News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

Just to add, regarding Hungary's veto, a similar resolution was adopted by the European Parliament against Hungary a few months ago, so the first step has already been taken in triggering Article 7 against them.There has been quite a lot of discussion in the media in recent months about the possibility of Article 7 being triggered simultaneously against both countries, thus preventing the veto. I was just watching Guy Verhofstadt speaking in Parliament a few minutes ago and he actually said that the time has come to act against Hungary also. Interesting times lie ahead.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]


Well basically the MEPs, as opposed to the Commission, decided to take matters into their own hands so the member states got together and created a draft resolution in which they laid out their concerns about the various things that have been going on in Poland including the logging issue. I imagine that the Independence Day 'celebrations' were the final straw for a lot of other members. The resolution was voted on by the Parliament and as it's been passed, the Civil Liberties Committee will now prepare a proposal which calls on the European Council to trigger Article 7.

I think what's heartening about it is that it's an initiative coming, not from the administrative wing of the EU, but from the member states themselves, Poland's peers. If it comes to sanctions, I wouldn't bet on Orban keeping his word either. He's a self-serving individual and will act in his own interests, not Poland's.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

At last - the European Parliament has voted by 438 votes to 152 with 71 abstentions to prepare a formal request that the Council activate the preventive mechanism provided for in Article 7.1.

Law / Allegro for non-Polish users -- Cancel order, bank transfer, contacts for help, etc. [19]

I find that Allegro is a nightmare to use for the reasons you describe. If you look carefully at the seller's page, you will see that there are details of how to pay by other methods, usually by bank transfer and their bank account number will be listed. However, there are frequently problems, even using this method in my experience. Sometimes the payment doesn't go through for example, even though it shows as paid. Once, after paying, I got a really, really, rude email from the seller, asking where the money was. The whole thing is very messy and communication from the sellers can be bad, even if you speak Polish. Basically, it's hit and miss, sometimes the transactions go smoothly, the sellers are very professional and sometimes not. Could you not use Ebay or Amazon instead, they're both very straightforward. I've very rarely had any problems with either of them and when I did, they were resolved super quick.

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


That's spot on. I was offered 110zl per hour by a language school to teach in companies. Now admittedly that was the top rate at the time that any English teacher could command through a middle man but 60zl an hour was commonplace for a one hour private lesson in your own or the student's home and it's up to 80/90 zl in Warsaw now. The best and most qualified teachers can still earn excellent money if they want to. Also if you have a wide social circle you find that you don't even have to look for students, they come to you.

Now, of course the distinction has to be made between people who are professionals with appropriate experience and training, as opposed to the casual 'don't speak any Polish so I'll have to work as an English teacher' vibe. But for the professionals, yes, the rewards are there.

I think there seems to be some confusion in this thread. When we talk about 'schools' and 'teacher's, a distinction needs to be made between language schools and EFL teachers which is a completely different kettle of fish to public sector primary and secondary schools and the Polish teachers working in them. As far as EFL teaching goes, yes, for the best candidates, you can still make a very good living at it.

Work / Cost of living in Gdańsk, average salary for experienced software engineer in Poland [64]

You're confusing vegetarian with vegan. Vegans won't touch anything which contains animal matter, they're strictly plant eaters, but regular vegetarians are not that strict. They don't eat meat, poultry or fish and many won't eat eggs but they do eat dairy products, drink milk etc. I don't why you're being so grumpy about the pierogi, I said you can get vegetarian varieties, but man cannot live by pierogi alone!

Work / Cost of living in Gdańsk, average salary for experienced software engineer in Poland [64]


Well I know, I mean you can get pierogi with grzybami and kapusta, that sort of thing, or any number of soups but it's not the most exciting and often tastes a bit bland. If you come from a culture like the Indian sub-continent with a vast range of delicious vegetarian dishes, it doesn't really compare. Bioway is kind of ok for a quick snack but it's not really an eating experience, a lot of it is wraps and variations on mainstream dishes like a veggie version of Bigos and vegetarian lasagne. I took a look at the Greenway menu and it's a bit better as it has a few curries and things but there's still a lot of those veggie versions of local Polish dishes, like veggie cutlets instead of pork. If he can find an Indian or authentic Chinese restaurant that would be an alternative as they usually have plenty of tasty veggie options.

@SKQA, you're welcome :)

Work / Cost of living in Gdańsk, average salary for experienced software engineer in Poland [64]


You should start thinking in metric, they don't use feet and inches in Poland :) so you're looking for something around 70 square metres. Here's a link to listings for apartments in Gdansk:

domiporta.pl/mieszkanie/wynajme/pomorskie/gdansk

In addition to the rent stated there is usually an extra service charge for cold water, rubbish collection etc called a Czynsz and that's generally about another 500 a month. Sometimes, depending on the type of building this will include central heating and hot water but not always. The ad will usually list the service charge separately. Your electricity bill will be about 100 a month and you might have gas too. Internet, about 60 a month.

As for neighbourhoods, well because of its history and social housing, Polish neighbourhoods tend to be very socially mixed. You will find local authority blocks of apartments right beside expensive luxury private blocks so there's really no such thing as a completely upmarket/exclusive neighbourhood or an indeed a bad part of town. Pretty much everywhere is 'clean and safe'.


It's not easy to find vegetarian options in Poland. It's still very much a meat eating culture so your choice will be somewhat limited if you're eating out. You can pay pretty much anything you like for a meal. A cheapish but acceptable main course will cost around 20 pln up to about 100 for an upmarket option.

By the way, you should consider a smaller apartment if it will save you some money. For two people, 50sq metres is plenty of space and could be a thousand a month saved, far better to have that 12 grand in YOUR pocket than in a landlord's :))

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


I think Kaprys is probably referring more to standard English, that nice, neutral RADA style spoken by trained actors. Charles Dance is a good example of that, so is Sir Ian Mckellen, Kenneth Branagh etc.

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


No, code switching is when bilingual/multil-lingual people switch between languages, sometimes in the same sentence, during conversation. What you're referring to is speaking in the vernacular, that is, in a colloquial manner rather than in standard English:)

Life / Thoughts on pro vs cons when moving to Poland from New Zealand with Polish wife and daughter. Living cost. [9]


Teachers' salaries in Poland are amongst the lowest in Europe. It's not likely that her earnings alone will support the household. I mean you'll be rent free but there's utilities, food, costs of running at least one car, clothes, medical and dental expenses, that's the very minimum. Then add on a few common treats like going to the cinema, concert, theatre, eating out occasionally, gym, maybe activities for your daughter, music lessons, sports, girl scouts, etc and you're going to have to start dipping into your 'luxuries' budget. Have you checked out the exact salary your wife could earn?

Work / Remote work from Poland to a German company. Polish work permit possibility? EU citizen. [3]

You don't need a work permit if you're from Finland. You're an EU citizen.

Life / Thoughts on pro vs cons when moving to Poland from New Zealand with Polish wife and daughter. Living cost. [9]

Agree with CMS. You should ideally rent something for a year or so in the area you think you'd like to live in permanently and then make a final decision. Also when deciding where in Poland to settle (I imagine it would be near your wife's family) consider the location in terms of your daughter's future and any other children you may subsequently have. Would it be necessary for your daughter to leave home to go to college and what are job opportunities like for her after graduation. It's just that sometimes people fall in love with the idea of country living or small town/village life, which is lovely when you have young children but can become difficult when they're teenagers and beyond.


Do you mean that instead of buying a family home, you would rent and invest the bulk of your capital in a business? I wouldn't risk that. Definitely not. Being mortgage free is always a big deal.

Polonia / Necessary things to bring while coming to Poland From India ..? [12]


Don't be silly Ziemusz. I had to go and see them because the direct debit I had set up wasn't working and it's easier for me to deal face to face than over the phone with my level of Polish. Anyway, I see plenty of people in such places who seem to be doing all kinds of long winded, complex transactions.


I wasn't backing him up. I was disagreeing with you which is not quite the same thing.
I don't think either of you is completely right. Oh and the Orange 'salon' is always a nightmare, I don't think it was a special offer.

Now to add to the list, I'll give an honourable mention to paying one's property tax. If you choose to do that in person you can queue for an hour. Why would you do so, you ask? Well because like direct debits that mysteriously don't function, payments made via bank transfer frequently go a-wandering and have to be traced and located so I now prefer to pay in person and collect a nice comforting bit of paper stamped with the mark of 'authority'.

Polonia / Necessary things to bring while coming to Poland From India ..? [12]


I'm not sure I'd agree with that. A few examples: shopping in the Bazarek or Targowisko on a busy day like Saturday or before a public holiday. The queues especially at the meat counters are awe inspiring! It's a real 'bring sandwiches and a deckchair' job and prepare to make yourself comfortable while you wait. Also many people still seem to prefer to do certain kinds of business in person rather than via the phone or internet, and sometimes you have to do things face to face, so you can have a very long wait if you go the gas or electricity providers. I once waited an hour but at least they provide chairs. Just last week, the queue at the Orange salon in one of our local shopping centres was so long that had it spilled out onto the pavement outside! There literally wasn't room in the shop and that was about 11.00am on a weekday.

UK, Ireland / Polish career criminal gets six years for rape [43]


Lobotomize them - they can still work in MacDonalds or Pound World.

UK, Ireland / Polish career criminal gets six years for rape [43]


I blame Hitler. Well maybe not quite but the whole eugenics thing which pre-dated modern genetics, lead to the quest for eliminating defects either mental or physical in humans and the horrible experiments of Mengele and others. Then you had things like lobotomising mental patients.

I knew an elderly lady years ago whose sister-in-law was homicidally violent.She never actually killed anyone but she had a pretty good stab at it, literally! Went for her husband with the Sunday roast knife. Anyway, she had a lobotomy and was as nice as pie afterwards, spent all her time anointing herself with creams and lotions and stuffing herself with chocolates. But I think it's seen as being against people's human rights these days.

However I think the rights of humans not to be murdered, maimed, raped and violated, especially children, should take precedence over the rights of sex offenders. Also I certainly think that violent repeat offenders of any kind, male or female should be forcibly sterilized as they shouldn't be allowed to reproduce. What kind of home and family life can any of them offer to a child?

Travel / Gdansk Christmas markets [26]

@Lisa78, it depends on whether your priority is visiting Poland or visiting a Christmas market. If it's the Christmas market (especially with a little one accompanying you) then Poland isn't the obvious choice as Germany and Austria have a much greater tradition in this area, it's a relatively recent thing in Poland with the exception of the Kraków nativity scenes. If you're definitely set on Poland then I would agree with other posters that Gdansk is not a great choice. The market will be nothing special and the seaside in a Polish winter is not the best choice. You won't see the place at its best. Agree with Ziutek that Wrocław and Kraków will have more spectacular markets.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Mmmm. You read that on a website a few days ago after your initial confusion :)


And that's an example of the scare-mongering tactics I referred to earlier. Don't be so utterly ridiculous.


I think you'll find that Sweden does an excellent job of taking care of its citizens, far better than your own homeland of the USA.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Now I'm more partial to a bit of Flann O'Brien myself - "a very strange pancake".

@Dirk, would you care to comment on the TB ridden Muslim hordes that will inevitably follow Polish sponsored entry of Turkey to the EU? I'm sure Poland will be their first choice having already received such a warm endorsement from the Polish government.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Are you aware of the HIV situation in Ukraine? It's one of the highest in Eastern Europe and steadily on the rise - and it's mainly transmitted through sexual contact there not intravenous drug use. But you don't have an issue with Ukrainian migrants.


Not many Joycean scholars here I imagine, though Roz has probably read him, she's a very well read girl :)) It is Joyce isn't it??

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


For goodness sake don't be such a great lummox. Obviously anybody who is being screened for entry through proper channels should be checked for infectious diseases. I wouldn't be in favour of letting people in who have HIV but I would say that scabies and other conditions which can be easily treated are a different matter. If it comes to that, TB is the second most deadly disease after AIDS and Eastern Europe is positively riddled with it and it's particulary bad in Turkey whom PIS is backing for entry to the EU. Funny how PIS is happy to allow potential hordes of TB ridden Muslims freedom of entry to Poland. Do you see any contradiction there?

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


What do you mean 'friends on the left'. I'm not left wing in my political views. I would say I'm firmly in the centre as most Irish people are.


Polish voter turnout generally never exceeds 50% of the electorate and PIS received 37.6% of that vote. So it's by no means a sizable portion of the Polish people. The consistently low voter turnout in itself tells you something about the Polish electorate.


They're not stupid by any means but those who do actually bother to vote can have rather strange logic behind their choices. If you actually read the research carried out by Polish academics themselves on this topic, it might interest you to know that one of the most common reasons for voting for a party is to prevent a senior member from another party whom they dislike from getting into power. The vote is not always given on the basis of the policies of the party they are voting for but on how much the voter distrusts the opposition party.


Well how do people of any nationality normally make decisions regarding things like immigration? It starts with a set of values which are the cultural norm in your country. Then people find their views either challenged or confirmed by the material they read, and the TV or radio they watch/listen to. People take note of the opinions of those public figures whom they like or respect or trust. Finally there's your peer group who tend to reiniforce your views. Very few people read research, reports, studies, stats, or any very hard facts when they make their decisions regarding support for government policies. When you have Kaczyński declaring that immigrants spread disease such as cholera and carry parasites etc I'd say that was a bit of scare mongering.

@CMS, well said regarding the MEPs etc. I honestly think that many Americans really don't understand how the EU works at all.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


You can't really make a statement like that because he has never been tested by being in government. Talk is cheap but when it comes to the crunch it's much harder to actually run a country that talk about how it should be run.


The Polish people haven't decided anything. PIS has decided. The public appear to largely support that decision but the decision is based on scare mongering and hysteria, not on any really sound logical basis. A small number of genuine refugees does not constitute being overrun and having your culture destroyed by marauding Muslim hordes of religious maniacs, rapists and murderers. I think it's essential to have strict and tightly controlled immigration policies but that doesn't stop you from accepting some immigrants.


Where I'm coming from is that the immigration issue is just one of many where PIS is demonstrating contempt for the partnership to which it belongs. Other EU members have honoured their agreements and even at that we have only done a tiny bit to lift the burden off Greece and Italy.

But the real problem I have is that it's part of a much wider issue where PIS thinks that Poland can be part of the EU on its own terms, overturning any previous agreements made since Poland joined, because they were agreed by other governments and not by them. The EU doesn't work that way. If each nation tries to be a member on their own terms alone, then the whole thing becomes impossible to manage. It operates on a basis of consensus reached by compromise.

PIS takes the attitude that they can ignore EU directives and policy in any area they choose to. It's part of an experiment to see how far they can go and continue to get away with it, how much influence that will have on encouraging other potential allies to do the same, how much that will affect the EU in terms of reforms and how much power Poland can exert in a 'new' EU.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


No I didn't actually say that.
It was



Those would be very uncommon attitudes in Ireland. He may have been winding you up. Irish people tend to do that to Americans :)) They do it with a very straight face so you'd never guess. Modern Ireland is actually a fairly liberal place. Our present Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is gay, half Indian and aetheist :D


It's not a question of needing one. There's no just no harm in having one. As I say we have a small community of Muslims in Ireland and it's caused no trouble at all. But I do believe that's partly because of our education system where most schools are under the patronage of the Catholic church and the Muslim kids are thus much more fully integrated into the Christian community.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


America is an absolute mess of a country but that's not really a discussion for here.


I have no sympathy whatsoever for Islamic fundamentalists, terrorists, or murders and rapists of any nationality or religion.
I can assure you that I am not in the least politically correct. I support chemical castration to stop paedophiles and rapists of any race or religion, re-offending and having children etc. The problem with castration is that a castrated male can still go on to be a murderer, possibly out of vengeance. Pity they don't do lobotomies any more. Actually Ireland will soon become the first country in the EU to confiscate the passports of convicted paedophiles so that they can't travel abroad to carry out their disgusting abuse elsewhere.


Where did I mention those and dismiss them?? Interestingly if you look at the stats for Germany, the highest rates of crime are commited by asylum seekers from the Balkan States, Morocco, Algeria and the former Soviet Union.

@Spiritus, but Poland is only being asked to take a tiny number of Muslims proportionate to the Polish population so Poland would have a very small Muslim community.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


You're making a lot of assumptions aren't you? Ireland where I come from is very much a sovereign nation. We're not part of Schengen, we secured EU opt-outs in the areas of security, defence and justice meaning we can remain militarily neutral and opt in or out of legislation in these areas, we also secured guarantees on the Lisbon Treaty regarding control over ethical issues such as abortion (our abortion laws are the strictest in the EU except for Malta where it's totally banned). Even after Brexit we will retain the existing Common Travel Area with the UK giving us reciprocal rights to live and work in the UK, vote in UK elections etc. This is a totally unique arrangement within the EU. We are very much an independent nation within the European Union.

As far as refugees go, Ireland agreed to take 4,000 over three years. The actual numbers who have arrived so far are about a thousand. There are presently several hundred in Italy which we haven't taken - why is that? Because the Irish government won't allow them into the country until they have been interviewed by the Irish police and had security checks carried out by them. If the Italian authorities don't cooperate (they're dragging their heels on it) and allow the Irish police to do so, those applicants will remain in Italy - and rightly so.

Now here's some more information for you. Ireland is at the bottom of the EU list for accepting asylum seekers (not counting Poland of course!) and we have the highest number of deportations in the EU. So we're no push over. Furthermore we've had a Muslim community for decades, but no Islamic terrorist attacks, no demands for Sharia law etc. It is possible to have a small Muslim community and not have anarchy in your country.

The main concern I have about the refugees arriving in Ireland under the current scheme is that whilst it is necessary and desirable to spread them around the country to avoid 'ghettos' sending them to small towns is a problem in the long run because there is poor infrastructure in those areas, limited public transport etc and ultimately very poor job prospects. That would worry me more than the possibility of any of them being suicide bombers and rapists.


I wasn't the one who made that comment Lyzko :)


But not in Europe. The number of people killed by gun crime in the USA is far greater than those killed in Europe by Islamic terror attacks. Judging by the horrific gun attacks carried out this year alone in America, it would be reasonable by your logic to start vetting American nationals before allowing them to enter Europe even on a holiday visa.

Law / How to legally do an agency contract in Poland? [12]


Yes it does. I learned basic conversational Polish at one such place. It was a three week intensive course, five mornings per week. It was a very small class, only five of us, all different nationalities, French, Irish, American and Thai. At the end of the three weeks we had all reached a point of being able to communicate in Polish for everyday purposes. It was really good. The place I studied at was called IKO, The Institute of Polish for Foreigners in central Warsaw. All the teachers spoke very fluent English so they were able to explain grammar etc to us but mostly we did a lot of talking in Polish so I would highly reccommend it. I see that they are also offering one-to-one Skype lessons now.

iko.com.pl/learning-one-one-one-also-via-skype/

Law / How to legally do an agency contract in Poland? [12]

You're welcome - good luck with it :)

Law / How to legally do an agency contract in Poland? [12]

Here you go:

paih.gov.pl/investment_support

Their services are free of charge. I'm sure that if you send them an email they can give you some basic advice and point in you the right direction.