News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


The biggest problem is the way that the EU money keeps flowing without control. As I think everyone would agree, the EU lacks effective ways of dealing with these situations, simply because it wasn't imagined in the 1950's that countries would be so openly and massively corrupt. The entire mentality of the EU is still based on the original Franco-German economic and social union concept, and simply hasn't evolved since. For all the successes (Schengen, Single European Act, Four Freedoms, etc.), the architects of the EU simply couldn't imagine what emerged in Hungary.


You jest, but actually, would it be such a bad idea for standardised postal rates, so stamps could be used interchangeably all over the EU? Look at the massive success of free roaming (to the point where I can't imagine not using Google Maps abroad) - anything that allows freedom of movement isn't a bad thing in my opinion.

I remember trying to find stamps once in Greece and failing miserably because...Greeks. If I'd been able to buy postage online from the UK, print it out and stick it onto the letter, it would have been ten times easier.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


No, Poland shouldn't. Unless you think that Poles should do without work, which combined with buying overpriced American gas would be an interesting social experiment.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


It all really goes back to how unmanageable it is. Many of the weird aspects of the EU come from the early compromises, and it was never meant to work with 28 states. It was struggling with 12, and 15 was really the upper limit. Jumping to 25 was a disaster and done solely for political purposes when it should have been a much slower and gradual process.

The European Parliament should be the primary source of legislation, and the European Commission should be elected by the EP through the same system that the Northern Ireland Assembly uses to elect ministers. Mandatory power sharing would ensure that all political blocs were represented (the current requirements for factions to be recognised in the EP are fine), and the European Council would exist solely for the purposes of EU treaty change with no other powers to propose or dismiss legislation.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


It's a very weird speech, and seems to have resulted in a huge backlash against him. Those words will almost certainly come back to haunt him, even though they were clearly aimed at TVP-watching villagers.

News / Poland's Future in the EU under PIS [51]

The post above is hilariously full of transference errors from Russian, not Polish.

News / Poland's Future in the EU under PIS [51]


Yup, they don't have a formal coalition, but a slightly more detailed version of a confidence and supply agreement. The interesting thing is that they've both agreed to stick to the Good Friday Agreement, which pretty much rules out a hard Irish border as it was agreed at a time when the EU had abolished internal customs borders, and the thought of Customs controls returning to the Irish border was unthinkable.

The Conservative-DUP agreement is why Northern Ireland will now be in the ridiculous position of being the only place on "those islands" where abortion will be illegal. The Tories wanted to change it, but there's a school of thought that suggests that only the Northern Irish assembly has the power to do so. Any attempt by the Tories to change it would probably result in the DUP tearing up the agreement, and they need those 10 votes to get legislation through.

Essentially, this is why there's no real answer to the Irish border question. If customs barriers go up on the NI side, they'll be attacked and destroyed. The UK can do as they did during The Troubles and simply not bother to control goods, but that's hardly viable in the era of goods freely moving around once they're in the EU. Dublin will also bring a case against UK for breaking the Good Friday Agreement if customs barriers go up, and this could cause things to get worse again, especially in places like South Armagh where they're always ready for a fight.

The most sensible solution would be for NI to remain within the EU Customs Union, but the DUP want close integration with the rest of the UK and won't support a Customs line down the middle of the Irish Sea. If they propose such a thing, the DUP will break the Agreement and May's government will probably fall as a result.

News / Purturbing opinion: Poland is not a woman, it is a drunk, inept guy in depression [30]

Would you include people like Kornel Morawiecki and Korwin-Mikke for their pro-Putin stances?

News / Purturbing opinion: Poland is not a woman, it is a drunk, inept guy in depression [30]


I think that's actually a very good observation. The melancholic ramblings, the obsession with the past, the lamenting over everything, the inferiority/insecurity complex, the fear of the unknown and more - all of these are typical traits for a drunkard outside the village shop.

The question for me is how this can be changed? Do you think it can be, Ziemowit? I believe it can, but I'm not sure how.

Work / Esl English Teacher in Szczecin [13]

Pretty much everything is covered above. If you're capable of teaching kids and you've got some experience with it, contact every nursery you can find - you'll be offered full time work with or without qualifications as long as you're female and normal. It's not easy work, but there's a lack of female native speakers with experience of teaching kids.

Off-Topic / Social Media - who uses Facebook or similar? [45]


There's one chap known to us as "Poopy McPoopface" who appears to use it solely to abuse and insult bars and restaurants that he's been banned from.

Off-Topic / Social Media - who uses Facebook or similar? [45]


Exactly this. That, plus the threat of boycott from wealthier consumers has really hurt the whole alt right finances. He who pays, rules, and in this case, old and low income people have very little influence.


What I've read and seen is that those places never really succeed because it's an echo chamber. They can't get the confrontation and attention that they crave there, so they end up abandoning the platform quickly.

Off-Topic / Social Media - who uses Facebook or similar? [45]


So advertisers don't want to be associated with lies and right wing propaganda because it's bad for sales? What a surprise!

Off-Topic / Social Media - who uses Facebook or similar? [45]


That's actually a really valid question. From what I understand of the issue, it's that hard right wing politics and interests are very unattractive for advertisers, so such a network would never raise the advertising cash needed to survive. Breitbart really had problems after many advertisers stopped advertising there, and other sites in the alt-right internet are struggling. Even if advertisers do pay for advertising on those sites, they don't get the same return as they would elsewhere.

There's an excellent article here that I read about the topic - wired.co.uk/article/alt-right-internet-is-a-ghost-town-gab-voat-wrongthink - it also points out that most alt-right types crave attention, so they won't post on alternative networks because everyone agrees with them there anyway.

Life / Things that annoy you in Poland. [133]

Wow, I'd be interested to hear what you've got to say about this!

Genealogy / Displaced Persons Camp / Work camp and concentration camp difference [86]


Unlikely, as German citizenship law is very restrictive. It's possible that you actually had it, but lost it through the failure to declare German nationality before you turned 21.

You'd probably qualify for some form of residency in Germany though, if you wanted it.

Life / Why do Silesians hate Poland? [41]

Have you ever been? It's a fascinating place, though Cesky Tesin is incredibly rundown compared to Cieszyn.

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


Just leaving this here... thenews/1/12/Artykul/350038,Coal-imports-to-Poland-soar-Eurostat


That's not all.

facebook/notesfrompoland/posts/there-are-an-estimated-120/1042363565938853/


PIS are not only importing Russian coal, but also importing Western trash. And this is good?

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


Which capital are we referring to? The biggest players on the financial market are all state-controlled, and the OFE funds can only be used for Polish investments, not foreign ones, regardless of the owner of the OFE fund in question.

As for Poles that want that, they're mostly people who don't understand how business works. Poles are financially illiterate, and they have no idea that a company such as Orlen in the hands of a good American company such as Chevron would actually be better for Poland in the long run, as it would be run by professionals, not political cronies.


Likewise. The only reason they're still state controlled is because they're a valuable source of jobs for political cronies.

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


Not really.

Alior - effectively under the control of PZU, which is under the control of the government.
Asseco - mostly OFE funds (which are Polish)
BZWBK - Santander of Spain
CCC - Polish, under effective control of Dariusza Miłka.
CDProjekt - Polish, with around 10% held by Dutch and Swedish insurance concerns
Cyfrowy Polsat - Polish, controlled by Solorz-Żak.
Dino - Polish, controlled by Tomasz Biernacki
ENEA - state-controlled
Energa - state controlled
Eurocash - Portuguese controlled
Grupa Azoty - state-controlled
ING - Dutch
JSW - state-controlled
Kernel Holding - Ukrainian (I think...?)
KGHM - state controlled
Kruk - wide range of pension funds, including many Polish OFE and also Polish insurance funds
Lotos - state-controlled
LPP - wide range of pension funds, including many Polish OFE and also Polish insurance funds
mBank - Commerzbank AG
Millennium - Portuguese bank
Orange - France Telecom
PEKAO - state-controlled
PKO - state-controlled
PGE - state-controlled
PGNiG - state-controlled
Orlen - state-controlled
PKP Cargo - PKP S.A. is the dominant shareholder (state-controlled) with Polish OFE funds making up the rest
Play - two Luxembourg-based funds with the rest held by private shareholders and Polish OFE funds
Tauron - state-controlled

Only one company out of 30 is owned by a German company. Only 7 out of 30 companies are controlled by foreign owners. The WIG30 is actually heavily under government control, and if the plan goes ahead to seize the OFE funds, then the WIG30 will be effectively run by the government. That's why the WSE is declining in popularity, because no-one wants to risk their money in companies that could be nationalised tomorrow.

Law / Bus ticket fine in Poland (Warsaw) - what if I don't pay the fine? [36]


Still is in some cases, though there are some discussions about decriminalising it completely. It's nonsense that it can be seen as a criminal rather than civil matter.


Getting the police involved is actually a wise idea, because there's no guarantee that they're genuine inspectors. At least in Poznań and Wrocław, there's no additional fee for doing so, and from what I remember, there were issues in Berlin with fake inspectors.

Law / Poland's citizenship by descent question. Polish great-great grandfather arrived in the USA as a kid. [76]

From what I know, if you have a pretty solid connection like that, including involvement in Polonia organisations, then getting citizenship via the President is a formality.


I suppose if you run up astronomical debts to ZUS or US, there's no way you're going to get citizenship.

The language exam is a piece of cake too.

News / Do we finally see that Russia doing something positive for Poland, by successfully resisting to EU ? [57]


Because it threatens America, doesn't it? Nothing could be worse for American interests than a strong European bloc of nations that would support each other over American interests.

Still, the best thing is that the EU is even stronger without the UK than it was with the UK. Give it 10 years, and the UK will be begging to rejoin the EU in the face of endless chlorinated chicken exports from the US.

News / Do we finally see that Russia doing something positive for Poland, by successfully resisting to EU ? [57]


I think your agenda is painfully obvious. Last time we tried "friendship" with Russia, look where it got us. You left as a result of that "friendship", didn't you?

Off-Topic / PF members MEETUPS.....everyone welcome! [122]

I can only speak for those that I met - they were all nice, interesting people. One person might surprise you with just how passionate he is about Poland and Polish history - to the point where he can tell you exactly what is from pre-war and what isn't in Warsaw based on the address.

Law / Poland's citizenship by descent question. Polish great-great grandfather arrived in the USA as a kid. [76]


There are, there's quite a few that have the Karta Polaka instead of citizenship, especially in Belarus but not only.


The rules are designed to keep out fraudsters, which is why the government tightened up the law surrounding the Karta Polaka recently. If someone cannot clearly demonstrate a link to Polish citizenship, they're not getting it. No need to access imaginary archives that Tusk personally locked up, you only need to get birth certificates to prove the claim.

Off-Topic / PF members MEETUPS.....everyone welcome! [122]

Yeah, there were monthly meetings in Poznań, and I've met quite a few nice people elsewhere in Poland too through PF. dnz, vdunne and Ajb who posted here are really good friends of mine to this day, and there were quite a few others too.

The toxic hatred on here has always come from people outside Poland, not from those actually living in Poland.

Law / Poland's citizenship by descent question. Polish great-great grandfather arrived in the USA as a kid. [76]


The bureaucracy isn't hostile at all. If you're entitled to Polish citizenship, you can get it easily. The problem arises when self-important foreigners think that they're entitled to a Polish passport because their last name ends in 'ski', without any documented proof of them actually holding Polish citizenship. Such people tend to rant on about how Poland is failing them, when in reality, they have no claim to Polish citizenship.

One other thing that's quite notable about such people is that they had no interest in Polish citizenship before Poland joined the EU.

News / Britain - problem for Poland and Poles? [117]


Where were they before Poland joined the EU? They certainly weren't voting for right wing parties, as witnessed by the huge SLD win in 2001.

Law / Poland's citizenship by descent question. Polish great-great grandfather arrived in the USA as a kid. [76]

Nope. You can get permanent residency in Poland based on belonging to the Polish nation, and after 3 years living and working in Poland, you can apply for Polish citizenship. You'll also have to pass an exam in Polish, but for someone who wants Polish citizenship so he/she can live in Poland, it won't be a problem, right? :)

Permanent residency will allow you to live and work here in Poland freely, too.

News / Poland has accepted over a million Ukrainian refugees. Why does the EU keep telling propaganda about Poland? [304]


A lot of it, I'd say. Not only does he downplay Katyń as being a minor event (it wasn't, it was the officer cadre of one of the biggest military forces in WW2 getting exterminated and was clearly a huge war crime and act of genocide), but now he downplays the brutality of the Russian attack on Berlin as being 'social justice'.

Pretty obvious what his agenda is, to be honest.