POLAND: Gren Deal & more – 23rd May 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 23rd of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with EU-related news. Since last year, Polish farmers have been protesting against the EU’s Green Deal, a resolution that aims to limit excessive agricultural production so that there will be fewer CO2 emissions. Last week, a group of Polish farmers went on a hunger strike in the halls of the parliament, demanding Tusk, the Prime Minister, meet with them and discuss the Green Deal. However, on Tuesday, the 14th, Tusk said that he would not meet with the group because they did not represent real Polish farmers. The protesters responded, saying they would continue their hunger strike.

Not only farmers increase CO2 emissions but also private jets. On Tuesday, the 21st, Adrian Zandberg, a Left Party MP, said that he would propose to the European Parliament the introduction of a tax on private jets. He said that the EU can use the money from this tax to fund its environmentally friendly railway network, preventing further CO2 emissions.

More on the EU as it will hold its parliamentary elections from the 6th to the 9th of June in all member countries. Zandberg urged Polish and EU citizens not to vote for the Christian Democrats, the largest party in the EU, because he thinks the party will maintain the status quo and favor rich people over poor segments of society.

Going back to Tusk, on Tuesday, the 14th, he said that the government convinced the EU to revoke its mandatory immigration reallocation program requirement for Poland, allowing the country to freely refuse entry to immigrants.

Last year, the EU implemented a directive for member countries to share the burden of immigrants within the Union, and those who didn’t follow the ruling had to pay a daily fee. However, now the EU has decided that Poland has already taken a lot of Ukrainian refugees, and it will no longer fine Poland for not accepting immigrants.

Still on immigration, since on Friday, the 17th, the EWL Migration Platform, the Center for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw, and the EWL Foundation published a study on workers from non-EU countries in Poland. The study included 450 participants from Latin America and Asia who are now working in the country. Most of them stated that they work in the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors. They earn almost 1,000 dollars on average, while Poles earn 1,500. The participants said that they saved six months of their wages in their own countries and waited five months of employment processing time to be able to start working in Poland. While half of the participants want to stay in Poland and work for two more years, only seven percent plan to spend the rest of their lives in the country..

On a sad note, on Wednesday, the 15th, top Polish leaders expressed their support for Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister, who was injured after a man shot him in a public meeting. Fico is now in hospital in stable condition and the police detained the suspect, who said that he didn’t agree with the government's increased influence on the media and other policies. Tusk said he was shocked by the incident that affected his friend, and that his thoughts were with him. President Duda also extended his support.

Duda also offered his condolences to the Iranian president, who died in a helicopter accident on Monday, the 20th. He said the incident carries similarities with what Poland experienced in twenty ten when Lech Kaczyński, the Polish president at the time, died in a plane crash in Russia. He added that this incident was the reason why Poles understood the feelings of Iranians.

Last month, an Israel air attack on Gaza killed one Polish citizen who was a volunteer delivering food to people in the Gaza Strip, worsening the relations between the two countries.

The remarks of Yaakov Livne, Israel's ambassador to Poland, also caused backlash in Polish society. On Thursday, the 16th, in response to criticisms about Israel’s conflict in Gaza, Livne said Jews were killed in gas chambers in Poland during World War II, suggesting the Poles were responsible for the Holocaust. Social media quickly blew up and later, he fixed his statement and added that Nazi Germans killed Jews in occupied areas of Poland.

More on Israeli-Polish relations as Maciej Konieczny, a Polish deputy foreign minister, said Poland wouldn’t sign any new military contract with Israel because it did not want to participate in Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza.

In related news, this week, European countries Norway, Spain, and Iceland announced that they would recognize Palestinian statehood at the expense of Israel, which does not want an independent Palestinian state near its border. In support of this move, on Thursday, the 23rd, Radosław Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, emphasized that Poland had already recognized Palestine years ago, and that the country supports a Palestinian state with Palestinian authorities in charge, not Hamas.

Two weeks ago it voted in favor of Palestine's enhanced membership rights in the United Nations. Sikorski also said that Poland’s recent support for Palestine will probably worsen the tense relations with Israel.

Moving on to education. This week, Barbara Nowacka, the Education Minister, announced that she plans to file a proposal in parliament to reduce religious classes in school to one hour per week. Władysław Kosiniak, the defense minister and the leader of the Polish People’s Party, opposed the proposal because his party has a conservative Christian stance. On Thursday, the 16th, Kosiniak assured that his party would not allow the abolishment of religious classes at school.

On the other hand, Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and a member of the ruling Civic Platform party, decided to remove religious elements from public offices in the city. He said this move is not to fight against Christianity but to ensure secularism in public offices so that other people who belong to other religions will feel comfortable. This was the first time a mayor had decided to remove elements belonging to Christianity from public offices.

Religion could be the reason why The International Lesbian and Gay Association or ILGA study ranked Poland as the worst nation in the EU towards LGBTQ+ rights. The study ranked the countries’ commitment to LGBTQ+ rights, giving them points from zero to 100. Poland received seventeen points, a two-point increase compared to last year, after the current liberal government took power in the twenty twenty-three election. However, the new government could not pass any legislation to improve LGBTQ+ rights since President Duda vetoed these kinds of bills. Romania and Bulgaria follow Poland in having the lowest LGBTQ+ rights in the EU, while Malta, Iceland, and Belgium secured the highest spots. Outside the EU, Russia stood at the bottom.

In unrelated news, On Thursday, the 16th, Poland’s largest convenience store chain, Frog or Żabka, decided to expand to other countries. Żabka spent over 120 million dollars and opened its first 200 shops in Romania, under the name of Froo, which means frog in Romanian. Poles like Żabka because it is open all week long, including during national and religious holidays. According to Polish law, all shops should be closed on Sundays, except restaurants and cafes. However, since Żabka also sells hot dogs, it is also open on Sundays. Currently, it has more than 10,000 shops in Poland.

Let’s close this edition on a cultural note. On Tuesday, the 21st, Warsaw’s historic Palace of the Commonwealth, or the Krasiński Palace, opened for public viewing for the first time in history. It was built for the Krasiński family, whose members were politicians back in the 14th and following centuries. The Palace is the finest example of Baroque architecture in the country. It suffered damage during World War II; however, the government reconstructed the damaged parts in the nineteen sixties. From now on, people can visit the palace and check out around 200 historic items representing thirteen centuries of Polish history. The museum director said the palace will start to host special exhibitions in the coming months.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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