Travel / Question about Layover - transfer flights from/to Poland [4]


Then you can enter both Turkey and Athens visa-free.

As for baggage arrangements, ask in the departure airport if your luggage will be checked through to Poland or not.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


PiS have nothing to do with that 15 billion - it was planned by PO and the vast majority of the work was done by PO.

As for that 82 billion - that number, as I keep saying, is growing and growing by the day. I saw an article in wPolityce claiming that it was 100 billion - the reality is that the 15 billion number is about as high as it can possibly get. Realistically, I'd expect between 5-10 billion maximum.


There's already talk of an extra 1% on VAT because of just how much they're planning to overspend and how poor the economic data is in comparison with what was expected.

Still, amazing that PiS lovers are willing to defend the banning of the Polish flag from public life.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


Sorry Johnny, but it's completely unacceptable to ban a symbol of freedom like that. The only reason to ban the flag is to prevent it being shown on public TV - nothing more, nothing less. It's worth pointing out that the last group of people to ban the Polish flag in public were the Communists, when it was illegal to fly the flag except on certain days approved by the government.

Did you know that the 4th of June is celebrated in Poland as the Day of Freedom and Civil Rights? Did you know that there are a large amount of picnics all over Poland and abroad to celebrate it this weekend? No? There you go ;)

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


Oh but it does. The Polish flag is a symbol of freedom, and banning it is simply unacceptable, especially as the festival is broadcast on public television.

The real reason it was banned was because they didn't want the flag shown on public TV. Simple as that.

History / POLISH IDENTITY-shift from communism to democracy [28]


He was found to have lied in the special lustration court about his SB membership, and it was reported all over the media the other day about him now working for the MSZ.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]

Disturbing news : At the Opole song festival, attendees were banned from bringing in the Polish flag. Just like in previous times, the ruling power does not want the Polish flag to be displayed in public.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]

Nope. Article 195, paragraph 1.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


So in effect, you're advocating that any law may be introduced immediately without consultation and without the vacatio legis period?

Sorry, but European standards are higher than that, regardless of what Kaczyński thinks.

Don't worry though Polonius, I'm sure the next government will make sure that there's a law passed without delay that requires the immediate arrest of all top PiS members, with the same law requiring them to be taken straight in front of a judge and convicted of abuse of office. We can, of course, expect you to write pieces on how vital state interests required such measures and how you support it.

History / POLISH IDENTITY-shift from communism to democracy [28]


Such as Stanisław Piotrowicz, ex-PZPR public prosecutor and now Kaczyński's right hand man and Jarosław Spyra, ex-SB man and now working happily in the MSZ.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


Polonius is merely adopting the old PRL attitude of "the law exists to serve and protect the Party".

By his logic, the government could pass a law saying that the TK can only meet once every four years on the day before the election, and that the TK was prohibited from ruling on the law in question.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


Actually, they aren't. The TK is only bound to the Constitution, not to lesser laws passed by the National Assembly.

If the TK law in question had been passed with the presence of a vacatio legis period, then it would be regarded as legally binding. If you read the Venice Commission report, you can see that without the vacatio legis period, the law is pretty much redundant.

But don't worry, Polonius. With your pro-Sejm attitude, you surely won't complain when the next government rules PiS to have been a terrorist organisation and immediately banned from public life. The TK will rule it to be unconstitutional, but the next government can simply ignore them because they passed a law requiring the TK to be only comprised of people that pledged their loyalty to the current government.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


That myth was already debunked, as the Constitutional Tribunal posted the complete list. What actually happened was that the PO/PSL government simply chose not to take any action - which meant they respected the ruling of the tribunal. They didn't attempt to enforce the unconstitutional provisions - if they had, PiS would have been screaming from the rooftops about it.


It's very clear. The Constitution says very clearly that rulings of the TK are final and binding.


However, the Venice Commission already agreed that it's complete nonsense for the TK not to be able to rule on this. In law, the established order is when you pass such laws, you leave a period between signing the law and it coming into law. The lack of a consultation process, the rushing into law - it's very difficult to see how this law holds any legal weight.

If you believe that law is law regardless of how it's passed, then please don't cry when a future government passes a law overnight that all members of PiS are to be immediately stripped of Polish citizenship and placed in detention camps in Siberia. That would also be legal according to your logic.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]

Just got home, but Polonius : you're deliberately completely wrongly reporting what happened today. There was a huge turnout across many Polish cities and many cities abroad - this was very much a day of decisive protest against PiS.

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]

It does happen, but it's very very tough to do so. You'll always see border guards camped out in Bieszczady for instance. I had a chat with two of them about it - their mission was effectively to go and camp in the wild for a few days, while observing the border.

You can't even move in Bieszczady without seeing the Straż Graniczna - my friend got fined 200zł for approaching the border in Wołosate without a permit!

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


Not very sensible "Jihadists" then, because the Polish-Ukrainian border is guarded to hell by the Poles and the Ukrainians have a well-guarded border zone that you simply can't approach without being questioned.

News / Moody's credit rating of Poland unchanged, but outlook slumps [64]


Polonius, I'd like to ask you - why do you think reactivating a border guard post in the Tatra Mountains is a good idea? Slovakia is a member of Schengen, the EU and NATO too - don't you think it makes more sense to open extra guard posts on the Russian or Belarusian borders instead?

I'm all for strong border protection (especially on the Kaliningrad border!), but I just don't see the value in keeping redundant border posts on the Slovak border when the money could be spent on additional patrols on the Kaliningrad border.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


I think that's part of it, but the PiS controlled media has been salivating over Polanski for years - it's a very, very cheap way to reassure the more hardcore electorate, especially given that the opposition couldn't really care less about someone that pled guilty to having sex with a child. PiS have had some problems with the more loony right getting hysterical over Duda getting cosy with the Jewish community as well, so this sort of thing reassures their anti-Jewish credentials as it were.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


Not when priests are involved, what with the massive amount of pressure that the Church exerts on individuals in Poland to do things 'correctly', such as selling them land for 2% of the value.


Nothing to do with corruption and everything to do with the RCC wielding far too much influence over public life. Judges are human, and the State has done nothing to protect them from outside interference.


No-one took the money away. I looked in my ZUS account yesterday and it's all there - so I fail to see what the issue is.

Polanski pled guilty to having sexual intercourse with a child and no-one is disputing this, but it doesn't change the fact that Ziobro is merely going after him because of his ethnicity and not because of the crime.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


In other words, Polanski is being singled out for being Jewish, because I don't see Ziobro appealing other dodgy verdicts where paedophile Catholic priests are concerned. There's certainly plenty of them that should be re-examined by the legal system, so why is Ziobro quiet?

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


My idol? I couldn't really care less about him. If anything, in Polish cinema, my idol is Kieślowski. I merely object to the way that people have jumped on this because of his ethnicity.


Except as we all know in Poland, paedophile priests have been protected despite committing far worse crimes.


Who is talking about the Americans here? We're talking about Ziobro salivating over the possibility of extraditing him, which is solely because of his ethnicity. If he was a Polish Catholic and PiS supporter, Ziobro would have said nothing.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


Yep, couldn't have said it better myself. They're positively salivating over the idea of someone Jewish and successful getting punished - which is why Ziobro is pandering to them. It's nothing to do with what he did - if it was, they would be demanding the heads of all those infamous paedophiles harboured within the Church.

If he was so intent on punishing criminals, he'd start by punishing all the criminals in the PiS camp.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


Not very familiar with American legal practices, are you?

It's normal there for people to negotiate their sentence with judges - which is why it's routine for lawyers to negotiate things such as speeding tickets down to fines for not wearing a seatbelt or similar in exchange for a guilty plea. It's arguably an efficient way of doing things, as it prevents the expense of trials and allows some form of punishment to be given quickly.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


Bingo. They hate Polanski because he's got some Jewish roots combined with being successful - something that the majority of right wing losers simply cannot abide.

All these people screaming for Polanski's head are suspiciously silent or in complete denial over the horrific abuse carried out by some priests. Says it all, really.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


The facts are clear, and your attempt to claim otherwise is a simple smear based on his ethnicity.


For some reason, I imagine you wouldn't say this if he was a Polish priest. You seem to have been rather silent on the issue of rampant sexual misconduct by priests. Why?


Bingo. It's all about the fact that he's Jewish, isn't it?

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]

Which is pretty much a good reason why these things should be left to professional, independent police, prosecution services and courts.

Harry, any idea if Poland can use a EAW in this case?

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


We stick to facts here, which was that Polanski pled guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. The term "statutory rape" is not used in California, hence calling him a rapist is factually incorrect.


What's more bizarre is how no-one would say a word about Polanski if he was a Polish Catholic, but because he has Jewish connections, they want his blood.

This is just yet another example of the Polish conservative/communist obsession with punishing Jewish people for alleged crimes in the past, such as making money and being good at business, both of which most PiS supporters fail miserably at.

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]


You voted hard left-wing, not right wing.

As for "not being bribed", what was the 500+ programme then if it wasn't a financial bribe?

Travel / US State Department warnings for summer travelers to Europe - Krakow, Poland included [6]

Korwin-Mikke lover, apparently.

But really, there's no point even making a fuss over these border controls - I know how they work in practice (they're not permanent, and not every car is stopped) and it's normal for big events. It's also good for the Straż Graniczna officers in Schengen areas to get some practice with border controls if they ever have to be reintroduced in an emergency.

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]

You won't send anyone anywhere, because the EU cash is just too important.

Don't forget that PiS are also relying on funnelling plenty of that cash to their supporters. If the money doesn't materialise, those people will switch their allegiances to someone that gets them the cash.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]

Looks like Ziobro is lying through his teeth, not that it's a surprise.

He's wanted for his guilty plea for having sexual intercourse with a minor. He's not wanted for any rape, no matter how hard right wingers might try and pretend otherwise.

Funny how Ziobro talks about evading justice, yet he was silent on Duda's use of the veto to ensure a criminal could take his place in the PiS government.