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Post by Bonobo on Jun 24, 2008 21:45:57 GMT 1
President Kaczynski gets thumbs down at halfway point
thenews.pl
23.06.2008
At the halfway point of his term in office, almost three-fourths of
Poles believe that Poland's President Lech Kaczynski has no chances of being re-elected, a poll by GfK Polonia reveals.
The poll for the Rzeczpospolita daily also shows that 68 percent of
Poles are dissatisfied with Kaczynski as the President of Poland.
Only some 29 percent support him.
As many as 59 percent of respondents said that Kaczynski is not
performing his duties well in the international arena. Thirty-five
percent were of a different opinion.
Similarly, 59 percent of those questioned aren't satisfied with the
President's domestic policy, either. Only 25 percent said that
Kaczynski is doing fine in this respect.
The poll was conducted by GfK Polonia pollsters for the
Rzeczpospolita daily between June 21-22 on a sample group of 1000 adult Poles.I didn`t vote for Kaczynski. I won`t vote for him in the future. My major objection: He is too short and looks stupid standing next to other leaders. When he speaks to the audience, his security must bring him a box to stand on and reach the mike. It is so hilarious....  My minor objections: He is completely lacklustre. He doesn`t have his own personality. Everything what he says or does seems to have been dictated to him either by his cleverer brother or his advisors. Hence, he regularly commits spectacular blunders, like the one with the Canadian gay couple`s image used in his speech to the nation. Another thing is that he isn`t a neutral fair president of all Poles. He clearly supports his brother`s party - PiS. Last but not least - he is disgusting.
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Jun 24, 2008 23:32:23 GMT 1
I didn`t vote for Kaczynski. I won`t vote for him in the future. My major objection: He is too short and looks stupid standing next to other leaders. When he speaks to the audience, his security must bring him a box to stand on and reach the mike. It is so hilarious.... Are you bashing the height challenged??? Perhaps you should be a good citizen and send him a gift of some shoe lifts...  Yeah, I agree that these are disappointing qualities in a leader. Unfortunately they seem to run rampant in politics around the world. On the flip side, there are those who possess an abundance of charisma but don't have a clue how to accomplish any of the things they promise to do. Perhaps they are more "likeable", but just as ineffective. Is this unexpected? Okay, you've got to expand on that last thought a bit...  |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 28, 2008 18:27:56 GMT 1
Poland still among EU's poorest countriesthenews.pl
26.06.2008
Poland is close to the bottom in a report comparing the GDPs of the
27 EU member states.
Poland is the third poorest country in the EU, where per capita GDP
amounts to a meagre 54 percent of the EU average, while the two
greatest laggards remain Romania (41 percent) and Bulgaria (38
percent).
The report, published by Eurostat, shows Luxembourg is the
unquestionable leader with a per capita GDP equalling 276 percent of
the EU average. Ireland took the second place with a per capita GDP
of 146 percent of the EU average.
Professor Witold Orlowski, former economic advisor to President
Aleksander Kwasniewski, in conversation with Polish daily
Rzeczpospolita, stressed that in spite of remaining among the EU's
poorest countries, Poland's economic situation is improving, since
in 2001 per capita GDP in Poland was 51 percent of the EU average.
"The Baltic States have been developing twice as fast as Poland in
recent years. However while they will be struggling this year,
Poland's growth remains at a stable level of six percent a year,"
says Orlowski.
According to the economist, the growth could be 2-3 percent higher
if the present government seriously reformed the tax system, job
market and started preparations to adopting the euro.
"Slovakia, which was doing worse than Poland four years ago, is
entering the euro zone. Meanwhile, Poland got stuck," concluded
Orlowski.
It shows there is a lot of work to be done.... When I walk around outside the Old Town and see those tenement houses which require renovation, I sometimes become pessimistic and think it is going to take decades...
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 28, 2008 18:40:13 GMT 1
Are you bashing the height challenged??? Yes, if they are Presidents.... Well, it is unexpected that he is doing it so ostentatiously for everyone to see... that is probably one of the major reasons he has low support. If a politician at a post like that can`t predict results of his actiojns, it means he shouldn`t be there because he is dangerous.... Just look at him.  |
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Post by valpomike on Jun 29, 2008 0:13:00 GMT 1
Height is not needed to do a good job. Look at Clinton, he was tall, and was no good.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 29, 2008 19:56:50 GMT 1
Height is not needed to do a good job. Look at Clinton, he was tall, and was no good. You think he was no good, yet he managed to survive all crisis, especially Lewinsky affair, and was chosen twice for the post. It means something, doesn`t it? If it was a shorter politician to behave like Clinton, he would have been removed during his first presidency. |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 1, 2008 19:56:40 GMT 1
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski says he will not sign the EU's reform treaty at present, following its defeat in an Irish referendum last month.
He said it would be "pointless" to sign the Lisbon Treaty, even though Poland's parliament has ratified it. All 27 EU members must ratify the document.
Mr Kaczynski, a conservative who has long opposed the reform treaty, was speaking in an interview with the Polish daily Dziennik.
"For the moment, the question of the treaty is pointless," he said.
Although the Polish parliament ratified the treaty in April, it still needs the signature of the president.
The BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw says Mr Kaczynski's comments are unsurprising as he is opposed to deeper European integration.
Our correspondent says the president would be happy to see the Nice Treaty, which currently governs the way the EU operates and gives Poland disproportionate strength, remain in force for a while longer.
However, he is in conflict with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has said the EU will find a way to bring the treaty into force.
Mr Kaczynski appears to have joined his Czech counterpart in openly opposing treaty ratification.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus and many lawmakers are cool on ratification.
German President Horst Koehler has also delayed ratification - until the country's highest court has delivered a ruling on legal challenges.
President Sarkozy expressed his concerns in an interview on French television channel France 3.
Mr Sarkozy said: "Something isn't right. Something isn't right at all."
The article ends here. It seems not finished and we don`t know what Sarkozy, France`s president, had in mind. I found the answer in a Polish news online. Sarkozy meant it isn`t right that President Kaczynski who negotiated Lisbon Treaty last year and put a signature on it at the end of negotiations, together with other leaders, today refuses signing it. It is some kind of paranoia, don`t you think? Now, do you understand why President Kaczynski has such low support in his own country and why I think he is a disgusting clown??? 
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 1, 2008 22:24:35 GMT 1
Almost two thirds of Poles (64 percent) trust Prime Minister Donald
Tusk.
thenews.pl
6/30/08
Almost two thirds of Poles (64 percent) trust Prime Minister Donald
Tusk.
Next most trusted politicians are former PM Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
(54 percent) and former President Lech Walesa (52 percent).
Deputy PM Waldemar Pawlak is trusted by 48 percent of Poles and
Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski and Foreign Minister
Radoslaw Sikorski are trusted by 46 percent.
President Lech Kaczynski, however, gets a lower rating with 35
percent of respondents putting their trust in him. Social Democracy
of Poland leader Marek Borowski is trusted by 31 percent, which is
slightly more than the 30 percent that trust Law and Justice leader
and previous PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
The highest distrust among respondents is aroused by the deputy PM in the previous government Andrzej Lepper (72 percent). Jaroslaw Kaczynski is in second place, distrusted by 52 percent of Poles. Also, almost half of respondents (47 percent) distrust President Lech Kaczynski.
The research was conducted on 6-9 June, on 1107 adult Poles.
I will be plain on it. I agree with those who distrust Kaczynski brothers.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 4, 2008 21:23:43 GMT 1
Poland Rejects U.S. Missile Defense Plan
Poland on Friday rejected a U.S. offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing a missile shield on Polish soil, but the Polish prime minister said will remain open for further talks with Washington.
"We have not reached a satisfactory result on the issue of increasing the level of Polish security," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference after studying the U.S. proposal.
Without citing Russia's opposition to the plan explicitly, Tusk argued that placing a missile defense facility in Poland, a Soviet satellite during the Cold War, would create new security threats.
Tusk said talks will continue. "I wouldn't talk about the end, suspension, or interruption," he said. "Negotiations, in my opinion, are continuing."
The U.S. wants to place 10 missile interceptors in northern Poland as part of a shield against a possible attack by Iran or a "rogue state." Complete details of the offer have not been made public.
Polish government are trying to prove that Poland is not the 51st state of the US.
Thumbs up! ;D ;D ;D ;D
The insider info from the Polish government: To compensate the danger resulting from the existence of the rocket shield on Polish territory, Americans are ready to offer Poland only one mobile battery of Patriot rockets under American command, deployed for 4 months a year, while Poles demand a few batteries solely under Polish command all year round.
Everything for free, of course! As a Polish taxpayer, I am not going to pay for any f...ing rockets! Let American tax payers pay! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Bush administration is allegedly shocked by Polish refusal.
Strange.....
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 18, 2008 19:45:57 GMT 1
Polish shipyards were the birthplace of the biggest anticommunist movement in Poland. Solidarity was created in Gdańsk in 1980 and spread all over the country.
Today shipyards, which have remained state property, are afflicted with serious economic problems and there is a threat of bankruptcy.
Poland's history
Solid no more
The Economist
Jul 17th 2008
Poland's shipyards have been given a stay of execution. But will it
help?
IT HAS not been much of a summer for Poland's heroes from anti-
communist times. A book claimed that Lech Walesa, electrician, leader of the Solidarity trade union and Poland's first post-communist president, collaborated with the regime's secret services. On July 13th a car accident killed Bronislaw Geremek, who worked with Mr Walesa, was the brains behind Poland's peaceful transition to democracy and later served as foreign minister. Now the Gdansk shipyard that was the cradle of Solidarity risks going bust.
The pitiful state of the shipyards is not new. But a visibly
irritated European Commission says the time has run out for the
Polish government to privatise and restructure the two remaining
state-owned yards. This week's decision to allow the Poles two
months' grace to come up with a final plan has not altered Brussels's negative view of the yards' future. The commission's patience has
It seems eminently sensible to try to make the yards profitable
again. But it is not easy after two decades of mismanagement and kow- towing to the unions, which have left the yards mired in debt and trapped between fixed-price long-term contracts and fast-rising
prices for raw materials. Any suggestion of job losses meets instant
union protests.
The other stumbling-block concerns state aid. The Gdansk shipyard, Mr Walesa's former employer, was sold last year to a Ukrainian steel company, ISD, that hopes to combine it with one of the other yards. Now the company is threatening to cut its losses and pull out, claiming that it was swizzled by the government over the risk of
being ordered to repay illegal state aid. If the commission does not
relax its competition rules to allow the aid, more than 3,000 jobs
might be at risk, and a further 12,000 or so at the other yards.
One irony is that the world's shipbuilders are enjoying a boom as the global economy becomes ever more interlinked and trade grows. Even the shipbuilders in nearby Rostock, a former East German port that became notorious in the 1990s for unsavoury attacks by neo-Nazis on asylum seekers, are successful.
There is a chance that the present Polish government will be able to
mop up the mess left by its predecessors. Successive governments have been eager to bask in the glory of the shipyards' role in the
struggle against communism, but have shown little interest in trying
to revive this troubled industry. If the government fails, Mr Geremek
will no longer be around to witness the demise of the place where his
dreams of freedom began.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 18, 2008 20:07:33 GMT 1
It seems Kaczynski brothers, especially one of them, are going mad. Jaroslaw, the leader of PiS, once ruling party, refused to deal with the major TV station. No interviews, no shows, no comments, no journalists at party meetings. Nothing.
Crazy! Funniest thing is that Kaczynski has been constantly appealing to his party members and side leaders to become friendlier and more open in order to attract young people and others who might be future voters.
Law and Justice party boycott private TV channel
thenews.pl
17.07.2008
Members of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) have announced that they will refuse to appear on the private TVN television channel.
The party's Political Committee passed a resolution Wednesday
afternoon to completely withdraw from appearing on TVN and TVN24 television channels owned by the ITI company. The party is accusing TVN of biased reporting.
"We have observed a lack of objective journalism [on the part of TVN and TVN24] and we cannot agree to such practices," head of the party's parliamentary caucus, MP Przemyslaw Gosiewski told TVN24 yesterday.
Rzeczpospolita daily speculates that the resolution to boycott TVN
and TVN24 is the result of a series of incidents that PiS
politicians experienced when appearing on the TV channels.
On July 2, PiS MP Marek Suski was invited to appear on a business
program on TVN along with Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad. But
when he entered the studio, he was surprised by the presence of
another former Treasury Minister Jacek Socha sitting next to Grad.
After the programme, Suski complained that PiS politicians were only
invited to TVN to act as "whipping boys".
He also mentioned strange technical problems with microphones when party members appeared in TVN studios or instances of being
interrupted when voicing critical opinions on air.
TVN Spokesman Karol Smolag said that his television station
was "anxious and saddened" upon hearing the news of the boycott.
"It goes to show that one of the main political parties in Poland
does not understand the role of the free media and the principles on which they operate", Smolag said and ensured that TVN and
TVN24 "remained open" to the Law and Justice representatives.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 18, 2008 22:23:48 GMT 1
The gains certainly outweigh losses after 4 years which have passed since Poland joined the EU in 2004.
A report summing up Poland's fist four years in the European Union
has just been published by the Office of the Committee for European
Integration.
Krystyna Kolosowska reports
The Office, which may be described as a ministry of European
affairs, believes that the past four years were very positive for
Poland as a new EU member. Jakub Wisniewski, from the department of analyses and strategies, says this is reflected in the continued high public support here for EU membership. He lists the following benefits that this country has experienced.
`Participation of Polish enterprises and businessmen in the huge EU
market of 500 million people and the ability to prosper from it. The
investment climate in Poland has improved considerably. The
additional aspect of EU membership are budgetary transfers. We
receive from the EU budget more than we pay in contributions to it.
We can also talk about the labour market and freedom to undertake
employment abroad.'
Farmers constitute a social group which benefited the most from
Poland's EU membership. They were covered by the Common Agricultural Policy and gained the right to direct payments. Their incomes increased and the countryside as a whole experienced an
entrepreneurial boost.
`When you go back to 2003, when we had the accession referendum, farmers were the most euro skeptical group and some of them voted against joining the EU and then as the economic circumstances of their jobs changed, they grew much more favourable towards the EU and now they are among the biggest supporters of Poland's membership. No wonder, Poland is among seven states where farmers' incomes went up the most after accession.'
Adam Zolnowski, from PricewaterhouseCoop ers, mentions risk
limitation among the main benefits of EU accession.
`Since the accession the risk of investment in Poland is much lower
than before and as a result of that we witness foreign direct
investment coming to Poland in a huge wave. We have many advantages related to that such as jobs, new technologies and new way of thinking.'
During the past four years Poland's economic growth has accelerated markedly, reaching 6.5 percent at the end of last year, unemployment fell by almost a half, declining below 10 percent, while wages in the enterprises sector – counted in euro- went up by 58 percent. But problems have appeared, too, though they are by far outnumbered by benefits. Adam Zolnowski:
`We have not expected price convergence to happen so quickly as it happened in some areas, for example in the area of apartments,
construction, food prices are going up. We have also a wave of
speculation related to real estate market.'
Poles, who can travel freely around the EU and look for jobs abroad,
enjoy the benefits and opportunities that membership in the union
has opened for them. Since Poland's accession in May 2004, the
nations support for EU membership has been around 70 to 80
percent.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 18, 2008 23:46:12 GMT 1
It seems Kaczynski brothers, especially one of them, are going mad. Jaroslaw, the leader of PiS, once ruling party, refused to deal with the major TV station. No interviews, no shows, no comments, no journalists at party meetings. Nothing. Crazy! Funniest thing is that Kaczynski has been constantly appealing to his party members and side leaders to become friendlier and more open in order to attract young people and others who might be future voters. The perpetual blunders and scandals they produce finally bore a bitter fruit: President's popularity ratings decline
thenews.pl
16.07.2008
Poles have become more critical of both President Lech Kaczynski
and the Sejm, Poland's lower parliamentary chamber.
Sixty three percent of respondents negatively evaluate President
Kaczynski, says the most recent poll by the Public Opinion Research
Centre (CBOS), while 25 percent view him in a positive light.
In comparison with the June ratings, the number of respondents who are dissatisfied with the president rose by 6 percent, making it the worst result since Kaczynski came into office.
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Post by tufta on Jul 19, 2008 14:29:00 GMT 1
It seems Kaczynski brothers, especially one of them, are going mad. Jaroslaw, the leader of PiS, once ruling party, refused to deal with the major TV station. No interviews, no shows, no comments, no journalists at party meetings. Nothing. ..... Law and Justice party boycott private TV channel thenews.pl 17.07.2008 But that's a great idea! I fully back Jarosław Kaczynski and never heard a better idea of his. I'd suggest Jarosław Kaczyński could boycott ALL the TV chanels and ALL other media. Wouldn't that be great? |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 19, 2008 21:28:49 GMT 1
But that's a great idea! I fully back Jarosław Kaczynski and never heard a better idea of his. I'd suggest Jarosław Kaczyński could boycott ALL the TV chanels and ALL other media. Wouldn't that be great? You seem to have problems with taking to Kaczynski... Tufta, what`s wrong??? ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 21, 2008 9:28:58 GMT 1
Polish President Mr Kaczynski has beef with Foreign Minister. Both represent two rivalling parties and hate each other truly and deeply.
President and foreign minister trade insults
thenews.pl
19.07.2008
Transcripts of a private meeting between President Kaczynski and
Foreign Minister Sikorski shows relations between government and head of state continue to worsen.
"Your ego is inflated to monstrous proportions, " the President
allegedly said to Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski during a private
meeting on the negotiation of the US missile shield deployment.
"If you continue to insult me, I will leave," answered the minister.
This is a part of the conversation between the two politicians,
reported in the Dziennik daily.
The daily describes the meeting to which the head of state invited
the foreign minister on 4 July. On that day, Prime Minister Donald
Tusk announced that the American offer on the antimissile shield was unsatisfactory.
President Lech Kaczynski recorded the talks he had with Radoslaw
Sikorski, the contents of which Dziennik claims it has access to.
According to the newspaper, the President was insinuating that
Sikorski had betrayed Polish interests.
The president quizzed Sikorski on whether he knows the American
Democrat Ron Asmus, as he suspected that Sikorski had made a secret pact with the Democrats, on a recent visit to Washington, that the deal on the anti-missile shield will be signed with them after the elections in November.
According to the daily, the president also thought that Sikorski
translated the telephone conversation on the shield between Prime
Minister Donald Tusk and d....k Cheney, the US Vice President,
deliberately distorted what the politicians said to one another.
Kaczynski repeatedly asked Sikorski if he is a translator, to which
the latter responded that the conversation was translated by a White- House interpreter, not him.
The conflict between Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and President Lech Kaczynski has been going on since his appointment late last year after the autumn elections. The head of state has repeatedly said that Sikorski should not be in charge of Polish foreign policy.
The foreign minister on the other hand, allegedly told the head of
the President's Office, Anna Fotyga, before a meeting between the
President and the PM, at which Sikorski was present, that: "One can
be a president, but also a boor."
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Post by tufta on Jul 21, 2008 16:28:43 GMT 1
You seem to have problems with taking to Kaczynski... Tufta, what`s wrong??? ;D ;D ;D I am not their fun, let me write it this way. However one of them is Polish President, I don't have another one at the moment, so let me concentrate on his brother |
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 4, 2008 21:55:09 GMT 1
Trybuna is a paper of the leftist party which is in opposition to the ruling righ-wing liberal PO and formerly ruling right-wing conservative PiS.
Trybuna`s against the American shield on Polish soil.
From the land of the absurd
Commentary by Jan Gadomski
Trybuna,Poland
26 July
So far, the joined forces of the PO [Civic Platform] and PiS [Law
and Justice] have managed only one thing: to humiliate the highest-
ranking institutions of the Polish state. The president, in the role
of a police officer from a provincial police station, formally
interrogates the foreign minister in order to unmask him as a
foreign agent. The minister ripostes with the quick-witted assertion
that "one can be a lout, and one can be a president", yet several
days later denies everything. A member of parliament [Janusz
Palikot], a famous champion of the freedom of speech, undauntedly
stands up for the minister: "I consider the president a lout."
Various members of parliament speak out, for and against. Throngs of
Internet users join in. A national discussion unfolds: Is the
president a lout or not? Public prosecutors launch an investigation:
its this lese-majesty or the disclosure of a state secret? The
Polish political world is seething. Somewhere off the side, the
prime minister, in childish rapture, voices the nation's security in
the shadow of a single battery of US Patriots.
And all of this on account of missile launchers dubbed a "shield" -
but a shield for the United States that places Poland on the front
line of potential danger. And it is this "shield" that all the
tragicomic squabbling is over. Who in Poland might still be so bold
as to still speak of the "majesty of the Most Enlightened Republic
of Poland" without being afraid of making themselves a laughing-
stock? Please record in the minutes: "He refuses to answer the
question of whether he is a translator!"
Whom the Patriots are to defend and against whom
Welcome to the land of the absurd. Yet behind these absurd forms,
real content lies hidden. At issue is who will win greater benefits
for themselves from this US "shield". The Kaczynskis seem to believe
the United States blindly and to trust it profoundly. They have
surrendered themselves to it fully and unconditionally, convinced
that their feelings will be repaid with unswerving support from our
great patron. Upon the altar of that faith they have sacrificed the
sovereignty of the Polish state, confident that doing so will pay
off for them. Because Poles allegedly love the United States, and so
they will transfer their love to its Polish branch.
The gentlemen from the PO generally know that nothing can be based
on Washington's allegedly heartfelt feelings for Warsaw, because
their fervency depends on changing political and economic winds.
They know that as the value of the dollar drops and the US recession
mounts, the traditional sentiment of the Polish masses towards
our "uncle from America" is waning. That this uncle is not in the
habit of giving us anything for free. The gentlemen from the PO know
very well that the "shield" will not augment Poland's security,
because that is not its purpose. Tusk himself has publicly stated
that it will reduce that security. The gentlemen from the PO want to
be better patriots than the gentlemen from PiS. As Mr Tusk said,
they wish to "compensate for the reduction in Poland's security".
They are hoping to gain corresponding recognition not in America,
but in Poland, where their concern for the country's interests will
be appreciated, as expressed in more favourable election outcomes
for the PO and for Mr Tusk.
But they, too, are functioning in the kingdom of the absurd. Because
if they themselves admit that the installation of the "shield" will
lessen Poland's security, what do they want those Patriot missiles
for? To defend the US missile launchers which give rise to the
danger? Wouldn't it be better not to cause that danger, in other
words not to install any missiles in Poland? No foreign "shield", no
foreign Patriots. But making such a decision demands that one be
operating in the world of facts, not of myths imposed by PiS. It
takes courage. But the gentlemen from the PO are afraid to be
accused of being short on patriotism. The Patriots are meant to
protect them against such allegations.
The nation says "No"
Both PiS and the PO are accepting, not only without any resistance
but indeed with rapture, the prospect of a base of foreign troops
being installed in Poland. Via this base, PiS wants to become part
of the global US plan of military dominance, taking special account
of Russia, obsessively hated by part of the Polish right. The PO, on
the other hand, states that the very presence of US soldiers on
Polish soil will deter a potential aggressor. Neither the former nor
the latter want to recognize that the main dealer of the cards in
this game is not thinking about them, only about itself. Not about
Polish, European, or simply global security, only about safeguarding
the United States against an imagined missile attack. Such
safeguarding is a precondition for the United States to undertake
large-scale military actions, as it is meant to protect it against
any retaliatory operation. Poland's role in this strategy is
obvious: to serve.
Since the Great Northern War, meaning somewhere around 1700, the
territory of the Republic of Poland has been free of foreign troops
for only 34 years. That is no typo: out of 34 years! The 19 years of
interwar Poland, plus the time since the moment Lech Walesa bid
farewell to the last Soviet army units leaving Poland. That was 17
September 1993. For the remaining years, very nearly three whole
centuries, foreign troops called the shots in Poland. Be it in the
capacity of occupiers, or so-called allies (it was August II the
Saxon who first invited in the Russians), or even protectors of the
Most Enlightened Protectorate of Tsarina Catherine II, the alleged
defender of noble liberties and rights. Even the troops of Napoleon,
the creator of the Duchy of Warsaw, did not bring us good fortune.
Not to speak of Austrian, Prussian, Swedish (the allies of King
Leszczynski) , German, Russian and the devil knows what other troops,
all the way down into the 20th century. Nowadays the new elite,
rallied under the PiS and PO flags, have again begun to dream about
having the troops of a new protector in Poland.
The nation does not want foreign troops. Neither those operating
the "shield", nor those for the Patriots, for whom Prime Minister
Tusk is already promising comfortable garrisons in Poland - for our
money. A majority of society, recently from 60 to 80 per cent
depending on who takes the poll, is opposed to such adventurist
politics - regardless of whether it is of the PiS or PO type. Even
declared advocates of rightwing governments are unable to get
themselves to give any other response. That is the crowning
absurdity: both the rightwing opposition with its president, and the
rightwing government with its prime minister, want to make the
public happy by bringing in foreign troops. They are rivaling one
another sharply in such happy-making, reckoning that they will be
able to cash in on the nation's gratitude. Meanwhile, the nation
does not want such happiness and is not even thinking of any
gratitude for it. Only 10 per cent of the Poles surveyed speak out
without any reservation in favour of the "shield" being deployed in
Poland!
How much is the chastity of the Most Enlightened Republic worth?
Society is systematically being deluded by two sides: presidential
and governmental. Here are examples. When the issue of the "shield"
came onto the list of current affairs it was strongly stressed that
the United States was meant to convince Russia that the shield did
not threaten its security. It did not convince Russia. Did it
convince the Poles? The story about being threatened by Iran or
North Korea insults the intelligence of the Polish nation. And so
who does threaten Poland militarily? The Russian scarecrow is being
shaken only by the extreme right, because it needs an enemy for its
political calculations. The left allowed itself not so long ago to
be conned by the Americans over the alleged Iraqi threat. We know
with what outcome. The right is now conning us about Iran and
Russia. We will come to see the outcome soon.
True, Prime Minister Tusk recently reiterated: "That is why I would
like Moscow's evaluations of this system to be safe for Poland,
neutral. The Americans, to put it curtly and resolutely, also have
to take upon themselves that part of the responsibility which stems
from the geopolitics of Poland - not only that of the United
States." Unfortunately, to put it curtly and resolutely, these are
just words, quite vague ones at that. To date, practically nothing
has stemmed from them.
It seems that the servility towards the United States of PiS in
general, and of the PiS party chairman and president in particular,
stems to a significant extent from ideological closeness to the
Bushists. More specifically: from the Kaczynskis' closeness to
Bushism, its fundamentalism and faith in force as the only effective
instrument in international politics. Unlike Europe, which places
the priority more upon economic ties and diplomacy under conditions
of ideological pluralism, on respect for differences rather than
conversion by the sword.
I can understand such an attitude on the part of the Kaczynskis and
their camp, including the Radio Maryja circle. But I cannot grasp
why the PO leaders, who voice a liberal worldview and arch- European
decorations, are allowing themselves to be fettered in such
anachronistic bonds. If not ill will and hypocrisy, then definitely
the naivety on the part of both sides of the dispute now rocking
Warsaw is obvious and downright laughable. PiS wants to surrender
itself for free, with love, the PO wants to do so for allegedly
tangible benefits. Disappointment is in store for both the former
and the latter. Those who want to do so for love will find out that
great men's favours are uncertain. Those who want to do so for
benefits will find out that there is no good equivalent for lost
security, even if it bears a beautiful name: Patriot. And that
betraying the state's sovereignty is like Miss Zuza's lost chastity:
the first time is the hardest. Then things get easier.
The US politician Ron Asmus, made notorious in Poland by [President]
Lech Kaczynski, stated this week: "There needs to be the strongest
connection between the United States and Central and Eastern Europe.
At present that connection needs to be repaired. Opinion polls show
that trust and support are waning. That problem will remain
regardless of what happens on the missile defence issue. And so we
should be discussing how the next president can rebuild strategic
relations between Warsaw and Washington."
Please, let's discuss. But for the time being no one has answered
for us the fundamental questions: If Poland's security is to be
surrendered for a pretense of security, what for? And better: Is
this a comedy of mutual love, or a farce of alleged Polish military
might?
Now we only know that if the question "Knock-knock? " gets asked at
the Palace, one should not respond "Who's there?" and wait until
that gets recorded in the minutes and used against us. Instead one
should quickly respond: "Go jump in a lake," and walk out with
dignity.
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 6, 2008 23:52:57 GMT 1
Polish wealth to reach 75% of EU average by 2015
The Warsaw Business Journal
4th August 2008
Market Economy Research Institute (IBnGR) has issued a report for the Regional Development Ministry concerning the level of wealth of Poles The statistical level of the wealth of a society, GDP per capita, is to amount to 75 percent of the EU's average by 2015, according to the report. In 2020, this figure is to grow to 80 percent. For comparison, it stood at 50 percent in 2005, which put Poland in one of the last positions in the EU.
The largest growths in wealth will be observed in regions that are
already today regarded as the richest, that is Mazowsze, which will
have the indicator at 122 percent of the EU's average in 2015, as well as Lower Silesia, Pomerania, Ma³opolska, Silesia and Wielkopolska.
"This is not just a paper indicator," said Marcin Peterlink of
IBnGR, "GDP per capita is the reflection of the level of wages of
citizens, consumption, investments, in general - the level of living."
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Aug 20, 2008 14:06:18 GMT 1
US and Poland seal missile deal
The signing of the US and Polish defence agreement
The US and Poland have signed a deal to locate part of the US's controversial missile defence system on Polish soil.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelled to Warsaw for the ceremony, after 18 months of negotiations.
The deal has angered Russia, which has warned the base could become a target for a nuclear strike.
Washington says the system will protect the US and much of Europe against missile attacks from "rogue elements" in the Middle East such as Iran.
The agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the Polish parliament, was signed by Ms Rice and Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.
'Aimed at no-one'
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the negotiations had been "tough, but friendly", adding that the deal would make both Poland and the US more secure.
Ms Rice said the signing of the document was an extraordinary occasion, adding that the agreement would help Nato, Poland and the US respond to "the threats of the 21st Century".
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw, she emphasised that the missile system was "defensive and aimed at no-one".
While Washington believes placing 10 interceptor missiles on a disused military base near Poland's Baltic Sea coast will protect much of Nato against possible long-range attacks, Warsaw sees threats much closer to home, says the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw.
That is why it demanded - in exchange for hosting the base - short-range Patriot missiles for its own air defences and a guarantee that the US will come to its assistance in the event of an attack, our correspondent adds.
Moscow infuriated
The demands had delayed the deal's completion, but the conflict in Georgia gave the negotiations more impetus, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas, who is travelling with Ms Rice.
Both the US and Poland say the system is not aimed against Russia.
But the agreement has infuriated Moscow, our correspondent adds.
Russia's deputy chief of general staff, Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said last week the plans for a missile base in Poland "could not go unpunished".
"It is a cause for regret that at a time when we are already in a difficult situation, the American side further exacerbates the situation in relations between the United States and Russia," he said.
Moscow has argued the project will upset the military balance in Europe and has warned it will be forced to redirect its missiles at Poland.
But Polish President Lech Kaczynski stressed the missile defence shield was purely a defensive system and not a threat.
"For that reason, no-one who has good intentions towards us and towards the Western world should be afraid of it," he said on Wednesday.
Before the conflict in Georgia there was a reasonable amount of popular opposition in Poland to the missile defence deal.
But new surveys show that for the first time a majority of Poles support it, with 65% expressing fear of Russia.
Hitting a bullet
The interceptors look like ordinary missiles, stored in silos, with highly automated warheads that are not loaded with any explosives.
If fired, the missile is intended to home in on and destroy its target, above the atmosphere, due to the kinetic energy of the collision.
But the closing speed of interceptor and target will be 24,000km/h (15,000mph), making the task more difficult than hitting a bullet with another bullet.
The US has spent more than $100bn (£54bn) in the last two decades on its controversial project to develop defences against ballistic missiles.
Critics say that, despite all that money, the Pentagon still has not proved the system can work in realistic conditions.
Last month, the US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base tracking radars there as part of the defence system.
Washington wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.
BBC UK
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 14:02:27 GMT 1
US and Poland seal missile deal The signing of the US and Polish defence agreement
The US and Poland have signed a deal to locate part of the US's controversial missile defence system on Polish soil.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelled to Warsaw for the ceremony, after 18 months of negotiations.
Oh, really? During holidays we didn`t buy any papers, watch TV or listen to the radio. We lived in perfect ignorance of the world news. One day I suspected the agreement was signed when I looked at the newspaper covers doing shopping. But as they were tabloid magazines, I thought it might be a spoof. But it is real. I wonder what Americans eventually offered Poland.... |
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Post by valpomike on Aug 24, 2008 15:08:28 GMT 1
SAFETY, from fear, help if things happened.
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Post by valpomike on Aug 24, 2008 19:49:11 GMT 1
What more can the Americans give, or do for Poland? What did, or do they want, more than protection? This will also bring American money into Poland. We have all ways been there for Poland and will being there, in days to come.
This past remark upset me.
What does America get from this, but more cost, and troops away from home, and nothing more?
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 22:10:30 GMT 1
Before the conflict in Georgia there was a reasonable amount of popular opposition in Poland to the missile defence deal. But new surveys show that for the first time a majority of Poles support it, with 65% expressing fear of Russia.
According to the new poll, 58 percent of those surveyed support the missile defense plan—compared with 30 percent in March 2007, early on in the negotiations. The poll was published in the Rzeczpospolita daily.
It was the first time a majority of Poles surveyed have backed the U.S. missile defense plan, according to lead researcher Maciej Siejewicz from the Gfk Polonia polling agency.
The poll said 37 percent believe the deal is bad for Poland.
Gfk Polonia questioned 500 people Saturday, two days after the missile deal was struck and a day after the Russian general made his threat. The survey had a margin of error of up to 4.5 percentage points.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. |
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 22:22:59 GMT 1
Polish town back in centre of nuclear stand-off
For centuries the armies of Europe have marched across the plains of northern Poland and through the pretty stone streets of the town of Slupsk.
By Angus McDowall and Hillary Day in Warsaw
Telegraph.co. uk, United Kingdom
Aug 17 2008
Polish town, Redzikowo, back in centre of nuclear stand-off
Redzikowo has been chosen to host 10 American missiles as part of an anti-nuclear shield Photo: AP
But since the departure of its Soviet garrison the only sign of military activity has been a ramshackle airbase consisting of weeds and crumbling concrete in Redzikowo, a few miles out of town.
Now Redzikowo has been chosen to host 10 American missiles as part of an anti-nuclear shield and Slupsk is once again in the gun sights of a powerful neighbour engaged in a struggle for global power. Its place on the front line of a new East-West conflict came into sharper focus this week when a Russian general said the presence of the missiles was "exposing Poland" to a nuclear strike.
"We feared this for months but now it is real," said Janek Junczyk, 48, who lives next to the Redzikowo complex with his two children. "We have become a nuclear target."
The £50 million base planned by the Americans will house 200 servicemen and form the basis of a missile shield – ostensibly aimed at Iran's growing nuclear threat but seen by Moscow as a direct challenge to Russia.
Poland's president Lech Kaczynski has called on the West to take a stronger line against his domineering neighbour. He said: "The Russians should have been told that imperial times have ended." Slupsk's inhabitants are deeply concerned about the deployment of American weapons in the town and the Russian retaliation that it could unleash.
Russian forces have already caused enormous damage to Slupsk. In 1945 the advancing Red Army shelled its medieval centre, once home to the Pomeranian princes, to the ground.
"It was a beautiful medieval city, one of the prettiest in the region," said Bronislaw Nowak, a city councillor.
"But the liberating army destroyed its architecture and shot any citizens who hadn't already fled. Now thousands of people are once again threatened by military attacks."
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Post by valpomike on Aug 24, 2008 22:53:20 GMT 1
How could this be a bad deal for Poland? She is the winner, we pay for everything, bring more money into Poland, and give safety, and support if need be.
What more did Poland want from the Americans? They gain, at our cost.
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Post by valpomike on Aug 24, 2008 22:55:27 GMT 1
What is your thinking on this, all of you, here and in Poland?
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 23:08:02 GMT 1
How could this be a bad deal for Poland? She is the winner, we pay for everything, bring more money into Poland, and give safety, and support if need be. What more did Poland want from the Americans? They gain, at our cost. What is your thinking on this, all of you, here and in Poland? Mike, it is not so easy. Poles have experienced being left alone by the West despite deals and agreements. The most known occasion happened in 1939 when Poles waited for Britain and France to attack Germany to relieve the Polish front, but to no avail... Therefore, don`t be so harsh on those many Poles who are suspicious of American shields, promises, deals... |
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 23:45:40 GMT 1
Bright future ahead
Polish Radio
21.07.2008
Poles have finally developed a more positive outlook on life, writes
Wprost.
Wprost reports that during the past few years Poles have joined the group of Europe's biggest optimists and in terms of growth in the number of optimists Poland is in the lead. The majority of Poles are convinced that their incomes will be increasing, while jobs will be even easier to find than now. Like Winston Churchill, Poles believe it does not seem too much use being anything else than an optimist.
As many as 55 percent of Polish people surveyed by Eurobarometer say that things are going in the right direction in Poland. Apparently
there is no reason not be optimist when they are earning more, the
zloty is getting stronger, they have stable job prospects and
freedom to choose a way of life, economic analysts point out.
Seventy-seven percent of Poles see benefits stemming from EU
membership – this is the highest rate, next to Ireland. We have
never been so happy before. According to the latest CBOS survey 95 percent of Poles are satisfied with their life. Only four percent
complain.
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Post by valpomike on Aug 25, 2008 15:23:52 GMT 1
But what is in it for America? Just cost and having troops away from home.
What do the Polish think is the reason for this?
Other place like England and others, are not the U.S.A. and must not be grouped together.
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