Polish Consulate...

We are taking a short break. We'll see you again in the New Year. Have a very good Christmas!

posted by: Oborski at 07:46 | link | comments (1) |

posted by: Oborski at 07:45 | link | comments |

Poland’s president Alexander Kwasniewski has said that Polish soldiers will remain in Iraq next year. However, the size of the stabilization forces in that country might be reduced...

The president told Polish Radio One that in the second half of 2005, troops will start to pull out to be replaced by the police force and peace-keeper units. He predicted that in the coming weeks, the wave of terrorist attack in Iraq will rise rather than subside. Supporters of Saddam Hussein still have arms and funds, and are frustrated over Hussein’s caputure, the Polish president observed. In his opinion, Hussein should stand trial in Iraq, in the presence of international observers.

Commenting on signals of possible terrorist attacks on Poland, Kwasniewski said there was no cause for panic and alarm, but there are reasons to be more vigilant and pay attention to suspicious behaviour and events. He argued that terrorist attacks in Poland are not likely to attract major international attention. Furthermore, Poland is a largely homogenous country, in which people who speak foreign languages or behave strangely immediately catch the eye.

A strike at Polish State Railways, which paralysed rail traffic in southern Poland, has been suspended...

The trade unions announced this decision after the parliament had decided to allocate an additional 550 million zlotys for regional connections. Talks are under way and agreement seems to be close in sight.

A commission investigating the circumstances of a recent crash of a government helicopter with the Polish prime minister on board has said that the most likely cause was build-up of ice on engine inlets...

Another – less probable reason – might have been poor quality of fuel. The commission ruled out other causes.

The helicopter crashed near Warsaw on December 4th. Several persons on board, including premier Leszek Miller, suffered injuries in the accident.

An underpass of a busy roundabout in the centre of the southern city of Katowice has collapsed...

The accident occured when a heavy crane entered the roundabout, causing the ceiling of the underpass to cave in. The crane tilted dangerously over the street, blocking traffic and causing a gigantic traffic jam. No one suffered in the accident.

Poland’s main statistical office has reported that GDP in the third quarter of the year rose by 3.9 percent, compared with the same period of last year...

The rate of unemployment at the end of November was 17.6 percent, the office said.

The ZOO in Chorzów, southern Poland, might have to get rid of its residents due to the lack of funds to upgrade the garden’s standards to meet the EU requirements...

Tigers, hippos and monkeys are in the most difficult situation as there is no money to enlarge their cages. Zoological gardens in Poland have 18 months to adjust to ERU standards.

posted by: Oborski at 18:57 | link | comments |

Interesting article from The New York Times...

Poland Takes Pride in Assertive Stance Toward Neighbors

WARSAW, Dec. 18 — Poland is on the outs with much of Europe these days, but to judge from the defiance of its top officials, opposition leaders and ordinary Poles, that suits people here just fine.

The country has been in a chest-thumping mood since last weekend, when Poland and Spain broke up a summit meeting on the new European constitution by refusing to yield to demands by France and Germany that they accept a new, less favorable voting system for the European Union.

"Poland needs to stand up for itself," said Katarzyna Lukomska, 40, a midwife who was shopping for a winter hat this week. "We can only stand to gain from it in the long run."

That is very much a matter of debate. Europe's paymasters, led by France and Germany, are petitioning to freeze the union's budget — a move seen by some as a form of payback to Poland, which expects to be a prime recipient of European aid after it joins the union in May.

Yet even the threat of financial retaliation has not dented the enthusiasm of Poles for the hard line taken by their leaders. Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who arrived at the summit meeting in Brussels in a wheelchair, nursing injuries from a helicopter crash, has reversed a downturn in his political fortunes.

While the dispute centered on the arcane question of how to apportion the voting rights of the different members of the union, it has laid bare deep-seated feelings of resentment and insecurity, as well as a new assertiveness, on the part of Poles.

Despite a population of 39 million and by far the largest economy in Central Europe, many here fear that Poland will not be treated as a full partner in a greater Europe.

"We keep seeing ourselves as a small country," Danuta Hübner, the minister for European affairs, said in an interview. "In fact, Poland is a big country. We are half of what is joining Europe in terms of population. We should have the responsibilities that come with being a big country."

Such talk is heard more and more often these days. Five months before it adds 10 new countries with 75 million people, the European Union seems to be cleaving into two camps — one centered on France and Germany, the other encompassing an assortment of bantam and middleweight countries.

This latest crisis erupted two weeks after Germany and France effectively vitiated the fiscal rules that govern the countries using the euro as their common currency, refusing to bring their budget deficits under a mandated ceiling.

For Europe's smaller countries — as well as would-be members, who are dutifully bringing their finances into line with European standards — the impunity with which France and Germany acted suggests that the union keeps a different rulebook for its biggest members.

In Poland's case, the frictions with Germany and France have been aggravated by Warsaw's staunch support of the American-led war on Iraq, which Berlin and Paris just as staunchly opposed.

After the meeting in Brussels fell apart, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany bitterly criticized Poland and Spain, though not by name. Two countries, he said, had been "unable to change their way of thinking and acting." They had "left the European idea behind" in pursuit of their own interests.

Ms. Hübner, who is expected to be appointed Poland's representative on the European Commission next year, shrugs off Mr. Schröder's remarks with a serene smile.

Poland, she said, has little choice but to cling to the rules that were hammered out in hard-fought negotiations three years ago in Nice. Under that agreement, Poland and Spain were each awarded nearly the same number of votes as the more populous France, Germany, Britain and Italy.

Germany and France are seeking to insert rules into the constitution that would shift power back to the bigger countries, by ensuring that decisions could be passed if a majority of countries representing at least 60 percent of the union's population voted in favor of them.

"We based our prereferendum campaign on the Nice formula," Ms. Hübner said, referring to the ballot here last June in which 77 percent of voters favored joining the European Union. "It would be very difficult to have to tell people, `What you voted for is no longer the case.' "

But the lopsided margin suggests that Poles would have voted for the union, whatever the voting arrangements. Few here dispute that joining Europe will bring more benefits than costs.

Still, the Nice accord has become a touchstone. A prominent Polish opposition leader, Jan Rokita, summed up the feeling when he declared, "Nice or death" — a sound bite that instantly became a slogan.

The issue, simply put, is one of respect. People here believe that Poland, by dint of its size, warrants special treatment. Beyond that they believe that Germany, historically one of Poland's oppressors, and France, historically Poland's champion, need to be curbed.

"The Nice treaty keeps a balance between old, rich countries and new emerging countries," said Waclaw Rejdych, 43, a businessman doing Christmas shopping. "I don't want to be penalized because Germany has a much bigger economy than Poland."

But most Poles, perhaps reflecting their bruised history, fully expect that they will be penalized. "There's no question that France and Germany will use money to punish Poland," said Elzbieta Jozwik, a university student. "That's what strong nations do to weaker ones."

The immediate winner from the standoff was Prime Minister Miller, who leads Poland's Social Democrats. Mr. Miller had been plagued by scandals and swooning opinion poll numbers when a helicopter he was riding in crashed in a forest outside Warsaw on Dec. 4. The impact fractured two of his vertebrae.

He soldiered through the summit meeting, against the advice of doctors, before returning home to the hospital. In a show of support as rare as it may be fleeting, Poland's political establishment lined up behind him.

Mr. Miller told the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that the dispute might delay the adoption of a European constitution for at least the first half of next year.

Not everybody here applauds Poland's intransigence. Marek Ostrowski, a leading foreign affairs commentator, said it was less a principled stand than a display of Poland's insecurities and pathologies.

Rather than defer to Poland, Mr. Ostrowski predicted, Germany and France will find a way to bypass it. He also questioned why Poland was so intent on cultivating an "exotic alliance" with Spain instead of working to close the gap with its natural partner, Germany.

"It serves no purpose at all," he said. "It is just an exercise in national pride to serve a domestic audience."

posted by: Oborski at 13:43 | link | comments |

It has just been revealed that a number of suspicious people from high risk countries were detained on one of Poland’s borders a few days ago...

None of them were able to explain the purpose of their trip to Poland. ‘This’, said interior minister Krzysztof Janik, ‘was the reason to tighten security measures at Christmas time. The minister spoke about external signals implying potential terrorist attacks in numerous countries including Poland.

‘European Union leaders cannot reunite Europe, if they slash the bloc's future budget, claims the executive European Commission...

Michel Barnier, regional Policy Commissioner, said the EU would need more, not less spending to narrow a huge gap between eastern and western Europe after enlargement. He was reacting to a call by six of the EU's biggest net contributors - Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria - to cut the bloc's budget for 2007-2013 to
1 percent of Gross National Income. This idea raised concerns in Poland earlier this week and was perceived as a an attempt to punish Warsaw for its tough position on voting rights in Brussels.

‘The fiasco of the Brussels EU summit should not be overestimated and Poland should now concentrate on finding the support of small and medium-sized countries in the dispute over the constitution of enlarged European Union’, says Senate speaker Longin Pastusiak...

Poland has about three months to do so as the following intergovernmental conference will be held at the beginning of the second quarter of 2004. The Senate speaker expressed hope that Ireland, who will take the rotating EU presidency over from Italy, will be more eagrer to reach compromise than Italy was. ‘By defending the stipulations of the Nice Treaty Poland is acting in the interests of small and medium countries’, claims Longin Pastusiak.

Talks between railway workers and government representaives were resumed late this afternoon, after they had been suspended at the request of the rail unionists...

The protesting railway workers are demanding the introduction of the restructuring programme of the sector and bringing back suspended connections. A number of unionists throughout the country are on hunger strike and threaten with a general strike. All issues postulated by the railway workers were discussed during today’s talks and money for regional rails guaranteed by deputy prime minister Jerzy Hausner. The unionists do not believe these assurances and demand the postulates be written down. The decision as to the general strike has not been made yet.

Poland is numbered among the countries whose gross domestic product is the lowest in Europe...

According to recent statistics compiled by the Eurostat centre Poland, Malta and Cyprus are the only countries in which the GDP did not rise last year. As far as Poland’s level of GDP is concerned it is by 41 per cent lower than the EU’s average. The figure has remained unchanged since 1999. This means that Poland and the three Baltic states will be the poorest members of enlarged European Union.

A record smuggling of 33 thousand packets of cigarettes has been thwarted at the Polish-Russian border checkpoint in Goldapia...

The contraband was found special compartments in the floor, walls and ceiling of a Russian coach travelling to Poland to collect a group of Russian tourists. Had the cigarettes entered the black market, the state would have lost nearly 2 million zloty that is about half a million dollars.

The ZOO in Chorzów, southern Poland, might have to get rid of some of its residents due to lack of funds needed to upgrade the garden’s standards to the requirements of the European Union...

Tigers, hippos and monkeys are in the most difficult situation as there is no money to enlarge their cages. Zoological gardens have 18 months to adjust their conditions to EU standards, no works aimed in this direction have started in Chorzów so far.

posted by: Oborski at 17:59 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"If I am the black sheep [of the commission], I'll be one only in the positive meaning of the word."
-Renata Beger, a deputy from Samoobrona, who was removed from the Sejm commission investigating the Rywingate scandal due to her own problems with the law

"From the point of view of all the legal scandals, problems with the prosecutor, primitive thinking, and moral vulgarity, there has been no Sejm like this one for a long time. It is terrifying."
-Foreign Affairs Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz on the Polish parliament

"Józef Oleksy didn't invite me to the meeting with the pope because he was afraid I would arrive in a miniskirt."
-Aleksandra Jakubowska, head of the political cabinet of Prime Minister Leszek Miller

"I have the feeling-maybe I'm being malicious-that lowering the excise tax on vodka was the biggest lawmaking achievement of the Sejm in years."
-Marcin Król, a columnist, editor-in-chief of Res Publica Nova magazine, on the results of the Sejm's work

"We got the T-shirts from a teacher who got them as a present from a friend who works for the company."
-A student from the junior high school in Nowogród Bobrzañski, Wielkopolska province, asked about the origin of advertising T-shirts of a local liquor producer worn by a large number of young people

"Russia must not be exposed to the risk of electing the head of the state every four years."
-Nikita Mikhalkov, a Russian film director, on the idea of amending the constitution so that Vladimir Putin's presidential term can be extended significantly

"What am I paying you for? Shoot him!"
-Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of Russian nationalists, to his bodyguards, after an incident at a TV studio where he attacked a political expert but was summarily beaten up by him

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Poland will resist any possible threats for the EU to punish this country for blocking an agreement on the new EU constitution...

Six EU member states called for the cap on the EU’s budget for 2007-2013 to be lowered to one percent of the Gross national Income.Poland’s head of diplomacy said he does not see any links between the proposed cap on Eu spending and the fiasco during the Brussels summit.Speaking at the Upper House this morning Cimoszewicz said that a dispute over EU funding was expected and cannot be treated as an element of blackmail. Poland and Spain have rejected the proposed new voting system , which would give the two countries much less power that earlier agreed upon during the Nice summit in 2000.

Poland’s prime minister Leszek Miller, who after the Brussels summit returned to hospital , where he is recovering from the spine fracture he suffered in a recent helicopter crash, said that Poland has to be seen as a country which has views based on solid reasoning and this reasoning can be modified but only through arguments and not through threats.

Talks with representatives of protesting railway workers and government have not ended in any agreement...

Railway workers continue their protest throughout the country, and threaten with a general strike if no agreement with the government is reached, some of the railworkers are on hunger strike. Speaking for Polish Radio the head of the Solidarity trade union grouping railway workers, has said that the government proposal to finance regional communication through regional authorities is absurd. Polish State railways and its services a should be financed from the budget ,said Stanislaw Kogut. Both sides have agreed to prepare a protocol, but nothing has a s yet been decided as to the demands and to the continuation of protests.

The second edition of the conference Ukraine in Europe opens on Thursday in Warsaw...

The aim of the meeting , held under the patronage of Poland’s president Alexander Kwasniewski, is to present the main problems which accompany Ukraine’s relations with the west as well as enhancing Poland’s determination to support Ukraine on her road to join western structures.

67 % of Poles are unhappy with prime minister Leszek Miller leading the government, only 16% accept him as premier, while 73% negatively asses the government’s proceedings...

According to a recent poll conducted by the CBOS agency only 15% of the respondent consider that the government’s policy creates chances for improvement of living conditions, while 72% think otherwise.

Polish Copper Mining Company continues to investigate the causes of the accident which took place on Monday in the colliery in Lubin, south western Poland...

Two tonnes of dynamite exploded 600 meters underground ,43 miners were taken to hospital , many with serious injuries and burns. The head of the company said that the accident should have never happened , all explosives are under special supervision and the ongoing investigation will provide an answer to the causes of the explosion.

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On Saturday 20th we are holding the Wyre Forest Anglo-Polish Society Christmas Party at the Polish Ex-Combatants Club in Kidderminster. Phone Mike on (01562) 823911 if you want further details.

This Consulate is providing the BIGOS. The first cooking is simmering as I speak. It will be reheated to perfection over the intervening days!

For those not in the know BIGOS ("Hunters Stew") is THE Polish national dish. Every Polish family has its own recipe which is of course the only truly correct one! Visit the online BIGOS BAR to learn more.

You will need:-
large jar of sauerkraut
half a small white cabbage (shredded)
desert spoonful of dried mushrooms previously soaked for 2 to 3 hours in warm water
at least 1lb Polish Sausage (boiling ring)
half pound diced raw pork
sugar
peppercorns
bay leaves
tomato puree (one tube)
caraway seeds
sugar
vinegar
two decent size glasses of red wine
one small class of brandy

Rinse sauerkraut thoroughly and drain. Place in a saucepan with shredded cabbage. Drain and add the soaked dried mushrooms plus 15 - 20 peppercorns, 2 or 3 bay leaves, a pinch of caraway seeds, diced pork, and diced Polish Sausage.

Cover with water, bring to the boil, and simmer gently for between 60 and 90 minutes.

Add 4 tablespoons (at least) tomato puree, 2 glasses of red wine, a glass of brandy, a tablespoon of sugar, and a desert spoon of vinegar and simmer gently for a further 30 to sixty minutes. Add more wine and / or water if it looks dry.

Reheat, preferably several times over several days, before serving. It is best cooked slowly and reheated over at least one or two days.

It can be served alone or with boiled potatoes. On Saturday we will be serving it with Polish style pork cutlets!

posted by: Oborski at 20:55 | link | comments |

Poland has been hit by the first spell of truly harsh winter conditions this cold season...

The whole country is experiencing a mix of rain and snow. Gusty winds going up to 130 kilometers per hour accompanied by around freezing point temperatures have made driving conditions exteremely dangerous. Road maintenance services have been busy, but the rapidly changing weather has made much of their efforts futile. Slippery roads and excessive speed have been the main reasons for a number of serious accidents, even on major highways.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski has stated that there is no need to dramatize the inconclussive ending of the EU summit in Brussels...

He emphasized the near possibility of some constructive propositions appearing in relation to the new constitution charter of the enlarged Union. Kwasniewski said, the several months before the next major EU gathering will give the much needed time to reflect on the arguments of all the sides concerned. The Polish president pointed out that the reservations speak not only of the manner in which a system of decision making representation is to be established, but also relate to the whole concept of a united Europe. He suggested all disputes on the Nice Treaty be put aside, as the agreements will be binding as of May 2004, anyway. Then, after checking them in practice, we can return to the issue, Kwasniewski said.

Poland’s European Affairs minister Danuta Huebner said the lack of compromise on the EU constitution cannot be seen as a negotiating fiasco...

On the other hand the outcome of the Brussels conference should not be a surprise to anyone, she added. The positive side of the issue is that the discussion on the shape of the constitution continues and now we will have more time to analyze the respective countries’ stands, remarked Huebner. She said Poland had been treated as an equal partner in Brussels and none of the participants accused it of ill will and blocking the process of negotiations. The European Affairs minister underscored that speculations about cuts in EU funding for Poland are totally groundless.

Head of Polish diplomacy Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said Poland cannot be blamed for the ineffectiveness of talks at the Brussels intergovernmental conference...

He reminded that this country’s stand had been made public well in advance and its actions had been fully predictable. I left Brussels with a craving for a more in depth discussion and I’m confident the nearest period will provide such opportunities, Cimoszewicz concluded.

Commenting on the capture of Saddam Hussein, Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski said he considered it a crucial development for the success of the stabilization process in Iraq...

In the president’s opinion, Poland’s peace mission there may be shortened to conclude by mid 2005. However, the next few weeks can be characterized by certain destabilization of the situation in Iraq, as frustration among the former dictator’s supporters can lead to a series of uncoordinated actions, including terrorist attacks, the president told Polish Radio.
Kwasniewski denied press rumours that the elite Polish special forces unit GROM played any direct role in Saddam’s arrest near Tikrit, confirming that the operation had been carried out solely by American troops.
The Polish president said that Saddam Hussein should be brought to justice as quickly as possible and his trial should take place in Iraq.

Finance minister Andrzej Raczko has disclosed his department’s analyses show predictions of a 3.6% GDP growth this year, considerably better than in government set annual targets...

Raczko said the Polish economy has been experiencing significant enlivening, evidenced by growing consumption dynamics. The situation on the labor market has improved, as well, going down to a current 17.4%.
Less optimistic data have been released today by the Central Office of Statistics. In November, inflation figures went up by 2.1%, while prices of goods and services were 1.6% higher than in the corresponding period last year. However, the growth tendencies in all these areas are still below central bank predictions, even if they attain two digit levels in the first months of 2004.

Former deputy interior minister Zbigniew Sobotka has testified at the district prosecutor’s office in Kielce...

Sobotka is charged with leaking information about a covert police operation to former city councilmen in Starachowice, who were linked to an organized crime ring. Earlier, the House stripped him of parliamentary immunity and he had been recalled by the interior minister following serious pressure from the media when the whole affair had been discovered. Talking to reporters after today’s interrogation, Sobotka has upheld his plea of innocence.

It has been brought over for the 13th time already by Polish scouts, who presented it to president Kwasniewski at a special ceremony in Warsaw. The Polish scouts will traditionally share the Light of Peace with their colleagues from Belarus, Lithuania and Russia.

posted by: Oborski at 00:08 | link | comments |

POLISH LEADERS ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM RALLY TO BACK MILLER’S BRUSSELS STAND...

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has been widely praised by Polish commentators and politicians for his firm stand at the Brussels UE summit which he attended in a wheel-chair following a painful spine fracture sustained in a helicopter crash earlier this month.

His rejection of a constitutional deal on German terms will ease opposition pressure on the unpopular left-wing government, and probably make it easier for difficult budget austerity reforms to get through parliament.

"The Polish delegation did its job. Approval of the constitution would have meant...Poles had no say on EU policies," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the rightist Law and Justice party, usually a tough critic of the Polish government.

Polish politicians reject Western accusations that they have proved ungrateful to Germany which had strongly backed Warsaw's EU membership drive.

"Germany's help for our EU aspirations...should be seen in a wider historic context. Germany, after all, built its prosperity thanks to membership of the Western bloc, from which Poland had been excluded for decades," said Jozef Oleksy, chief of parliament's EU committee.

"We simply want to show that we will not blindly follow orders from bigger countries. It's a question of respect for our point of view to build a Europe comfortable for all," he added.

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From the war zones of Iraq to the diplomatic battlefields of Brussels, one country is rapidly gaining a reputation for being the new bad boy in the European bloc.

It has been by far the toughest negotiating partner for Brussels in the long and complicated process to join the EU.

It backed US President George W. Bush on Iraq with rhetoric and men on the ground, triggering bitter criticism in France and Germany. And it is Berlin's most diehard opponent at this weekend's EU summit on the constitutional overhaul of how power is wielded and decisions taken within the councils of Europe.

Five months before it is integrated into the club of western democracies, Poland is being cast by some of its new EU partners as a troublemaker. "We're certainly going in with a bang," admitted a senior Polish official. "And the Germans won't forget this."

The latest display of refusing to toe the line came 10 days ago in Naples, when European ministers were toiling over the new EU defense policy.

Why, some of the 25 foreign ministers wanted to know, was the new EU military planning cell to be described as "permanent"? To distinguish the European approach, came the answer, from the American penchant for constructing ad hoc "coalitions of the willing" or temporary military alliances.

"In that case," piped up the Polish foreign minister, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, "we should call it the coalition of the unwilling. Maybe that would be a more precise and more realistic description of the situation."

The jibe highlighted frank Polish contempt for France and Germany's defense ambitions for Europe, the determination not to be talked down to by the EU's traditional heavyweights, and Warsaw's utter devotion to America as its indispensable strategic partner and security guarantor.

"We need a stronger European security and defense policy. There's no doubt about that. The Balkan experience was humiliating for all of Europe," says Cimoszewicz. "But we still have some doubts."

Poland's demands to be treated seriously as a regional European power and its robust defense of its perceived interests are fraught with risks.

Apart from Britain, Poland was the only European country that committed itself to combat in Iraq, with commandos storming targets at the beginning of the war. It now has 2,500 troops deployed in Iraq. In November, Major Hieronim Kupczyk became Poland's first combat casualty since World War II when he was killed in an ambush in Iraq.

This weekend in Brussels, Warsaw could notch up a significant victory by frustrating German plans to overhaul the EU's decision-taking machinery, denying the Germans, at least temporarily, a new constitutional system of power sharing through the way majority decisions are taken.

Both Berlin and Warsaw insist they will not budge from their positions. Poland's frankness was again evident on Monday when the prime minister, Leszek Miller, warned of an EU summit "confrontation" that could end in "fiasco."

There are plenty of pundits in Warsaw who worry that the Poles are punching above their weight -- over Iraq, over Nato, over the US, and over the EU -- and blundering by alienating Germany, their key partner and neighbor.

But Poland's blunt talking is being encouraged by its belief that it is the only tactic that brings dividends.

"We are not a very easy customer," says Roza Thun, president of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Poland, a pro-EU body. "But that's maybe our strength. No one took us seriously before. Now the attitude [abroad] has changed. The EU likes us less, but they treat us more seriously."

Earlier this year the French told the Poles to shut up over Iraq, while the Germans have muttered about the Poles being the US' Trojan horse in the EU. In Brussels, the Poles are fed up with being told they are not "good Europeans."

But of the 10 countries joining the EU in May, Poland is as big as the other nine combined, with all that that implies for markets, territory, the military, strategy, and, not least, being listened to.

"Joining the EU is very important and we're very grateful. But let's not forget about the political and the historical dimension," says the foreign minister.

For this country of 38 million, in a strategically important position and dominated for centuries by Germany and Russia, the "historical dimension" is an intense obsession that may seem baffling in the west. It is the wellspring of Poland's attachment to the US at a time of transatlantic estrangement.

"Security is the most important thing in this country and Europe does not give us that," says Thun, an ardent pro-European.

Adam Michnik, the outstanding liberal Polish patriot and editor of eastern Europe's first and most successful independent newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, says the sobering events of recent months, from the rows over Iraq to the tough negotiations over joining the EU, have seen the Poles find their voice internationally.

"There's no point preaching to us or pushing us. It won't work. We didn't regain our own voice just to give it up. The most important thing is that Poland has recovered its independence and we will speak with an independent voice. We have the same right to that as the French or the Germans."

On America and Europe, Michnik waxes positively Blairite: "For Poland, the democratic west has always been out there. We can't see how the US can be a threat to the democratic west. The essence is that we do support a long-lasting Euro-Atlantic alliance because the US presence in Europe serves Europe well and we won't support any actions that try to eliminate the US from Europe."

Having got rid of the Red Army garrisons, the Poles are eager to welcome a US military presence and are hoping some forces will be redeployed from bases in Germany to Poland. Senior US officials have been in Warsaw this week discussing plans for reconfiguring how the US projects its military clout.

The trajectory that has landed Poland in Nato and on the threshold of entry to the EU has spanned more than a decade, with governments following the same consistent policies since the overthrow of communism in 1989.

The irony is that Poland's claims to be heard internationally are being articulated by a center-left government which is the country's most unpopular since that revolution.

And with an eye on this weekend's summit battles, he intimates that Brussels and Berlin have not heard the last they will hear from Warsaw.

"Anybody who believes that they can convince us of changing our well-justified positions and arguments is wrong. They will understand that sooner or later."

posted by: Oborski at 23:31 | link | comments |

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who braved severe pain to attend the meeting after fracturing his spine in a helicopter crash last week, said tonight it was difficult to predict the outcome of the EU Conference in Brussels. He gives it a 50 : 50 chance of success.

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Prime Minister Leszek Miller received doctors' permission to travel to the European Union summit in Brussels on Friday. Miller suffered a spine fracture in a helicopter crash a week ago, but a team of medical experts from the Interior Ministry Hospital in Warsaw where the Prime Minister was staying opined he could make the trip on condition of wearing a body cast. The Prime Minister had been wheel-chaired to the round table debates in the Council building in Brussels where the Union’s 25 present and future members are meeting in hope of forging a constitutional charter for the enlarged EU.
Poland is the main contender in a dispute over the provisions of a future constitution, because of its firm opposition, along with Union member Spain, to a new voting system backed by EU’s major players - France and Germany.
The Prime Minister is delivering a speech in defence of the Polish stand relating to the provisions of the Nice Treaty and on including reference to Christian values in the European Constitution’s preamble.

President expects Spanish support...

President Aleksander Kwasniewski has expressed confidence that Spain will stand by Poland in its defence of the Nice Treaty during the Brussels government level talks. He reiterated Poland’s readiness to search for positive solutions to the voting rights issue, but said that this country’s strategy would be based on explaining the reasons for it’s persistence in calling for at least trial implementation of the December 2000 agreement. Let’s give Nice a chance, appealed the president. Speaking for Polish Radio, Kwasniewski sceptically assessed chances for a last minute compromise success signalled by Italian premier Sylvio Berlusconi. He described the situation around the future EU constitution as complicated to such an extent, that any sudden breakthrough in negotiations should not be expected. President Kwasniewski said, however, that he was hoping for some significant solutions being tabled in Brussels which might be given serious consideration by the gathered government heads.

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Poland’s former European integration minister, has stated that there does exist a chance for reaching a compromise on the future EU voting system. But nothing dramatic will happen, if the Brussels summit ends inconclusively, added Wolski, explaining that the Nice agreements would become binding and the only negotiable points would be limited to deciding on its revision, or postponing its implementation. Poland has a strong bargaining position on the Nice Treaty and should concentrate on maintaining the favorable terms negotiated three years ago, suggested the former minister.

Two Polish soldiers have been wounded in Iraq this morning. They were injured during a mine clearing operation near Karbala in the south-central stabilization zone. A convoy heading for an ammunition depot had been crossing a road when a remote controlled mine exploded under one of the trucks. The wounded Poles were taken by an American helicopter to a military hospital in Baghdad. One of the soldiers is reported in serious condition.

The Sejm, or Lower House of parliament has paid tribute to the victims of the 1981 Martial Law in Poland. 22 years ago, on December 13th , the erstwhile communist authorities proclaimed martial law in an attempt to quell calls for democratic changes to the system and demonstrations in support of the independent Solidarity trade union. The so-called Council of National Salvation led by general Jaruzelski introduced military supervision over practically all spheres of public and private life. Special police forces clashed with protesters in the first days of this internal state of war, while thousands of opposition activists had been interned for long months. Martial Law was officially recalled on July 22nd 1983, but its effects persisted for several more years, until the grand political and economic transformations initiated six years later.

And finally, a brief look at the weather map of Poland...... Mercury readings ranged from 1 to 5 centigrade at midday. Strong southwesterly winds pushed away a rainy strip, but no clearing has been envisaged as snow is replacing the dripping clouds. The night is going to be colder with temperatures from freezing point in northwest declining to minus 7 degrees Celcius in the northeast.

posted by: Oborski at 23:55 | link | comments |

Prof. Miroslawa Marody from the Sociology Institute of Warsaw University, talks to Andrzej Jonas and Witold Zygulski.

"Poles frequently emphasize that we are wonderful as a nation but that the world does not provide us with opportunities to manifest this. It's a kind of an "ugly duckling complex"...

Do you agree that one's self-esteem can play a constructive role in the life of an individual or community?
It's hard not to agree. Various studies show that much depends on the way we define ourselves and the way we feel inside. Our inner disposition has a significant influence on our behavior. It is a universal regularity and Poles are subject to it like everybody else.

What is the general MOOD of Poles today?
Research shows that Poles individually evaluate themselves quite well, but they have a worse opinion about themselves as a nation. For example, there was a survey in which respondents compared the character traits of the average Pole with those of the average Western European. There were 18 traits listed, and Poles found themselves better in only four. There was a particularly large discrepancy (50 percent) with "self-confidence." At the same time, Poles frequently emphasize that we are wonderful as a nation but that the world does not provide us with opportunities to manifest this. It's a kind of an "ugly duckling complex;" we know that the magnificent swan is hidden in us and we blame the world for not seeing it.

The pessimistic vision of reality, prevalent among Poles today, is also a sort of defense mechanism-it allows us to put the responsibility for our problems on external factors such as the authorities, history, neighbors, Moscow, Brussels and so on.

Do you think that accession to the European Union will affect our ability to change ourselves?
I definitely do, as there is one, potentially crucial factor related to it-we are gaining much more open contacts with the outside world. But it is too little to cause a change automatically. EU accession looks very good in the language of symbols: a door opens, we enter the room and start behaving accordingly; we take advantage of achievements of modern knowledge etc. Most Poles see accession as their hope for the future, for changes for the better. But this hope is largely based on the reasoning that "the EU will do this and that for us." The EU is supposed to educate our politicians, fight corruption, implement just legislation-do all the work that we know has to be done, but somehow are unable to start. This is an illusory line of reasoning-Europe is not going to settle our problems for us. The EU has its own problems; it has no reason to be bothered with ours.

That doesn't sound too optimistic...
It doesn't, but in order to have a reason to be optimistic, we have to realize the actual situation. What is most dangerous in thinking about the future is the widespread conviction that Poland's joining the EU will make a total change in our lives. That can have just one result: in a year's time there will be a colossal sense of disappointment that nothing has changed or even-in the most pessimistic scenario-has changed for the worse.

We have talked about the dangers; what about the opportunities?
Although we criticize so much the state of the Polish economy, it is still our greatest asset. If you consider Central Europe, or the group of candidate countries, we are still in the lead in terms of economic reform. The problem is that we have reached a certain level of competence and are unable to further develop without realizing that the modern economy requires specialized knowledge. It is no longer enough just to use common sense, as has been the case in Poland so far, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises being the engine of reform and economic growth. Poles are, in fact, convinced of the necessity to invest in education and they try doing it on their own. Higher education, however, is very expensive, especially for people from provincial areas who have to pay for their lodging in university cities. They also have fewer chances to pass entrance exams for public universities due to the low level of local elementary and high schools. Without systematic solutions in this domain, it's impossible to cross this threshold of development capabilities; it's also impossible to attain a higher level of social justice, which, according to surveys, is a priority for Poles.

Another unquestionable asset of Poland is the famous resourcefulness of Poles, but on the one condition that we learn how to use it without ruining the basis of a liberal-democratic system.

What role do politicians play in all this?
EU accession definitely opens new opportunities for the Polish political elite, but the opportunities cannot be clearly defined. After all, it may happen that the current elite will divide into two groups that will keep on pursuing their own interests, but in different contexts: one will be focused on making careers within EU institutions, and the other will form a local elite, struggling to survive from election to election. An optimistic version would require Polish politicians to finally understand that ruling is not just about holding offices and defending single values, but first of all about working out a coherent concept for the future life of Polish society, starting with an answer to what kind of capitalism we want to build in Poland. After all, these days there are many different models to choose from. They should all be discussed and the one that offers the best chances for development should be chosen. Poland lacks such discussions.

Polish politicians would have to find out for themselves, or be persuaded, that in the new situation, thinking in terms of long-term interests can be more profitable than thinking "from election to election."

Do you see any chance of this kind of transformation?
It will be seen over the next few months as, evidently, the plan by Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner [concerning repair of the state's finances by rationalizing state expenditures, primarily by cuts in the social sector-ed.] is such an attempt to adopt a long-term perspective. It even features an unprecedented argument addressed to the opposition: "Help us now so you don't have to do it yourselves later on."

The chance to "improve" Polish politicians also depends on joining this kind of social dialogue by others elites-intellectuals and businesspeople. The discussion should also include this more or less one-quarter of Polish society that does not need to "enter Europe," as it is already there, accepting principles the same as those underlying the European civilization of today. These days, one can get the impression that those people have chosen a sort of "inner emigration." They try to create a substitute West by, for example, working for foreign companies that operate in Poland, shopping in stores selling products of well-known Western companies, living in guarded, luxurious neighborhoods, or even just by taking interest in the problems that concern better developed societies in the West. As a result, Poland seems to have more animal rights activists than those fighting for the right of children in rural areas to a better education. I don't mean to say that the former are unimportant; I simply want to emphasize the kind of disproportion and detachment from the most vital problems of our society.

Perhaps the "critical mass" which can change the performance of Polish politicians will also be constituted by certain factors that will emerge once Poland joins the EU. However, we're still talking about a qualitative change, which is one of the most mysterious subjects for analysis in social sciences. You can extract factors that favor such a change, but you still don't know how to obtain the desired values of these factors. Experience in other countries shows, for example, that it would certainly do no harm to improve the education level of the entire society. But how is it possible to do this in a country that struggles with a budget deficit? How to persuade politicians that they should put their own benefits at risk for the sake of social development?

If I knew the recipe for efficient implementation of this sort of recommendation, I would be making millions selling social engineering packages. Nevertheless, if we keep saying that nothing will work, it won't. But if we tell ourselves that something should and can be done then perhaps we'll make it.

We have talked about politicians and their role; how will Polish society as a whole change? In what way can it shake off this "ugly duckling complex" and find its place in the European family?
The question, in fact, concerns Poles' ability to undertake collective action. If one thinks of society not as a group of individuals, but as a certain way of functioning together, the crucial question is: have Poles attained such a level of "societalization" that they are able to act as a group and have something in common despite all the differences?

Surveys show that we manage fine as individuals, but perform worse as a society and a country. You could say that ties between Poles are much looser than those between citizens of Western countries, and even if we enter into closer relations with others, it usually doesn't work in favor of society as a whole. The dominant types are family ties, cliques, client-customer contacts-ones that rely on private relations between individuals. There are virtually no relations based on trust for someone with whom you interact on the public level, someone with whom you could reach an agreement, find a common interest subordinating your present individual interests to future greater benefits.

Today, the average Pole is convinced that it's possible to achieve much more by ignoring interests other than one's own. Knowing that most compatriots do just the same, the average Pole has no motivation whatsoever to do otherwise. This creates a kind of a "social trap," as even if we are aware that changing social habits would be beneficial to all, we adjust to those best known ways of acting as individuals, because in the short run it brings us relatively greater benefits, though it costs us much more in the long run.

For many years, Poles' behavior resulted from the necessity to survive in disadvantageous conditions imposed by external powers against the will of the majority. Today, we have reached a point in history where it seems that we should abandon that mode in favor of cooperation, following rules adopted by modern civilization...

All surveys and polls show that an overwhelming majority of Poles wants to do so and they strongly emphasize the will.

...but to want is one thing and to actually do something is completely different.
People are actually rational beings. They try to act in line with a rule which is more scientifically called "maximizing one's own utilities" or more simply-enlarging your own chances and profits in life. Still, this rationality is limited to common-sense knowledge. So, when in today's Poland the dominant element of such a knowledge is that you win only if you work on your own, or in an informal group, even the most ardent advocates of community rules have to break down at some point and resort to those proven ways of achieving one's goal, by taking shortcuts.

What can facilitate the process of Polish society's adaptation to European standards?
First and foremost, an extensive increase of spending on education. Education plays a dual role in today's world. It ensures greater competence and better flexibility and it changes the mentality of people, providing them with the possibility to see the world from a different perspective. People with an education below the secondary level find it hard to comprehend the complex processes of today's world, as they are unable to think in systematic terms, to capture relations between more abstract categories. Consequently, they cannot see how their own actions translate into general social effects.

The society of Poland has not yet exceeded a 50-percent threshold of people with at least secondary-level education. The percentage in Western societies is 70, 80 and even 90 percent. The point is not for everybody to get a college education, but to have a minimum cognitive competence enabling a qualitative change in one's perception of the world. Investing in education is thus the best way not only from the point of view of an individual or family, but from the state's point of view as well.

posted by: Oborski at 12:30 | link | comments |

There is “no possibility” that Warsaw will surrender to German pressure for a climb down on EU voting power, Poland’s president has said.

Poland resisted Berlin calls for a Warsaw white flag when Aleksander Kwasniewski met German premier Gerhard Schroeder for crunch talks on Thursday.

He warned Berlin that Poland is ready to veto an EU constitutional treaty which weakens Warsaw’s hand in an enlarged Europe.

“If the position is what is in the treaty, without the chance for compromise, we cannot say yes,” he told the BBC.

And discussions failed to bridge the gap between the two countries as Europe’s constitution negotiations enter the end game.

“If I were to be a prophet today, there seems to be no possibility of an agreement, with such a rigid stance on the part of Germany and Poland's determined and strongly-argued position,” Kwasniewski said.

“If Germany's position is unchangeable, then our position is also unchangeable.”

This weekend Europe’s constitutional negotiations are set to go to the brink on the Nice 2000 deal that allows Spain and Warsaw to punch above their weight at councils of EU ministers.

The issue is Poland’s hottest domestic political issue with opposition parties taking a tough “Nice or death” stance against the country’s fragile centre-left coalition.

Speaking on Wednesday Polish foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz claimed he was upholding the “European ideal” by defending a decision-making method which boosts Spain and Warsaw’s clout to a par with the EU’s heaviest hitters.

“We are deeply convinced that Poland is defending the European ideal in its battle,” he told FT Europe.

Rome’s EU presidency – overseeing the talks – is confident that a deal can be done and a European constitution sealed by December 14.

Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi believes he has a winning trick up his sleeve, but the colourful EU president-in-office is keeping his cards close to his chest.

“I have a formula in my pocket that recognises Poland and Spain as great countries. I shall pull it out at the last minute, and we'll see if they accept it,” he said on Wednesday.

Spain and Poland are opposed to proposals for a ‘double majority’ vote at key councils of European ministers.

Under the plan 50 per cent of ministers who represent 60 per cent of the EU’s population will carry the day.

Madrid and Warsaw wish to keep the Nice Treaty’s politically weighted vote system where both countries get extra clout.

Germany has 29 votes under the present balance reflecting its population of 82 million.

Madrid gets 27 votes with 39 million citizens – almost the same clout as Berlin but with less than half the population.

Poland, set to enter the EU next May, has the same deal as Spain – 27 votes and 38 million people.

One option on the table is to kick the row over voting strengths into the long grass for up to five years.

The Nice Treaty is in effect for the next five years and under one compromise the EU would wait and see with a “rendez vous” to revisit the issue further down the line.

Speaking in Naples two weeks ago UK foreign minister Jack Straw claimed that “broad support” existed for a proposal delaying decision until 2009.

Other options include moves to tweak the current 50/60 ‘double majority’ proposal to 50/66 or 60/60.

The Nice deal stacks up to a 50/62 double majority and key EU players will not accept a new constitution that makes securing a decision even more difficult.

posted by: Oborski at 09:35 | link | comments |

It would be a reasonable move to postpone the decision on the Nice voting system until later’, claims Poland’s foreign minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz. On the eve of EU’s summit in Brussels the head of Polish diplomacy expressed hope for a compromise to be found in the Belgian capital, he denied any knowledge as to what kind of compromise Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi intends to present at the summit. Berlusconi, who will chair the talks, said, without disclosing details, he had devised a compromise that might solve the key dispute over member states' voting rights which pits Germany and France against Spain and Poland.
Warsaw and Madrid will defend the retention of the decision-making system written down in the Nice treaty, which gives both countries a number of seats in the European Parliament comparable to that of Germany and France. The most recent proposal of the European Convetion is less favourable for Poland.

A team of doctors will accompany prime minister Leszek Miller during today’s special session of the government to be held on the eve of tomorrow’s EU summit in Brussels. For the time being prime minister Miller remains in hospital after last Thursday’s helicopter crash. Although not fully recovered, the cabinet head wants to attend the Brussels summit.

Foreign investment in Poland...

Direct foreign investments in Poland in 2003 will remain at last year’s level emounting to 5 – 6 billion dollars. According to Sebastian Mikosz, deputy head of the Polish Agency for Information and Foreign Investment the figure is too low to guarantee a 5-per-cent economic growth planned by the government, as at least 8 billion dollars of foreign capital could help to achieve this. Moreover, the privatisation process has been practically stopped, said Sebasttian Mikosz. France is the first biggest investor in Poland, Dutch presence comes next. 2000 was a record year as Polish economy attracted 10 billion dollars from foreign investors.

Rail hunger strike...

Hunger strike of workers of the National railways PKP continues. The number of protesters increased from 56 to 70 today. They are demanding that both the government and the PKP authorities fulfil the agreement signed in November. In the document the government pledged to present a programme of restructuring the Polish railways. Trade unionists are complaining that one month afterwards no restructuring plan has been presented. In addition, more and more train connections are being suspended. The strike is in its 4th day in Warsaw, and has been joined in by PKP employees from other major Polish cities. Talks with government officials are scheduled for tonight.

Suicide bid...

It took police negotiators nearly three hours to convince a 27-year-old man who climbed a crane in central Warsaw not to jump. Soon after 7 this morning the man reached the top of the crane, spread up to 50 meters above the ground. An ambulance, police patrol and fire brigade arrived at the spot immediately. A team of three negotiators established contact with the would-be suicider from the roof of a nearby hotel and persuaded the man to come down nearly three hours later.

posted by: Oborski at 23:53 | link | comments |

"The workers renovating the room-which had been sealed for some time-thought it was a work of art, some kind of avant-garde sculpture."
-Laslo Bartha, press spokesman of the Budapest police, where the mummified body of a suicide was found in the building of the Academy of Fine Arts; according to experts, the man had hanged himself five years earlier

"Most Poles want strong leadership. I may disagree with my brother and sometimes we argue, but with a president-prime minister situation we would not trip each other up."
-Jaros³aw Kaczyñski, leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, when asked whether PiS supporters are discouraged by the prospect of him becoming prime minister while his twin brother Lech, now mayor of Warsaw, wants to run for Polish presidency

"The talks started in the evening. I didn't know railway customs, so I didn't know they would want to negotiate all night long because they have to wait to catch the morning trains home."
-Maciej Leœny, deputy minister of infrastructure, who was surprised by the length of negotiations with a strike committee of one of the railway trade unions

"In the latest editions there is more and more information about the negative traits of Poles; reminding everyone that Poland was once called 'the sick man of Europe'."
-Prof. Adam Suchoñski from the Institute of History at Opole University, who has analyzed European school textbooks for years, on the changes in the image of Poland on the eve of its EU accession

"I did it out of envy-I can't even afford the cheapest of cars."
-A 19-year-old from Skar¿ysko, caught by the police after having slashed the tires of 70 cars over a period of three nights

posted by: Oborski at 17:49 | link | comments |

The 2004 Polish Festival in U.K. will take place on July 11th 2004 in Slough and NOT Bletchley Park as in previous years.

posted by: Oborski at 17:25 | link | comments |

Polish prime minister Leszek Miller, who was injured in a helicopter crash last week, has had a telephone conversation with his British counterpart Tony Blair about the final shape of a constitution for an enlarged Europe. They were due to meet in London but the visit had to be cancelled.

Mr Miller told Mr Blair that Poland fully supported the British view expressed by foreign secretary Jack Straw in Naples ten days ago. Mr Straw then said that the voting system drawn up in the Nice Treaty was legally bound to stay in place until 2009 and therefore any decision on changes should be postponed for several years. President Kwaœniewski said that adopting the so-called rendez-vous clause on reviewing whether Nice is working or not closer to 2009 would be a compromise solution acceptable for Poland.

President Kwasniewski will have talks with German Chancellor Schroeder in Warsaw tomorrow on the weekend summit in Brussels.

The most controversial point concerns voting powers in EU decision-making. Poland, alongside Spain, is against a simpler voting system taking more account of the population size which is proposed in the draft constitution.

The president expressed the hope that prime minister Miller would be able to attend the summit. His condition has improved after a day of physical rehabilitation and criotherapy in a low-temperature chamber.

The Polish prime minister is determined to go to Brussels. If he is allowed to go, he will be accompanied by two doctors and a rehabilitation specialist.

The Polish cabinet is soon to decide on leasing four helicopters for VIPs. A small-size aircraft is also to be leased next year to service Warsaw-Brussels flights for Polish representatives in the European Union. The cabinet has also debated a package of adjustments in social spending and other reforms under a plan drawn by Jerzy Hausner, deputy prime minister and minister of the economy. The proposed measures include evening out the retirement age for men and women, reforming medical care and reducing the amount of red tape faced by businesses. The government says the introduction of the plan is crucial for reducing the size of the budget deficit.

Early parliamentary elections should be held in Poland, concurrently with elections to the European Parliament on 4 June. A statement to this effect was made by a leader of the opposition Civic Platform. Donald Tusk told Polish Radio that the prestige of the Parliament has fallen so significantly in recent months that its decisions are unlikely to win popular support any longer. He said the bulk of responsibility for the falling prestige of Poland’s legislative body rests on the ruling Democratic Left Alliance SLD party of prime minister Miller. Two other opposition parties, the Leaque of Polish Families and Law and Justice, had earlier called for Parliament to dissolve itself. Meanwhile, the Civic Platform party has strengthened its opinion poll lead over the ruling social democrats. The poll by the CBOS Agency showed support for Platform, Poland’s most pro-market reform party, up to 26 percent from 22 percent in October.

A publicity campaign on Polish culture and the arts has begun in Austria It is sponsored by the Austrian Press Agency and follows similar campaigns on the other EU candidate countries, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Some 20 thousand litres of diesel fuel have leaked from a rail tank in southern Poland, close to the Czech border. It occured after a locomotive crashed into a freght train carrying liquid fuel. The fuel spill extends over an area of four kilometers but the rescue services have been successful in preventing the contamination of a nearby water reservoir.

The former Polish ski-jumping star, Wojciech Fortuna, winner of the 1972 Winter Games, has been detained by police in the Tatra town of Zakopane. He is accused of maltreating members of his family.

posted by: Oborski at 23:10 | link | comments |

Poland got its first budget airline on Monday as Air Polonia opened its first route from Warsaw to the Baltic coast.

Air Polonia is planning to fly to the UK from Monday 15 December, challenging budget airlines Ryanair and Easyjet for ticket sales.

The success of Ryanair and Easyjet's 'no frills' formula has spawned many imitators and the boom in budget travel shows no sign of slowing.

Its deputy chief executive, Jan Litwinski, is a former chief executive of Lot.

Air Polonia launched it services with a route from the Polish capital, Warsaw, to the Baltic port of Gdansk.

But from next week it will add flights to London. As well as Warsaw, its international routes will serve two other Polish cities, scenic past capital Poznan and industrial Katowice.

Poland is in the midst of reforming its air travel market as it prepares to join the European Union in 2004.

Lot was previously the only airline allowed to fly domestic routes. Air Polonia intends to fly two internal routes, to Wroclaw, one of Poland's oldest cities, and Gdansk.

Easyjet and Ryanair have yet to launch flights to Poland. Air Polonia's revamp - it used to be a cargo and charter carrier - means they will face competition if they do so.

Air Polonia is planning to expand its international routes to include Paris, Rome, Madrid, Brussels and Stockholm in 2004.

Lot has braced itself to face tougher competition on international routes by joining the Star Alliance, a global grouping of airlines which includes Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada.

Lot, which serves 48 European cities abroad and 12 Polish destinations, says its passenger numbers rose 5% in 2002 to 3.4 million.

posted by: Oborski at 12:16 | link | comments |

The condition of Prime Minister Leszek Miller, hurt in a helicopter crash last week, is improving, say doctors at one of Warsaw’s clinics where the 14 people injured in the crash have been hospitalised. Prime Minister Miller, who has two fractured vertebrae, said that in spite of everything he intends to be at the EU summit in Brussels this week. His confidence is not shared by doctors, although today he was allowed to walk a few steps.

Speaking from his hospital bed in an interview for Polish Radio today, Premier Miller said that American military bases in Poland could mean better Nato protection, as well as economic prospects and new jobs, although it could also bring increased threat of terrorist attacks. The Prime Minister was referring to today’s visit by officials from the Pentagon for the first talks on the possibility to construct Nato military bases in Poland. The delegation is led by deputy US defence secretary Douglas Feith.

Poland’s Minister for Europe Danuta Huebner took part in today’s meeting of chiefs of European diplomacy in Brussels, the last such meeting before the EU summit on December 12th and 13th. Danuta Huebner said that there were good signs for the draft constitution to be adopted, although this might take longer than by Saturday as provided by the schedule. Agricultural matters were high on the agenda of Minister Huebner’s visit, with Poland demanding from the EU adherence to the Accession Treaty in respect of farming subsidies and equal treatment for Polish dairy producers after expansion.

Meanwhile in Warsaw, Foreign Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz replaced Prime Minister Leszek Miller at a session of the National EU Integration Council. Minister Cimoszewicz said that Poland would determinedly stand by the Nice agreement in spite of the persistent opposition especially from France and Germany. The system adopted in Nice would give new member Poland a more voting power. He also expressed surprise at Friday’s appeal by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who asked Spain and Poland for a more flexible stance in respect of the draft constitution and the voting system in the EU Council.

Poland’s first budget airline, Air Polonia, took off today with flights from Warsaw to Gdañsk. Most of the 30 passengers on the virgin flight proved to be journalists. In spite of this Air Polonia is confident that it will be able to attract ordinary commuters. The ticket to Warsaw costs between 75 and 280 zloty (from around 20 to 70 USD) and is highly competitive with prices for the rail connection, although PKP Polish Railways say that they are not worried. In mid-December the airline launches flights to London and has announced that at the turn of April it wants to begin flying from Warsaw to Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Brussels, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Cologne.

A court in the mid-western city of Poznañ has prolonged for another 3 months detention of the conductor of a renowned boy’s choir, held on charges of paedophilia. At the same time the court decided that the man’s trial, to start in January, would be held behind closed doors. The conductor was arrested in June, after his name was indicated in connection with a major paedophile ring under investigation by the police. He is charged of taking advantage of his position as the choir’s director to sexually abuse three choristers. Prosecutors say that they have more than ninety witnesses which they want to call during the trial. The conductor’s defence asked for the trial to be public.

The Catholic University of Lublin today celebrates its 85th anniversary. The university was created in 1918 and signed into being in 1938 by Roman Catholic and State officials and is described as a private college. The motto of the university is “Deo et Patriae” (God and Homeland). KUL as it is known has 6 departments, including theology, law, mathematics and philosophy. It has 18 thousand curricular students.

The Baltic seaside resort of £eba has just closed its 5th annual festival devoted to... cod, which is the biggest event of its kind organized in Poland. The fish became the focus of around 200 dishes prepared by local restaurateurs, representatives of canneries and ethnic minorities, as well as visitors from abroad. The hit of the festival was a cod and onion dish from Gudhjen on the Island of Bornholm. Among others, the three thousand guests at the festival could sample smoked, baked, fried, roasted or battered cod as well as caviare.

While on the subject of seaside resorts – the sad news is that 68% of the Polish population did not go anywhere on holiday this year and did not plan on going anywhere in the coming few weeks, says a just-published opinion probe by the CBOS researchers. The main reason given was a lack of funds. Nonetheless, one in three were still planning a holiday away from home around Christmas. 71% of those who did have a holiday spent it in Poland, most visiting family or friends. Only 8% went on a foreign package tour.

And a look at the weather in Poland tomorrow: clear in the south-west and western regions, with fog patches in the morning locally. The remainder of the country is in for a cloudy and misty day with drizzle that may start to freeze in the south and east. Maximum temperatures from 0 deg.C in the south to plus 5 on the Baltic Sea coast in the north. Wind light and moderate, southerly.

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

Doctors say that Prime Minister Leszek Miller is in good condition after Thursday’s helicopter crash which left the Premier and several of his entourage in hospital. The Polish Premier has two fractured vertebrae.In a telephone conversation with Polish radio this morning the premier said he is feeling better , and hopes that on Monday the doctors will allow him to get out of bed. Leszek Miller has announced that he cannot imagine not going to next week’s EU summit in Brussels, where the final decisions concerning the EU constitution may be taken.The Prime Minister admitted that after the crash steps should be taken to provide the government with new air transport .The MI –8 Soviet made helicopter which carried the premier and several staff members was 26 years old.At a press conference yesterday a spokesman for the Chief of Staff said that until the causes of the crash are found, all government flights on Mi-8 helicopters have been stopped. The machine went down after suffering engine trouble some 20kms outside Warsaw. A special commission is investigating the accident. One of the pilots of the helicopter is in serious condition.

SLD discuss EU plans...

The national Council of the ruling SLD democratic left alliance is meeting today to discuss Poland’s preparations to EU accession. Deputy head of the SLD Jozef Oleksy said that the meeting will also be devoted to negotiations on the EU constitution, adding that Poland continues to stand firm in its demands concerning the document. Among them the preamble referring to Christian roots of Europe, blocking the possibility of creating military alliances within the EU which would be competitive with NATO as well as maintaining the Nice agreed system of the division of votes , granting Poland only 2 less votes than the EU giants like France or Germany.

NATO may take on Polish sector...

It would be a success for Nato to take over the Polish sector in Iraq and it would not diminish Poland’s political role in the region, according to Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski. Minister Szmajdzinski said that it would be ‘logical and natural’ for Nato to take responsibility for the situation in Iraq some time in the future and would be conducive to stabilising the situation there. He added that taking over the Polish and British sectors should be considered. The Polish Defence Minister also said that after 4 years in Nato, Polish officers had managed to successfully form a unique international division consisting of soldiers from 23 countries and Poland was collecting high opinions. On Thursday Washington for the first time turned to Nato for support in Iraq, as currently the Alliance is only involved indirectly via the Polish division there.

Tax could hit tourism...

The chairman of the Polish chamber of Tourism Jan Korsak has warned that the planned introduction of a 22% VAT tax on tourism , as of May 1st 2004 will mean the loss of competitiveness for the Polish tourist industry.Jan Korsak added that in such a situation entailing a rise of costs Polish tourists would most probably turn to spending their holidays abroad instead of choosing attractive but expensive resorts in Poland.

Gorecki at 70...

The prominent Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki is 70 today.He’s universally hailed as one of the most original voices in contemporary music and his Third Symphony, thanks to an EMI recording in the early nineties , made him one of the most popular composers of our time. Gorecki’s music is performed throughout the world.It has been used by some of the world’s top film makers and choreographers.He has received honorary doctorates from many universities and music academies in Poland and abroad.On the eve of his birthday he was honoured by the Music Academy in the Silesian capital of Katowice, from which he graduated and where he served as Rector. Today Katowice is the scene of a unique celebration of Gorecki and his music: a marathon of his entire output, from his debut pieces of five decades ago to the latest ones.

St.Nicholas day...

December 6th is St.Nicholas day, otherwise known in Poland as Santa’s day. As is the Polish custom children receive small gifts from Santa which they usually find under their pillows or in shoes placed under the bed.The presents are small, being just a prelude to Santa’s generosity on Christmas Eve , when huge parcels are found under Christmas tree.
The tradition of celebrating the day back to the 4th century, and commemorates bishop Nicholas from Central Asia who was known for helping the poor.Bishop Nicholas died on December 6th 352 and for his generosity and help was declared saint.

Today also marks the 50 th death anniversary of Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski , one of Poland’s greatest poets of the 20th century.

Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski had a knack for creating suggestive poetic pictures, sometimes grotesque and ironical. He did not represent any kind of school- once the type of the traditionalist, next the arrogant member of the boheme. His irony and at the same time soft lyricism has made Galczynski a very popular poet.He created his own individual style , which many critics found unacceptable because they said it was written for the public..Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski was known for his spontaneous humour, for mixing grotesque with serious tones which soon became the hallmark of Poland’s cabaret and satire. His Green Goose theatre, a literary miniature bordering on the absurd and grotesque became part of everyday language among Poles.The year 2003 was proclaimed Galczynski’s year by the Polish parliament.To wind down all celebrations an international session devoted to the poet will be held in Cambridge in late December.

Friends of Poland...

Journalists Karolina Zhekova from Ukraine, Bennie Mold from Holland and Igor Gahlkanov from Russia have been honoured with the title of ‘Friend of Poland’. The title is awarded to journalists who in their reports bring Poland closer to people in other countries and encourage them to come here. ‘Friend of Poland’ is an initiative of Radio Polonia Director Micha³ Maliszewski.

Solidarity and Sweden...

Poland’s former president Lech Walesa and the Swedish foreign minister Leila Freivalds have opened an exhibition devoted to the Solidarity trade union and the Swedish help to Poland’s anticommunist opposition in the 70’s and 80’s . “With Solidarity to Europe” as the exhibition is called shows that the 70’s and 80’s Polish opposition has created foundations to bring Poland closer to a united Europe.Opening the event the head of the Swedish diplomacy underlined the importance of the oppostion in opening Poland’s door towards Europe, Lech Walesa thanked all those who have helped the movement. The Stockholm exhibition is one of the events winding up the Polish Year in Sweden, several dozen events had been held throughout the year, many as part of the regional co-operation : 14 Polish regions have their partnetrs in Scandinavia.

And the weather...

A look at the weather in Poland it is a windy day with showers, snowfall and sun intertwining during the day. Gusty strong winds have uprooted trees in the south east ,cutting off power supplies in many villages. Winter has attacked the region with heavy snowfall and sleet making driving conditions hazardous. Similar road conditions prevail in the north east. Gusty winds reach up to 90km per hour, while on the Baltic coast even up to 110 km.Temperatures range from minus 1 degree Celsius to plus 6 , but are to drop significantly at the end of the day.

posted by: Oborski at 23:48 | link | comments |

This page is my personal property and does not reflect official views. Obviously I try to ensure that "information" is accurate but I reserve the right to include opinions that are controversial if they are stimulating and thought provoking and even if I do not agree with them personally!

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

posted by: Oborski at 15:05 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

"There are dinosaurs like Krzysztof Janik who believe that they have the right to smoke anywhere."
-Prof. Witold Zatoñski, an oncologist actively working in the Polish anti-nicotine movement, on the minister of internal affairs and administration

"Given all that I said at the prosecutor's office, I have nothing more to add; I can only sing and dance, because I have nothing more to say."
-President Aleksander Kwaœniewski, arguing against an idea to summon him as a witness before the Sejm commission probing into the Rywingate scandal

"Frankly speaking, I've gotten lost in the dozens of new initiatives [of rightist politicians not represented in parliament]; but, as I understand, £êczyca was for those who have nothing to lose."
-Adam Bielan, spokesman for Law and Justice (PiS), on the chances of the new rightist group whose establishment was announced during a meeting at £êczyca Castle by former Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek and a group of his ministers

"We hope that priests working in the farming communities will actively join the campaign to inform residents about issues linked with European integration."
-An employee at the Agriculture Restructuring and Modernization Agency (ARiMR), on the information policy of his institution

"He attempted to bring about a fairer-in his opinion-distribution of canned meat; the matter was quickly taken care of: he got one extra can and calmed down immediately."
-A police officer from Górowo I³aweckie, Warmia-Mazuria province, on an unemployed 39-year-old who, dissatisfied with his allotment of free food from the Municipal Social Welfare Center, attacked the town's mayor with an axe

"Entrance gate-Do not park here or you'll end up in a tire repair shop."
-A warning on a Warsaw garage.

posted by: Oborski at 14:57 | link | comments |

An Overdue Column About a November Anniversary...
From Warsaw Voice
3 December 2003

"...today's Poles have at least two reasons to celebrate their country that regained its independence 85 years ago. The first is a sense of normalcy. The second-a sense of success and optimism."

Poland is unlucky. When Poles go away on vacation, the weather in their own country becomes hot and sunny. Once they return it starts to drizzle and rain, and towns and villages are covered in dreary, all-pervasive fog. The bad luck of the Poles goes even further: when the drizzle and fog is at its height comes the month of the greatest, at least according to the Constitution, Polish holiday-Independence Day.

I waited for nearly a month for any signs of joy among the Poles at the anniversary of their country having regained its independence after years of captivity. I waited through the whole time that started with a meager parade before a visibly bored president, officials with solemn faces and a small group of senior citizens and tourists. There was nothing there of the French July 14th euphoria, nothing spontaneous: slightly more Polish than American films on TV, and employees bickering with their bosses over a day off in exchange for the official holiday which fell on a Saturday.

Meanwhile, today's Poles have at least two reasons to celebrate their country that regained its independence 85 years ago. The first is a sense of normalcy. The second-a sense of success and optimism. Both elements, so essential to Poles today, were first instilled in the Poles by their state as it came into being in that far-off November when Europe was starting to change out of army uniforms into business suits.

Prewar Poland gave the Poles what they had been deprived of for generations-a sense of success.

It started with the military triumph of 1920. It was the Poles' first victorious war in 250 years, and it was a victory against the Russians to boot.

The country was swiftly unified out of parts that had been divided among three civilizations, three economic and legal systems. A Polish administration, army, education system and the tissue of social and political organizations was established. The resultant society was law-abiding; in 1930, when Marshal Pi³sudski brutally quashed the opposition, everbody knew this was against prevailing standards. The country modernized itself rapidly. Modern industrial centers emerged: the Central Industrial Region, Ursus, Gdynia.

This allowed a myth of success to be created among the nation. The tradition of Polishness changed its moral meaning: it was no longer a tradition of defeat. In the education of prewar youth, the myth of martyrdom was gone. The myths created in those days were all about modernization, injecting great optimism-Poland as a maritime state, the myth of Polish aviation. These were the myths on which a patriotic generation was brought up that was no longer marked by enslavement, and it carried that optimism and national pride into the years after 1945.

The sense of success, the injection of optimism provided in the inter-war years had to last the Poles a long time; it became an argument for long-lasting hope.

n Poland received its share of compliments from various Anglo-Saxon gentlemen. The theoretician of capitalism, J.M. Keynes, called the country "an economic nonsense whose only industry is baiting Jews," while the silver-haired David Lloyd-George-when Polish miners fought against the German Freikorps on St. Anne's Hill in 1920-said he wouldn't give the Poles Silesia like he wouldn't "entrust a watch to a monkey." Actually, in 1939 this noble Welshman would say that Poland "met with the fate it deserved."

It's not important today to what degree the door to independence was opened by the constantly renewed armed battle for independence, by organic work on developing culture, the economy and preserving a national identity, or by historical coincidence. What's important is that for the Poles, normalcy meant independence. The whole of the national independence struggle of the Poles-those less joyful Italians of the continent's eastern part-the conspiracies, uprisings and diplomatic measures, were about one thing: that foreign countries not decide about the fate of the Polish nation, that they not impose their own political order upon it. The Poles attained this sense of independence after 1918 to a much greater degree than other medium-sized nations in Europe.

The Poles' optimism stemmed from the fact that Poland was not established as a vassal state, as the countries of the Entente wanted, nor as a Red Bridge, as the Bolsheviks wanted-to bring them closer to revolutionary Germany. In November 1918 Poland emerged as an independent and thus normal state, and was later independent even in its stupidest decisions, to mention its taking part in the partition of Czechoslovakia 20 years later.

It was independent with a complete independence-something impossible to achieve in the world of today.

What was that Poland really like?
Prewar Poland was a normal country with larger-than-normal problems, some of which it solved while being unable to cope with many others.

The towns of Gdynia and Stalowa Wola were built, but this country was also like its 1930 description by the liberal poet and columnist Antoni S³onimski: "Where the population is starving and lives in filth and poverty, a country where wages are the most miserable in Europe, where the health standard is lower than in the Balkans..."

The memory of prewar Poland, as yet without a sentimental veneer, the memory of starving villages and impoverished towns, cracking down on the parliament, anti-Semitic fracases and the September 1939 defeat, made it easier for many Poles to reconcile themselves to communism. The chauvinism that clouded the minds of most European nations at the time, muddled the already complicated ethnic relations. By the Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, the Poles' independence was long remembered as a time of demolishing of Orthodox churches, closing of schools, brutal police sieges on villages-a time of humiliation.

Independent Poland emerged during one of the worst periods for Europe. "This country was born in the fire of political fighting, among polemics, plotting and bargaining, loud scolding and secret undermining, operetta-style coups. But also police gunfire," wrote the great Polish historian Prof. Stefan Kieniewicz. "This shocked the good souls who had dreamed that in free Poland, paradise would appear of its own accord; everybody was happy at independence, though everybody pictured it differently."

Just like things are today, in the fourteenth year after the latest regaining of independence.

posted by: Oborski at 14:52 | link | comments |

In last minute news !!! – A helicopter with prime minister Leszek Miller on board was forced to make an emergency crash landing. According to still unconfirmed reports the prime minister has a fractured leg. 4 persons accompanying him sustained only minor injuries, however, one of the security agents is said to be in serious condition. The accident occured some 40 kilometers south of Warsaw in the late evening hours. The prime minister had been returning to the capital from Wroclaw in the southwest. A special commission has been called to establish the causes of the accident.

Iraq...

Speaking at the NATO foreign ministers session in Brussels, Polish head of diplomacy Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said it is high time to start discussing the Alliance’s fuller engagement in Iraq. Developments there, said Cimoszewicz, prove that the coalition is waging war on international terrorism there and not just struggling with local groups loyal to Saddam Hussein’s ideology. Responding to speculations of NATO considering taking over command of multinational forces in the south-central stabilization zone from Poland, the foreign minister expressed Polish interest in such an eventual proposition. He added, the matter should be settled at the Istanbul meeting of NATO leaders scheduled for June next year, the latest.

Miners Festival...

December 4th is St. Barbara’s day, the patron of Polish miners. The main celebrations traditionally take place in the southern Silesia region, the hub of coal mining. This year’s events have been modest in scope and character, as the industry has been experiencing a prolonged crisis resulting in a tight austerity scheme and major restructurization announced by the government. For the first time, none of the major govenment figures has met with the Silesian coal miners, preferring to honor extraction and excavation teams elswhere.
There are presently 150 thousand people employed in the extraction industry in Poland – roughly one third the number of barely a decade ago.

Bribery latest...

Jerzy Jaskiernia, head of the House majority SLD – Democratic Left Alliance club has been called in by the District Prosecutors Office in Warsaw as a witness. Today, he has testified for over six hours in an inquiery launched by allegations of independent MP Zbigniew Nowak. He claims Jaskiernia had recieved a 10 million dollar bribe from organized crime groups to influence legislation on taxation of lottery number machines. The case might be linked to Jaskiernia’s assistant Maciej Skorka, suspected of cooperating with the so-called Pruszkow gang, one of the most notorious underworld organizations in Poland.

Poland & Ukraine...

The Polish-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Coordinating Council has met in the eastern city of Lublin to discuss regional cooperation. One of the major discussion issues has been the promotion of various Ukrainian provinces through Polish EU regional offices in Brussels. Another important topic has been the reorganization of border crossings on Poland’s eastern frontier, in view of this country’s EU membership starting in May 2004.

Computers...

The computer math studies department of Warsaw University has innaugurated the operations of Poland’s first ultra modern data processing giant, the Cray X1. This latest generation computer is the first of its kind in Europe designated for non-commercial application. The ceremonious innauguration has been attended by president Aleksander Kwasniewski.

Polish year in Sweden...

The Polish Year in Sweden has been officially concluded with a concert of Polish carrols in the biggest Scandinavian cathedral in Uppsala. The music was performed by the Rzeszow Philharmonic Orchestra under Krzesimir Debski with solo parts sung by Ewa Malas- Godlewska. Present at the gala concert have been the Swedish and Polish culture ministers Marita Ulskuk and Waldemar Dabrowski, respectively. The Polish Year in Sweden has been held under the motto „Poland, Now!” and has consisted of a series of events, including political, conomic, scientific, media and cultural related conferences and presentations. Next year, Polish cultural attainments are to be shown to audiences in France and Ukraine.

Soldier injured...

A soldier of the Polish contingent in Iraq has sustained injuries after being hit by a van. During a highway convoy operation near Al-Hilla in the south-central zone, an Iraqi vehicle swerved while enterring from a side road hitting the traffic directing trooper. He was quickly taken to a hospital in Baghdad. Doctors say the soldier is in stable condition and should be released in a matter of days.

posted by: Oborski at 14:49 | link | comments |

3 December 2003

Maintenance of the Nice voting system in the European Union Council is becoming more feasible. Polish diplomacy owes its spectacular success at the conference in Naples to a strengthening alliance with Spain and unexpected support granted from Britain.

Europe is observing Polish diplomacy with increasing admiration, although in some capital cities it has met with clear discontent. After the conference of EU member and candidate countries that took place Nov. 28 and 29 in Naples, Foreign Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz did not conceal his satisfaction when saying that "a perfect balance" had been achieved between the supporters and opponents of the Nice voting system defended by Poland.

At the same time, the second party to the Nice conflict has not expressed any desire to conduct a dialogue on the issue. During his short working visit in Berlin before the Naples summit, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt warned that if Italy, which is now presiding over the European Union, gave in to the demands of countries by not accepting the constitution project created by d'Estaign and Fisher, Belgium would immediately present its own suggestions for changes in "a completely different direction." "It is not fair if only the reservations of countries which do not like the project are taken into account," said Verhofstadt.

Balancing act
"It is hard to express an opinion on the behavior of some countries," said Cimoszewicz at the conclusion of the meeting of foreign ministers from the 25 current and future EU member countries. "But support for the Nice idea and for the double majority system are maintained at the same level today."

Cimoszewicz left Naples in "a much more optimistic" mood than when he arrived. According to Cimoszewicz, "the soundest solution" would be to put off discussion of a possible change in the Nice system, which was unexpectedly supported in Naples by Foreign Minister of Great Britain Jack Straw. Previously, only Poland and Spain opposed the replacement of the Nice system with a new one that would weaken their position in the Council.

According to Straw, the suggestion for a favorable resolution to the conflict beneficial to Warsaw and Madrid was put forward by chair of the meeting, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. "If Nice is to remain in force through at least 2009, and it is only 2003 now, why should we argue about it now?" said Straw, adding that among the ministers gathered in Naples he had met with strong support for the clause suggested by Frattini, according to which a meeting on the issue would be organized in 2009. "It would enable us to put off making decisions until the moment when we will possess much more information on the effectiveness of the Nice system," said Straw.

However, diplomats from other countries warned that France, Germany and Belgium had not changed their minds and that they strongly supported the idea of an immediate decision on the voting system.

The German Süddeutsche Zeitung daily described the British stand as "incomprehensible." "The idea to put off searching for a solution to the touchy issue of power in Brussels until 2009, that is to put it off by six years, borders on sabotage," reads one newspaper commentary. "Straw has thus removed the pressure exerted on Warsaw and Madrid aimed at making them change their stand."

According to Cimoszewicz, after the meeting in Naples "we are much closer to" either winning acceptance of this solution or simply maintaining the Nice system. He therefore believes it possible that the ultimate text of the EU constitution could be agreed upon at the EU summit Dec. 13 in Brussels.

According to the Polish foreign minister, eight of the 25 countries supported the Nice system, three of which "said that they were also open to other solutions." Six other countries found both the Nice voting system and the double majority system acceptable in the constitution. "It can be said that 14 countries either supported Nice or found this solution equally favorable as the double majority," said Cimoszewicz. He did not name those countries, however.

According to the double majority system suggested by the European Convention, passing a decision in the EU Council would require the support of an ordinary majority of member countries representing at least 60 percent of European Union's population.

Cimoszewicz also said that "an overwhelming majority" of the 25 members of the future Union wanted each country to have a right to send one commissioner with full voting rights to the European Commission, and that "a vast majority" of them supported the idea of group presidency in the EU Council put forward by Poland (three countries at a time for 12 months instead of a single country for six months, as it is today.)

Defending the middle
Poland owes a significant part of its success in Naples to a diplomatic alliance concerning the issue of Nice established with Spain. The growing strength of this alliance was demonstrated by the first intergovernmental consultation talks in the history of both countries between prime ministers Leszek Miller and José Maria Aznar Nov. 25 in Madrid. After the talks, both prime ministers took a stand in defense of the compromise underlying the Nice treaty. "There is no reason to change the Nice decision-making system in the EU Council," said the prime ministers, describing attempts to change the system before its entry into force as "strange."

According to both prime ministers, the European Convention did not have a mandate to consider institutional issues or to present solutions concerning the voting system. Both Miller and Aznar emphasized the fact that the Nice system would have to be tested in practice. "We and Spain will both present our opinion on the issue in a very fundamental and resolved way," said Miller. "Although many people say that we should not die for Nice, I say we should not shoot it either," he added. According to Aznar, it is best for the European Union to observe treaties which have already been ratified, including the Nice Treaty.

According to Miller, there is no doubt that deviations from Nice will eliminate the chance for ratification of the Constitution Treaty in Poland either by the parliament or in a referendum, if one were organized.

Similar Polish/Spanish intergovernmental consultation talks are to be held every year. The next talk will be organized in 2004 in Warsaw.

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

Poland and France have failed to narrow their differences over a European Union constitution, but French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin stressed their historic friendship in the run-up to the bloc’s enlargement. On what was the first visit by a French premier in four years, Raffarin hailed Poland as a friend of France for ten centuries while his Polish counterpart Leszek Miller called relations with Poland’s largest foreign investor ‘excellent’.

On the EU constitution, he reiterated France’s view that it is necessary to stick to the text of the convention chaired by former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing. He warned against pursing narrow national interests, hinting at Poland’s fight to defend the voting formula agreed at the Nice summit three years ago.

Bribe investigation...

Poland’s parliamentary speaker has pledged a thorough investigation into allegations that a ruling party lawmaker may have taken a bribe to amend a gambling bill. ‘We will publish a ‘white book’ detailing parliamentary work on this bill’ speaker Marek Borowski said. He dismissed opposition calls for parliament to dissolve itself, saying it urgently needed to pass dozens of bills to prepare Poland for EU membership. A prosecutor’s office is probing allegations that Jerzy Jaskiernia, chief of the Democratic Left Alliance’s caucus, took a 10-million dollar bribe from lobbyists to influence parliament’s vote on the gambling bill. He firmly denied any wrongdoing.

Corruption trial...

The trial of the main actor in Poland’s biggest ever corruption scandal opens tomorrow, when film producer Lew Rywin steps into the dock. He is accused of having asked media group Agora for a 17-million-dollar bribe on behalf of prime minister Leszek Miller’s party. In exchange, the Parliament would change Poland’s media ownership laws, which are being amended, in such a way as to allow Agora, publisher of the best-selling Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, to acquire the commercial television station Polsat. Rywin is the only person charged in the scandal. He faces three years in prison. Prime minister Miller himself, although not a direct suspect, was questioned by a parliamentary committee of inquiry which is currently wrapping up its work.

Go for it girl...

The Rzeszów branch of the ruling Democratic Left Alliance in south-eastern Poland has adopted a resolution on the presidential elections in 2005. Party members expressed the hope that Jolanta Kwaœniewska, the wife of president Aleksander Kwasniewski, will decide to run for the post. The resolution says that such decision would be good for Poland and for the Democratic Left Alliance. This is the first time the ruling leftist party expressed support for Jolanta Kwasniewska in an official document. According to a recent opinion poll, if the presidential elections were held today the First Lady would take 53 percent of the vote, winning in the first round.

David Lynch exhibition...

The American film director David Lynch has opened an exhibition of his photographs and paintings in the city of Lodz, often called the Polish Manchester. Thirty black-and-white photos feature body shots and architectural details of Lodz, a city that flouriched during the industrial revolution but is now synonymous in Poland for urban grit and decay.

The exhibition is one of the sideline events of the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage which is on in the city until the end of the week. It is Poland’s most successful and prestigious film festival. The Australian duo of director Peter Weir and cinematographer Russell Boyd received Camerimage Golden Grog awards for their collaboration on ‘Master and Commander. The Far Side of the World’.

On previous visits to £odz, Lynch documented the city’s defunct 19th-century red brick factories and the palatial residences of their owners. He has revealed plans to set up an independent film studio in Lódz.

Warmest November...

November 2003 was one of the warmest Novembers in many decades. The highest temperature – 18.9 degrees celsius – was registered in the city of Krakow on November 1.

posted by: Oborski at 20:45 | link | comments |

from Warsaw Voice...

"In the light of law, since she sired children as a man who was named Tomasz P. at that time, she must pay for their maintenance even in her new incarnation as a woman."
-A representative of a family court in northern Poland about a case against Katarzyna H., who evades paying child support; she underwent surgery and changed her sex to a woman a few years ago

"In 1990 we weighed the Polish law: The Dziennik Ustaw journal of laws weighed 4 kilograms; in 2002-42 kilograms."
-Janusz Wojciechowski from the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), deputy Sejm speaker, on the fact that an average citizen is unable to find their way through the growing jungle of legal regulations

"I know that for many of my colleagues Leszek Miller is like the pope: even discussing his resignation is iconoclastic."
-Krzysztof Martens, leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) in Podkarpacie province, on the situation in the party where it is often suggested that its leader, who heads the government, should resign

"I don't know yet whether it will be a comedy or a tragedy."
-Bohdan Lewandowski, a deputy from the SLD, a member of the Sejm commission investigating the Rywingate scandal, on his plans to write a book after the commission completes its work and prepares a final report

"When I don't like someone, I find it terribly difficult to work with them."
-Lech Kaczyñski, a leader of Law and Justice (PiS) and mayor of Warsaw, on the personnel changes in the City Hall he has made over the last year

"It is an addiction just like drug abuse or alcoholism, and it is much more difficult to cure because you can't write a prescription for abstinence."
-Piotr Barczak, a psychologist specializing in treating sexual addiction

"Cześć!"

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Interesting article from The New York Times...

Poland Takes Pride in Assertive Stance Toward Neighbors

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