News / Will eight million Polish people flock to the UK now that we are going for a hard Brexit? [38]

You have two years to create your Hard Brexit paradise so I don't know why you are wasting valuable time posting nonsense on here. the clock is ticking so put your back in to it and tell us when its finished so we can all admire your trade agreements with New Zealand.

News / What impact will Donald Trump's election have on Poland? [331]

No maybe the US does not have to come to our rescue. But do we have to buy your overpriced f16s ? We could always cancel a few orders and see how that goes down in Indiana or wherever they make the parts. And do we have to supply empty airfields for the US to beat up and torture terrorists ? Or will you do that in Kentucky now ? Is it worth protecting free and rich markets for Marlboro, Ford, KFC and Amazon or is a peaceful Europe expendable ? Or maybe you like some of the nice things Europeans make - not just cheese and chocolate but many useful things that Americans like to buy.

Life is not as simple as you think

Life / Why are Polish people so obsessed with race? [160]

It is untrue (as well as irrelevant) that Poles have only emigrated to Christian countries - many thousands of Polish citizens colonized Palestine in the 20s and 30s. Or do they not count as Poles in your way of seeing the world ?

News / The first PiS led government in 2005 lasted just over 2 years in Poland. [129]

Morawiecki is indeed an innovator - current inventions in 15 months the worst performing currency in Europe, the second worst performing stock market in Europe, a massive fall in investment, slowing GDP growth, rising government deficit and falling ratings. As Wielki Polak says - why not wait and see how they perform ? Voters probably have to - investors however still have the luxury of walking away and voting with their wallets

Life / Why are Polish people so obsessed with race? [160]

But he did not distinguish between legal and illegal migration - just said that it was "common sense" to oppose mass migration.

Merkel's migration was legal - she said they could come without restriction. In this respect it is pretty much the same as Blair saying all Poles were able to enter the UK in 2004.

News / American GIs troops finally in Poland and, thank God, there's more to come [480]

Yes he is just the type to bow out gracefully - and he is most definitely not in possession of any other ways to persuade Trump.

Classifieds / LLC Company registration in Poland - English speaking lawyer needed [9]

Warsaw or somewhere else ?

Love / Wedding after engagement in Poland [8]

If you are already engaged then you should have had the discussion with your girl at that time !

indefinite engagement where you continue as before and got engaged just to keep her happy is not really a thing here - being engaged for more than say 2 years is not typical. But there is no rule that you must marry in a year. I would say my own experience is typical - i asked her and suggested a month that was about 18 months away.

And by the way if you want to book a hall, hotel and priest in a small town for a summer month then you better get cracking.

History / Give Poland back it's lost land ! [132]

It is untrue that crime is rising in every country in Western Europe - there are some where it is rising like UK and some where it is falling, like Germany and Holland. Still I doubt facts make any difference to your prejudiced views.

Poland recieved reparations until the mid 50s when it agreed with East Germany that they were no longer required in return for acceptance of the Oder as the border. The issue was further discussed shortly after the end of Communism and agreed that no reparations are due - raising it now when the youngest possible participants in 1939 invasion are 95 will help nobody. Germans already provide significant support to Poland via EU funds and by NATO.

Poland could be a significant player in Europe and was on a good track to increase its influence until the current clowns took over and decided the best way forward is to antagonize all of their allies in turn.

And as for your point on education then the biggest issue is fixing the gap between Poland's quite good school system and its terrible university teaching.

News / Ethnic tensions erupt in Ełk, Poland [180]

It is surely a clear cut case ? 3 people, however much provoked, murdered the guy and those responsible will now be tried for murder. A load more people then decided the best response was to throw rocks and attack the police and should also be charged where appropriate.

I am surprised that people who are immigrants in Poland themselves (mainly by dint of being EU citizens) find they are able to pontificate about who else is allowed to come to Poland. What is "ostensibly inherent violence" ? And what does "Poland for the Polish mean" - if a Pole marries a Muslim abroad are they allowed to come and live here ? what about their kids ?

History / Whats the French Huguenots history in Poland? where did they settle Poland? [16]

Sadly Sobieski died several months ago, so he won't be around to answer you

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

How was he a war hero ? Says in his Telegraph obit that he was in intelligence and never involved in combat.

You could discuss the ins and outs of his speech - he was right about some things and wrong about others, but this is a forum about Poland, not the UK.

But as a philosophical question what gives you the right to be in Poland as an immigrant ? (Assuming that is the case - i think you said you lived in Warsaw).

Work / Poland Business Help - I'm interested in investing in this country [28]

Waiting to lose your money because that is nuts - sounds like binary options. You would be as well off going to the casino and sticking it on black

Law / Bank Gold or Silver account in Poland [2]

Not that I know of - sellers need to complete some paperwork when bullion or coins are sold in Poland and that probably makes online trading impossible. There are reputable gold dealers in many larger shopping malls or you could also try Tavex in the center of Warsaw.

Note if you are from outside the EU there are also currency reporting requirements which apply to large sums.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

Her election posters from 2015 described her clearly as PiS candidate for Premier. Its important because that vote was the mandate that PiS thinks gives them carte blanche to do what they want.

Yes I understand her party can topple her and having lived in 3 other democracies I know that can happen. However it is normally extraordinary events that cause that, not one man's whim.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

I don't care who sits where. But I do care that as leader of the government she should lead this response to a serious crisis and also address the issue of why a legal budget has not yet been passed. God knows what goes through her brain when she has to sit through these humiliations.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

She is the person the population elected democratically - she should lead the discussion and not just repeat whatever Kaczynski says.

I have not noticed it but has Morawiecki made any comment on the disgraceful way the state budget was approved - clear illegalities and no debate. Why was he not there at this farcical no questions press conference ?

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

Not denying his bravery or his principles but I thought he was 3 years in internment, not 20 years in a Soviet prison ?

News / What will drive Poland after 2020 - when Eu funding dries up? [96]

the most respected measure of inequality is the Gini coefficient - Polands has decreased since 2004, in every year except 2008 and by 10 percent - meaning that it is becoming a more equal society as it gets richer. It has a similar Gini score to Ireland, Germany, France and Switzerland.

But agricultural land is mostly owned by small farmers - the same people you said have never had it so bad. In fact they do have a shock coming - they now sit on illiquid assets that banks will hesitate to take as security for that new car.

This is my last post on this thread because your central arguments just make no sense - that the EU is bad for Poland when in fact it has been great. The previous government outperformed their Czech and Hungarian neighbors and helped deliver great increases in living standards and disposable income to all sections of society. The gap between rich and poor in Poland has not increased since 2004 in relative terms. There is no threat to "polish culture" from the EU that you can name, and there is no mainstream party that supports leaving the EU in Poland.

Meanwhile plenty of fun watching the UK prime minister yesterday keep giving evasive answers about Brexit and no date yet as to when they are going to execute the will of the turkeys that voted for Christmas.

News / The first PiS led government in 2005 lasted just over 2 years in Poland. [129]

Well people will lend you money if they like you and trust you. An important element of trusting a country to buy their bonds is strong institutions and a transparent budgeting process. At the moment it is not sure if Poland has a legal budget for next year.

Actually the Polish debt ratio has already increased to 57 percent - Germany's has also increased. But to hold the UK up as a role model is insane - reducing that deficit should be one of the UKs priorities, but they have got sidetracked by idiots.

Poland's debt position is extremely concerning - investment is falling, gdp growth is far lower than expectations and the zloty is very volatile - which means people outside Poland may only wish to lend in dollar or euro.

I think a likely scenario is some internal PiS issue before the end of the 4 year term - they are greedy and not very smart. Not sure what might trigger it - Morawiecki and Kaczynski falling out, Macierewicz doing something really nuts, someone getting caught with their pants down or their snouts in the trough. But would be amazed if such low grade politicians can last the full term.

News / What will drive Poland after 2020 - when Eu funding dries up? [96]

That is not backed up by any data, and again its incorrect - numbers and evidence are not really your forte. Warsaw residential prices are up roughly double since 2004 according to the NBP. In other big towns increases are smaller. In other categories - office, retail - the increases are far smaller, due to more supply.

In any case the richest 0.1 percent will not have all their money in real estate.

Unless you can prove otherwise my view is that the increase in wealth for the 99.9 percent in Poland has moved faster than for the 0.1 percent.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

Lets forget about land prices in Konstancin and look at investment in new fixed assets by Polish businesses - a drop of 40 percent in the last 3 months. Quite how that is caused by Brexit I have no idea since no such falls were seen in the other 26 countries, except Ireland.

This is important - new machines need new people to switch them on and fix them, generate new production. When that is falling so quickly then real workd effects follow.

News / What will drive Poland after 2020 - when Eu funding dries up? [96]

Again, totally unsubstantiated and out of touch with reality. There is a growing middle class and they have done very well since 2004 - and better than their neighbors in Hungary and Czech. Take any measure of middle class quality of life and see how it has increased - home ownership, car ownership, health levels, foreign holidays, number if internet connections, savings, spending on lesiure.

The minimum wage in 2004 was about 700 zloty - it is now 2000. Do you have any evidence that the wealth of the richest 38.000 people in Poland has increased 3x in that period ? Because that has probably not happened

Of course the EU has deep flaws, but like most anti EU people you offer no better solution and no concrete arguments about why the EU is bad compared to other systems - I can offer 3 reasons why it is good - it makes us richer, makes us more secure and provides more opportunities for our children

As for respecting Poland well I do very much. I also am basically a conservatice person and no lover of PO. You will not find me drawn into most of the arguments here about local politics. i did have some respect for the current government but what I had was lost at the time they started digging up dead bodies. That showed that we are dealing with something more than semantic differenćes about tax and the free press.

News / What will drive Poland after 2020 - when Eu funding dries up? [96]

Yes, and outside the EU it seems like Serbia is thriving. Your Croat and Slovenian neighbors must look at you with envy

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

The whole thing started when an opposition MP was prevented from speaking.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

A lot now will depend on Morawiecki - he will need to raise a lot of debt next year to finance PiS plans. Kaczynski has skilfully built a coalition of older voters and young families but unlike Reagan and Thatcher he does not have business or taxpayers on his side. Not having a proper debate about the budget has seriously spooked business - already there have been huge falls in investment the last 3 months.

News / What will drive Poland after 2020 - when Eu funding dries up? [96]

Again you are incorrect. You could write 1000 posts you will never find an accurate statistic showing that Poland or indeed any section of Polish society is worse off since 2004. And I don't really care if you register or not - I am too busy having a normal life working in poland and looking after my Polish kids.

Re electric cars - that was not the first hit in google, because the first few pages of hits are loonies and conspiracy theorists. But in fact it seems that only one country has mandated a ban - Norway, which is not even in the EU. But in any case a debate should happen - its cheaper, greener and we won't have to kiss the ass of the Saudis any more.

In 13 years of farming commercially I have never encountered Dutch buying groups - some German, some French but mostly Polish. There is no mention of these groups in the official reports from the Ministry of Agriculture that we get each year. I dont ever remember seeing Innocent smoothies in Poland - only place I see them in fact is at a ruinous price in London. They might be here but certainly not where I shop in Biedronka and Lidl.

Yes I get some EU subsidies, most of which I have reinvested but in any case they are far less than the tax I pay and no I am sadly not in the lowest tax bracket. I pay substantial tax here, most of which the current morons have used as election kielbasa.

The only objections you can rationally raise about the EU are that each country has its own culture. Could you be specific about which parts of Polish culture are under threat ? Will they ban grilling sausages and fighting off mosquitoes ? Or can I no longer listen to Rubinstein playing Chopin ? Can I still take a half litre to the forest and pick kurki ? Or swig a can of Warka while I watch the speedway ? There are no EU laws about any of those things.

What the EU does have rules about is rule of law, independent judiciary, state ownership, fiscal responsibility - and the Polish people clearly voted for those in 2004. Britain had a chance to prove there are better ideas than the EU but so far they are in a terrible negotiating position - hence they are too scared to send that letter.

Work / Moving to Lodz - will my 2500 PLN salary be enough? [52]

Well I quite like Lodz - lots of character, low costs and definitely on the up after some tough times. You will achieve nothing with that attittude.

News / Poland refuses to give jobs to British [19]

Lodz lover

Do you speak Polish ? Did you research the situation before you arrived ?

Plenty of British expats have made a good living over here but normally by doing the two things above.

Work / 30 yr old Polish Canadian would love to relocate back to homeland [4]

If you have Polish citizenship and can speak Polish then there should be plenty of driving and construction work going. Also plenty of work in the towns north of Lodz like Strychow and Rawa where there are lots of warehouses and logistics companies - they are very short of workers.

But dont expect much more than 4000 zloty gross - bit more if you are driving.