The rightwing Law and Justice party may be authoritarian and anti-LGBT, but its welfare programmes have transformed the lives of low-income Poles
– Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the Law and Justice party, 7 September
Continue reading...Category Archives: Poland
Austrian elections offer latest sign far right’s rise is faltering in Europe
Freedom party’s vote collapses to 16%, as others stall in Italy, Spain, France and elsewhere
The slump in support for the nationalist Freedom party (FPÖ) in Austria’s elections on Sunday is the latest indication that if the tide has not turned against Europe’s far-right populists, it does seem – for the time being, at least – to have stopped rising.
Sebastian Kurz’s conservative People’s party (ÖVP) won 37.1% of the vote, its best score since 2002, while the share held by FPÖ, until May his junior coalition partner in government, collapsed to 16.1%, down a full 10 percentage points.
Continue reading...Polish MEP on mission to change Europe’s hate speech laws
Magdalena Adamowicz draws sense of purpose from murder of husband Paweł, a critic of nationalism
Newly elected MEP Magdalena Adamowicz is on a mission to craft new Europe-wide laws on hate speech, and she has more moral authority to make the demands than most.
Her husband, Paweł Adamowicz, for more than two decades the mayor of the northern Polish city of Gdańsk, was stabbed while on stage at a charity event in January and died soon after. He had been a vocal critic of Poland’s nationalist government and an advocate of tolerance in the city, which had long been a stronghold of the liberal opposition.
Continue reading...World leaders mark 80th anniversary of second world war with Trump absent – video
European leaders, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, marked the 80th anniversary of the start of the second world war in Warsaw on Sunday.
But Donald Trump – who cancelled on his Polish hosts at the last minute last week, citing concerns over a hurricane barrelling towards Florida – was due to spend the day at his golf club in Virginia.
Continue reading...German president asks Poland for forgiveness at WW2 ceremony
Frank-Walter Steinmeier makes speech at Warsaw event to mark 80 years since start of war
The German president vowed his country would never forget the atrocities of the Nazi period on Sunday as he asked forgiveness from Poland during a series of commemorative events to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war.
“In no other square in Europe do I find it more difficult to speak, and to address you in my native language of German ... I ask for forgiveness for Germany’s historical guilt and I recognise our enduring responsibility,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a ceremony in Piłsudski Square in Warsaw.
Continue reading...Truth is a casualty 80 years after start of second world war
As leaders gather for commemoration in Poland, nationalists exploit the events of 1939
Shortly before 5am on 1 September 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired at a garrison of Polish soldiers stationed on the Westerplatte peninsula, part of what was then the internationally administered city of Danzig, now Polish Gdańsk. The attack marked the start of a war that would eventually kill millions and go down as the most appalling conflict in the history of humanity.
As the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war approaches on Sunday and European leaders head to Poland for commemorations, the bloody events of 80 years ago are being politicised and exploited more than ever across the continent.
Continue reading...Lightning strikes kill five and injure 100 in Poland and Slovakia
Dead include two children after thunderstorm in trekking location in the Tatra mountains
At least five people, including two children, have died and more than 100 have been injured during a sudden thunderstorm in Poland and Slovakia’s Tatra mountains, according to rescuers.
Most of the victims were in Poland, where lightning struck a metal cross atop Mount Giewont as well as a metal chain near the summit, according to local media. The four dead in Poland included two children, a spokeswoman for the Polish air ambulance service, Kinga Czerwinska, told the news broadcaster TVN24. One person died in Slovakia.
Continue reading...Dozens of rescuers try to save two trapped cavers in Poland
Explosives could be used to open up route to pair trapped in cavern in Tatra mountains
More than two dozen rescue workers are battling to save two cavers trapped in a cavern in the Tatra mountains in Poland after a narrow tunnel flooded with water.
A representative of the rescue service said on Sunday it had not yet been possible to establish contact with the two cavers and that concern was growing because of their long exposure to extreme conditions.
Continue reading...Eva Kor, survivor of Mengele, dies during annual trip to Auschwitz
Forgiveness advocate who dedicated her life to Holocaust awareness testified in 2015 trial of SS officer Oskar Groening
Eva Mozes Kor, a survivor of Auschwitz and the death camp’s infamous doctor Josef Mengele, has passed away in Poland during a trip to the Holocaust site, sources said.
The Romanian-born Kor, who founded the Candles Museum in Indiana and devoted her life to Holocaust awareness, was 85.
Continue reading...Holocaust historians divided over Warsaw ghetto museum
Director hits back at critics who say the institution, backed by Poland’s populist party, will distort wartime history
The museum of the Warsaw ghetto is not due to open for several years, but is already shaping up to be one of the most contentious museums in Europe.
Backed by Poland’s populist government, which has been accused of rewriting history to fit its political agenda, the museum has caused a bitter spat between historians of the Holocaust about how best to tell the tragic story of Warsaw’s Jews.
Continue reading...‘A whole generation has gone’: Ukrainians seek better life in Poland
As Ukraine prepares to elect a new president, millions of its citizens have moved across the border
When the small business run by Kristina Melnytska’s father began to struggle in 2014 he did what hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians were doing and moved his family to Poland.
Melnytska, then 19, enrolled in a university in the eastern city of Lublin. She worked long nights in a kebab shop, where she was paid about £1 an hour. Five years later she is still here and one of an estimated 2 million Ukrainians working and living in Poland.
Continue reading...Polish general who fought with Washington may have been a woman
Researchers believe Casimir Pulaski’s skeleton indicates the 18th-century cavalry officer may have been female or intersex
Researchers believe a famed Polish general who fought in the American Revolutionary war may have been a woman or possibly intersex.
Related: Close calls: when American presidents diced with death
Continue reading...Harry Potter among books burned by priests in Poland
Anti-sorcery post by evangelical Catholic group widely mocked on Facebook
Catholic priests in Poland have burned books that they say promote sorcery, including one of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, in a ceremony they photographed and posted on Facebook.
Three priests in the northern city of Koszalin were pictured carrying the books in a large basket from inside a church to a stone area outside. The books were set alight as prayers were said and a small group of people watched on. A mask, various trinkets and a Hello Kitty umbrella were also visible in the pictures of the makeshift bonfire.
Continue reading...Europe’s south and east worry more about emigration than immigration – poll
Exclusive: Survey of 14 countries show some Europeans now favour “emigration controls”
Southern and eastern European countries are more concerned about emigration than immigration, according to a wide-ranging survey of attitudes in 14 EU countries.
In Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary and Romania, six countries where population levels are either flatlining or falling sharply, more citizens said emigration was a worry than immigration, according to the poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
Continue reading...Study warns of global rise in autocratic leaders ‘hijacking’ laws for own ends
Poland the worst offender as global justice index identifies decline in checks on government power for second successive year
Autocratic rule is on the rise throughout the world, with a growing number of authoritarian leaders “hijacking” laws to consolidate their own power, a study of global justice has found.
Poland demonstrated the most significant turn towards authoritarianism over the past four years, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In all, 64% of 126 countries surveyed made similar moves towards autocratic rule in the past year alone, according to an annual rule of law index published by the World Justice Project.
Continue reading...Summit cancelled as Israel and Poland row over Holocaust
Israeli foreign minister accuses Poles of hatred towards Jews in remarks described as ‘racist’ by Polish PM
Poland has pulled out of a planned trip to Jerusalem and scuppered an international summit the same day officials were due to arrive, after Israel’s foreign minister accused Poles of hatred against Jews and complicity in the Holocaust.
Israel Katz, who was appointed acting foreign minister on Sunday, said Poles “suckle antisemitism with their mother’s milk”. Speaking on another radio show on Monday morning, he accused all Polish people of harbouring “innate” antisemitism.
Continue reading...Warsaw-Jerusalem tensions rise over ‘Nazi link’ claims
Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments cause anger in Poland ahead of summit
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to build friendly relations with central European nations are being tested, on the eve of a Jerusalem summit aimed at showcasing the alliance, by disputes over Holocaust history.
Netanyahu has long been criticised by domestic opponents for seeking political alliances in central Europe while turning a blind eye to historical revisionism and antisemitism in the region. However, the Israeli leader was caught up in the dispute last week, when he said during a visit to Warsaw that Poles had collaborated with the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Continue reading...European powers to present cool front at Warsaw summit
Lack of participation at Middle East event reflects anger over US policy on Iran and Syria
Key European powers will offer only limited participation in a high-profile Trump administration summit on the Middle East starting on Wednesday, reflecting their growing anger over unilateral US policymaking on Iran and Syria.
The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will leave the Warsaw summit early, pleading Brexit Commons business, while France is sending a civil servant and Germany its junior foreign minister.
Continue reading...Donald Tusk: Passionate politician forged in Poland’s fight against communism
The president of the European council caused a tabloid feeding frenzy with his ‘special place in hell’ remark but what makes him tick?
Donald Tusk has it in him to be a bit of a hooligan. His younger self, he admits, would “roam the streets cruising for a bruising” to break the monotony of communist life in his home-town of Gdańsk, the port city on Poland’s Baltic coast.
Contrary to the image of the typical bloodless Brussels Eurocrat, the president of the European council, who stands alongside Jean-Claude Juncker as the most senior of EU figures, is a man of passion with a feel for who is on the right side of history. Last week it was frustration, not boredom, that brought out the inner wrecking ball.
Continue reading...Polish far-right trial raises spectre of ‘false flag’ tactics
German journalist with links to Russia allegedly organised arson attack in Ukraine to stoke tensions, court told
The plot allegedly involved three Polish extremists and a German journalist with ties to the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, as well as to a number of Kremlin-friendly Russian news outlets.
Their alleged task was to carry out a “false flag” operation in western Ukraine: burn down a Hungarian cultural centre, and make it look as though Ukrainian nationalists were responsible. The main beneficiary of the ensuing recriminations would be Russia.
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