Polish Consulate...

Nato Summit in Turkey

Poland’s President Aleksander Kwaśniewski today arrives in Turkey for the two-day Nato summit beginning in Istanbul tomorrow. One of the main subjects to be discussed at the meeting is Nato support for the operation in Iraq. The summit also formally welcomes in seven new members. The Polish president is accompanied in Istanbul by foreign and defence ministers Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Jerzy Szmajdziński.

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Violence in the Polish Zone in Iraq

A car-bomb explosion in Al-Hilla has killed 40 people and wounded 22. Al-Hilla lies in the Polish stabilization zone in Iraq. The explosion happened in front of the city’s biggest mosque. All of the victims are civillians. Late last night a patrol of coalition forces which included Polish troops was fired at in the area of Al-Hindjia between Al-Hilla and Karbala but none of the soldiers were hurt. The recent wave of bombing attacks and violence comes days before administration in the province is to be taken over by Iraqis.

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Warsaw's Okęcie Airport Stall

Havoc finally ended at Warsaw’s main Frederic Chopin airport in Okęcie when the luggage system was restored to operation. On Saturday, passengers faced long delays when a new luggage security system refused to work and the airport had to revert to equipment which had been inactive for some time. A representative for Polish Airports said they had ‘no idea’ why the system, which was brand new, failed and that it took almost three hours before a specialist service team arrived. She added that it was the first time the airport had to deal with this kind of trouble.

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Volunteers are wanted for the 6th international white stork census to begin in July. During the last census it proved that around a quarter of the world’s white storks - that is some 40 thousand pairs - nest in Poland. Volunteers can apply to the National Coordinator in Wrocław. More details on the webpage www.bociany.pl.
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From Warsaw Voice

"In a democracy, parliamentary games are a substitute for battle; if the deputies could, they would be shooting at each other."
-Zyta Gilowska, a deputy from the Civic Platform (PO), on the atmosphere in the Sejm

"If the Poles are not playing, I support the Catholics, then the Christians, then the Jews, and then Muslims, and I always support anyone playing against the Germans."
-Marian Piłka, a deputy from Law and Justice (PiS), on who he roots for during soccer matches

"Once, I appealed, to my appendix to stop hurting, but that didn't help. It had to be removed."
-Maciej Rybiński, a well-known rightist political commentator and columnist,
on the recent appeals by Polish intellectuals for healing the state and overcoming the political crisis

"He returned to prison the same day and explained that he had thought everything over and wanted to serve out his entire sentence after all."
-Warden of a prison in Kikity (Warmia-Mazuria province) on a prisoner serving a 10-month sentence for burglary, who managed to escape

"Patients told the doctors that they had seen a small white bird at night, but everyone thought they were delusional."
-A worker from the Warsaw zoo about an albino wood owl born in the forest near a mental hospital in Konstancin near Warsaw

"I'm no angel; unfortunately, that's true."
-Pavlo Lazarenko, former prime minister of Ukraine, in a court in San Francisco, where he is facing charges of over 50 financial scams

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From Warsaw Voice

Instead of voting for Euro-parliamentarians, the Poles preferred to enjoy their weekend.

Instead of getting excited at their first opportunity to vote after joining the European Union, millions of Poles chose the excitement of the European soccer championship.

Barely one in five Poles marched to the polls. The rest stayed home, an expression of their delight with the beautiful weather and their revulsion for the political class.

The people that did go have provided Strasbourg with a decent contingent of Euro-skeptics, populists and bigots. Because, the grannies were all there, shuffling obediently to the polls after Sunday mass, to vote against the Freemasons, godless people and supporters of euthanasia in Europe, and to vote for the League of Polish Families (LPR), unexpectedly hiking it to second place nationwide.

Nor were the pro-Europeans—young, wealthy and educated—a disappointment. It was to them that the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) owes its top result, though its 24 percent looks rather pale when compared to the nearly one-third of the votes won by the anti-European populists from the LPR and Samoobrona.

The elections to the European Parliament caused an outbreak of whining about Polish citizens’ political passivity. True, the 20-percent turnout is a poor result. But remember that in the elections to the Sejm, which are far more important to the average person, not much more than half the voters go to the polls, while the historic election of 1989 that led to the democratic transformation saw 40 percent of people staying at home.

Most of the whiners are the people who contribute the most to the burnout of the Poles’ political energy—Polish politicians. The compromised parliament, the fierce and brutal party fighting, the heavy fog of corruption scandals, the low quality of people making a living from Polish politics—the kind of people you wouldn’t invite home to mother: this is the main reason why decent people don’t feel like making the effort to choose anyone from this bickering mob.

The Poles like their political theater to feature polite, composed actors in peaceful, dignified plays.

If they see a rough rabble tearing at one another’s hair, nipping at one another’s heels and doling out sharp nudges in the ribs—they don’t buy tickets and just stay home.

■ The Euro-parliamentary elections are considered a kind of primary election to the Sejm.

Will the trends revealed during the election to the European Parliament—the success of xenophobes and a turn to the right—strengthen during the national elections?
First of all, the Euro-election ended in a surprisingly good result for parties that have an extreme but clear attitude toward the united Europe. On one hand—the LPR, on the other—the noble but defunct Freedom Union (UW), a party of liberal and eloquent do-gooders that set the tone in politics in the 1990s, but is not represented in the Sejm today. Neither the tiger’s leap of the LPR’s nationalists nor the galvanization of the UW’s venerable veterans should repeat itself in the national elections where the attitude to Europe is a secondary consideration.

Secondly, xenophobic populism plays a greater role in the European election than social populism. Hence the better result of the LPR than Andrzej Lepper’s Samoobrona—the party of social frustration, mouthpiece of the lower middle class whose flirtation with capitalism is not working out. Lepper’s electorate has a negligible awareness of the European Parliament’s significance, and is much more into an extreme-leftist, anti-capitalist welfare program there was no place for in this campaign. To those who are celebrating the end of the expansion of the hated Samoobrona, my advice is—don’t chill the champagne just yet.

Thirdly, the low turnout means that groups with a small but steady electorate get a bonus. The better-than-expected result of the LPR, UW or the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL), which is fighting to retain its place in the Sejm, is precisely the effect of this.

The European election in Poland also brought an unexpected return of some dinosaurs. The best result in Poland was that of the former and unfortunate rightist prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, whose beauty in the eyes of his compatriots has obviously increased in the course of the leftists’ three years in government. Not much worse was the result of another venerable dinosaur, veteran of the anti-communist opposition and ex-foreign minister—Bronisław Geremek, the super-Cato of Polish politics.

These two noble gentlemen, supported by a few other veterans of Polish politics, form a Jurassic team of very high quality.

This is Poland’s most valuable contribution to the Euro-parliament, balancing out the bunch of populist cavemen that Polish voters decided to present to Strasbourg.

■ The Euro-election has shown a clear shift to the right in Poland.
Rightist parties won more than half the votes and this is an expressive reaction to the leftist rule and its disastrous reputation.

The overwhelming success of the opposition is yet more proof that millions of Poles are convinced that their country is drowning in crisis because of the leftists. It’s a paradox that this deep pessimism has appeared just as the economy has gotten off to a new jump start and the growth of the gross domestic product, exports and industrial production are worthy of the most vigorous economies around the world.

A satisfactory result—given the size of the catastrophe after three years in government—has been achieved by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) which is licking its wounds after its breakup and the secession of some of its leaders. If it weren’t for the breakup, the socialists’ 7 percent would probably have been somewhere around 15 percent. It seems that despite predictions that the SLD wouldn’t be able to climb to its feet after its disintegration, this party has a guaranteed place in the future Sejm as a solid opposition, while attempts to draw the leftist electorate to the new party that is dissociating itself from the hideous inheritance of Leszek Miller’s government, have brought the defectors success only in the rightist media.

The Euro-election has shown a marked shift to the right, but at the same time it has shown very clearly that it will be terribly hard to form a sensible coalition in the future Sejm. First, the rightist parties will have a hard time obtaining a stable majority. Second, more divides than unites the rightist parties—PO, Law and Justice (PiS) and LPR—today: starting with their attitude to Europe through their ideas for the economy to personal dislikes among the leaders.

The main conclusion from the Euro-election for the Poles is as simple and straight as the spire on the Palace of Culture: the more time passes between the European election and the national election, the better. The Poles need time to heal their pessimism and bitterness with economic prosperity, and their politicians—to tidy up the props scattered all over the political stage.

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From Warsaw Voice

After six months of work by the European Convention and nine months of tense negotiations, June 18 at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the 25 EU states adopted the text of the European Union Constitutional Treaty. The move provoked a new political storm in Poland.

Prime Minister Marek Belka is proud to be the only leader who, as he puts it, defended the Polish motions "up to the last second." According to Belka, the Constitutional Treaty provides Poland with a much stronger position than the Nice Treaty did, even if the new constitution limits Poland's ability to entirely block decisions. As the prime minister assures, the only motion by the Polish delegation which was not implemented concerns a reference to God or Christianity in the Treaty's preamble.

In the coming months, the Treaty has to be put into its final shape, translated into the EU's official languages and signed. It will then be subject to a ratification procedure which, according to many commentators, might turn out to be much more dramatic than the negotiations. Ratification referendums will be held in at least one-third of the member states, most probably including Poland.

The adopted constitution does not differ significantly from the draft adopted last year by the European Convention. Its main asset is that it puts together all previous EU treaties in a single document, formulating them in the most concise and transparent way possible and making them easily comprehensible to the average citizen. The Basic Rights Charter has also been included as part of the constitution.

The heads of EU states have also finally approved the decision-making system in the Council of the European Union by a double majority of states and citizens defined as at least 55 percent of states (15 or more) representing at least 65 percent of the population. These numbers refer to cases in which there the veto right does not apply. For a decision to be blocked, therefore, over 45 percent of states or 35 percent of the population from at least four states will be needed.

Poland has secured the right for states inhabited by at least 26.25 percent of the EU population to delay decisions for a "sensible period of time." In the domains of justice, internal affairs and foreign and monetary policy, the consent of 72 percent of states with no less than 65 percent of the population will be needed to make a decision.

The new voting system will be implemented Nov. 1, 2009 when the Nice Treaty will have been in force for five years (the Treaty will start functioning Nov. 1, 2004).

"The compromise achieved in Brussels is good for Poland and for Europe," says Aleksander Kwaśniewski. "The extended Europe has won a more solid basis and the patience, determination and consistent action of Polish negotiators have brought the best possible result for Poland." According to the president, the compromise is most likely criticized only by those members of the opposition who did not consent to Poland's accession to the EU at all.

"The Constitutional Treaty is a great success for Poland and Europe, it is a positive contribution to the consolidation of our country's position on the international scene," said Prime Minister Belka in a televised speech on the occasion. "I am bringing good news from Brussels. The European Union has a Constitutional Treaty. We Poles, we Europeans have a Constitutional Treaty. Poland has consolidated its position in Europe."

The leaders of the governing coalition consider the compromise arrived at in relation to the European constitution a success for Poland and, as they emphasize, no better position could have been won. Opposition parties claim they will not let the constitution be implemented. Some of them even call the compromise a disgrace.

Jan Rokita, head of the Civic Platform's (PO) caucus, coiner of the controversial "Nice or death" slogan, is critical of the compromise and plans to make a comparison of the Constitutional Treaty and the Nice document. According to Rokita, Belka's government has not managed to satisfy the Sejm's expectations concerning the shape of the European constitution. Rokita declares his party will "do everything" to prevent the compromise achieved in Brussels from coming into force.

Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Law and Justice (PiS), describes the Constitutional Treaty as Poland's "disgraceful capitulation." As Kaczyński declares, after the elections his party will not enter a coalition with any of the parties which will have recognized the document. According to the politician, by agreeing to the compromise, Belka's government failed to use its chance to present Europe with the actual position of Poland.

The prime minister's assent to the constitution is referred to as "a day of disgrace for the Polish government" by Roman Giertych, head of the League of Polish Families (LPR). According to Giertych, his party has already initiated preparations for a referendum campaign aimed at defeating the constitution. The LPR also plans to bring Belka before the Constitutional Tribunal. This week the party intends to present the Sejm with a draft bill appealing to the prosecutor general to launch an investigation concerning the prime minister and the whole Polish delegation to Brussels. According to Giertych, the Polish negotiators are guilty of acting to the detriment of Poland's interests.

Andrzej Lepper believes the European constitution is unfavorable for Poland. According to the leader of Samoobrona, the Polish delegation returning from Brussels has lost. If a referendum is held, Lepper declares he will encourage Poles to vote against the constitution.

The text of the Constitutional Treaty adopted at the Brussels summit is referred to as a "misrepresentation of the historical truth and a conscious marginalization of Christianity which has for centuries been the religion of a vast majority of Europeans" by the Polish bishops. "In spite of the opinion of a vast majority of the European population, which has many times been expressed in numerous appeals issued by the Holy Father and national episcopates, including that of Poland," write the bishops, "and contrary to the official stand of authorities of other Christian faiths, the text of the Constitutional Treaty for Europe adopted at the summit in Brussels does not contain any reference to the Christian roots of our continent." In stressing their indignation, the bishops are calling "all people of good will to reflect upon the future of Europe constructed with no regard for basic values."

"I thank Poland, which at the European forum faithfully defended the Christian roots of our continent from which the culture and the civilization development of our times have emerged," said John Paul II June 20 in ending his noon Angelus prayer. "One should not cut the roots from which one has developed," added the pope. June 19 Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Vatican Press Office, issued a statement in which he expressed the pope's "regret" at the lack of a mention of Europe's Christian roots in the EU Constitutional Treaty.

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After a long illness, Jacek Kuroń died at the age of 70 in Warsaw June 16. Kuroń was a politician and journalist, one of the most famous figures of the democratic opposition in People's Poland. He was one of the architects of the Round Table agreements.

After the systemic change of 1989, Kuroń became a Sejm deputy and remained in the parliament for 12 years. He was the nation's favorite minister of labor and social policy in two governments: in the first non-communist government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1989-90) and the government of Hanna Suchocka (1992-93). It was under his term that the first law on unemployment was adopted in postwar Poland; the Labor Fund was also established then.

In 1995, Kuroń unsuccessfully ran in the presidential elections (he came in third and did not make it to the second round) as a candidate for Freedom Union (UW), a party he led when the party was still called Democratic Union.

Kuroń was born March 3, 1934, in Lviv. He majored in history at Warsaw University. In the 1940s, he belonged to the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, in the 1950s he was an activist in the Polish Youth Union and the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He was removed from the party twice: in 1953 for refusing to submit self-criticism and in 1964 for an "Open Letter" he wrote with Karol Modzelewski. In 1975, Kuroń was a co-initiator of a letter of 59 intellectuals who stood up for the defense of human rights in People's Poland.

Kuroń helped create the Workers' Defense Committee (KOR), in which he was an activist from its inception in 1976 to 1981. In the following year, he was accused of attempts to overthrow the system. In total, he spent almost ten years in prison. He was an adviser of the Solidarity National Committee and the Temporary Coordinating Committee of the NSZZ Solidarity trade union when the organization operated in the underground.

In the 90s, Kuroń initiated a number of public campaigns, including the SOS Community Aid Foundation. The phrase "Kuroń's soup" (free meals for the poor) became a fixture of everyday Polish vocabulary.

He was one of the most popular figures in the political life of Poland. Even though Kuroń did not take an active part in social life in recent years, primarily due to his illness, he nevertheless occupied top positions in opinion polls concerning politicians that Poles trusted.

Jacek Kuroń was a holder of the highest distinction in Poland-the Order of the White Eagle. He also received the Great Cross of Merit of Germany, the French Legion of Honor and Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav Mudry.

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We very much welcome the fact that, after a change of heart, West Mercia Constabulary have now supplied us with the names and contact details of the three Polish citizens involved in the incident described below.

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The West Mercia Constabulary have informed us that they are not prepared to provide this Consulate with information about the three Poles injured in an attack in Kidderminster early this morning.

This is a matter of concern to us as it means that we are effectively unable to provide any support or assistance to the victims.

The attitude of the West Mercia Constabulary contrasts with the attitude of other Police Forces who are generally always extremely co-operative and helpful and are anxious to seek our assistance and support.

We are also extremely concerned about Police statements that the incident is being treated as a “racist attack”. If this is the case then we would like to know the Police assessment of the level of risk to Polish citizens in the area and what advice the Police are offering to Polish citizens and what action they are taking to minimise any risks.

We will be writing to the Chief Constable of the West Mercia Constabulary raising these issues and we would welcome an early meeting to discuss the various issues of concern.

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Jacek Kuron, one of the key figures in the anti-communist opposition in Poland, has died in Warsaw at the age of 70.
A historian and member of the communist party in his early years, he was one of the first intellectuals to openly criticise the communist regime in the late 1960s. He was a co-founder of the Committee for the Defence of Workers in the late 1970s and was involved in the establishment of the Solidarity trade union in 1980. He served a total of nine years in prison before the collapse of communism in 1989.
He was the minister for labour in Poland's first Solidarity-led government formed in the autumn of 1989. For his oustanding achievements in the promotion of the ideals of freedom and democracy Jacek Kuron had been decorated with some of the highest state dictinctions of many countries, starting from the Polish Order of The White Eagle to the French Legion of Honor, or the German Grand Cross of Merit. Recalling Kuron’s engagement, former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa said, the victory of August 1980 which led to the establishment and legalization of the first independent trade union in the then communist Eastern bloc would simply be impossible. Pitty, he will be absent in these dificult times ahead of Poland, remarked Walesa. President Aleksander Kwasniewski described Jacek Kuron as a person void of any personal ill will – he was a tough opponent for many, but always showing understanding and respect. Lately, Kuron turned away from active political life, devoting most of his time to charity schemes and assisting the needy.

Jacek Kuron was for me a hero and an inspiration. I did not always agree with his views but that did not matter. He was a great hearted and tireless Polish patriot. He always said what he meant and he always stood his ground whatever the cost. He spoke out when the price of speaking out was high. He spoke out before it was easy. He did not count the cost. He spoke out. He combined humour and ruthless intelligence. He spoke both from the brain and from the heart.

He loved Poland and he loved Poles. He admired Polish virtues and condemned Polish follies. At times he was our hardest critic. At other times he spoke for all Poles. If he had his foibles and eccentricities they were always tolerated because he was one of the family - the Polish family - and at the end of the day, agree or disagee, his heart was always in the right place.

We have lost a Pole who was outspoken, intelligent, great hearted, sometimes entirely frustrating, individualistic and totally patriotic.

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PO 23.48% (14 seats), PLR 16.42% (10 seats), PiS 12.52% (7 seats), Samoobrona 11.55% (7 seats), SLD-UP 9.11% (5 seats), UW 6.88% (4 seats), PSL 6.88% (4 seats), SdPl 5.07% (3 seats)

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Poland's main liberal opposition Civic Platform was leading elections for the European parliament early Monday with 25.21% however only 10% of votes had been counted at this point.

Turnout reached only 20.76%, the lowest in a poll since the fall of communism in 1989.

The anti-EU and ultra-Catholic Polish League of Families appear to be running in second place with 15.74%.

The opposition centre-right Law and Justice party (PIS) are running at 11.82% with ruling leftist Democratic Alliance on some 10.39%.

The populist, radical, anti-EU farmers' party, Samoobrona (Self-defence) look to have taken 10.09%.

The centrist Freedom Union (UW), which has no national parliamentary seats, is on about 8%, while the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), looks to have taken 5.53%.

The last party to reach the 5% threshold for representation in the European Parliament so far was the breakaway Social Democratic Party of Poland (SDPL).

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Poland sets scene for general elections at European polls

European Union's biggest newcomer Poland held its first elections to the European Parliament on Sunday, in polls expected to set the scene for early general elections after months of political crisis.

The country's 25,093 voting stations opened their doors at 8:00 am, and were to close 14 hours later, with Poland's 29.8 million voters having 1,887 candidates to choose from to fill 54 European seats.

However, a low turnout was expected as Poles, angry at politicians after a series of corruption scandals which unleashed the domestic crisis, were expected to go home after Sunday mass rather than to the voting stations.

However, the polls were being keenly watched by Poland's political leaders, and the main liberal and populist opposition parties, as they weigh how to play their cards, ahead of what are considered inevitable early elections.

Poland has been in political limbo since joining the European Union on May 1, after unpopular leftist prime minister Leszek Miller of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) resigned the day after membership.

Opposition parties, holding out for snap general elections, have so far refused to give a vote of confidence to his successor, former finance minister Marek Belka, leaving the EU's biggest new member without a functioning government.

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on Friday defiantly renominated Belka, who must now win a confidence vote in the coming days, if August 8 elections are going to be avoided.

With the ruling SLD expected to get a drubbing at the European elections, two opposition parties which have led the polls over recent months -- the liberal Civic Platform (PO) and populist Samoobrona -- are expected in particular to watch the result to gauge their prospects.

The latest poll carried out by IPSOS in from June 4-6 June showed the PO would receive 27 percent of the vote, with Samoobrona, (Self-Defence), an anti-EU party led by populist Andrzej Lepper, and the right-wing Law and Justice party with 16.5 percent each.

Under the poll, the SLD and Union of Labour (SLD-UP) would not make parliament, getting less than the required five percent of seats, at 4.6 percent.

Small parties, significant as Belka seeks to head off early elections by getting parliamentary approval for his new government, are also closely watching the European Parliament election result.

Not least the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), trailing in the polls, which ruled in two coalition governments with the SLD.

If they get less than the five percent of the vote necessary to sit in parliament, analysts say, small parties might decide to throw in their lot with Belka, to avoid losing their jobs at snap elections.

The prospect of swift general elections in the middle of the holiday season, when a low turnout is likely, had already been raised by Kwasniewski and the governing Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) before Friday's announcement.

Belka has told parliament that he wanted approval for his cabinet for a year to press on with Poland's new role in the EU, and he reiterated that stance Friday.

Analysts regard it as a way of putting pressure on the opposition to ensure a vote of confidence in parliament, allowing the government to obtain temporary endorsement for a few months.

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AN early morning vigil took place outside a Kidderminster church to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day on Sunday.

The moving tribute was carried out by Steve Yapp, the standard bearer of the town's branch of the Royal British Legion.

Mr Yapp maintained his vigil at the war memorial outside the church of St Mary and All Saints at 6am, the time most of the troops got their standby orders on the fateful morning.

The vigil was silent and Mr Yapp said his thoughts turned to what the men had been going through during the two hours.

Mr Yapp said: "I stood thinking how different it was for me, there outside the church, to what the men would have been going through 60 years ago.

The only other person around at that time of the morning, he said, was a representative of the Polish Consulate who laid a bouquet.

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Corpus Christi Celebrations

Corpus Christi celebrations are being held in all Polish churches. The processions on the Feast of the Eucharist have a long standing tradition in Poland. In Warsaw’s Old Town thousands of people took part in the procession to four street altars led by the Primate of Poland Jozef Cardinal Glemp. In the city of Krakow, the Corpus Christi procession goes along the historic route from Wawel Cathedral to the Market Square. Many foreign visitors to Poland took part in the day’s celebrations in the town of Łowicz, some 60 kilometers west of Warsaw, where many of the local women turn out in full skirts, beautifully embroidered cotton blouses and colourful headscarves. Corpus Christi is a public holiday in Poland.

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Remembering President Reagan

Ronald Reagan was one of the world leaders who played a significant part in dismantling the communist system – said Poland’s Lech Wałęsa in a tribute to the former US President who died in California yesterday at the age of 93. The ex-leader of the Solidarity Trade Union said there was a time when the Pope, President Reagan and former French head of state Francois Mitterand ‘were in a group which did what they could where they could and knew that it would all come together in victory’.
Ronald Reagan enjoyed great popularity in Poland after his support for the outlawed Solidarity in the years 1981 and 1982, and sanctions against the communist authorities after the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981. After leaving office, in 1990 he visited Poland and met in Gdańsk with Lech Wałęsa and in Warsaw with then President Wojciech Jaruzelski and Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki.
Meanwhile General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who introduced martial law in Poland, said he regretted the death of a man and politician who had a great impact on world history. He added that he did not want to comment on Reagan’s policies because of relations which were ‘well-known’.

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At 6.00am this morning it was extremely moving to see the Standard Bearer of the Kidderminster Branch of the Royal British Legion maintaining a vigil at the town's War Memorial.

We laid flowers on behalf of this Consulate and the Kidderminster Branch of the SPK (Polish Ex-Combatants Association) at the War Memorial, the Cenotaph and the Holocaust Memorial.

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If the D Day Anniversary is in your thoughts then you might like to visit, at least online, the D Day Museum in Portsmouth to learn more about those brave men!

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Polish farmers meeting in the mid-western city of Poznań at the Second Agricultural Congress have agreed that not even the most optimistic of them expected such an immediate increase of demand for Polish produce in Europe. The Congress is meeting to discuss the prospects and openings on the joint EU market as well as threats which Polish agriculture could be facing in the European Union. Head of the Congress, Krzysztof Ardanowski said that more and more companies from abroad and mainly from Germany were interested in buying beef, pork, milk, fruit and juices from Poland. Most of the participants in the Agricultural Congress say that Polish farming has excellent perspectives in the new EU, if farmers take advantage of available direct payments and later, structural funds and funds for implementing joint agricultural policy. Farmers have been one of the social groups with most reservations about Poland’s membership in the European Union.

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Belzec, June 3: The victims of this terrible slaughter are appealing to us to preserve their memory and honour, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Thursday opening a memorial on the site of the onetime Nazi death camp in Belzec, southeast Poland. In 1942-43 Belzec was one of the biggest Jewish extermination sites in Poland after Sobibor and Treblinka. Over the period of ten months in 1942, the Nazis killed around 500,000 people, mainly Jews, in the camp. Kwasniewski said remembrance of Belzec should become part of European and global collective memory. Belzec's message is: never condone evil, not even its smallest figments, never allow disrespect (...) for that which is different, never humiliate and persecute people who believe and think differently. Never allow hate ideologies, never instigations to criminal action. Give timely resistance to those who are prepared to trample on human life and human dignity, Kwasniewski said. Criticizing xenophobia and intolerance, he reminded that "entire Europe was asking itself today how to curb the rebirth of antisemitism" and stressed that "today's ceremony was also our strong-voiced appeal for reason on all who hate". In a letter to the ceremony participants, pope John Paul II stressed that he "very much desired for this place to be a memorial to the martyrdom of its victims and a gift of love from those who did not remain indifferent to their fate". Miles Lerman of the American Jewish Committee, who oversaw the memorial's construction, delivered an address on behalf of Belzec victim families. Also present were the Commitee's international head Rabbi Andrew Baker and the ambassadors of Israel, the U.S. and Germany, who read out letters from their presidents.

Warsaw, June 3: Ministers for European affairs from the 25 EU member countries appealed to all citizens of the EU to take part in the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament. Cast your votes in the elections to the European Parliament. Don't let your future be decided without your participation, reads the appeal presented by head of the European Integration Committee Office Jaroslaw Pietras. He also stressed the significance of the European Parliament for creating EU law and passing EU budget. The European elections will be held simultaneously in 25 countries, over the period from 10 to 13 June. The elections in Poland will take place on June 13.

Gdansk, June 3: A joint fund for the protection of the EU's outside borders was the main topic of talks between interior ministry officials from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland. The fund's creation was foreseen for the years 2007-2013, when current border funds from the Schengen Fund are exhausted. It is high time for a fund allowing border protection to be financed by all the countries who benefit from it. Also discussed was organized crime, terrorism and illegal migration.

Warsaw, June 3: Monetary Policy Council's (RPP) member Halina Wasilewska-Trenkner believes that May's inflation will grow to 2.8-2.9 pct from 2.2 pct in April to reach around 3 pct at the end of the year. There is no risk of exceeding an inflation target ceiling. Wasilewska-Trenkner said. She believes there are no threats for an inflation target not to be met. However the year-end inflation rate may get close to 3 pct. "If crops turn out to be good, the price impulse may be expected not to be accompanied by food price rises and then price growth may be lower in the 2nd half of the year," she said. "I hope the year-end inflation will be no more than 3 pct. If nothing dramatic happens, there will be no threat of exceeding the upper limit of an inflation target," she added. The Council set the inflation target at 2.5 pct +/- 1 percentage point in the years after 2003.

Warsaw, June 3: 48 percent of Poles in the OBOP institute's Homo Politicus survey declared no political sympathies, 20 pct claimed support for the right, 12 pct for the centre-right, 12 pct for the left and 8 pct for the centre-left. 52 pct said they were disinterested in politics, of these 18 pct claimed to ignore it completely, 34 pct to follow only major events. Political disinterest was most frequently declared by housewives (58 pct), the unemployed (51 pct), school youth and students (both 48 pct).

London, June 3: 8,000 job-hungry Poles, out of up to 14,000 who left for the United Kingdom after May 1, are returning to their homeland disillusioned with local realities, according to Evening Standard daily. Europol bus company said before May 1 busses returning from the U.K. to Poland were empty whereas now they are 70 percent full. Andrzej Tutkaj of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain blamed Polish mass media for blowing out of proportion the fact that the U.K. opened its market for Poles after the country's integration with the EU. Young Poles do not know how to seek work and are forced to rely on other people, most of whom want to cheat on them, he said.

Warsaw, June 4: An international conference on ethics and parliamentary responsibility organised by Poland's and U.S. Senates, as well as the Parliamentarians for Global Action and Transparency International, wound up in Washington on June 4. The conference identified corruption, lack of transparency and ethics in the conduct of parliamentarians as a serious problem and a threat for democracy and the efficient functioning of state systems. A "Declaration on Parliamentary Ethics and Responsibility" that expects parliamentarians to keep to high moral standards was adopted. It proposed that an ethical conduct code for parliamentarians should be adopted and control extended to ensure that parliamentarians abide by ethical conduct principles. A large part of the declaration is devoted to the financing of political parties and election campaigns. It stresses a need to survey every country's legislation on the financing of parties and campaigns. It calls for differentiation of political party funding sources and financing parties and elections from public funds while curbing financing by corporations, concerns, foreign sources, and individuals. The declaration calls for ensuring equal access to the media to all political parties and individual candidates.

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This morning Fran and I attended the funeral of Betty Maciocha at St. Mary's Church, Kidderminster and the subsequent Reception at the Polish Club.

Throughout the 1980s Betty was a stalwart of the Committee of the Wyre Forest Polish Solidarity Campaign attending each and every event. In particular she was there at all our fund raising stalls at Summer Carnivals raising funds for Medical Aid For Poland and Polish Children. I have no idea how many hours she spent on those stalls!!!

She was totally dedicated to the cause. An English lady - the widow of a Polish war veteran - who supported all Polish causes and aspirations with energy and enthusiasm.

She is greatly missed and our condolences go to her sons Anthony and Chris and the rest of the family.

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'Mad Deputy Disease' has broken out in the Sejm; in such a situation, the whole herd has to be destroyed."
-Tomasz Nałęcz, deputy speaker of the Sejm, who believes the parliament should dissolve itself

"Well, it was the voters who elected them. I just ennoble them; you could say I re-socialize them."
-Roman Jagieliński, leader of the Federative Parliamentary Caucus, on the opinion that most of the party's 17 members are notorious for their involvement in scandals and for abandoning other political groupings

"In artistic circles, vulgarity is the key to a career. I was not guided by the intention of gaining popularity, though this is what happened."
-January Zaradny, a city councilor from Swarzędz, who rounded off his official property statement with "...and kiss my ass"

"In court, he explained he needed the money to continue his studies and for a wedding reception."
-A judge from Sandomierz who ruled a five-year imprisonment for a student of the penal system who had robbed a number of stores

"We are now looking into who brought them in and whether the owner knew what he was accepting."
-A police officer from Nowa Sól, Lubuskie province, where seven Soviet-made bombs where found at a scrap metal collection point

"They have taken away the place where I have dried my laundry for half a century; I have appealed to all of the Russian courts, even the Supreme Court; now I continue my fight."
-A senior citizen from St. Petersburg who has filed a complaint with the European Human Rights Tribunal concerning the fact that the new owner of the building in which she lives has turned the large attic into a luxury penthouse

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From Warsaw Voice

May 28 was the deadline for the Sejm to nominate its candidate for the prime minister. Since no candidate was put forward, the initiative in the creation of a new government will again be taken over by the president. Marek Belka will have one more, last chance to obtain the Sejm's vote of confidence.

In spite of previous declarations and postponement of the candidate appointment deadline (according to the Sejm's regulations, the candidate should have been nominated by May 25, yet at the motion by Labor Union (UP) and Federative Caucus Sejm Speaker Józef Oleksy permitted the deadline to be extended until May 28 at 9 a.m.) neither the opposition nor the governing coalition or the parties close to it managed to find a politician who would have real chances of winning Sejm's support. The media even speculated about potential candidates from outside political circles, such as Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection Andrzej Zoll or businessman Roman Kluska. Both candidatures, however, turned out to be nothing more but rumors. The parliament thus became preoccupied with examining the Rywingate scandal (see page 6) and gave up any further attempts at constructing a new government.

Now, according to the Constitution, President Kwaśniewski has 14 days to appoint a new prime minister. He will most probably do that before the deadline, as Belka is his only candidate. If nominated, Belka will have 14 days to obtain the parliamentary vote of confidence on milder terms than before-an ordinary majority of votes, which means more votes for than against, granted by at least half of the Sejm deputies, will be enough. Abstaining or invalid voices will not be taken into account. Belka no longer needs as many as 231 (50 percent plus one) votes. It would be enough if representatives of any of the parties left the room or abstained from voting.

Belka assures that he will be more active now. According to the prime minister, he intends to "take a major part of consultations into his own hands" and has already begun to do so. Belka remains optimistic and believes there is a chance to find a majority willing to support his government. However, as the opposition points out, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), UP and about 10-15 unaffiliated deputies are the only ones who have so far declared an intent to vote for Belka. This support would not be enough to win a vote of confidence and early elections would have to be held.

It is still not clear how Polish Social Democracy (SDPL), with 33 votes, will vote and if the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) will split over the voting (according to some rumors, about 22 deputies want to vote for Belka to prevent the parliament from dissolving). Samoobrona's position is also uncertain. At some points critical for the left wing, the actual voting record of the party has already differed from its leaders' previous declarations.

According to former Prime Minister Leszek Miller, it is possible that Belka will not manage to win the Sejm's support and that early elections will have to be held. "The weakness of the parliamentary back-up for Belka's government has become visible," says Miller. "If it turns out that the government of Prime Minister Belka is not able to pass a vote of confidence in the Sejm, parliamentary elections in August will be the only move left. If the right wing comes to its senses and concludes that the law has to be obeyed in Poland, there is hope that the Sejm will be able to achieve many useful things in the future. However, if the atmosphere on Friday [voting on Rywingate reports] reappears at every voting session, early elections should be considered as a possibility."

As Oleksy points out, the final voting on Belka's government will most likely be held after the June 13 elections for the European Parliament. The Euroelections, in spite of their possibly record low turnout, will be the only, outside of opinion polls, indicator of public support for particular parties. According to the Sejm speaker, a view that is shared by many other politicians, the election result may serve as a wake-up call for some of the parties represented in the Sejm. The rejection of Belka's government and subsequent early parliamentary elections may be the end of those parties' presence in the Sejm. If such scenario becomes a reality, according to the left, Belka will manage to win the Sejm vote of confidence on the third attempt anyway.

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Poland Backs Turkey's EU Aspirations

Poland will support Turkey in its bid to join the European Union, president Aleksander Kwasniewski declared after talks with Turkish president Ahmet Nesdet Sezer in Warsaw today. Kwasniewski told journalists that Poland is ready to share with Turkey its experience of negotiations with the EU. He stressed that Turkey still has much work ahead but there is a strong chance that such a big country as Turkey will become a part of European structures.
Turkish president Ahmet Nesdet Sezer congratuled Poland on the success of entering the EU and thanked it for supporting its European Union aspirations.

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Poland’s government has amended its draft law on restructuring health care facilities enabling hospitals and clinics to obtain bridging credits for a partial repayment of their debts. Describing the change, vicepremier Jerzy Hausner and finance minister Jerzy Raczko said the intention was first of all to meet payment claims of health care workers. The credits should settle about 30 percent of the indebtedness problem of hospitals. The rest is to be restructured. The public health care sector is about 7 billion zlotys, or some 1.7 billion dollars, in the red.

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Lowicz, May 31: PM Marek Belka said that successive rounds of a new government formation would cover his talks with parties that had made proposals similar to his philosophy of ruling and on changes to his government make-up. He said he was ready for compromises but declined to elaborate on the extent of changes to the government make-up. According to the PM, the date of the new government swearing-in ceremony will be given soon, in June. He added he was optimistic about a chance to find a majority ready to support his government. He counts on votes of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the Union of Labour (UP) and a certain group of independent deputies.

Warsaw, Lowicz, May 31: Prime Minister Marek Belka hopes that a majority of the 1.5 million Polish farmers who filed for registration numbers for their farms will manage to submit applications for EU subsidies on time, that is by June 15. "We expect that a great majority of those who filed for registration numbers will manage to file applications before June 15," he told a meeting of farmers held in Lowicz. Agriculture minister Wojciech Olejniczak said at the same meeting that if EU subsidies for Polish farmers or structural funds were used in full "we will have a mandate to ask for more." "The EU Commision is ready to discuss the matter with us on condition we prove that we can use what we get," Olejniczak added. Farmers filed 417,000 applications for direct subsidies from the EU by Friday, May 28, according to figures from the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMiR) released Monday. This means applications were filed by some 28 pc of eligible farms. Applications filed after June 15 will result in subsidies being reduced by 1 pc for each day of delay.

Vilnius, May 31: The Polish and Lithuanian troops will stay in Iraq until the Provisional National Assembly has been elected, Polish and Lithuanian Defence Ministers Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Linas Linkevicius said. Our presence in Iraq would depend on the way the provisional government would be acting, especially with regard to the Iraqi security system. It will also depend on a resolution of the Security Council legalizing the presence of international forces, Szmajdzinski said. He also stressed Poland was planning to significantly reduce the number of its troops in Iraq after the elections of the Provisional National Assembly, planned for the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005. Under the existing political plans for Iraq, first free elections to the Iraqi Provisional National Assembly will be held in December 2004 or in January 2005 at the latest. The assembly is planned to appoint a provisional cabinet and to prepare a draft constitution. Under the Sejmas decision Lithuanian troops will remain in Iraq to the end of the year and we are not going to change this. Our job should be completed. It's necessary to peacefully hand over power in Iraq as any chaotic moves may hamper this, Linkevicius said. The two ministers said that the Polish troops and 54 Lithuanian soldiers serving in the Polish-controlled zone had never been involved in any violence against Iraqi detainees. The Polish and Lithuanian ministers also discussed NATO-EU relations, a NATO summit in Istanbul and prospects of bilateral cooperation. The Polish minister also met with acting Lithuanian President Arturas Paulauskas, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas and Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and paid a visit to the Lithuanian parliament.

Cracow, May 31: Members of Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) decided to include Russia into their group at a meeting in an underground hall of the famous Wieliczka salt mine near Cracow on Monday, deputy Foreign Minister Adam D. Rotfeld said. Rotfeld explained that the initiative proved to be the most effective means in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as it centres on seizing illegal transports of mass destruction weapons and not on passing resolutions. Representatives of 63 states, including Libya, were scheduled to take part in the official part of the debates inaugurated by Foreign Minister Wlodzmierz Cimoszewicz. On Tuesday, June 1, participants will zero in on world's safety and will have the opportunity to get familiar with speeches of U.S. and Polish Presidents George W. Bush and Aleksander Kwasniewski. The idea of the initiative was originated by President Bush in Cracow last year.

Warsaw, May 31: A Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) decision whether to motion the Constitutional Tribunal to examine Zbigniew Ziobro's report on the Rywingate depends on the wording of an experts' opinion, SLD leader Krzysztof Janik said. On Friday night MPs adopted a minority report drafted by the special Sejm enquiry committee examining charges of bribe soliciting against film producer Lew Rywin with 190 votes for. Opposition claimed the motion was final as it had gained the support of the absolute majority (which was 188 votes for). However, since Friday Janik and former PM Leszek Miller have been commenting that for them the case has not been closed. Miller told Radio Three that the report is very likely to be examined by the Constitutional Tribunal as the Sejm committee has no authority to motion for bringing to accountability the president and the former PM of the country. The controversy aroused after the vote, when it turned out that the opposition and the Sejm Speaker Jozef Oleksy (SLD) had different interpretations on the way the final vote should be carried, that had been agreed by the group of senior MPs. Ziobro's report says Rywin was sent to Agora with a bribe proposal by former PM Leszek Miller, former deputy Culture Minister Aleksandra Jakubowska, former head of Miller's political cabinet Lech Nikolski, former TVP head Robert Kwiatkowski and secretary of the National Radio and Television Council Wlodzimierz Czarzasty. Ziobro believes that President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Miller and former Prosecutor General Grzegorz Kurczuk should face the Constitutional Tribunal for not notifying law enforcement bodies about Rywin's corruption proposal despite having been aware of it.

Torun, May 31: The Citizens Platform (PO) will not back the Samoobrona Farmer Party's motion to call President Aleksander Kwasniewski before the State Tribunal in connection with his possible involvement in the Lew Rywin bribery scandal, PO caucus leader Jan Rokita said Monday in Torun north Poland. On Sunday Samoobrona leader Andrzej Lepper announced his party would move for indicting Kwasniewski. The move was inspired by Friday's acceptance by the Sejm of a report on the work of a parliamentary commission investigating the Rywin affair stating that Kwasniewski, ex-PM Leszek Miller and ex-prosecutor general Grzegorz Kurczuk knew the facts behind it but failed to report them to the police and judiciary. Under Polish law this makes them answerable before the State Tribunal. One thing must be made quite clear: president Kwasniewski didn't author the Rywin affair. We shouldn't lose sight of the facts here. From this angle Lepper's whole action (...) is a provocation and one we won't take part in, Rokita told reporters. Rokita also reminded Samoobrona's recent backing of a different version of the Rywin report clearing the government of all ties with the affair. Before he sets off to indict the people behind the Rywin scandal I'd suggest Mr. Lepper explain to the public why only a fortnight ago his party backed a different report (...) stating no one had stood behind Rywin?, Rokita remarked, adding that Samoobrona's fast turnabout showed it was a "maverick group".

Warsaw. May 31: On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the D- Day landing of the allied troops in Normandy and liberation of France, the French authorities decided to honour ex-servicemen from the allied countries who took part in the operation and decorate some of them with the Legion of Honour, the highest French distinction.Knight Crosses of the Order of the Legion of Honour will be conferred upon ten Polish ex-servicemen who served under General Stanislaw Maczek in the 1st Armoured Division, the 1st Grenadier Division, the 2nd Rifle Division and the 1st French Army. One of the veterans, General Michal Gutowski will be decorated by President of France Jacques Chirac during international ceremonies in Normandy on June 6, to be attended by President Aleksander Kwasniewski. The remaining veterans will receive the distinctions from Partick Gautrat, the French Ambassador to Poland, during a reception to be given in his residence on June 3

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The first post-communist Polish Consul General in London is now running for the European Parliament in Warsaw...

"Cześć!"

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Poland sets scene for general elections at European polls

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