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


So why hasn't parliament resolved it?

It's now crystal clear what happened. Timmermans communicated that the European Commission was willing to give Poland a final chance to resolve it, and Szydło proposed several solutions that were deemed to be acceptable and which would be brought in front of the Sejm to end the constitutional crisis. She then failed to do so - and so Poland was warned on Tuesday that a negative opinion was about to come. Poland still failed to end it, so the opinion arrived and that's that.

It's pretty clear that the European Union will now move to massively cut Poland's share of the cohesion funds in the next budget cycle - which will pretty much wreck the Morawiecki Plan. Other countries can easily be persuaded with a bigger share of the carrot - countries such as Hungary will quite happily accept a few billion extra in exchange for their support of a budget that cuts cash from Poland.


There are democratic standards and norms to be obeyed.

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

Don't forget that he earnt a PhD in communist law and started the process of becoming a public communist prosecutor.

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

They believe that the law exists to suit the government, so they can freely break any laws that aren't compatible with what they want to do.

Quite totalitarian in their way of thinking, really. It's the same way that the PRL government believed that law was an extension of the government.

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


Remember that PiS are counting on half a trillion złoty from the EU.

Their economic plans are essentially worthless without that cash.

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


Poor attempt at racism.

Border controls will be reintroduced, as is normal during high profile meetings, such as during Euro 2012. Nothing to do with Muslims and everything to do with normal procedure. For what it's worth, the only actual attack committed this year in Poland was committed by a right wing Polish Catholic.

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]


Oh yes, there's a splendid comparison in Wielkopolska. Koleje Wielkpolskie has a conductor and a ticket machine, while Przewozy Regionalne has no ticket machines and 3 conductors for the same length of train. Having said that, the conductor last weekend was telling me jokes, which was quite surreal.

Just to not go off-topic - I have to admit that driving in Poland is far more relaxing than in the Czech Republic or Germany. The lack of fear of being caught is massively enjoyable.

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]

In Berlin, yes. Can't talk about other cities, but Berlin has them deliberately designed to reduce the desirability of driving there.

I read an article somewhere about it, and it's seen as a pro-Green measure that actually results in a lot more pollution.

Polish cities have been busy introducing ITS systems, which prioritises public transport over cars. It can result in some dreadful traffic light timings - for example, you're familiar with Poznań aren't you? It used to be that you could drive from a green light on Rondo Starołęka towards Glogowska/Hetmanska and get through the lights on the way if you drove at the speed limit. Now - impossible - you'll hit at least two red lights on the way.

News / The world's most beautiful library is in Poland. [5]

That is absolutely fantastic. Nothing more to say, but Poland should be shouting about this from the rooftops - it's exactly how to revitalise old infrastructure for the common good.

Law / Poland's Citizenship application - "Uzasadnienie" - what to write in this section? [12]


Excellent :) I'll follow you in another few months!

Travel / Optimal order of Warsaw-Gdansk-Krakow for train travel September [8]


Not if you're travelling with typical American amounts of luggage, though.

For what it's worth, I always had a good night's sleep on the sleeper train - but I wouldn't advise couchettes, only a private room.

For train bookings, polrail.com are fantastic.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


However, UK membership will automatically expire upon leaving the EU, as the UK isn't a member in her own right.

News / White, Catholic, Polish bus bomber caught [28]


This terrorist attack was carried out by a "White Native Pole".

News / White, Catholic, Polish bus bomber caught [28]


What is there to investigate? He's admitted everything.


Sorry, but no amount of poorly spelt insults will change the facts.

News / White, Catholic, Polish bus bomber caught [28]


Looks like he simply got himself caught up in nationalist propaganda online. He's admitted it, at least.

News / White, Catholic, Polish bus bomber caught [28]


Interestingly, TVPiS, Polskie Radio and PAP have been very quiet about it. I wonder why?

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


Indeed.

Poland has 19% of women reporting violence, but the true number is much higher. Perhaps Johnny would like to explain that before trying to criticise Muslim countries?

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


They didn't need to. It was obvious all along, and they've came out and said that it has nothing to do with terrorism.


It's quite a good place. I've got friends in Wrocław and they tell me that the shop attached to it does some excellent meat.

History / 13 of December - the anniversary of MARTIAL LAW in Poland [48]


Not very interesting. He had a very good upbringing (went to a good Jesuit school, he was brought up a traditional Polish Catholic, etc etc) and he was a very disciplined officer who commanded respect. He got the job done with no fuss in Czechoslovakia in 1968, he got the job done in 1981 effectively, and his leadership in 1989/1990 got Poland through the most difficult phase without violence or bloodshed.

Imagine how good he could have been in a free and independent Poland?


Who knows, Polonius. I'd personally love to know what transformed a good Catholic kid into such a devastatingly good Communist. We know he suffered a lot in exile, so... who knows.

Doesn't change the fact that as an officer, he was among the very best in the Warsaw Pact and one of a handful that actually would have shone in a Western army too.

edited

History / 13 of December - the anniversary of MARTIAL LAW in Poland [48]


I've said it many times, but it's a great shame that an independent Poland never had Jaruzelski in their ranks.

He's widely considered by independent sources to have been a fantastic officer and one of the very few Warsaw Pact senior officers that didn't enjoy getting completely out of his face on vodka.

History / 13 of December - the anniversary of MARTIAL LAW in Poland [48]


He was a traitor. There's nothing more to be said - his actions allowed NATO to know exactly what and how to destroy Poland in the event of war.

History / 13 of December - the anniversary of MARTIAL LAW in Poland [48]

[moved from]
It's always the biggest traitors that pretend to be the biggest patriots, don't you think?

News / Article on the West's propaganda war on Poland - Commies, 'apolitical' KODists, and G. Soros - Oh My [22]


It's such good fun reading it though. They're defending Poland, yet the PiS ideology of big state-owned business and interfering in all aspects of people's personal lives is exactly what they claim to be against. Hypocritical, much?


Adrian, Adrian... they didn't want to remove anything. There's plenty of the old commie guard active within PiS, and many of the leading people in PiS came from nomeklatura backgrounds.

News / Candidate for Poland's National Bank NBP chief Glapiński wants repolonisation of banks [60]

Sorry Polonius, but supermarkets were using umowa o pracę long before PiS got into power. PiS are actually turning a blind eye to the abuses carried out by Polish businesses at the moment.

You're very right - they should set a shining example. The problem is that as most people in Poland know, Polish employers tend to be very unprofessional and tend to pay very badly in comparison to their international peers.

News / Candidate for Poland's National Bank NBP chief Glapiński wants repolonisation of banks [60]


Except they don't. Most supermarkets pay above the minimum wage and most of them use umowa o pracę. On the other hand, Polish chains like Empik and franchises like Żabka were and are notorious for using junk contracts.

The worst employers in Poland tend to be Polish, funnily enough. It's the same reason why international companies have enjoyed so much success attracting workers here and why Polish companies are so unappealing.

News / Candidate for Poland's National Bank NBP chief Glapiński wants repolonisation of banks [60]


It's already going on now - look at the way that Szydło was left to humiliate herself on Friday, and how they left the debating chamber on command of Kaczyński and not her. Obviously Morawiecki is the new favourite child, and Szydło is being thrown to the wolves.


I read something by Jeffrey Sachs that explains exactly this - they really had no idea what they were doing, and they were simply trying to stabilise the country and try and get some relief on the debts so that the country could at least function somewhat normally - all the while having to cope with a government that had no real unity.

News / Why has the US dollar reached almost 3.99 zł in Poland? [56]


Here you go :

money.pl/gospodarka/wiadomosci/artykul/rzad-chce-pieniedzy-za-wode-zdrozeja-prad-i,136,0,2064008.html


Tax, tax, tax, just like I said before the election.

News / Why has the US dollar reached almost 3.99 zł in Poland? [56]


That's pretty much what is happening. The latest plans for the water tax are going to cause massive problems for food producers in Poland - it's already been made clear that Poland's advantage in this sector will be wiped out with it.

The windmill situation has already got investors saying "uh-oh..." - and it doesn't help that wages are being pushed higher and higher as Poland experiences an IT/startup boom.

News / Candidate for Poland's National Bank NBP chief Glapiński wants repolonisation of banks [60]


You forgot to mention that the government in question had what, around 130 seats in the Sejm? I'm not surprised it fell - as we've been over many times, even Kaczyński was plotting against the government despite his party being in power.

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


We don't need to wait - the police already released images of some white guy that they want to find.

tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-z-kraju,3/wroclaw-bomba-w-autobusie-film-z-monitoringu,645850.html


Sorry Adrian, but as I said from the beginning, it's likely to be connected to the ongoing protests against the police in Wrocław.


Ah, I love it. PiS-controlled police vs hooligans, it just doesn't get better than this :D

Adrian, perhaps you'll want to apologise to Wrocław's Muslim community?

fakty.tvn24.pl/ogladaj-online,60/oblawa-na-mezczyzne-ktory-moze-miec-zwiazek-z-bomba-w-autobusie,645834.html


Funny how Adrian was so quick to blame Muslims when - as has been said all along - it was likely to have been an act of terror by your typical moronic "nationalist".