Difficulties with Revised Shield Project

Stationed in Poland?

The visit of the American VP, Joe Biden, to Poland, his words and the revised anti-missile shield offer which he brought with him met with an optimistic response. However, there are still a number of issues that still need resolving.  As the American administration’s officials stressed yesterday, it still remains unknown just how many missiles would be located in Poland. What is known, however, is that the project’s implementation will start no sooner than 2015 and end before 2018. This timeline would reflect the successive stages of retrofitting the SM-3 missiles that have primarily been designed to be used solely on battleships. Such a distant date for implementing the revised plan is a cause for concern in Warsaw. There is also the matter of the still unresolved legal status of American soldiers stationed in Poland; an issue about which negotiations are still under way. Despite numerous declarations of the will to reach an agreement from both parties, a joint position on the soldiers’ liability is yet to be worked out. “There are some difficulties here but I hope that they will be resolved by making compromises on both sides,” said the Polish President after meeting with Biden. However, the head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), Aleksander Szczygło, was critical of the Polish PM’s optimistic declarations. “The perspective of 6 to 9 years needed for the shield to become a reality is a distant one. The PM’s statement is surprising. It is a shame that the government did not adopt the previous agreement this quickly. It is astonishing that it is agreeing to something that is very distant and drags on the talks on the status of American soldiers which is crucial for Patriot missiles to arrive in Poland along with any kind of American military presence on our soil,” commented Szczygło for Rzeczpospolita.
Rzeczpospolita

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Poland to Take New Shield

A Different Kind of Polish Patriot

After meeting American Vice-President Joe Biden, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirms that Poland will accept SM-3 launchers. Warsaw welcomed Joseph Biden in the cold and rain but the American guest had many warm words to say to the Poles. “Poland is one of our closest allies. We share the same values and ideals,” Biden said after the meeting with the Polish PM. Later on during the joint conference with the Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, the American VP said, “We have Poland in our hearts”. Biden came to Poland to neutralize the bad impression left by the unfortunate way Obama’s administration presented the new shield concept. He also came to confirm the US revised offer which Tusk later  declared that Poland will accept. “Poland is willing to participate in the SM-3 project,” he said. After the meeting with Biden, Tusk explained that “the new plan for the world needs Poland to be more than a country that just needs help”. He added, “For Americans we have become a partner expected to take action and joint responsibility for all the good that is supposed to happen in the world”.

His guest was clearly pleased with such a declaration. “The US appreciates Poland’s willingness to take this step and to have the system’s elements installed,” Biden said and went on to add that “the shield will not only work for America’s benefit but also to increase NATO and Polish security”. He assured the Polish authorities that the US treats its obligations to its allies seriously. Various Polish diplomats told Rzeczpospolita that Warsaw did not expect any specifics from this visit; rather a formal confirmation of the American will to locate the modified SM-3 missiles in Poland. Wess Mitchell, the head of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, says that the significance of Biden’s visit is quite substantial. “It is a step in the right direction. The Central-European allies needed to be thoroughly run through the workings of the new anti-missile defence system. They also needed a specific offer inviting them to become a part of this system. The offer that was put on the table is very fair but for the time being it is too removed in the future for its details to be of any greater significance. What is important, however, is that America has shown its allies that it remains a credible partner which fulfils its obligations,” Mitchell told Rzeczpospolita. “We have good reason to feel satisfied,” according to Polish Foreign Affairs Minister, Radosław Sikorski, summing up Biden’s visit for Polsat News. He went on to say that he will be flying to Washington in November where, in all likelihood, he will meet up with the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
Rzeczpospolita

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New Ministers on Tuesday

Not a Happy Man

PM Donald Tusk will reveal the names of the new ministers of Internal Affairs and Administration, Justice, and Sport on Tuesday. The former ministers of these ministries – Grzegorz Schetyna, Andrzej Czuma, Mirosław Drzewiecki – were dismissed in regard to the Gambling Act scandal. Schetyna will probably be replaced by the Lesser Poland governor Jerzy Miller, former chairperson of the National Health Fund (NFZ). But according to Wyborcza sources, nobody talked with Miller about his nomination until Friday. Miller, on the other hand, was not willing to talk to the media and his spokesperson informed us that “Mr Miller will not comment on whether the Prime Minister talked with him or not”. Another name in line for one of the vacant positions in the government is Krzysztof Kilian who was responsible for communications in Hanna Suchocka’s government. He is currently the vice-president of Polkomtel. Kilian has been a trusted advisor to Tusk for many years, they have known each other since the Liberal-Democratic Congress. He would either head the Prime Minister’s Cabinet or be appointed as Minister of Sport. Kilian’s acquaintance highly doubts that Kilian would accept a government position, though. “He was the head of the Cabinet in Jan Krzysztof Bielecki’s government for a few months. It is a front-line job, 20 hours of work a day, full-time flexibility, just like the Minister of Sport in the midst of preparations for Euro 2012. I doubt Krzysiek would accept something like that. As vice-president of Polkomtel he has a safe job and one of the best-paid ones in business”. Krzysztof Kilian was unavailable yesterday and like Miller, nobody talked to him about a possible nomination. The Ministry of Justice could be taken by Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, the current deputy head of the Ministry and a Civic Platform senator. He was also assistant to PM Jerzy Buzek.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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PO Down, Tusk Up

Party Dragging Him Down?

Following the publication of details of the Gambling Act scandal (known as gamble-gate) that have rocked the government, popularity for ruling Civic Platform (PO) has fallen by four points according to a opinion poll by Gazeta Wyborcza. In the same poll, the main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) has seen a rise of four points. Popularity for the Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) has also marginally increased. In a ‘recent presidential’ opinion poll, PM Donald Tusk came top with Włodzimierz Cimosiewicz in second place. Should the two meet in a second round of voting, Tusk would win 59% to 41% according to the poll. Should PM Tusk meet incumbent President Kaczyński, he would defeat him 70% to 30% according to the poll.
Wirtualna Polska

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PiS Says ‘No’ to PO Politicians

Speak No Evil?

The head of Law and Justice (PiS) Jarosław Kaczyński has banned members of his party from talking to Stefan Niesiołowski and Janusz Palikot from Civic Platform (PO). The head of the PiS executive board, Joachim Brudziński, believes that it does not behove a PiS politician to speak to a man who makes cheap wine (Palikot). Another higher-placed PiS politicians claims that PiS members do not want to stoop to the level of these two PO politicians.
Rzeczpospolita

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Promoting Poland Without Drama

Promoting Poland

“The role of victim does not command respect,” believe experts when asked about the battle against anti-Polish feeling. One in two respondents feels that Poles are perceived unfavourably abroad according to a GfK Polonia poll published by Rzeczpospolita. For years now, Rzeczpospolita has been battling the misuse of inaccurate terms which slander Poland’s name. Proving to be a large success in this regard was the campaign against the term “Polish death camps” which had been regularly appearing in foreign newspapers such as the Guardian or New York Times. Over 15,000 people backed the appeal. Also, it met with the endorsement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a result, the number of interventions made in the media by its officials and Polish ambassadors who demanded rectification is in the hundreds. “It is a very good campaign. I am convinced that it has made the foreign media choose their words more carefully,” believes PO MEP and former head of the Polish Foreign Affairs Committee Paweł Zalewski. Thanks to the campaign the frequency with which such alarming expressions surface and are brought to our attention has dropped. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs seconds this opinion. “We are observing a significant drop in the regularity with which these terms are used,”  say Piotr Paszkowski, the ministerial spokesperson in an interview with Rzeczpospolita. He continues, “in recent weeks we noted but one case in which the term ‘Polish death camp’ was used and of course it was met with a swift reaction from our diplomats”. Paszkowski emphasises the fact also that it is always when the debate on concentration camps gains momentum that such terms start surfacing more frequently.

Flying the Flag

The media coverage on the extradition of John Demyanyuk, a presumed war criminal and a former guard at Sobibór death camp, is a good illustration of such a tendency. But the campaigns alone will never solve the problem. Experts say that the government is not promoting Poland properly. “If the authorities focus all their attention solely on admonishing foreign journalists for their use of absurd terms instead of backing it up by conducting campaigns that would promote, for example, publications revealing the historical truths about Poland, then they have only themselves to blame,” says Dr Wojciech Jabłoński, an expert in political marketing from the department of Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw. The authorities are going into hysteria and instead of improving Poland’s image, they are hurting it. Jabłoński stresses the fact that building an image on the past and martyrdom is counter-productive because it casts Poles in the role of victim which instead of being respected is rather pitied. By constantly reprimanding journalists Poland is losing the media’s sympathy. Foreign reporters are often surprised at Polish people’s over-sensitivity when it comes to Polish history. Others say that when they made a mistake they were mistreated to such an extent that despite having previously presenting Poland in a good light from that moment on they decided to stay as far away as possible from anything Polish.
Rzeczpospolita

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Alternatives to PO

Should Tusk Be Worried?

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) is the most popular second-choice party among respondents. Trailing after SLD are Civic Platform (PO) and the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL) and Piskorski’s Democratic Party (SD) respectively. 36% of Poles would be prepared to vote for a party different from the one they currently support. According to a survey conducted by GfK Polonia on behalf of Rzeczpospolita, SLD tops the second-choice parties. It was the party of choice for 16% of respondents. Coming next among other second-choice parties was PO with 8%, PSL and SD both had 7%, the Party of Polish Women (PK) claimed 5%. Law and Justice (PiS) was the second-choice party for only 4% of respondents. This is a good prognosis for SLD and SD. “For SD the sole fact of making it into the polls is a bonus,” says Wojciech Jabłoński, from the department of Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw. On the other hand, SLD’s result shows that the plans of the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk who made no secret of the fact that he was aiming to slowly drain support from it, might not work. If SLD’s leaders seize this opportunity it may very well be that it will be PO’s constituents moving over to SLD and not the other way around.

According to the Rzeczpospolita poll, SLD is viewed by 26% of respondents as the second most popular choice. The head of SLD Grzegorz Napieralski believes, “Clearly, the spells cast by Tusk and PO are being broken and a bright future is opening up before the left”. SD is also happy with the results: “This shows that our endeavours are bearing fruit and disproves the theory popularised by some politicians that the Polish political scene is sealed shut and there is no room for another party,” says Jan Artymowski, SD’s Deputy Secretary General. Meanwhile PO is keeping its cool. “I do not believe our voters would leave us for SLD or Piskorski’s party. It is far more likely that these camps will be battling it out with each other,” says Grzegorz Dolniak, deputy chairman of PO’s policy committee. He goes on to point out that his party is acceptable for everyone. Indeed, the 8% for which PO is the second-choice party is made up from PiS, SLD and PSL voters. This illustrates why it is so easy for PO to attract the undecided. “Inexpressiveness is its strength,” says Jacek Kloczkowski, a Political Sciences expert at the Center for Political Thought. In Jabłoński’s opinion it is this inexpressiveness that is working to the disadvantage of PiS which was picked as a second-choice party by so few. “This party has nowhere to turn for new supporters,” he says. Kloczkowski, however, points out that about 60% of voters tend to feel attached to the parties they support. “And this is particularly good news for the biggest players: PO and PiS,” he adds.
Rzeczpospolita

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PO Going Strong, SD Still Weak

Piskorski Worried

The Democratic Party’s (SD) support is comparable to that of the League of Polish Families (LPR) or the Polish Party of Women (PK).  Support for Civic Platform (PO) has not wavered and is still at 56% compared to two weeks ago – such are the results of the most recent survey conducted by GfK Polonia for Rzeczpospolita. “The results are impressive,” says Jacek Kloczkowski, a doctor of Political Sciences at the Center for Political Thought. However, it still remains to be seen how the KDT fracas will affect PO’s standing. Law and Justice (PiS) faced similar problems when it was in power. It stood firmly in a row against nurses and consequently its standing dropped. Kloczkowski points also to another possible source of trouble for PO – the cuts in the budget. Compared to the previous survey, PiS and the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL) have gained 2 and 1 points respectively while the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has lost 1 point. The most recent survey was first to gauge support for the new Democratic Party (SD). SD, led by Paweł Piskorski, got off to a slow start and became the party of choice for only 1% of Poles, an identical result to that of the League of Polish Families (LPR), the Self-Defence Party of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona), the Republic Right Party (PR) and the Polish Party of Women (PK).

Piskorski, however, plays down the survey’s results. “I’m not bothered by them. I would be bothered if SD had the same level of support a year from now,” says the SD head. Piskorski highlights the fact that SD is still to launch its media and program offensive. However, in his opinion, had the survey mentioned the names of the respective parties’ politicians then SD’s result would have been better. “I expect that by the end of this year we will have a party which will have bounced back becoming a political alternative recognisable among voters. And come 2011 SD will be contending for a double-figure result in the parliamentary elections,” Piskorski says. According to Kloczkowski, SD stands a real chance of establishing itself as a solid political party. One of its strongest arguments is that even now, in the midst of the economical crisis, money is not a problem for Piskorski’s party. “Everything depends on how well SD take advantage of this chance. Libertas has proven that it is not enough simply to establish a presence in the media to win over voters,” says Kloczkowski. GfK Polonia conducted the survey between the 17th and 19th of June on a representative sample of 1,000 people.
Rzeczpospolita

Vote now for our blog friends – Transubstantiation

Unprecedented Offer by PiS to PO

Plotting PO'S Downfall

“We would like to request that Civic Platform (PO) let us broadcast, at our own cost, their 2007 election advertisement, thanks to which they won the last parliamentary elections,” announced Jacek Kurski during a Law and Justice (PiS) press conference. “Donald Tusk claimed Poles deserved more. The only condition to make this dream come true was that Civic Platform wins the election,” said Mr Kurski, concluding that “in contrast to what was promised, we have not witnessed a large scale return of Polish citizens from abroad, the health service has not improved, neither has the general feeling of safety”. Michał Kamiński admits this is an unprecedented move but reassures the general public that it is not a joke. “We do want Poles to watch the advertisement that crucially helped Civic Platform win the elections,” he emphasised. Law and Justice wants to submit an official request to Grzegorz Dolniak, head of the Civic Platform election board, to allow the broadcasting of this advertisement at the expense of the opposition. We hope the ruling party will not be ashamed of it.
Onet.pl

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Buzek Sacrificed For Cimoszewicz?

Firmly Behind Buzek

The Polish PM Donald Tusk has recently put forward two candidates for important positions in the EU structures: former PM Leszek Buzek for President of the EU Parliament and another former PM Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz for Secretary General of the European Council. Meanwhile, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has put forward his own candidate, Mario Mauro, to be appointed to the former position, whilst at the same time mentioning an unofficial deal on this issue with Poland. According to Mr Berlusconi, “an agreement is close”. Poland supports the Italian candidate for the EU Parliamentary President, Italy will return the favour and support the Polish candidate for the EU Secretary General. According to the ANSA agency, Mr Berlusconi has openly mentioned the agreement with the Polish government, though without stating any particular names. However, “there is no such agreement,” claims Paweł Graś, the Polish government spokesperson. He later reassured the public that the only candidate suggested and consistently supported by the Polish government is Mr Buzek. Last Friday, at the Civic Platform’s (PO) convention, Mr Tusk expressed his strong belief that if his party wins the EU Parliamentary elections, it will significantly increase Poland’s influence on EU politics. “If Civic Platform wins, I hereby vow we will have a Polish President of the EU Parliament,” he promised.
Dziennik

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