Polish Consulate...

Kiev, Feb.23: Nobody and nothing can change Poland's position that Ukraine has the right and should in future become a member of the EU, Sejm speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz declared here after meeting prime minister Julya Timoshenko. "This calls for a large effort on Ukrainian part but also the need to bring it home to EU member states that such a prospect should be declared" - Cimoszewicz told after meeting Timoshenko. He said his talks also dealt with the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline. Prime minister Marek Belka will come to Kiev on March 3-4 and the matter will then be discussed in detail - Cimoszewicz added. "Poland treats this project as a strategic one" - the Sejm speaker declared. He voiced the hope that there will be companies willing to take part in the implementation of this project and they will come not only from Poland and Ukraine.

Warsaw, Feb.23: Public prosecutors demanded 12 years' imprisonment for Grzegorz Zemek, the former head of FOZZ agency responsible for covert buy up of Polish official foreign debt, on charges of embezzlement and financial fraud. For his deputy in FOZZ, Janina Chim, the prosecutors demanded 7 years' jail term. Shorter jail terms are sought for the remaining four defendants in the FOZZ case, the greatest financial scam of the last 15 years still awaiting a court resolution. It is estimated that the state treasury could have lost 354 m PLN (ca. 120 m USD) as a result of illegal operations conducted by FOZZ in the years 1989-1990. The funds earmarked for the debt buyup were transferred to what the prosecutors called "a parade of swindlers", i.e. companies registered in tax havens. Zemek and the other defendants claimed innocence. President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that judges in the FOZZ trial were trying to hand down a binding verdict despite the short time left before the charges come under the statutes of limitations. He termed the defense lawyers' attitude in the case "irresponsible."

Warsaw, Feb. 23: The ministry of finance wants to pay off Poland's debts to the Paris Club member states in cash in late March, deputy minister Wieslaw Szczuka told. The ministry received a formal position on the Polish offer of early repayment of 12.3 bn euros in debts from the secretariat of the Paris Club. The letter is the starting point for talks with individual creditors. The talks should begin in the coming days and end in about two weeks - Szczuka said. "We are not bound by any dates but our proposal calls for (March 31 as the day of repayment). We will try to make good on this proposal" - he said. Szczuka added that the ministry will float more bond issues abroad to raise the money necessary for the financing of the debt repayment operation. No dates for such flotations were fixed yet.

Prague, Feb.23: PKN Orlen may have to pay up to 1.7 bn crowns (ca. 85 m USD) more than expected for the Czech Unipetrol fuel company as a result of the recent surge in its stock market price, Lidove Noviny newspaper wrote. The price went up 20 pc, to 181.2 crowns. As recently as in late December the price was 98. Deputy minister of the state treasury Pavel Kuta did not rule out that the final price to be paid by PKN Orlen would indeed be higher than anticipated. PKN Orlen will be able to take over Unipetrol after a decision from the EU Commission on the absence of legal irregularities in Unipetrol privatisation.

Warsaw, Feb.23: Nafta Polska officials met for talks here with ConocoPhilips representatives. The press release after the talks did not say whether they concerned possible investments by the US company in a Polish fuel company. The talks will be continued, press spokesman for NP said after the meeting. ConocoPhilips representatives presented the structure of the company, its results and development strategy, especially in East-Central Europe. NP officials presented the status of work on restructuring and privatisation of the Polish oil sector. NP president Krzysztof Zundul was satisfied with the meeting. I am glad that the Polish oil sector has become interesting for so large investors as ConocoPhilips. I hope that more investors will come here soon - he added.

Cracow, Feb. 23: Last year Germany's Lufthansa airline carried over 520,000 passengers between Germany and Poland, a 26-percent rise on the previous year. The rise is mainly the result of new Lufthansa connections to and from major Polish airports. Lufthansa is the biggest foreign air carrier in Poland.

Augustow, Feb. 23: Last year Polish customs teams foiled attempts to smuggle 390 million cigarettes into Poland but cigarette smuggling into the country is steadily rising, informed participants in an international conference on illegal tobaccoware in Poland. According to Marek Multan from the finance ministry the sale of the smuggled cigarettes would have cost the state 150 million zlotys (49.8 mn USD). Multan also suggested the formation of mobile control groups to monitor sales of illegal cigarettes.

Katowice, Feb. 21: On Thursday Poland's Slask folk song and dance troupe is starting a tour of France, Switzerland and Spain to last until the end of April. Forty concerts are scheduled in France, among others in Lille and Grenoble. No Paris performances are planned despite Slask's successful appearances there in earlier years. Slask will also give two concerts in Geneva and six in Spain. On the Spanish programme is a song about the Madonna of Guadelupe which the troupe will perform in Spanish. To date Slask has given almost 6,000 concerts in 50 countries for an audience of jointly over 20 million. The troupe specializes in Silesian folklore, in its repertoire are also folk songs from other parts of Poland, opera fragments, oratoria as well as classical and sacral material.

Warsaw, Feb. 23: The Citizens Platform (PO), Law and Justice (PiS) and the Centre Party would not gain a parliamentary majority in a February election, together winning only 209 seats in Poland's 460-seat Sejm, an OBOP survey revealed. According to OBOP PO would get a 23-percent support (113 seats), PiS 15 percent (85 seats) and the Centre Party 5 percent (11 seats). The radical Samoobrona Farmer Party would get 14 percent (70 seats). OBOP ran the poll from February 4 to 8 on a random group of 936 adult Poles.

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

By Sławomir Majman

Could one ever imagine a better international treaty than this:
First of all, it contains the superpowers' guarantees of security for a medium-sized country.
Secondly, it expresses the superpowers' desire for that country to be free, strong, independent and democratic.
Thirdly, it gives that country a significantly enlarged territory by incorporating new, industrial regions into it.
Fourthly, it guarantees that country, until now torn by disputes with ethnic minorities, national homogeneity within the new borders.

posted by: Oborski at 10:47 | link | comments |

Polish public opinion is outraged by a statement released by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who accuse Poland and other countries of questioning the achievements of the Yalta Conference. The statement has exacerbated the discussion about the legitimacy of Polish participation in Moscow celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Feb. 18 Aleksander Kwaśniewski confirmed his intention to attend the ceremony in Moscow May 9. The president stated that if this had been the celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the Yalta Pact, he would not have taken part. According to Kwaśniewski, the claim contained in the statement by Russian diplomats, that Yalta was the beginning of a democratic Europe, was "far from the historical truth."

posted by: Oborski at 10:45 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 19:39 | link | comments |

This week...

The Polish version of Newsweek says that contrary to gloomy predictions, the young Polish generation is far from lost...

They have ideals and want to reform their country. Rather than partying, the present 20 to 30 year olds seem to prefer organizing associations called Stop Corruption or Fair Play. They want to turn Poland into a normal country and are convinced that they will succeed. Barely three years ago, sociologists and the media called them an all- play, no-revolt generation. Indeed, there was not much they could rebel against. The time of great economic change in Poland created wonderful oppotunities and career prospects for young, educated people who soon became fond of their designer clothes, mobiles and cars. But suddenly, the career channels got clogged. Staggering unemployment made them realize that not everything is within their reach. They saw corruption and old-boy’s networks at all levels of government. The young felt pushed to the sidelines and decided to do something about this, says Newsweek presenting a battle for new Poland waged by Poles in their 20s.

The lay catholics weekly Tygodnik Powszechny is convinced that Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski should go to Moscow for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the end of Word War II...

The weekly joins a discussion sparked off by Moscow’s recent statement that the 1945 Yalta agreement signed by the US, Britain and the former Soviet Union enabled the existence of free democratic Poland. "We will hear such nonsense many times yet," says Tygodnik Powszechny. For Poland, post-Yalta realities meant several decades of communist oppression and domination by the Soviet Union. But we should not get irritated by Moscow’s campaign, which is aimed at building a new identity for Russia based on a distorted vision of the past. Ever since Poland got engaged in the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Kremlin has spared no effort to make Poland look like a fiercely anti-Russian country. We have to counter-act this idea and go to Moscow for the May celebration and realize our goals, Tygodnik Powszechny writes.

Wprost claims that one in five treatments and surgeries carried out in Poland are unnecessary or risky...

But few people get to know this fact and if they do it is mainly by accident, when complications arise or when the patient seeks additional medical consultation. Thirty year old Dorota Krzyżaniak from Warsaw complained to a patients’ association that a doctor talked her into an unnecessary and costly operation for back pain. A neurologist told her later that a less expensive and less painful rehabilitation would help her just as well. Unnecessary surgeries are an effective way of draining money from the National Health Fund, Wprost says. According to relevant statistics, the Caesarian operation is used with no real need in more than 60 percent of Polish women, the appendix is removed unnecessarily in 10 to 25 percent of patients. Nowhere in the world have such practices been completely eliminated. But abuses will be numerous in the Polish health care sector until clear medical standards are introduced and a genuine reform is conducted, Wprost argues.

And,finally, Polityka informs that Polish Peasant Party MPs are fond of tourism...

– this in connection with their recent trip to the Congo. Responding to critical opinions on such tourism, the cost of which is born by taxpayers, one of the MPs, Stefan Jakimiuk, retorted: "What is more rational and cheaper – to send two deputies abroad or to send a whole army contingent, as in the case of Iraq?" And what did the MPs do in distant Congo? They brought a copy of the Polish constitiution translated into French. So much for the pleasures of being a parliamentary deputy.

See these magazines here:
www2.tygodnik.com.pl/
http://polityka.onet.pl/
http://newsweek.redakcja.pl/
www.wprost.pl/

posted by: Oborski at 17:28 | link | comments |

Website set to help Polish visitors...

An online service has been launched to give Polish people visiting the Wyre Forest a warm welcome.

The website, together with a poster campaign, has been launched to let young people coming into the area know about the resources available at Kidderminster's Polish Consulate, the Polish church and Polish Club.

The bilingual website is specifically targeted at young Poles to provide them with information, news and assistance.

Councillor Mike Oborski, who is the West Midlands representative for the Consul of the Republic of Poland, said: "There has been a Polish community in Kidderminster since just after the Second World War.

"Although it had been dwindling in recent years, it has increased in the last 12 months thanks to an influx of 200 young Polish people who have come here to fill jobs that need particular skills or where there is a shortage of labour.

"Many of them want to improve their English and earn a bit of money while seeing a bit of the world.

"We're working together to give them support and access to local information so they are better equipped for their stay here."

The bilingual website is specifically targeted at young Poles to provide them with information, news and assistance.

"Many of them want to improve their English and earn a bit of money while seeing a bit of the world.

"We're working together to give them support and access to local information so they are better equipped for their stay here."

posted by: Oborski at 12:55 | link | comments |

Warsaw, Feb.21: The results of Spanish referendum on the EU constitution are an argument for holding the Polish referendum together with elections, according to PM Marek Belka. "A joint voting will offer a better chance for high turnout," Belka explained. The Spanish turnout was 42 pc, too small to make the referendum binding in Poland where at least 50 pc eligible voters must come to the polls. "The Spanish result shows that even in a country where almost all political parties are for the adoption of the EU constitution the turnout can be not high enough to make the referendum binding in the Polish situation," Belka told.

Warsaw, Feb. 21: PM Marek Belka will go to Brussels to take part in the meeting of heads of states or/ and chiefs of the governments of the EU countries and accompanying them foreign ministers with President George W. Bush. Belka will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld, head of the Presidential Chancellery Minister Slawomir Cytrycki and deputy foreign minister Jan Truszczynski. The programme of the visit also envisages a meeting of EU foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Warsaw, Feb. 21: Wieslaw Zapedowski has been appointed a new deputy Agriculture Minister. On behalf of PM Marek Belka the nomination was handed over to him by deputy Agriculture Minister Jerzy Pilarczyk, the ministry reported in a statement. Zapedowski will be responsible for work of two departments: the department of the EU and International Cooperation and the department of the common organisation of agricultural markets. He will supervise the implementation in the country of the EU Common Agricultural Policy and participation in the work of EU bodies and other international organisations. Between 1996 and 2003 he worked at Poland's Permanent Mission at UN and other international organisations in Geneva.

Warsaw, Feb. 21: The bygone year was good for the Polish prosecution, PM Marek Belka said after an annual meeting with justice minister Andrzej Kalwas and prosecutors. Belka said most prosecutors at the session stressed the importance of separating their work from politics, especially keeping the prosecution free from political pressure. Separating the prosecution from politics means much more than separating procedures. It means freedom from pressure (...) and manipulation, Belka said. Belka also spoke out for the introduction of office terms for prosecutors, explaining this would "help avoid personal purges each time government changes". Kalwas suggested introducing stricter disciplinary measures for neglect of court duties.

Warsaw, Feb.21: Marek Belka will not decide to join the new party being formed by Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, the leader of the Freedom Union (UW), as long as he is PM. "I realize that if you say 'a', you must say 'b'," he told. "I would have to fix the date for a resignation of the cabinet." "I think there is room for the new party and a demand for it. I am watching the initiative with sympathy and interest, but I am the PM and have a lot of work to do. Until this work is done I will not make political decisions (concerning party membership)," Belka explained. He also reiterated that the elections should be held in the spring. "I hope that the Sejm will decide about its self-dissolution for instance on May 5 and pave the way for a June election," he added.

Warsaw, Brussels, Feb. 21: Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski said turnout in the referendum on EU Constitutional Treaty in Spain was slightly disillusioning but the relation between the treaty advocates and adversaries was "proper." Truszczynski said that low turnout showed that the level of emotions the topic aroused was not sufficient for the Spaniards to go to the polls. The referendum was not treated as a sort of breakthrough, something to which a firm "yes" or "no" should be said, he explained. Low turnout may undermine the result of the referendum, said Polish Member of the European Parliament Jacek Saryusz-Wolski. It is a lesson for Poland, he said. The Spanish information campaign was too short and superficial and people did not understand the meaning of the constitution. Deputy President of the European Parliament Janusz Onyszkiewicz said turnout "was relatively not bad" as fears about it being very low had been voiced for a long time. Jerzy Klich, another Polish MEP was positively surprised by high turnout in the referendum. However, the referendum results would not be a turning point in the debate on the EU constitution, he said.

Kielce, Feb. 21: Ninety soldiers who will soon leave for Bosnia and Herzegovina to take part in EUFOR, EU military operation there, were bidden farewell in a military training centre in Kielce-Bukowka, spokesman for the centre Tadeusz Banaszek said. The soldiers will leave on February 22 and March 1 for a year mission aimed to provide security for local authorities, ensure freedom of traffic in their zone of responsibility, grant support to international units operating in the region and humanitarian assistance and monitor situation there. Their tasks will include an early detection of potential threats. Until December 2004 Poles served there as part of SFOR under the auspices of NATO. SFOR tasks were taken over by EUFOR with the Polish contingent of 280 soldiers.

Torun, Feb.21: The first Spike anti-tank missile was fired at artillery training ground near Torun. The missile costs over 100,000 USD. Polish armed forces will receive 2,675 such guided missiles, model LR Dual, by the year 2013. The missiles can be fired from portable launchers or launchers mounted on Humvee cars and APCs. They have a range of 4 km and penetrate armour 70 cm thick. The missiles come from Israel's Rafael Armament Development Authority and will be partly manufactured in Poland's Mesko SA.

Warsaw, Feb.21: The Polish and Saxonian ministries of economy will jointly monitor the labour market for professionals to facilitate their hiring, deputy minister Jacek Piechota and minister Thomas Jurk agreed. The 2nd Polish-Saxonian Economic Forum will be held in Wroclaw in November, Piechota disclosed. The Forum will offer a plane for establishing contacts between SMEs from Poland and Saxony.

Warsaw, Feb. 21: The sensible part of society should be informed that there is a strong and determined party in the centre of the Polish political scene, the party made up of people who have courage to talk about hard staff and make decisions, leader of the Freedom Union (UW) Wladyslaw Frasyniuk told. He explained that the UW would not disappear from politics but would be transformed into a new party with a new name. Frasyniuk underlined that the founders of the new party should be guided by common values. We have got Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Jerzy Hausner, he is the only politician of the present government who presented a vision of Poland from 2005 to 2015, and he is not a politician for a single term. They both have the guts to propose far-reaching changes, Frasyniuk explained. He stressed that the new party cannot become an election committee for Professor Religa, the possible presidential runner. Frasyniuk explained that a number of people who so far had nothing in common with politics expressed their willingness to join the new party. He added that names of leaders should be known this coming weekend.

Gdansk, Feb. 21: Deputy PM Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, the leader of the Union of Labour (UP), came out for early elections. "(...) I will vote for an early election, i.e. a June one," she said, adding she did not know how other Union of Labour MPs would vote since there was no intraparty debate on this issue. "I agree with the idea that a new cabinet (must have enough time) to draft its own budget (after winning elections)," Jaruga-Nowacka said. "And I will vote accordingly." She also criticised former PM Leszek Miller for leaving for a four-month stay in the USA. "I think he should have given up his parliamentary seat" before leaving, Jaruga-Nowacka said.

Bielsko-Biala, February 15: A renovated exhibition devoted to 60,000 Dutch citizens, mostly Jews murdered in KL Auschwitz will open at the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau in April. Preparation work is underway. Spokesman for the museum Jaroslaw Mensfelt said to-date exhibition in the block 21 had been dismantled. No specifics about the new exhibitions have been released. It is only known that it will be totally changed. The project is being prepared by the Dutch people in cooperation with employees of the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum. The last transport of Jews from Holland that left on September 3, 1944 took Anna Frank, whose diary has turned into one of the most important and compelling testimonies of the Holocaust. Permanent national exhibitions at the museum site have been organised by former inmates with the first being inaugurated in 1960. At present on display are Austrian, Belgian, French, Yugoslavian, Polish, Russian, Hungarian exhibitions as well as those devoted to the Roma people and Jews from Slovakia and the Czech Republic and Jewish struggle and the Holocaust between 1933-1945. The Nazis established Auschwitz death camp in 1940 and killed there at least 1.1 million people, mostly European Jews, Poles, Roma and Soviet POWs.

Warsaw, Feb.21: The general business climate in manufacturing remained unchanged at plus 10 pts in February, according to a monthly poll of firms conducted by GUS Central Statistical Office. "The financial situation of industrial firms can slightly improve in the coming months," GUS wrote in its commentary to the poll. Layoffs can be smaller than anticipated earlier, GUS added. Selling prices on industrial goods will likely grow slightly over the next 3 months, the survey found. The general business climate in retail trade reached minus 9 in February, improving by 1 point in comparison with the January readout, GUS also said. "Trade firms report a considerable deterioration in their current sales," GUS noted. The general business climate in construction was minus 1 in February, down from plus 6 in January, GUS poll revealed. However, an improvement in the orders portfolio was expected in the next 3 months. Forecasts of future production are also optimistic and better than they were last month

posted by: Oborski at 01:47 | link | comments |

The most famous Polish ski resort of Zakopane has for decades attracted artists looking for inspiration there. One of them was Karol Szymanowski - probably second best known Polish composer of classical music after Frederic Chopin. Join Danusia Szafraniec on a tour of his villa "Atma" in Zakopane.

posted by: Oborski at 17:12 | link | comments |

Radio Polonia Reports...
European heads of state want Poland to buy Airbus...

Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder sent a joint letter to Polish prime minister Marek Belka, demanding that Poland should buy the European airplanes Airbus for the national airlines LOT. According to the opinion-making daily Rzeczpospolita this is not the first such attempt within the recent weeks. LOT is expected to order a number of new planes in order to replace those which have been transferred to its newly formed no-frills airline Centralwings. The two possible candidates are Boeing which offers its state-of-the-art airplane which is not yet in production and the European consortium Airbus. LOT has used only Boeing airplanes for several years. Parts for Boeing as well as for Airbus planes are produced in Poland, both companies propose an increase of cooperation if their offer is selected. Final decision is expected within the next four months.

posted by: Oborski at 17:07 | link | comments |

District Prosecutors have accused police chiefs of responsibility for a badly organized operation in which two policemen were killed and a dozen suffered injuries. Three police officers – including a former Warsaw police deputy chief and former anti-terrorist unit head – were charged in connection with the operation in a Warsaw suburb of Magdalenka in March 2003. Police anti-terrorist units attacked a house in which two dangerous gangsters were hiding. One policeman was killed by a mine. Another died in hospital a week later. Sixteen officers were injured, before the two gangsters were killed.

posted by: Oborski at 17:11 | link | comments |

Poland’s central bank president Leszek Balcerowicz is listed by New York Times as a serious candidate for the president of the World Bank, one of the most powerful financial organizations. The term of the current president James D. Wolfensohn ends this year. As Poland’s finance minister and deputy foreign minister in the 1990s, Leszek Balcerowicz oversaw a sweeping program of economic reform. This shock therapy ensured Poland’s successful transitition to market economy. - Read Radio Polonia Report here

posted by: Oborski at 17:06 | link | comments |

Protests of health care workers continue in several hospitals in Poland but hunger strikes have been suspended. The protests were sparked off by the threat of employee wages being seized as part of hospital debt collection. Strikes, sit-ins and pickets are unlikely to end despite the justice minister’s appeal to debt collectors to refrain from action until the civil code is amended. Neither the appeal nor the earlier decision of the parliament to vote down a government bill on restructuring health care centres ended the protests. Health care workers regard these steps as superficial and pledge to remain on guard until a law is passed resolving the problems of the debt-ridden sector.

posted by: Oborski at 17:04 | link | comments |

Polish experts excavating in the southern city of Luxor have discovered three ancient Coptic manuscripts in a pharaonic tomb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced. The find was the single most important Coptic discovery since 1945 when a pair of Bedouins stumbled onto the Coptic codices in Nag Hammadi in Egypt's western desert, it said. The manuscripts date to the sixth century and were concealed in a Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 BC) tomb in Luxor, about 710 kilometres south of Cairo, the council said. The texts may have been hidden there by Christians who were being persecuted at the time by the Romans, it said. One of the manuscripts was 22.5 centimetres by 17 centimetres (nine by seven inches) and three centimetres (an inch) thick, explained the Council's head, Zahi Hawas. The second had 50 pages and a cover made of skin adorned with ornaments, while the third also had 50 pages and a cover, but was in a poorer state, he added. Hawas said experts would restore the manuscripts and try to read them in the hope that it would shed more light on early Christianity. ----- See Radio Polonia Report

posted by: Oborski at 16:52 | link | comments |

Foreign minister Adam Rotfeld has said that Poland will continue to support Ukraine in its strivings to join European and NATO structures. Minister Rotfeld held talks in Warsaw today with Ukrainian foreign minister Borys Tarasiuk.
Poland will suggest to the EU member states to adopt its visa regime towards Ukraine. Under this scheme Polish visas for Ukrainian are free, while Poles can enter Ukraine without visas.
Minister Tarasiuk expressed the conviction that the protracted conflict over a Polish cemetery in Lvov will be resolved this year. Buried at the cemetery are soldiers who defended Lvov when it was a part of Poland before the war. The monument is, however, seen by many Ukrainians as a symbol Poland’s aspirations to dominate their nation in the past.

posted by: Oborski at 22:31 | link | comments |

Radio Polonia reports...

Cimoszewicz: Jewish organisations should have a say in restitution...

Parliamentary speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz has stressed that Jewish organizations should have a say on a law concerning the restitution of property seized from Jews during and after the war. Cimoszewicz met with a delegation of the World Jewish Association in Warsaw today to discuss a draft restitution law adopted by the government last Tuesday. He promised that he will present the Association’s opinions to Polish deputies as soon as the draft reaches the parliament.
The government decided that compensation, in cash, for lost property will amount to 15 percent of its value.

posted by: Oborski at 22:26 | link | comments |

Poland’s president Aleksander Kwasniewski has confirmed that he will attend events marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II to be held in Moscow on May 9th. The opposition called on the president to boycott the ceremonies after Russia said the 1945 Yalta Treaty marked the beginning of democratic Europe. Kwaśniewski said that this view is far from true. He recalled, however, that the Yalta Treaty, which placed Poland in the Soviet sphere of influence, was signed also by Britain and the United States. He added that Poland and other East European states expect the European Union to come up with a statement on the post-Yalta realities. Kwasniewski believes that the debate on World War II should not concentrate only on political aspects, which overshadow the sacrifice of simple Soviet soldiers who liberated Poland from Nazi German occupation.
After the war Poland power in Poland was seized by the communist backed by Stalin. Thousands of Poles were killed or deported to Siberia. The era of communist oppression came to an end only in the early 90s. --- Find this story at Radio Polonia

posted by: Oborski at 18:10 | link | comments |

Do Not Eat In Europe – cries out the weekly Wprost in its cover story slamming the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union...

It says ironically that the European system of subsidies is as effective as the centrally planned economy was in the former Soviet Union and the result are exorbitant food prices. The EU’s biggest lie is the claim that without subsidies the farm sector would collapse. Examples of Australia, Argentina and New Zealand show, however, that farmers can earn a good living without subsidies and other forms of protection. Representatives of such big organizations as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the OECD argue that the common agricultural policy does more harm than good. Tales of German farmers coming to demonstrations to defend the subsidy scheme in Mercedes cars are, unfortunately true. The EU guarantees 40 percent of farmers’ income. Seventy percent of all EU aid reaches 20 percent of the richest farmers, Wprost writes.

Newsweek reports that the world’s best computer specialists hail from Warsaw...

There are millions of computers and computer experts at hundreds of universities around the world. But our future is programmed in just a few places – such as Stanford University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Few people know that there is also Warsaw University on the leaders’ list. This year its Information Technology Department is set to outdistance its big American rivals – not in terms of equipment and number of students but in the level of scientific knowledge represented by its students and graduates. Among them is 23 year old Tomek Czajka, currently working on his PhD at Purdue University in Indiana. He has won the prestigious Top Coder contest for the past three years. Other Polish contestants are also doing fine. In the Top Coder ranking, Poland is second best, after the United States. This is attributed to our long tradition of outstanding achievements in mathematics, experts say.

Poland’s first public hearing on whether to legalize possession of soft drugs for personal use has revealed deep, age-related divisions, writes Polityka...

The older generation is mainly against, young people argue that there is no medical evidence that marihuana is more dangerous than alcohol. Poland’s law on combating drug addiction was amended in the year 2000. The law makers decided that possession of a small amount of drugs for personal use should be banned. In 2000, the police detained around 3,000 persons for possession of drugs. In 2004, the figure rose to 26,000. But were these people drug dealers? Not necessarily, says Polityka. Out of thousands of people detained, only a fraction actually land up behind bars. Drug dealers are careful not to get caught. The repressive law affects mainly users, without producing the beneficial result of reducing accessibility of drugs, the weekly claims.

And the weekly Przekroj informs that a controversial German scientist wants to open a center for embalming human bodies in the western Polish locality of Sieniawa...

The snag is that the bodies are not used as educational aids but as exhibits. The idea has shocked the local people. But they may change their mind as the scientist will give jobs to 300 workers. Gunther von Hagen owns a patent on replacing bodily fluids with other substances, such as silicone. He travels with his exhibition “Body Worlds” which – no matter how shocking – is a real crowd puller.

posted by: Oborski at 18:08 | link | comments |

The latest statistical figures give an encouraging picture of the employment scene in Poland. Coupled with falling inflation, this could prompt the rate-setting Monetary Policy Council to cut interest rates. Slawek Szefs examines the statistics.

posted by: Oborski at 14:33 | link | comments |

Professor Leon Kieres, the head of the National Remembrance Institute investigating Nazi and communist crimes, has apologized for the recent leak of the so-called Wildstein list. Kieres told the Parliament that it was a major blow to him. He apologized for letting the Institute to be used to create an uncomfortable and often even dramatic situation for many people. The list, revealed by journalist Bronisław Wildstein, contains names of communist era secret police officers and informers mingled with those of innocent people. ----- Find this Radio Polonia story here

posted by: Oborski at 14:27 | link | comments |

A member of parliament, who was arrested, will not be able to claim a half of his pay. The Parliament voted down an amendment of the Senate, which wanted arrested MPs to receive 4,5 thousand zlotys, over 1,000 euros, a month. The head of the parliamentary regulations committee Waclaw Martyniuk said more should be expected from a deputy than the average citizen. Therefore, the deputy should not have a right to a half of his pay, like average arrested citizens do.
The amendment was adopted after the arrest of a leftist MP Andrzej Pęczak, who had demanded the ability to perform his duties from behind bars.

posted by: Oborski at 14:24 | link | comments |

140 tenants have been evacuated from a high rise apartment block in the southern city of Bielsko-Biala. Fire broke out in an apartment on the sixth floor, caused by a faulty television set. 13 persons, including a 4 year old boy, suffered a mild monoxide poisoning. Their condition is good.
Fires in high-rise blocks are particularly dangerous because of large amounts of smoke which is released, fire fighters say. ----- This story is here on Radio Polonia

posted by: Oborski at 14:21 | link | comments |

Warsaw, Feb. 16: General Andrzej Ekiert, who led the Multinational Centre-South Division in Iraq was promoted by President Aleksander Kwasniewski to a higher rank and decorated with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit. The president underlined the soldiers' contribution to the preparation and holding elections in Iraq. He recalled that the programme of the multinational division also comprises training courses for the Iraqi soldiers and reconstruction projects.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: President Aleksander Kwasniewski thanked writers and artists for fruitful and successful cooperation during the 10 years of his term of office in the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. "Poland is known for its culture and artists. We are proud of you," the president underlined and said that it was his last meeting with artists as the president.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Poland will seek to lessen tension between the EU and the United Stated on EU's lifting the embargo on arms trade with China, deputy foreign minister Boguslaw Zaleski said. The issue will be one of the topics to be discussed during an EU-U.S. summit scheduled to be held in Brussels on February 22, with U.S. president George W. Bush in attendance. Duing the discussion in the Sejm committee for foreign affairs Citizen's Platform's Bronislaw Komorowski said that Poland might take the intitative to work out the U.S.-EU agreement on the embargo on arms trade with China.

Warsaw, Olsztyn, Feb. 16: The Sejm voted 208 to 196 with one abstention to reject a hospital restructuring bill. Following a request from PM Marek Belka, Justice Minister Andrzej Kalwas will ask the Bailiff Association to refrain from impounding hospital accounts until the Sejm examines a draft amendment to the civil code, that is for the nearest two weeks. "This is not a vote of non-confidence for me but this is a problem for the health service," Health Minister Marek Balicki told. "The bill gave a chance to escape from the fetters of indebtedness, without preconditions, to those who wanted to undergo restructuring," he said. PAP learned unofficially from sources close to the health ministry that Balicki is mulling resignation after the Sejm decision. Deputy PM Jerzy Hausner criticised the Sejm decision and said that the parliament is to blame for wasting 18 months of work on the bill. Hausner added that the bill was necessary and amendments to it could have been introduced in the Senate. "The present situation creates a big problem. The work on the law lasted 18 months and I do not know what those who rejected it hope for," he said.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: The Sejm amended a State Labour Inspection (PIP) law to add cooperation with offices in other EU countries to PIP's tasks. The State Labour Inspection will cooperate with offices in other EU member states responsible for supervising work and employment conditions of workers sent to work on their territories for a specified period of time by an employer based in an EU country.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: The Senate at its sitting will discuss amendments to the country's energy and environment laws. Under the new, EU-conformant law, companies planning to compete on the Polish and EU markets will be granted easier access to the national power grid. The Senators will also discuss the introduction of new corporate models - the European Economic Interest Group and the European Company - and hear a report on Poland's participation in EU work under Holland's presidency of the Union (July-December 2004).

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski was decorated with a medal of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry for contribution in military cooperation and support for Lithuania in its strivings to get NATO and EU membership. "Our country's path to freedom, democracy and membership of the NATO and EU was difficult but it could have been more difficult without partners and friends," Lithuanian Ambassador to Poland Eygidyus Meylunes said handing over the medal to the minister. Addressing his guests on the Day of Lithuania's Rebirth the ambassador underlined the role of Poland's technological and training assistance. Szmajdzidski said Poland wants to develop cooperation with Lithuania in the structures which offer not only the greatest military but also economic security. Speaking of the possible development of the Polish-Lituanian battalion the minister declared readiness for Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian military cooperation.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski received the Chief of Defense of Latvian National Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Gaidis Andrejs Zeibots to discuss bilateral military cooperation. During the meeting Szmajdzinski expressed words of recognition for Latvian commanders and soldiers serving in the International Centre-South Division in Iraq under Polish command. The two also discussed problems with the restructuring of armed forces as well as the transformation of the Latvian armed forces into a professional army to take place in 2007.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski will pay a two-day working visit to Ukraine. Szmajdzinski will meet his Ukrainian counterpart Anatoli Hrycenko to review the state of bilateral military cooperation, cooperation in the Centre-South Division in Iraq and prospects of the continuation of the stabilization mission.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: According to bankers the annual average inflation in 2005 will be at 3.41 percent. At the end of the year the USD will be worth 3.35 zlotys and the euro - 4.11 zlotys. The survey was run by Pentor and the Union of Polish Banks. Representatives of banks in which home capital accounts for bigger chunk estimate inflation level at 3.44 percent, those from cooperative banks at 3.39 percent, stock exchange bankers believe it would be at 3.38 percent and banks with foreign capital at 3.40 percent. In January annual inflation fell to 4.0 percent from 4.4 percent in December 2004. The bankers also think that the lombard credit rate will be at 7.61 percent at the end of the year (down 0.06 point from the predicted figure), the bill of exchange rediscount rate will be at 6.66 percent (down 0.06 point), the average rate of credit for economic purposes at 10.27 percent (down 0.02 points) and the average rate on a three-month saving account will be at 3.58 percent (down 0.06 points).

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Pengab, banks sentiment indicator, fell in February 0.7 point from the January figure to 28.1 points. It is however higher by 3.6 points that this recorded in February 2004, indicates a recent Pentor survey commissioned by the Union of Polish Banks and published. Despite the fall, Pengab has the highest value reported in February since 2000, Pentor said. Forty one percent of banks reported a rise of cash deposits on current accounts in zlotys (7 points down from January). Time deposits rose in 46 percent of banks (down 6 points from January). 56 percent of banks expect growing deposits on current accounts (6 percentage points more). Fifty one percent of banks expect time deposits to grow and 12 percent believe they will fall. Fifty eight percent of banks reported a bigger number of credits granted in zlotys and 20 percent reported a fall. Eighty six percent of banks expect to grant more credits and 5 percent expect the opposite.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: Though no final decisions have been made talks between the Malopolska authorities and U.S. Seminole tribe from Florida are very promising. An airport opened throughout the year could be constructed by the Cordish Company on the premises of the Polish Aviation Club. The cost of the investment is estimated at ca. 9.7 - 13 million USD, writes Gazeta Krakowska daily. Seminole who have successfully run casinos and luxury hotels now plan to embark on offshore investments. Last autumn the tribe representatives came to Poland in search for investment sites and found Malopolska and especially the mountain region the most attractive. They came back a few months later accompanied by O.B. Osceola of the Seminole Tribe Council and David Cordish, the CEO of one of the U.S. biggest developers companies. The airport will attract tourists who have so far felt discouraged by the jammed car route leading to Zakopane, believes mayor of Nowy Targ Marek Fryzlewicz. The paper also writes that Nowy Targ lacks money for the expensive investment but is ready to give 130 hectares of land that belongs to the Aviation Club. Successive 300 hectares have been booked for airport infrastructure, the paper reports.

Berlin, Feb. 16: "Jam Session," a short subject movie by Izabela Plucinska won the Silver Bear Award at the 55th International Berlin Film Festival. Another Silver Bear Award went to "The Intervention" by Jay Duplass from the United States. The Gold Bear Award went to 10-minute British movie "Milk" by Peter Mackie Burns.

Warsaw, Feb. 16: The Polish Academy of Sciences PAN will open its bureau in Brussels as from March 1, with the view to promoting Polish research initiatives in Europe, Dr. Jan Krzysztof Frackowiak, head of the new centre told. The bureau will help Polish scientists and innovative entrepreneurs to acquire EU funds for research programme and will act as an intermediary in establishing cooperation between Polish centres and scientific institutions in other countries. The PAN Brussels centre will present in Europe Poland's stand on basic research and establishing the European Research Council to deal with development of basic research.

posted by: Oborski at 14:13 | link | comments |

Warsaw, Feb. 15: The Sejm Speaker said the Polish president should be present in Moscow on May 9 during ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two since "we are dealing here with a symbolic commemoration of victory over Nazism." "The fact that not in all countries victory over Hitlerism, over Nazism, meant only joy, that it was also linked with Soviet occupation, as in case of the Baltic republics, and the domination of the USSR in case of many other countries, including Poland, is another question. No one will commemorate this in Moscow but recall the victory over one of the most criminal systems in the history of human kind and that is where everyone should be..." Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz told. The speaker also stressed that the anniversary is a good occasion to "honestly" talk about history.

Warsaw, Feb. 15: The Social Democracy of Poland SdPl believes a Russian foreign ministry's statement about the conference in Yalta "distorted the history." In a statement the SdPl wrote it expected that the Polish president, PM and foreign minister would personally draw the latter's attention to the harmful nature of similar statements to bilateral relations. The Russian foreign ministry stated it deemed dishonest attempts made in Poland and other countries to question the results of the conference in Yalta. According to the Russian foreign ministry their Polish partners have committed "a sin" complaining on settlements reached in Yalta where the allied powers actually promoted a "strong, free, independent and democratic Poland and gave the country security guarantees." The SdPl assessed as false the idea that that as a result of the conference a free and independent Poland could be established. The party wrote that the conference in Yalta left Poland in the Soviet zone of influence." The process violated all independence and democratic aspirations of Poles, whose resistance was brutally repressed. Free and democratic Poland was established only in 1989, the statement reads. At the same time the statement stressed that the SdPl opts for "good neighbourly Polish-Russian relations on equal footing but these relations should be build on truth.

Warsaw, Feb. 15: Marek Borowski, ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of the leftwing Social-democracy for Poland, will be decorated with the Lithuanian Great Cross of Merit for his support of Lithania's EU and NATO ambitions. The medal, granted by Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus, will be awarded to Borowski in Vilnius on Lithuania's National Day (February 16). Borowski told that he felt "very honoured" to receive the distinction. In Vilnius Borowski is to meet Adamkus and Lithuanian PM Algirdas Brazauskas.

Warsaw, Feb. 15: The Defence Ministry is negotiating with the Americans the timetable of equipping Polish army with surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles, Rzeczpospolita daily reports in its edition. The daily says the Polish army is contracting six Hunter units. The majority of 130 million USD in military aid which Washington plans to earmark for Poland in 2005 will be spent on the project. The unmanned vehicles, together with surveillance equipment placed on F-16 and six long-range radars built by NATO in Poland, are to revolutionize the Polish army's reconnaissance.

Warsaw, Feb. 15: The cabinet supported most changes to the law on public assistance and health care institutions, Health Minister Marek Balicki told after a cabinet meeting. The most important change is that in order to get a loan from the state budget a given health care unit would not have to renounce further claims from the so called 203 law guaranteeing mandatory raises for health care employees. Balicki recalled that the law will enable state-run hospitals to break the vicious circle of debts and to introduce solutions that would help health care units avoid debt incurring following restructuring. The law will also halt debt collecting procedures for two years. The amendment also envisages debt write-off agreements between hospitals and debtors The minister also

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