europe.

In another way it is perfectly natural that we mark this event in a Polish Ex-Servicemen’s Club. Any betrayals were by “statesmen” and by “Governments”. There was never anything other than total comradeship and respect between Polish and British soldiers, sailors and airmen. Those bonds of comradeship and respect continue to this day and they are ultimately what brings all of—whether of the wartime generation or younger—here together today.

Today we remembered all who suffered and died or whose lives were ruined in the Second World War. In this place we particularly remember those Poles who died “for our freedom and yours”.

Poles have far more reason than most to say it must never  ever be allowed to happen again.

“God preserve to us a free Poland”!

“Poland is not yet lost, for while we live…”

posted by: Oborski at 23:51 | link | comments |

Ciągle szukamy Karoliny!

Trzy Polki – 29-letnia Karolina Gluck, 23-letnia Monika Suchocka i 43-letnia Ania Brandt – wymieniane są wśród osób zaginionych po czwartkowych zamachach w Londynie – podaje brytyjska agencja informacyjna PA News     Monika Suchocka     Ania Brandt     Karolina Gluck     Jak poinformował Aleksander Kropiwnicki z ambasady RP w Londynie, w zamachach zostało lekko poszkodowanych troje Polaków i pozostaną w szpitalu przez 2–3 dni. Dodał, że poszukiwanych jest 12–13 innych Polaków, z którymi ich bliscy wciąż nie mogą nawiązać kontaktu. Pierwsza z wymienianych Polek, Karolina, pożegnała się z narzeczonym o 8.30 i od tej pory nie ma od niej wiadomości. Zatrudniona w charakterze pomocy biurowej, podróżowała ze stacji Finsbury Park do Russell Square, gdzie pracowała. Stacja kolejki Russell Square jest położona bardzo głęboko. Do piątkowego wieczoru nie udało się dotrzeć do wszystkich wagonów kolejki podziemnej, w której dokonano zamachu. Kolejka jechała w kierunku ruchliwego węzła komunikacyjnego King's Cross Wstępne doniesienia mówią o 21 ofiarach na tej linii (ostatnie doniesienia podają, że ogółem zginęło 49 osób). Spośród 700 rannych, stu wymagało pobytu w szpitalu, a stan 22 określa się jako poważny. Drugą zaginioną Polką jest księgowa Monika Suchocka, mieszkająca w Archway w północnym Londynie i pracująca w dzielnicy West Kensington. Jej przyjaciółka Magdalena Dondelewska powiedziała, że zaginiona zadzwoniła do pracodawcy, by powiedzieć, że się spóźni, bo z powodu awarii kolejki podziemnej przyjedzie autobusem. O 8.00 rano w czwartek Ania Brandt wyszła do stacji metra na Wood Green i miała dojechać do Gunnesbury. Od tamtej pory nie dała o sobie znać. Rząd brytyjski powołał w piątek specjalną rządową komórkę, zajmującą się pomocą dla rodzin zabitych, rannych i zaginionych. Kieruje nią minister kultury Tessa Jowell. Komórka współpracuje z policją i z organizacjami wyższej użyteczności publicznej. Minister obrony John Reid zapowiedział, że rząd nie będzie szczędził starań, by schwytać sprawców     Londyn 9 Lipiec, 2005 9 Lipiec, 2005 8 Lipiec, 2005 Konsulat Generalny RP w Londynie nadal stara się ustalić, czy wśród poszkodowanych w wyniku zamachów terrorystycznych z 7.07.2005 r. są obywatele polscy. Placówka polska pozostaje w kontakcie z policją i londyńskimi szpitalami. Przedstawiciel Konsulatu odwiedził w szpitalach troje Polaków, którzy zostali ranni w zamachach z 7.07.2005 r. Stan tych osób nie budzi obaw. Jedna z nich opuściła już szpital, a dwie pozostałe czeka krótka hospitalizacja. Wszyscy Polacy przebywający w Londynie proszeni są o kontakt z rodzinami w Polsce. Konsulat Generalny RP w Londynie prowadzi dyżur telefoniczny pod numerem 00 44 870 77 42 806.     Troje Polaków przebywa w szpitalach w związku z czwartkowymi zamachami terrorystycznymi. W chwili obecnej (10.45 czasu londyńskiego) znane są już ich nazwiaska, jednak przedstawiciele Konsulatu Generalnego w Londynie zdecydowali się ich jeszcze nie ujawniać. Prawdopodobnie za około dwie godziny po weryfikacji będzie to możliwe. Sześć osób jest obecnie poszukiwanych przez rodziny, nie powróciły one do domów po wczorajszych wybuchach   Vice Konsul Konsulatu Generalnego w Londynie Pan Michał Bury poinformował naszą redakcję, że wśród rannych znajduje się prawdopodobnie czterech Polaków. Informacja ta  jak również ich nazwiska nie zostały na razie potwierdzone. W chwili obecnej przedstawiciele Konsulatu Polskiego starają się zebrać wiecej informacji w szpitalach. Wszystkich zaniepokojonych losem swoich bliskich lub przyjaciół prosimy o kontakt mailowy pod adresem: redakcja@mojawyspa.co.uk lub kontakt telefoniczny pod numer +44 (0)845 331 3021 Jeżeli ktokolwiek wie coś na temat rannych Polaków lub chce się podzielić ważnymi informacjami również proszony jest o kontakt z redakcją.     Władze Londynu apelują do krewnych i znajomych o zgłaszanie nazwisk osób, które od wczorajszego zamachu terrorystycznego nie kontaktowały się z nimi. Osoby te można zgłaszać pod specjalną linią telefoniczną "police hotline": 0870 1566 344 Według danych policji około 700 osób zostało rannych podczas wczorajszych zamachów, w tym 95 ciężko, a 6 osób jest w stanie krytycznym. Polskie Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych prosi osoby posiadające potwierdzone informacje o obywatelach polskich, którzy zostali poszkodowani w wyniku zamachów w Londynie, o kontakt telefoniczny z Konsulatem Generalnym RP w Londynie pod nr tel.00 44 (0)870 77 42 806 INFORMACJE O POSZKODOWANYCH pod numerami POLSKIEGO KONSULATU W LONDYNIE w języku polskim: +44 870 77 428 06   w języku angielskim: +44 870 15 663 44 Jeżeli ktokolwiek wie coś na temat rannych Polaków lub chce się podzielić ważnymi informacjami, posiada zdjęcia lub chce się podzielić swoimi przeżyciami; również proszony jest o kontakt z redakcją na redakcja@mojawyspa.co.uk

posted by: Oborski at 01:57 | link | comments |

Radio Polonia Reports...

PM says terrorist risk exists in Poland...

Prime Minister Marek Belka has said that there is a terrorist risk in Poland. Speaking after a meeting of the government Crisis Centre, he added, however, that Thursday’s blasts did not increase this risk in Poland. The premier stressed that terrorist actions are much more difficult to realize here. He informed that exercises testing the operation of various services in case of a terrorist attack will be prepared shortly.

No compromise in combatting terrorism...

Poland’s President Aleksander Kwasniewski has said that Tursday’s attacks in London are another proof that there can be no compromises in the struggle against terrorism. It is a struggle which calls for solidarity and extreme determination, Kwasniewski told Polish Radio.
The President said that cooperation is crucial between the European Union, NATO, that is the United States, and also the Russian Federation. Kwasniewski reiterated that the blasts in London will have no impact on Poland’s military commitment in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In his opinion alarmist headlines in some Polish dailies suggesting that Poland is next on the terrorists’ list are unfounded. “We have no information which would make such a thesis credible”, president Kwasniewski said.

Parliament condemns terrorist attacks at London...

Poland’s Parliament has passed a resolution condemning the terrorist attacks in London as a barbaric act. “The Parliament received the news of the tragic outcome of the terrorist attacks in London with deep sorrow”, reads the document. The Polish MPs share the sorrow of the British in those difficult times. These tragic events underscore the need for the international community to unite in the fight against terrorism, says the resolution passed by the Polish Parliament.

Poland expresses grief over bomb victims...

The Polish parliament interrupted its session for a minute of silence, mourning the victims of the Thursday terrorist attacks in London. House Speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said that terrorism is a real threat to all and that hitherto cooperation of democratic states in countering it has been inadequate. Poland’s president Aleksander Kwasniewski, who is paying a visit to Latvia, expressed deep shock over the terrorist actions, while foreign minister Adam Rotfeld called them an act of barbarism directed not only against the British, but against the whole of Europe, including Poland.
Deputy defence minister Janusz Zemke told reporters that Polish forces have a number of special units at immediate disposal, for example, the Grom anti-terrorist group, the 1st brigade from Lubliniec, the 25th armored cavalry brigade from Tomaszow, or the 18th assault battalion with 20 special purpose helicopters.
Deputy premier Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka said this country is well prepared to cope with terrorist threat. “Poland, being a member of the anti-terrorist coalition, has for a long time adapted suitable procedures and all forces and services have successfully passed their test of readiness”, she emphasized.

posted by: Oborski at 18:37 | link | comments |

Informacje o zamachu

Zarówno w Warszawie jak i w Londynie działają już telefony, pod którymi można dowiadywać się, czy wśród poszkodowanych w czwartkowych eksplozjach nie ma obywateli polskich.

Ministerstwo spraw zagranicznych podaje, że specjalna infolinia została uruchomiona w konsulacie polskim w Londynie.

Jej numer to: 00 44 870 77 42 806.

Z kolei brytyjska ambasada w Warszawie udziela w tej sprawie informacji pod numerem 022 311 01 99.

W obydwu przypadkach urzędnicy proszą o podanie nazwiska poszukiwanej osoby, daty urodzenia i ostatniego znanego adresu w Wielkiej Brytanii.

posted by: Oborski at 23:43 | link | comments |

A Sad day...

Our thoughts and prayers are with the dead and injured in London and their families and friends.

See the BBC information service for background.

posted by: Oborski at 22:02 | link | comments |

HEARD IN PASSING

From Warsaw Voice

"This was our first intervention involving such a big animal. It got stuck in a concrete irrigation ditch."
-A firefighter from Żary, Lubuskie province, on the operation of saving a camel that escaped from a circus

"Ever since my wife got involved in the European Women's Union, I have to do the washing and ironing myself."
-Jan Rokita, the leader of the Civic Platform (PO) and candidate for prime minister, about his wife Nelly's political ambitions

"This would contradict the pope's teachings. We will refer patients to other hospitals."
-Jacek Łukomski, director of
a state hospital in Poznań, announcing that after the facility takes the name of John Paul II, its doctors will not perform legal abortions

"According to the charges, I am to be held responsible for reckless use of fire, but I vehemently disagree. We didn't use an inflammable material and we had a fire extinguisher on hand, along with a brush and a dustpan to sweep-up the ashes."
-Katarzyna Stanilewicz, vice-president of the Polish Trust organization, before her trial concerning the public burning of the portrait of Erika Steinbach, the head of the German Union of the Expelled

posted by: Oborski at 11:00 | link | comments |

Leaders of the Pack

From Warsaw Voice

According to recent opinion polls, the presidential race leaders will be Lech Kaczyński, Prof. Zbigniew Religa and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

In the June 22 poll conducted by the daily Rzeczpospolita, the independent candidate Religa, an outstanding heart surgeon, has 25 percent of support-3 points ahead of Kaczyński. According to the PBS polling center, if the two meet in the second round of the presidential election, Religa stands a better chance.

According to a Pentor poll, Sejm Speaker Cimoszewicz enjoys the greatest support from voters who have a firm opinion on their candidate: 22 percent want to vote for him. The poll indicates that nearly one-fourth of respondents have problems choosing a candidate, and 11 percent would not go to the ballot. Cimoszewicz also leads in a poll conducted by the OBOP polling center, with a high support of 27 percent. The first runner-up is Religa with 19 percent, the second-Kaczyński with 17 percent.

In a PGB poll conducted prior to Cimoszewicz's decision to run, he only obtained 13-percent support. Kaczyński topped the poll with 23 percent. If the runners-off are Kaczyński and Cimoszewicz, the PGB simulation indicates Kaczyński as the winner at 58:42.

Other important candidates with support in the polls of over 10 percent are Marek Borowski of the SDPL, Donald Tusk of the PO and Andrzej Lepper of Samoobrona.

posted by: Oborski at 10:57 | link | comments |

Enter the Dragon

From Warsaw Voice

Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz has decided to run in the presidential elections, and immediately placed among ranking leaders. Although he declares himself to be "a supra-partisan candidate," in the opinion of the opposition, the current Sejm Speaker of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) would be a president of continuation and a political security guarantee for the compromised leftist camp.

This is to be attested by the fact that at the head of Cimoszewicz's election committee stands Jolanta Kwaśniewska, wife of the current president, accused by the opposition of protecting the political clique linked to the SLD and involved in large-scale corruption scandals. Kwaśniewska enjoys considerable popularity and was mentioned last year as the best presidential candidate of the left. When announcing her decision to head the election committee, she stressed that she wanted to live in a "predictable Poland," a country that needed a "wise and experienced president." "Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz is that kind of person," she asserted.

posted by: Oborski at 10:55 | link | comments |

From Radio Polonia
Polish intelligence contribition in WW 2 confirmed

Polish foreign minister Adam Rotfeld considers the report on Poland’s contribution to the Allied victory in World War Two compiled by the joint Polish-British commission of historians as a meaningful development in the countries’ mutual relations. The document presented in London points to 44% of British intelligence information as coming from Polish agents and sources. Minister Rotfeld, who is on a working visit to the UK, said the report is accompanied by mixed feelings. On the one hand, Poland is very satisfied by the British authorities’ consent to opening war intelligence files to Polish historians. On the other, he underscored, the question arises: why has it taken 60 post-war years for the move to be made? Adam Rotfeld added, the report confirms the tremendous contribution of Poles to the anti-Nazi effort and the ultimate victory of the Allies. The head of Polish diplomacy also pointed to the increased meaning of intelligence documents found in British archives about the Holocaust passed on by Polish sources during the war. Now, nobody can say they had no knowledge about the genocide, Rotfeld said.

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

 

posted by: Oborski at 21:55 | link | comments |