POLAND: Immunity & more – 4th July 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 4th of July twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with political updates. On Friday, the 28th, the tension between the government and the main opposition, Law and Justice, increased after the parliament lifted the immunity for Michał Woś, a Law and Justice MP. The parliament accepted the request of the National Prosecutor's Office after the allegations that Michał Woś, who was the deputy minister of the Justice Ministry in twenty seventeen, used the ministry’s Justice Fund to buy Pegasus spyware for the Polish Anti-Corruption Bureau. The Justice Fund was meant for wrongfully convicted prisoners. Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the Law and Justice Party, said that the government keeps politically repressing his party, saying that the executive's moves are against democracy.

Next up, The Third Way coalition, made up of Poland twenty fifty and the Polish People’s Party, faced a blow after they received only seven percent of votes in the last European Parliamentary election in June, compared to the fourteen percent success in the local elections in April. On Friday, the 28th, The Third Way said they would maintain the coalition despite the rumors about it breaking apart. In their meeting, they chose Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of the parliament, as their candidate for the twenty twenty-five presidential elections. However, Hołownia announced that he hadn't accepted the candidacy yet but that he would make his final decision in autumn. People also expect the Third Way to hold discussions with the Civic Platform, its ruling coalition partner, to put up the same presidential candidate.

While the coalition members stay loyal, some of the opposition MPs plan to leave the party. On Friday, the 28th, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, a Law and Justice MP, said he would create a different group in the parliament. He said that Jarosław Sachajko, an MP from the conservative Kukiz’15 party, will also join him. Ardanowski added that the ruling coalition ruined Poland because more and more companies leave the country every day due to low profits and the lack of workforce. These companies then start more profitable businesses abroad. For him, conservative people need a new political grouping to increase their voices in the parliament. Law and Justice is concerned that Ardanowski might establish a new party, and some MPs from Law and Justice might join them.

More about disagreements within the party. On Thursday, the 27th, Paulina Matysiak, a member of the National Council of the Razem party and an MP from the Left party, published a video on Twitter with Marcin Horała, a member of the conservative Law and Justice party, that led to the Razem party to bring disciplinary proceedings against her. In the video, Matysiak and Horała said that despite the difference in their political views, they support initiatives that will develop the country's security, such as investments in the army and nuclear power plants. The two MPs with totally different political views wanted to show cooperation and solidarity for the country's development. However, the Razem Party said this video was against their party’s policies, and that they didn’t want to collaborate with the Law and Justice Party. For instance, unlike Law and Justice, the Razem Party does not support nuclear plants as they are harmful to nature. Now the party might expel Matysiak in the next few days after the proceedings end.

Since we mentioned the army, on Thursday, the 27th, the country established the Agency for Geospatial Reconnaissance and Satellite Services, or ARGUS, to manage the Polish military’s presence in space. The army will launch the first Polish military satellite into orbit next year. Cezary Tomczyk, the deputy minister of the Ministry of National Defense, said that the satellites are important for managing the army, especially during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

More about space, as on Wednesday, the 4th, the Polish Space Agency announced that a Polish rocket reached space using a new eco-friendly fuel. The Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation developed a fuel that contains 95 percent hydrogen peroxide, an entirely natural chemical. The Polish Space Agency partially financed the project intended to show that environmentally friendly transportation is possible.

In some economic news, on Monday, the 1st, the government increased the minimum wage by only ten cents per hour. In the last calculation, Poland’s hourly payment reached seven dollars. However, the executive also raised the electricity and gas prices. In a month, people will now pay 125 dollars per megawatt hour instead of 103 dollars for electricity starting in July. This applies to ninety percent of the population who do not exceed the threshold for consumption, which is two-megawatt hours. People who consume more electricity or gas than the average will pay even more.

On the same day, fourteen climate activists from the Last Generation organization blocked the Wisłostrada motorway in Warsaw to protest against Tusk’s plans to build more highways in the country. The organization said the plan would harm nature, and instead of spending money on motorways, they demanded that the government transfer this money to fund public transport. They also demanded a nationwide, cheap monthly public transportation price so that people would use it more.

In more disagreements with the government, on Thursday, the 4th, the Polish media started a protest after the government and MPs ignored its demands. To comply with EU law, the parliament adopted a new copyright policy this week but did not include the media’s demands. The Polish media said that global tech giants steal their content and use it for their own profit. They added that advertising resources that have previously financed Polish media now finance foreign tech giants, and this money goes abroad, which negatively affects the country’s economy and media. The media demanded protection against the copying of its content. Over 350 media outlets published a common protest note on the main page of their websites. The protest is called Politicians! Don’t kill Polish media! Now people wonder how politicians will respond to this huge protest.

Moving on, on Wednesday, the 3rd, the Grupa Progres media outlet published a survey showing that sixty percent of the foreign residents in Poland experienced racist and xenophobic behavior from Poles this year. When asked about inappropriate and offensive behaviors, they said they received racist comments, which they heard in public places and also in the media. Fifty percent of this group is considering leaving the country in the near future.

On the same day, in another survey by CBOS, forty-five percent of Poles were not satisfied with the developments in the country. The survey also pointed out that many citizens are hopeless about future developments in the country, as twenty-four percent of people think everything will go worse, while thirty-two percent say nothing will change. Interestingly, older people turned out to be more positive about current situations and the future. University graduates and residents of the largest cities also accompanied them, while rural residents, middle-aged people, and people with low education were more pessimistic.

And to close this edition, on Thursday, the 27th, the Warsaw City Council came up with a new method to fight excessive summer heat. The city authorities placed sprinklers in various parts of the city for people to splash themselves with water. They have buttons that sprinkle for a few seconds and save water. The authorities said the number of sprinklers will increase in the next few days.

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

Hey, did you know that if you are listening to us on Spotify you can leave comments or questions in the episode? Take a look at it, it's right there. The comments are private by default, and we won’t publish them, but feel free to share your email so we can contact you back! We might give you a shoutout in the next episode. Put something in there, go crazy! We'd love to hear from you!

Do zobaczenia!