Timmermans has a shot
Frans Timmermans comes to Warsaw as a leading candidate of the European Social Democrats for the position of President of the European Commission. Frans Timmermans comes to Warsaw at the Commission’s First Vice President in…
What Europe?
The Group of Souverenists in the making
Remember the Salvini visit in Warsaw in January? That’s past. On Wednesday, PiS Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński met with the delegation of Brothers of Italy, a ECR party from Italy with no MEPs yet. Prezes #PiS…
Welcome to the Middle Ages Poland
Over the weekend politicians tried their best to campaign. One of the candidates for the MEP came to Częstochowa… two short stories about some weird incidents taking place in Poland. Let me assure you, not…
“Europe needs Spring”
It is Saturday, 23 March, a theatre in the Warsaw city centre. It is a quarter to 2PM. A crowd is growing with every minute. There are more and more people, they all came here…
Abascal in Warsaw
Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish party Vox arrives in Warsaw for a meeting with Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of Law and Justice (PiS). The purpose of the meeting? To meet and study each other,…
One Poland, diversified
As many as 62.1% of Poles and Poles believe that religion should take place in vicarage, while only 37.9% are in favour of religious education in schools. 55.9% prefer to be buried in a traditional…
Is the Spitzenkandidaten system dead?
2014. There are two candidates who compete for the presidency of the European Commission. Jean-Claude Juncker is the candidate of the European People’s Party. Martin Schulz is the candidate of the Party of European Socialists….
European Coalition is a reality now
Some ideas take years to materialise. Some take the world by storm. Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz Early December 2018 Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Poland’s former left wing prime minister, foreign minister and for many years an independent senator, appeals:…
SLD and the Polish Greens join the European Coalition
The Polish Social-Democrats Democratic Left Alliance, SLD (members of S&D with 5 MEPs in the current EP) will not compete in the European Parliament elections on their own. In May 2019 they will run in…
Five Stars fakes a future EP group at a press conference
Leaders of 5 parties from Italy, Poland, Croatia, Finland and Greece met in Rome to sign an electoral manifesto. The block has been in discussion for weeks. Initially 4 parties, today they are 5. M5S…
Poland’s EP elections latest opinion poll
From the mists of chaos the closer we are to 26 May, it seems there will be the following options to vote in the European elections in Poland. The latest figures have been provided by…
The kind of Europe PiS wants
Everyday news is one thing. The Harrold Macmillan words “Events, dear boy, events” rule the politics and the media attention. What grows underneath in the country is not exactly catchy on a specific day. Yet…
The Spring is coming
When on Sunday Robert Biedroń entered the main stage in Warsaw’s Torwar stadium, he had his Macron moment with the Ode to Joy playing in the background. Is Biedroń Poland’s Macron the same way as…
Human rights today: under attack in Poland, in Europe, in the world.
I talk with Mr Bogusław Stanisławski, who is a nestor of the Polish human rights defenders. Mr Stanisławski (born 1930) is a World War II survivor, was a diplomat during the Helsinki process in 1970s,…
Kosiniak-Kamysz: PSL like CSU
Last Friday the leader of the Polish People’s Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz gave a major policy interview in Dziennik-Gazeta Prawna. In it he outlined the main issues his party has to confront…
Far, far away on the right side
Where the horizon ends on the far, far right side, Sunday saw two new – marginal, I hope – developments in Poland. Both in the context of the European elections. Żółtek’s Polexit First, another new…
PO gears up for the European Parliament
On Saturday, 26 January, the Civic Platform (PO) and its remaining partner within the Civic Coalition, the small association Initiative Poland (Inicjatywa Polska, IP), held a congress. Its leitmotif: “Woman – Poland – Europe“. Now…
The Opposition Prepares for Battle
Ever since the local and regional elections in October and November 2018, the opinion polls have been stable. PiS support is between 30 and 40%, depending on methodology, and PiS is always first. Behind –…
Far-right begins EP campaign with a pro-gun ad
…clearly the electoral campaign has started. Friday morning I am up, open my computer, turn on Facebook to see how our blog project #Gimme5EUblogs looks like. I am happy to see there are almost 400…
A new role for Poland in the Trump’s World
Over a few last days two simultaneous geopolitical events took place. It would be fair to treat them separately, but as they have a rare joint actor, we won’t. First, Mike Pompeo announced that there will…