Newsletter
From Poland With Love - May
Topics of the Month
Czech-Polish Relations. An Open Pit of Problems
The European Court of Justice ruled Poland had to immediately stop mining at the Turów complex operated by state-run PGE energy sector company, handing a win to the Czech government which had sought an order to stop mining operations there as an interim measure. The Czech government estimated that not doing so would risk causing “serious and irreparable harm to the interests of the applicant”. The authorities in Prague filed a lawsuit in February calling for a halt to activities at the mine, located by the Czech and German borders, saying Polish government had violated European law by extending mining at Turów until 2026. It is commented that the conflict escalated because of Polish government’s reluctance to negotiate and provide detailed information as well as a lack of empathy and a lack of empathy in relations with its southern neighbor.
The mine has been accused of draining water supplies in the Czech Republic.
PGE warned that a closure would cost thousands of jobs. Turów supplies brown coal (lignite) to a nearby electricity plant, which provides ca. 5% of Poland’s power and a temporary closure would endanger the Poland’s energy security. Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would not comply with the ruling of the CJEU. PiS together with right wing trade unions organized demonstrations of support for the mine.
“We are ready for talks, we have been saying it for several years, unfortunately there had to be this ruling, I am glad that the court ruled in our favor”, Czech environment minister Richard Brabec said. After a meeting with Czech delegation, Morawiecki announced in Brussels that the Czech government had agreed to withdraw its lawsuit over the Turów mine, only for his Czech counterpart Andrej Babiš to say Prague was continuing with the legal case. Czech dementi surprised Polish populists as they realized that they cannot control Czech media just like they control the Polish ones and the government in Prague actually reacted on their public lies.
Morawiecki had to go back to the negotiation table. The lawsuit could be withdrawn once Polish administration met conditions agreed between Babiš and Morawiecki. It is said that Poland would finance projects worth up to EUR 45 million to help prevent the loss of groundwater across the border caused by the mine, and would build screens to stop dust particles from polluting the air in the Czech Republic. Both countries would also set up a committee of experts to determine the environmental impact of the mine.
PiS Wants to Ban Abortion in Czechia
The Polish government confirmed at the beginning of May a report by the Czech weekly Respekt that a chargé d’affaires of the Polish embassy in Prague had sent a letter to the Czech health minister asking him to intervene to block legislation being debated by the Czech parliament that would clarify the terms under which foreigners can get abortions in the country. Such an initiative of Czech legislators has been widely commented by Polish media and much appreciated by Polish women’s groups who have been protesting against the nearly total abortion ban ruled by the Constitutional Court in October 2020 (read more in October 2020 issue of the Newsletter).
According to Czech media outlets, in response to the Polish letter, the then Czech Minister of Health Jan Blatný replied that his ministry did not have the ability to interfere with the law-making processes handled by the parliament and that, in any case, carrying out of abortions on Polish women on the territory of Czechia was in accordance with both domestic and EU law.
Polish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk commented: “It was understandable that the Polish embassy was concerned about the possible introduction of legislation which would represent an attempt to circumvent Polish law and encourage the violation of the rights of Polish citizens in Czechia”.
After the infamous Constitutional Court’s verdict, but also before, every year a significant number of Polish women has traveled across the southern border to perform abortion. Women from the collective Ciocia Czesia (Auntie Czech), which helps Polish women to organize an abortion in the Czech Republic, declared in a statement: “The visions and pleas of Polish politicians whose imaginations have been overwhelmed by values proclaimed from church pulpits will not have any impact here”.
Three weeks after the Polish-Czech abortion scandal, Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of PiS, said that: “It is nonsense to say that abortion is prohibited”. “It is still permissible if the pregnancy results from a crime or if it endangers the woman’s life or health. It is only about [foetuses diagnosed with] Down or Turner syndromes where the possibility of abortion has been removed”, he added. “I also know there are advertisements in the press that any person of average intelligence understands and can arrange such an abortion abroad, cheaply or expensively. In my opinion, nothing threatening women’s interests has occurred”, Kaczyński concluded. Kaczyński words were commented as cynical and cruel by the opposition and human rights activists.
Turów is one of 10 regional lignite mines in close proximity across the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. The history of lignite mining in the Žitava Basin dates back to 1740. The impact of Turów has been monitored at a network of about 550 points since 1997. More than 150 points belong to the Polish-Czech and Polish-German monitoring network, and measurements are taken twice a year.
Environmentalists and the EU stresses that continuation of mining in Turów will damage the EU’s energy transition as such. The European Commission has warned that a continuation of activity there beyond 2030 would mean the region would lose out on EU funds allocated for the green transition.
Politics
Armored Marian
The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) presented a report criticizing the government’s decision to produce ballots for a postal presidential election last May that had not been approved by parliament (had no legal background). Despite the last minute cancellation of the election, the mail-in vote plan still cost Polish taxpayers dozens of millions of zlotys. The audit report suggests that top representatives of the government are to blame for wasting about PLN 76 million (ca. EUR 17 million). “Organizing and preparing elections on the basis of an administrative decision should not have happened and had no basis in law”, NIK head Marian Banaś declared.
Already in April NIK notified state prosecutors of possible crimes committed by the Polish Post and Polish Security Printing Works, the two state-controlled companies that were involved in printing and distributing the ballot papers. In May NIK decided it would notify prosecutors of possible crimes committed by the Prime Minister's Office, State Assets Ministry and the Interior Ministry. NIK suspects that the prime minister and all responsible ministers breached article 231§1 of Poland’s penal code concerning public officials “exceeding their authority, or not performing their duty…to the detriment of public or individual interest”. The crime carries a potential prison sentence of up to three years. It is important to stress that already last year a court found that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawicki had committed a “gross violation of the law” in attempting to hold the election.
Accused by NIK, Morawiecki responded that he “did not have the slightest concern” as he and his colleagues from the cabinet had “behaved as needed so that the elections could be held”. Whether Morawiecki and his three ministers are charged with crimes will now be decided by prosecutors, who are supervised and controlled by his biggest competitor within the government, justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro.
Marian Banaś, whose nickname is ‘”armored Marian”, is a former minister and ally of Jarosław Kaczyński who now is in conflict with PiS and became its key enemy. When Banaś’s suspicious tax reports and shady businesses were exposed by the media, the ruling party understood that he is a burden and has been trying to remove him from the office. Unsuccessfully. He has been investigated by the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) over his personal assets, including a property that was reportedly used as house of prostitution (read more in the October 2019 issue of the Newsletter). Banaś called the allegations a “smear campaign” aimed at ousting him from his role as a watchdog of state bodies. Earlier in May, CBA agents conducted a raid on his son’s house. “This reminds me of Bolshevik methods”, Banaś said.
As a consequence of unprecedented state attacks on Banaś’s family, the NIK head notified prosecutors of suspected crimes by Jarosław Kaczyński himself. Banaś announced he had notified prosecutors that he suspects PiS leader of committing the crimes of insulting an official, using violence or unlawful threats against an official, and defamation. He added that he cannot “allow for a situation in which a representative of one of the institutions [Kaczyński is deputy PM] subject to inspection [by NIK] unlawfully exerts an influence on the activities of the inspection body”. Kaczyński responded that “it is a great fault of our legal system that a person against whom serious investigations are underway may be president of the Supreme Audit Office”.
“Armored Marian” is taking on other PiS’s projects, including control of the Polish National Foundation, a body created to promote Poland abroad that is using its multi-million donations from SOCs to promote PiS and its politicians, or the National Recovery Plan.
The civil war between Banaś and Kaczyński has just started and it can be crucial for the future of the right-wing coalition in Poland. One thing is sure, it will be dirty.
PiS New Deal
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented the party’s Polish New Deal multiannual programme. The scheme is designed to bolster the economy as the government gradually starts to lift pandemic-related restrictions. "If I were to describe in one sentence what the Polish New Deal is, I would say that it is a great investment programme, a great programme of investment in Polish health, in Polish family, in demography, in rebuilding Polish infrastructure and economic potential where it has been weakened by Covid-19, and expansion wherever this infrastructure needs expansion", Morawiecki said. PiS’s new economic strategy will “enable the country to modernise while fending off foreign threats to its Catholic roots”, Morawiecki added.
This new socio-economic programme of the Law and Justice party for 2021-30 includes:
- an increase in spending on healthcare from 5.3% of GDP in 2021 to 6% of GDP in 2023 and 7% of GDP in 2027;
- an increase of the tax-free amount to PLN30k per annum and the tax threshold from PLN85.5k to PLN120k;
- new relief in personal income tax (PIT) for employees working on employment contracts with an annual income between PLN70-130k;
- order contracts should be subject to full social security contributions, with the perspective of introduction of the single contract;
- the launch of linear health care contribution (at 9%) proportional to the incomes for all types of contracts, non-deductible from PIT;
- infrastructural investments: in a network of expressways, railroad lines, the New Central Polish Airport, cultural and sports infrastructure in municipalities and digital infrastructure, all financed from the issue of bonds by a new BGK fund;
- state guarantees for own contribution to mortgage loans, up to PLN150k, or subsidies up to PLN160k for the purchase of social housing or for families with many children;
- assistance in the repayment of mortgages after the birth of second or subsequent children up to PLN150k;
- construction of single-family houses up to 70 square meters only on the basis of notification, without a permit, construction supervision or construction records.
According to Jarosław Kaczyński: "It's worthwhile to take a broader look at the New Polish Deal". "It increases the chances that the 77% of the European average of GDP per capita, which we already have today, according to EU data for 2020, will be quickly increased to the level of approximately 100%. It will allow us to strive for more, in order to catch up with the western part of the EU", PiS leader stressed.
The maximum cost of the programme is expected to amount to PLN 651,6 bln (ca. EUR 145 bln) in total in ten years.
The proposed tax changes are not budget neutral. The increase in the tax burdens for the wealthier population and the self-employed. According to the government the lost revenues in personal income tax should reach PLN 20-22 bln. The increase in the healthcare contribution should provide PLN 14 bln, but all of this should be spent due to the pledged rise of healthcare spending from 5,3% of GDP to 6% of GDP in 2023.
Minister of Finance Tadeusz Kosciński said the tax cuts would partly be funded by faster growth. But the proposed tax changes are not budget neutral. The increase in the tax burdens the wealthier population and the self-employed. Even Jaroslaw Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of one of two junior coalition partners, conceded richer Poles would have to pay more taxes.
Liberal part of the opposition have criticized the New Deal, especially the idea of setting the medical insurance at 9% for everyone, regardless of earnings. They believe it will hit the country's middle class and businesses with painful taxes, and that it will take power away from local governments. The Left has focused on criticizing the agenda for housing and claimed that the government’s original idea to build 100.000 apartments had failed.
The latter comment is particularly important as the Left supported PiS’s Recovery Plan, needed to participate in the Next Generation EU. PiS needed external support as one of its coalition partners, the hard-right Solidarity Poland, voted against the Plan, showing unprecedented conflicts within the coalition (read more in the previous issue). The document passed in the parliament thanks to the votes of the Left, which had declared it would support it in exchange for using the fund to fulfill a number of the party’s objectives, including the proposal of constructing 75.000 new homes for rental and EUR 850 million to support municipal hospitals. Quickly, the Left started to be praised by the government representatives and state-owned media as the only constructive opposition (as compared to the “total opposition”, term commonly used by PiS).
The behavior of the Left was unbelievable for other opposing parties. Civic Coalition leaders said not only that the Left is naïve and it has been used by PiS and no promises will be met (just like many times in the past), but also that lack of cooperation in the opposition wasted a chance to provoke a serious crisis in the populist camp that could break the coalition and push Kaczyński for a minority government, and eventually for snap elections.
Details of the New Polish Deal [in Polish]: http://polskilad.pis.org.pl/
Law Professor vs. Conservative Senator
The battle for the Ombudsman office continues (read more in the previous issue). So far none of the candidates has received support of both chambers of the parliament. Recently, PiS MP Bartłomiej Wróblewski, who initiated the nearly full abortion ban procedure in the Constitutional Court, lost the vote in the Senate (after being supported by the Sejm).
Leaders of Civic Coalition, Poland 2050, PSL, and the Left backed professor Maciej Wiącek. Wiącek works at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. Since 2007, he has also been an employee at the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA). Currently he is a chief specialist in the Judicial Decisions Bureau of the NSA. Wiącek is unknown to the public opinion, and- frankly speaking- to most politicians. He is a “safe choice”, an uncontroversial member of academia that all opposition parties could agree on.
The most interesting is that he was also supported by some MPs from the Agreement, one of the junior coalition partners of PiS, including the Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin. This proves how big are tensions within the coalition;Gowin is doing everything to prove to Kaczyński that he is ready to leave the coalition (or maybe even form a new majority with the opposition parties) if he keeps on being marginalized by the senior coalition party. Additionally, one PiS MP declared his support for Wiącek. Signature and thus the expected vote by Zbigniew Girzyński for Wiącek was breakthrough among the right-wing populists in the Sejm.
On the other hand, PiS put forward Lidia Staroń. It is a very interesting step as Staroń is an independent senator, a very conservative one, but allied with the opposition’s thin majority in the upper chamber. This move by PiS may ruin relations between Staroń and the opposition block and nudge her towards Jarosław Kaczyński’s party.
But before the vote in the Senate will happen the Sejm has to pick one candidate. It is unclear who it will be. Populist Kukiz’15 party has just signed a “programme agreement” with PiS so it can be expected his MPs will vote in accordance with PiS. Gowin has said that he respects Staroń. It means that after a behind the closed door deal with PiS he might support her as well. Alphabet here is the key- the candidates shall be elected in alphabetical order so Staroń goes first (if she gets the majority, the game in the Sejm will be over and she will be presented to the Senate).
The far right Confederation can be a kingmaker here and they have not decided yet whom they will support. They may back Wiącek to strike at PiS or back Staroń because of her views. The vote should happen in June.
Economy
Inflation Records
New data by Statistics Poland (GUS) shows inflation hitting 4,8% in May (up from 4,3% in April), compared with a year earlier, the highest level in a decade. The government in Warsaw is increasingly worried that a 5% rate would fuel inflation expectations and undermine price stability for longer. Rising prices were driven chiefly by fuel (up 33%) as well as energy (up 4,4%). Prices of food and alcohol increased by almost 2%.
According to Eurostat, Poland has recorded the highest or second highest level of inflation among all EU members in every month since March 2020.
The Monetary Policy Council (RPP), the body within the National Bank of Poland responsible for inflation policy, said it expected general rise in the price level to exceed 3,5% by the end of 2021. RPP has kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0,1% since May 2020. The all-time-low borrowing costs are expected to help the post-pandemic recovery.
Also, the PLN jumped to a 2021 high against the euro on bets that policy normalization may begin sooner than anticipated.
Society
Another Top Bishop Punished
The Vatican has sanctioned a senior bishop of the Bielsko-Żywiec diocesebishop Tadeusz Rakoczy for covering up the sexual abuse of children by clergymen. The Holy See has banned the bishop from participating in public religious ceremonies. He is also obliged to pay an appropriate amount from personal funds to the Saint Joseph Foundation, intended for preventive activities and assistance to victims of abuse.
One of the victims, Janusz Szymik commented on: “I felt some inner relief that here, it was after many years, but some substitute of justice had reached him, that penalties had been imposed. I think that the most severe punishment for a senior bishop is the ban on participation in public celebrations and meetings”. He added that he expect “from the president and the chapter of the Order of Polonia Restituta to look at the legitimacy of awarding the latter in terms of the validity of the decoration and that he would check whether the bishop convicted by a valid sentence of the apostolic see could be in his possession and take pride in wearing it”. “I expect the authorities of the city of Oświęcim and the commune of Kęty to consider the legitimacy of the honorary citizenship of the city of Oświęcim and the commune of Kęty, which were previously granted to Bishop Rakoczy, as well as the honorary doctorate of the University of Technology and Humanities in Bielsko-Biała”, he added.
No Country for LGBT+. Again
For a second consecutive year, Poland is reported to be the least LGBT-friendly country in the EU, ranking in a lower place then the previous year, according to the newest Rainbow Europe Index published this week by the advocacy group ILGA-Europe. Out of 100 possible points, Poland received only 13. Only Belarus (12 points), Monaco (11), Russia (10), Armenia (8), Turkey (4), and Azerbaijan (2) were ranked even lower.
ILGA-Europe pointed out the weak protection of the LGBT+ people during protests in Poland and the restrictions on their freedom of expression. “People are being actively attacked by the police during public events, instead of being protected due to the anti-LGBT resolutions that have been passed by local governments”, reported ILGA-Europe.
In Poland, LGBT+ rights have become a symbol in a culture war unfolding between right wing populists supported by the church and liberal opposition. “At a juncture in history when anti-LGBTI forces are rife, not only in headline-grabbing countries like Poland and Hungary, but across Europe, LGBTI people need all governments to seize this moment and make sure Europe remains a committed and active leader in the arena of human rights for everyone”, the report reads.
Malta topped the ILGA rankings for the sixth consecutive year, improving its score by adding protections for LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees. Montenegro is Central and Eastern Europe’s best performer, outperforming the Netherlands, France, Austria or Iceland.
Read full report: https://www.ilga-europe.org/rainboweurope/2021
International Affairs
Strongest Ally
President Andrzej Duda visited the Polish village of Istanbul. Polonezkoy (its name in Turkish) was founded in 1842 by Polish exiles who took refuge with the Ottomans in the hope of organizing Poland’s independence struggle after its invasion by Prussia, Russia and Austria.
It was a part of his official trip to Turkey where Duda discussed with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, i.a., Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Duda emphasized that Crimea was under occupation, echoing Erdogan’s repeated rejections of Russia’s annexation. Duda described Turkey as Warsaw’s “strongest ally” in “this part of the world”.
Both countries’ defence ministers signed a USD 270 million deal for Poland to buy reconnaissance and assault unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), making it the first NATO member state to purchase Turkish drones (180 of them are currently in the inventories of Turkey, Ukraine, Qatar and Azerbaijan). Bayraktar TB2 armed drones, produced by a Turkish company owned by Erdogan’s son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar. Their first delivery is scheduled for next year. The deal includes also smart micro munition manufactured by Turkish company Roketsan, along with ground control stations and ground data terminals for the drones.
Horse Diplomacy
Encarina, a valuable Arabian purebred mare that was leased to Saudi Arabia has not been returned to its Polish stud farm. Encarina, a four-year-old mare, should have returned in August 2020 to the world-famous Janów Podlaski stud. According to some experts Encarina is in bad condition. But the Polish stud's efforts have so far failed to bring her back, regardless efforts by the ministry of foreign affairs and some members of the parliament. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Poland has been informed and its Polish counterpart in Riyadh has also become involved.
Poland's prestigious state-owned studs are considered national treasures, and Janów Podlaski is the oldest (funded in 1817) and the most important one. The current story about Encarina illustrates wider problems plaguing Poland's oldest stud. Janów Podlaski has been under constant criticism since PiS politicians took it over in 2016. Its management composed from top world experts was fired and replaced by political nominees. New administration oversaw, among others, a botched auction and the deaths of two mares belonging to Shirley Watts, the wife of a member of the Rolling Stones, who threatened to sue the Polish authorities.
Poland & Germany
Polish Battalion in French-German Brigade
An element formed around the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion, belonging to the 12th Mechanized Brigade stationed in Szczecin, would become a part of a French-German brigade that remains on high readiness duty within the framework of NATO Response Force in 2022.
A German-French brigade is a unit that has its roots in the late Cold War. The element has been formed specifically for international operations. It consists of three motorized infantry battalions, a French reconnaissance battalion using the AMX-10RC vehicles, and a German artillery squadron with Pzh. 2000 and MLRS systems. The aforesaid structure is supported by joint command and support units. After 2014, some elements of the brigade have seen deployment to Poland as well.
41 Goals
Bayern Munich striker from Poland Robert Lewandowski has surpassed Gerd Müller's record for goals scored in a Bundesliga season. Football fans have been waiting for that almost fifty years. Lewandowski had equaled Muller's record when he scored his 40th league goal of the season in the 2:2 draw at Freiburg, and he marked the occasion by revealing a T-shirt bearing the message: "4EVER GERD". And on the final day of the season, scoring in the 90th minute of his team’s 5:2 win of Augsburg to take his personal tally for the 2020-21 campaign to 41 goals.
And maybe it’s not even the end of Lewandowski’s glorious story. In a recent interview with Bundesliga.com, former Bayern Munich, Germany and USMNT manager Jürgen Klinsmann said that he feels the Pole can go on to break his own record. “Robert Lewandowski can only set his own standards. What he did this year is just breathtaking. He’s a complete number nine, the like of which maybe we haven’t seen since Marco van Basten, 20, 25, 30 years ago. It’s so much fun to watch him and he’s supported by a group of players who constantly feed him the ball. He’s at one of the best clubs in the world, best teams in the world, so for him it’s probably doable, but the fact he broke that record is just an unbelievable story. Scoring that amount of goals is just insane and if there’s one to break it, it’s him. He’s still got a couple more years in him, if all goes smoothly”, Klinsman said.
Two weeks later, Lewandowski won Bundesliga Players' Player of the Season prize. He picked up 75,9% of the vote for the Silver Shoe award (ahead of Erling Haaland’s 7,1% and Thomas Müller’s 3,5%), which sees members of the players' union VdV choose the best player of the season.
Culture
Conversations with God
Through 22nd August 2021, eminent Polish artist Jan Matejko’s celebrated painting Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (from 1873) is on display at the National Gallery in London. It is the first time a Polish painting has ever been on display at the National Gallery.
Matejko is regarded as the national painter of Poland. His huge paintings, showing iconic events from Polish history, are part and parcel of Poland’s national identity. Astronomer Copernicus celebrates one of the most important names in the history of science, Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473—1543); known for his theory which proposed the solar system with the sun at its centre and the planets orbiting around it (published in 1543).
In May, another painting by Matejko, which was considered lost for decades went on display in Warsaw. The piece, Saint Stanisław Rebuking Bolesław the Bold, will be auctioned next month. The oil painting, which measures only 35 by 47 centimeters, valued at PLN 5-7 million (ca. EUR 1.,1-1,6 mln), could break the record price for a work sold in Poland.
Read more about the painting: https://culture.pl/en/work/astronomer-copernicus-or-conversations-with-…
Polls & Trends
Party Support
IBRiS for Interia, 31.05.2021
PiS 40,3%
Poland 2050 22,9%
Civic Coalition 15,9%
Left 9,4%
Confederation 7,3%
PSL 4,4%
Middle Class
Ariadna for ciekaweliczby.pl
Do you belong to the middle class?
Yes I do 35%
I somehow do 30%
I don’t 23%
I don’t know what it is 12%
How much you should earn to belong to the middle class?
PLN 2k-4k (EUR 444-888) 24%
PLN 4k-6k (EUR 888-1332) 36%
PLN 6k-8k (EUR 1332-1776) 23%
PLN 8k-10k (EUR 1776-2220) 10%
> PLN 10k (>EUR 2220) 7%