POLISH NEWS BYTES

Compiled by Robert Strybel, Warsaw Correspondent-September 2024

Lockheed unveils “Made for Poland” F-35 fighter jet Polish and US officials attended the unveiling ceremony of the F-35 Husarz stealth combat aircraft at Lockheed Martin’s Texas headquarters. The Polish version of the aircraft has been named “Husarz” in reference to Poland’s famous “Winged Hussar” heavy cavalry units that operated from the 16th to the 18th century. “The Hussars’ renowned speed, precision and tactical innovations on horseback enabled them to defend their homeland,” said a representative of America’s defense giant. “Polish warriors will soon employ those same qualities with a faster animal: the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jet.”

Photo:www.komputerswiat.pl

Ruling coalition’s revenge-seekers keep busy Since coming to power last December, Poland’s ruling coalition has sought to undermine and destroy its arch-enemy, the conservative Law&Justice (L&J) party. Led by PM Donald Tusk, the coalition has accused the previous government of abuse of power, mismanagement, corruption, squandering funds on ill-conceived projects, giving cushy, fat-cat jobs to its loyalists and using government money as a political slush fund. Suspects have been interrogated by special commissions, taken to court and jailed. Currently, the coalition seems bent on putting Polish National Bank president Adam Glapiński behind bars. Recently five L&J-appointed army generals got fired.

Photo:gov.pl

Tusk government approves highest-deficit budget ever The coalition government of PM Tusk has approved a draft budget for 2025. It plans to raise defense spending to 4.7% of GDP, increase healthcare expenditure by 16%, and introduce new social benefits. That will create the country’s highest-ever deficit of 289 billion złotys (nearly $70 billion). During its eight years in power, the family-friendly Law&Justice administration was routinely lambasted for its allegedly “reckless welfare spending” by Tusk’s frugal Civic Platform (later renamed Civic Coalition) party. Apparently his government now believes that generous social benefits are the best way to win public support.

 

Polish law-enforcers shut down EU’s biggest illegal drug lab A massive drug lab based in Poland was identified as the largest facilities producing methadone in the EU. The raid was carried out by the Polish Police’s Central Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with Ukrainian Authorities, and nearly 200 kilograms (440 lbs) of methodone got confiscated. Apart from the main lab, the functionaries raided raided eight smaller sites in Poland and Ukraine where synthetic narcotics were being produced and stored.

Covid-19. face masks and disinfection return to Poland As in other countries, the dreaded Covid-19 virus has reappeared in Poland, where health authorities have lost no time in reacting. “We will advise wearing masks and placing greater emphasis on hand hygiene and surface disinfection to curb the spread of COVID-19, flu, and RSV (respitory syncitial virus),” Chief Sanitary Inspector Paweł Grzesiowski told the PAP news agency towards the end of August. It is possible for the same person to be simultaneously infected with the common-flu, Covid-19, RSV and SARS virus.

UN Committee attacks Poland over allegedly “severe rights abuse” Women in Poland face severe human-rights violations due to the country’s restrictive abortion law, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women contends. “The situation in Poland constitutes gender-based violence against women and may rise to the level of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the Committee said in a recent report. Years of high-powered propaganda and lobbying have succeeded in imposing the radical, although now now largely default view that prenatal infanticide (the killing of the unborn) is a “human right.”

Coalition lacks votes to liberalize abortion law – PM Tusk Polish PM Donald Tusk had promised to liberalize the country’s restrictive abortion law within 100 days after coming to power last December. He now admits his governing coalition lacks the necessary number of votes in parliament, infuriating feminists and other leftists who accuse him of going back on his word. The present law allows legal abortions if pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest or when the woman’s health or life are in danger. Despite ongoing secularization, Poland remains a majority Catholic country where the Church retains a strong position.

National Bank of Poland continues gold-buying spree According to the World Gold Council, in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) became the joint biggest gold buyer amongst central banks, tying with that of India. Earlier this year, NBP President Adam Glapinski said the bank was planning to ensure that gold made up 20% of its reserves. At present, gold accounts for about 14.7% thereof. Poland has purchased 48.4 additional tons of gold, outpacing China (45 tons) and Russia (3.1 tons). Gold serves as a safeguard stabilizing economies in times of currency or market turbulence.  Most of Poland’s gold purchases are held in London at the Bank of England, regarded as a safer deposit site in times of war than Poland.

Tusk government imposes pro-German history text For years, a co-produced Polish-German history textbook lacked its fourth and final part dealing with the post-World War II period. Under the previous conservative Law&Justice government, educators and scholars complained that it downplayed the oft-pivotal role of the Church in Poland which had prevented the spread of collective farms and helped ensure more freedom of speech than that of other Soviet-bloc countries. Part 4 was also rejected in Bavaria, southern Germany’s predominantly Catholic province. The textbook’s controversial section also exaggerated the significance of the Berlin Wall’s collapse at the expense of Poland’s Solidarity movement which had led to the liberation of the eastern half of Europe.

Poland’s ombudsman bombarded with Ukrainian complaints The office of Poland’s Ombudsman (human-rights spokesman) has been increasingly bombarded with complaints from Ukrainian males temporarily residing in Poland. The Polish branch of the Ukrainian documents service is no longer able to issue or renew Ukrainian passports and tells them that now they can attend to the necessary paperwork only n Ukraine. Under Ukraine’s currently binding martial law, all able-bodied men aged 18-60 are required to defend their homeland. They fear if they return only temporarily, they will not be allowed to leave the country.

Tusk reiterates decision not to run for Poland’s presidency Since last spring, PM Donald Tusk has been denying any plans for a presidential bid in the May 2025 election. The highly image-conscious Prime Minister must feel humiliated that he is not amongst the Poles’ most trusted politicians. Poland’s current President Andrzej Duda holds that title with 49% public support, followed by Sejm Marshal (speaker) Szymon Hołownia (44%), Also on the podium is Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (42%). Tusk came in among such also-rans as Eurodeputy Patryk Jaki, former PM Mateusz Morawiecki and nationalist Krzysztof Osaka.

Refugee influx spawns small Ukrainian firms in Poland Millions of refugees fleeing Putin’s aggression have entered Poland over the past 2.5 years, and an estimated one to 1.5 million have settled in. That has resulted in close to 60,000 new solo entrepreneurship registrations. Ukrainian women, who dominate the refugee scene, have set up single-member companies as child minders, caregivers, housekeepers, cashiers and waitresses. Ukrainian males mostly work at construction sites as well as carpenters, auto mechanics and drivers.

Polish judges group petitions against “transition epidemic”. Poland’s conservative judges association Ordo Iuris is calling for legislation to protect the underaged from pro-sex-change indoctrination and premature hormonal/surgical treatment. Studies in America and Europe have shown that the overwhelming majority of those, who earlier had succumbed to the pro-transition craze, had changed their mind by he age of 18. In the West, sex-change has become a mega- industry and, as such, enjoys the support of governments, Big Tech, academics, show business and schools, all out for a slice of that multi-billion-dollar pie.

Pope Francis expands mission of Polish prelate Jaogdziński Archbishop Mieczysław Jagodziński, the Papal Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) for the Republic of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini, has recently had his jurisdiction expended to include the Republic of Botswana. Jagodziński, 55, was born in the village of Małgoszcza in south-central Poland’s Kielce region and has so far served in Belarus, Croatia, India and Bosnia and Herzegovina. His episcopal motto is “In fines orbis” (To the ends of the earth).

Photo: polskieradio24.pl

“Uncertainty – Mickiewicz in love” is the first feature film highlighting the youthful love of Poland’s great Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz. It tells the story of the 22-year-old poet’s summer-vacation trip to an idyllic country manor-house. There he falls in love with Marla Wereszczakówna, the householder’s daughter, but has second thoughts about his true feelings. ”Uncertainty” was the title of one of Mickiewicz’s early poems. The movie is due to go on release shortly.

Germany’s Der Spiegel calls Palace of Culture the “coolest” Writing in Germany’s popular news weekly Der Spiegel, journalist Nadia Pantel has called Warsaw’s huge, Soviet-style skyscraper “iconic.” Stalin’s posthumous gift to Poland opened in 1955, and its wedding-cake style was dubbed “Stalinesque.” Actually it was patterned after Stalin’s beloved Art Déco skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. Pantel described the Palace of Culture, which dominates downtown Warsaw, as “the coolest monument in Europe.” After Poland ditched communism in 1989, many Poles, including the current Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, called for its demolition,

Catechism teachers, parents protest discrimination of religion The new education minster Barbara Nowacka has been accused of a slighting approach to religion classes. Not only are the classes scheduled an hour before “normal” classes begin, but she has also halved their frequency from two to one session a week. Catechism grades are no longer included in a pupil’s grade average, and fourth-grades may have to share a class with eight-graders due the country’s demographic shortfall. This has triggered protests by irate parents and religion teachers against radical feminist Nowacka, the unmarried mother of two living with her hook-up partner.

Polish documentary on Ukraine vies for European Film Award A Polish documentary on the Russo-Ukrainian conflict is making a bid in the 2024 European Film Awards competition. Titled In Limbo, the Polish documentary is one of 12 films competing in the documentary features category. The film, produced by Poland’s Wajda Studio, is an account of the first few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, written and directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Alina Maksimenko. “The documentary tells the story of my family, who suddenly finds itself in the middle of a war and is faced with dramatically difficult decisions,” Maksimenko explained.

Why Poles baffle foreign visitors – Polish woman explains. First published in Lonely Planet’s guide to Poland, Alicja Ptak’s essay says: “Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. Poles embody a spectrum of paradoxes that perplex foreign visitors, but one feature dominates the others: hospitality.  (…) You get off at Warsaw’s main train station. Hordes of sad-looking people pass you by. You try to build a rapport with strangers by smiling at them – a rookie move. Your kind gesture is most likely met with suspicion. But when you find yourself in a Polish house, you are greeted with a truly royal welcome. The table is breaking under the weight of baked goods, a three-course dinner is simmering on the cooker, and you’ve been given your own pair of slippers.”