As Tusk nears 100 days, opposition plans attack on ... - Krakow Post

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NO. 39 WWW.KRAKOWPOST.COM FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20, 2008
<strong>As</strong> <strong>Tusk</strong> <strong>nears</strong> <strong>100</strong> <strong>days</strong>, <strong>opposition</strong> <strong>plans</strong> <strong>attack</strong> on cabinet
Poles win World
Press Photo contest
Two Poles are among this
year’s 59 winners in the
prestigious World Press Photo
competition 2
Poland buys gas
from godfather
Poland has been buying natural
gas from the Russian mafia
– that’s the conclusion of last
week’s investigative journalism
program “Superwizjer” on TVN 4
LOT airlines
hit by strikes
Polish airline LOT is threatened
by strikes as different groups of
its employees demand substantial
increases in salaries 5
Obwarzanek to be
protected by EU
Poland applied to the European
Commission to add the snack to
the list of protected products 6
Discovery Historia
focuses on Krakow
Discovery Historia and Krakow
will cooperate to organize several
events to promote the city 11
Reach your clients before
they set foot in Krakow.
The Krakow Post is
currently available
on board flights of
LOT, Brussels
and Lufthansa
airlines
President Vladimir Putin and his designated successor, Dmitry Medvedev, received <strong>Tusk</strong> warmly in Moscow, signaling a thawing of chilly Polish-Russian relations. PHOTO/Konrad Falecki/CIR
Michal Wojtas
STAFF JOURNALIST
The <strong>Tusk</strong> government will be hitting the
<strong>100</strong>-day mark March 9.
The end of the traditional honeymoon period
for a new government is likely to bring
the <strong>Tusk</strong> forces trumpeting their accomplishments
and <strong>opposition</strong> parties unsheathing their
swords and <strong>attack</strong>ing.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice Party,
which <strong>Tusk</strong>’s Civic Platform Party routed in
the October elections, will try to convince the
public that the <strong>Tusk</strong> government has failed to
live up to its promise.
Law and Justice officials such as Kaczynski
and key party figure Jacek Kurski are already
maintaining that <strong>Tusk</strong>’s government has failed
to achieve anything in its first three months because
it has been busy undoing the good things
the Law and Justice-led government created.
They are also condemning <strong>Tusk</strong>’s foreign
policy as dangerous and criticizing every minister
of his cabinet.
News organizations already are speculating
that the <strong>opposition</strong> will try to convince parliament
to pass a no-confidence vote against
Justice Minister Zbigniew Cwiakalski in the
beginning of March.
However, <strong>Tusk</strong> and his Civic Platform Party
still enjoy a high level of support among Poles,
surveys show. Forty-eight percent of voters
back Civic Platform while only 19 percent favor
Law and Justice, according to a poll whose
results were published Feb. 8.
That means the ruling party has managed
to gain 7 percentage points of popularity since
the elections while Law and Justice has lost an
astonishing 13 percentage points.
These results may reflect voter happiness
with <strong>Tusk</strong>’s foreign policy. He has already visited
the three European capitals that are most
important to Poland: Berlin, Moscow and
Brussels, headquarters of the EU.
The visits brought positive changes in Poland’s
relations with Germany, Russia and the
EU. Neither German leader Angela Merkel nor
EU leaders liked Kaczynski’s skeptical, aggressive
stance towards Germany and the EU.
They expressed relief after meeting <strong>Tusk</strong>.
President Vladimir Putin and his designated
successor, Dmitry Medvedev, received <strong>Tusk</strong>
warmly in Moscow, signaling a thawing of
chilly Polish-Russian relations.
<strong>Tusk</strong> failed to convince Russian leaders to
change their <strong>plans</strong> to lay a gas pipeline from
Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Poland
and the Baltic countries want the pipeline
laid on their soil as an assurance against Russia
cutting off gas to their homes and factories.
During the meeting with <strong>Tusk</strong>, Russian
officials indicated they have accepted the
fact that elements of an American missile defense
shield could be built in Poland. Poland’s
willingness to let the U.S. station anti-missile
missiles on Polish soil has upset Putin and his
generals, creating a major source of friction in
Polish-Russian relations.
A final decision on whether Poland will allow
the missiles may be made on March 10,
when <strong>Tusk</strong> visits Washington for talks with
President Bush. Another item that <strong>Tusk</strong> and
Bush are likely to discuss is Poland’s planned
withdrawal of its forces from Iraq – a <strong>Tusk</strong>
campaign pledge.
The prime minister is likely to try to convince
the Americans that he will strive for
both good relations with Washington and with
Europe, especially the EU, many of whose
leaders were upset with some of Kaczynski’s
policies.
But better Polish relations with the outside
world will count for little with voters if the
<strong>Tusk</strong> government is unable to address domestic
problems. <strong>Tusk</strong> created great expectations
by saying during his campaign that Poland had
the capability of emulating Ireland’s economic
miracle.
Just before the vote <strong>Tusk</strong> issued a list of 10
promises to the Polish people that he would
implement if his party won. The list includes
higher economic growth, solving the country’s
health-care crisis, a flat income tax, a comprehensive
fight against corruption and rapid development
of the highway system.
The <strong>opposition</strong> is sure to bring up those
items on the list that they think <strong>Tusk</strong> has failed
to address.
The health-care system may be the biggest
challenge. It seems to swallow every bit of
new money thrown at improving it, and remains
broken.
Every previous government has failed to
solve the situation. But <strong>Tusk</strong> is on the healthcare
hot seat at the moment.
A strike of doctors and nurses led to hospital
directors substantially raising their wages. But
because they don’t have the money to pay the
increased wages, many face bankruptcy before
the end of the year.
<strong>Tusk</strong> rejects the idea of raising taxes to fix
the health-care crisis. This puts the pressure
squarely on Health Minister Ewa Kopacz.
The <strong>opposition</strong> and news organizaitons will
closely follow what she does to try to resolve
the crisis.
To underscore the problem, the latest Eurobarometer
poll showed that Poles’ biggest
concern is the health-care system. The Eurobarometer
is a poll of residents of all EU
countries.
Since <strong>Tusk</strong> became prime minister, miners
and customs officials have struck for better
pay. Teachers may do the same if the government
fails to meet their demands.
Recent economic growth and a surge in the
number of Poles taking jobs overseas have led
to many corporations raising pay. But publicsector
wages have failed to rise substantially,
causing unhappiness among those workers.
Another problem for the government is its
strained relations with President Lech Kaczynski,
like his brother Jaroslaw, a member of the
Law and Justice Party.
The president has the ability to veto legislation
that the <strong>Tusk</strong> forces get passed, and the
<strong>Tusk</strong> coalition’s slim majority in parliament
would make it difficult to override many vetoes.
The <strong>opposition</strong> is likely to criticize the <strong>Tusk</strong>
forces for an inability to implement many of
the changes they have said they want to make.
It can’t be disputed that, so far, few of those
changes have become law.
Once the <strong>opposition</strong> begins <strong>attack</strong>ing the
government after the <strong>100</strong>-day honeymoon period
is over, will the public turn on the <strong>Tusk</strong>
forces as well? That remains to be seen, of
course.
If the public does sour on the government, it
will be the same pattern that has occurred with
every other government. Only if the public
continues to support the <strong>Tusk</strong> forces will the
Civic Platform be the first party since independence
in 1989 to win two succesive general
elections.

2
The Krakow Post
P O L A N D
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
R E G I O N A L N E W S
Viktor Yanukovich wants new
elections in Ukraine
The party of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
threatened late last week to call new polls only
four months after the last snap elections, accusing the
pro-Russian bloc of hamstringing parliament.
“The countdown has begun and, in accordance
with the constitution, the president has the right to
dissolve parliament if plenary meetings do not take
place every 30 <strong>days</strong>,” party spokesman Roman Zvarytch
said, quoted by Interfax.
The pro-Russian <strong>opposition</strong>, which is calling on
Ukrainian leaders to reverse a decision to request further
NATO integration, has been blocking parliamentary
work since January.
Ukraine’s pro-Western coalition in December appointed
Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko
prime minister and named a government that favors
the ex-Soviet republic winning NATO and EU membership.
Sandwiched between Poland and Russia,
Ukraine is a key transit route for Russian natural gas
to the EU and has had strained relations with President
Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.
Tymoshenko and Yushchenko rose to fame when
they led the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that
forced a re-run of a rigged presidential election victory
by Moscow-backed rival Viktor Yanukovych,
who now heads the <strong>opposition</strong>. (AFP)
Moscow rejects Polish pipeline
proposal as difficult and costly
A senior Kremlin official late last week rejected
a proposal by Prime Minister Donald <strong>Tusk</strong> for an
alternative to a controversial Russian gas pipeline
under the Baltic, RIA Novosti news agency reported
on the eve of a visit to Moscow by <strong>Tusk</strong>.
“From an economic point of view the project is
very difficult and much more costly” than the Russian-backed
Nord Stream pipeline, presidential aide
Sergei Prikhodko was quoted as saying. “It is not
very profitable or acceptable.” (AFP)
Council of Europe condemns
Belarus over executions
The Council of Europe, the continent’s main
rights watchdog, condemned Belarus authorities
Wednesday for their “blatant disregard” for human
rights in executing three prisoners late last week.
Secretary General Terry Davis said he was “saddened”
by Minsk authorities’ “stubborn determination”
to isolate their country from the rest of Europe.
“With the three executions carried out yesterday,
they continue to flaunt their blatant disregard for
the human values and achievements common to all
other European countries,” he said in a statement.
Belarus is the only European country that is not a
member of the Council of Europe, whose 47 member
states have all banned the death penalty or imposed
a moratorium on executions.
But it is a member of the UN, and Davis said
Tuesday’s executions of Sergei Morozov, Valery
Gorbatoi and Igor Danchenko “go against the letter
and the spirit of the recent resolution of the UN
General <strong>As</strong>sembly, which called for a worldwide
moratorium” on such actions. (AFP)
Czech couple tries to dupe Swiss
bank with int’l airline plan
A Czech couple who pretended they wanted to
launch an international airline were stopped by the
police before convincing a Swiss bank to lend them
around $3.5 bln (2.39 bln euro).
Czech police said late last week in a statement
that they had launched criminal proceedings for loan
fraud against the 54-year-old husband and his 43-
year-old wife.
The attempted fraud, based on false papers from a
non-existent U.S. financial institution, was stopped
just before the signature of a preliminary agreement
with the “renowned” Swiss bank for the 3.5 bln dollar
bank guarantee, police said. They said they started
investigating the case during the first half of 2006
in close cooperation with the U.S. Federal Rerserve
and U.S. justice department. (AFP)
Latvian court sentences judges
for accepting bribes, corruption
Two Latvian judges are facing eight years in prison
after being convicted for having accepted bribes in return
for favorable judgments, the Baltic News Service
(BNS) reported late last week.
A court in Riga, the Latvian capital where both
Beatrise Talere and Irena Polikarpova served on a district
tribunal, also ordered the confiscation of some
of the women’s assets. Talere was ordered to hand
over several dozen pieces of jewelry and Polikarpova
around 7,000 lats (9,960 euro, $14,850).
Both judges appeared surprised by the decision,
BNS reported. They declined to speak to reporters.
The sentences were issued by judge Anna Klimovica,
who recently received an award in recognition of
her contribution to the Latvian justice system.
Klimovica also banned Talere and Polikarpova
from leaving the country or approaching their former
workplaces before the sentences take effect.
They remain free pending an appeal before the
Latvian Supreme Court, which must be filed within
10 <strong>days</strong>. Talere was charged over four separate incidents
of bribery amounting to between <strong>100</strong> and 500
lats each. Investigators showed that she had also accepted
material gifts from defendants in return for
favorable verdicts. Polikarpova was charged for accepting
one 500-lat bribe.
Raimonds Zundurs, a co-owner of a legal firm,
was given a suspended three-year sentence for having
bribed the judges. Fellow defendant Raimonda Spore,
a bailiff, received a suspended five-year term.
Another defendant, bailiff Inese Rozite, is believed
to have fled Latvia.
With varying degrees of success, Latvia and its
fellow ex-Communist states in Eastern Europe have
stepped up efforts to battle corruption. (AFP)
<strong>Tusk</strong> conciliatory after
mayor’s letter of protest
LUK Agency
Mayor of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski.
Philip Palmer
staff journalist
Iwona Bojarczuk
staff journalist
Two Poles are among this
year’s 59 winners in the prestigious
World Press Photo competition.
Rafal Milach of Gliwice was
a first-time winner while Tomasz
Gudzowaty of Warsaw won for
the sixth time.
Milach, a graduate of the
Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice,
won first prize in the category
of Arts and Entertainment
Stories for photos of retired circus
artists.
His pictures show old men
in retirement homes clinging to
memories of the life they loved.
Some donned circus costumes
for the photographer.
Milach, who took the photos
over several years, said he has
entered photos in the competition
for years but his only reward
until now has been “a free issue
of the exhibition catalogue.”
Milach, whose photos have
been published in magazines
such as “Newsweek,” “Viva”
and “Przekroj,” also studied at
the Institute of Creative Photography
in Opawa.
Gudzowaty won a third place
in the Individual Sport Photo
competition for a picture of
people doing yoga in Varanasi,
India.
The four photos that earned
him wins in the past have been
connected with sport or nature.
British photographer Tim
Hetherington won the biggest
prize of the competition – the
Photo of the Year 2007 award.
The photo shows a young
American soldier in a bunker in
Afghanistan. One of his hands is
on his forehead and the other on
his helmet.
He looks as if he has just escaped
death. There is fear in his
eyes. He appears to be barely
breathing.
Hetherington took the picture
in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan
on Sept. 16, 2007.
The viewer can see the helplessness
the soldier is feeling,
said Gary Knight, chairman of
the selection committee.
A record 5,019 photographers
from 125 countries submitted
80,536 photos in this year’s competition.
Fifty-nine photographers from
23 countries won awards. The
competition has taken place each
year since 1955.
There is great diversity among
this year’s winners, although the
vast majority are portraits.
Some photos are classic press
photography, depicting wars and
other great events.
Others are stylized, looking
almost like paintings rather than
photos. The winning photographs
can be seen at the web site:
Prime Minister Donald <strong>Tusk</strong> was prompted
last week to reply in conciliatory terms to a letter
of protest addressed to him by the Mayor of Krakow
Jacek Majchrowski. The mayor was furious
after the opportunity his team had been offered to
present the city’s <strong>plans</strong> for the Euro 2012 Football
Championships to the prime minister in person was
denied to them at very short notice.
The meeting was arranged at the invitation of
the Chancellery of the President of the Council
of Ministers for Feb. 6 and represented a chance
for the six cities in the frame to host tournament
matches (Chorzow, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw
and Wroclaw) to present their case. The mayor
of Krakow’s office had gone to the trouble of preparing
numerous documents and had passed them
on to the Chancellery in advance of the meeting as
requested.
So it came as somewhat of a shock when the
mayor was told Feb. 5 during a phone call from
Slawomir Nowak, Head of the Prime Minister’s Political
Office, that there was no need for Krakow’s
representatives to come to Warsaw for the meeting.
In the letter, Majchrowski described the actions
of the Prime Minister’s Office as “alarming,”
given the fact that a visit from UEFA’s inspectors
is scheduled for the near future. He even suggested
that the inspectors from European football’s governing
body might see the actions as tantamount to
a politicization of the selection procedure and judge
the application “negatively” as a result. He stressed
that the situation was all the more “puzzling” since
the UEFA inspectors had rated Krakow very highly
www.worldpressphoto.org
when they visited last November. He concluded by
suggesting that, in his view, the city was not receiving
the equal treatment that had been promised to all
the competing cities. In fact, through their actions,
the Prime Minister’s Chancellery were even “undermining
the solidarity” that had been established
between all the relevant parties up to that point.
The mayor received an immediate response
from the prime minister who seemingly made little
attempt to account for the actions of his Chancellery,
but made it very clear that the non-attendance
of the Krakow delegation should not be seen as a
sign of discrimination.
Furthermore, Krakow’s application had most
certainly not been rejected and the City would continue
to receive the same level of encouragement
and financial backing as the other cities on the “reserve
list.”
Poland
sticking
to planned
GMO
livestock
fodder ban
agence france-presse
Poland is sticking to <strong>plans</strong> to ban the use
of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
in livestock fodder, despite an earlier rethink,
the Agriculture Ministry announced
early this week.
Ministry spokeswoman Malgorzata
Ksiazyk told AFP that the government had
decided to put on ice a move to amend a
restrictive law that is due to come into force
on Aug. 1.
In January, Poland’s newly-installed
liberal government had said it planned to
change the incoming law in order to stay in
line with EU rules.
Poland’s previous conservative-nationalist
administration, which clashed regularly
with Brussels on a host of issues, had in
2006 announced that it would ban GMOs
in fodder from this year.
Despite the expectations that Warsaw
would change tack in the wake of the conservatives’
defeat in a snap election last
October, the new government “shares the
viewpoint on GMOs” of its predecessor,
Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki told
reporters after a cabinet meeting Tuesday.
Under the rules of the 27-nation EU, a
member state has the right to apply a “safeguard
clause” against GMO products if it
can provide scientific evidence to question
their safety.
But last year the EU’s executive body,
the European Commission, found fault with
Poland’s proposed law, saying Warsaw had
failed to come up with the required proof of
risks to the environment or people.
Poland is planning to turn to the European
Court of Justice to overturn the
Commission’s ruling, the government said
Tuesday.
A survey published by the environmental
campaign organization Greenpeace has
found that 76 percent of Polish consumers
oppose GMOs.
Despite the planned fodder rules, Poland
is to continue allowing the import of genetically
modified food for human consumption,
provided it is clearly labelled as containing
GMOs and cannot be transformed
into other products.
Poles among laureates of World Press Photo
Rafal Milach of Gliwice was a first-time winner while Tomasz Gudzowaty of Warsaw won for the sixth time.

FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Companies want to
improve rules for
foreign workers
P O L A N D The Krakow Post 3
Euro 2012 stadiums will
be subsidized by gov’t
LUK Agency
the krakow post
About 50 percent of foreigners who
have received work permits in the
Mazowsze region are working as directors,
well-qualified workers, or foreign
language teachers. Citizens of Ukraine,
Vietnam and China are those most often
employed.
The spokeswoman of the Voivodship
Labor Office in Warsaw, Wieslawa
Lipinska, told the Polish Press Agency
(PAP) that in 2007 the office issued about
6,500 work permits.
The document is valid for 12 months.
Many employers believe the procedures
are too complicated.
Work visas are issued by the Polish
Consul if a foreigner has a written promise
of work from his future employer, if
the work permit is not required, or if he
will submit a work permit promise. This
kind of visa is given for the period indicated
in a written work promise or in a
work permit or in a work permit promise,
but for no longer than one year.
Work visas are long-term, which allows
a foreigner to enter and stay in the
Polish Republic, permanently or for a
few consecutive stays, which all together
last no longer than one year during the
visa’s validity.
Visa application forms are at the Polish
Consulate or on its web site. When
a foreigner has a visa, the regional government
should issue a work permit. In
some situations, work permit promises
and work permits are issued regardless of
the local labor market.
The biggest demand for foreign job
help is in such branches as trade, financial
consultancy, real estate and gastronomy.
In the Mazowsze region 47 percent of
permissions were issued to Europeans,
including 1,500 Ukrainians, 382 Belarusians,
267 Turks and 187 Russians.
Among the <strong>As</strong>ian countries most often
permitted in Poland are citizens of Vietnam,
China, India and South Korea.
Experts say that without foreigners the
Polish economy would suffer.
If the government doesn’t simplify the
law Poland might have serious trouble
with organizing Euro 2012.
“We lose the competition about the
workers from abroad. The best ones
choose different countries because we
aren’t attractive employers for them,”
said Teresa Walewska from the American
Trade Organization.
Vice Minister of Social Policy and
Labor Krzysztof Kuberski has persuaded
the Polish government to exert itself to
make Poland attractive for foreigners. He
admits that Poland isn’t attractive for foreigners
because of low wages and ethnical
and religious homogeneity.
“We plan to change the law so that
Polish employers will pay only <strong>100</strong> zloty
instead of 1,000 for employing a foreigner.
To extend the permit will cost only 50
zloty,” said Krzysztof Kuberski.
Zofia Owczarek
staff journalist
Prime Minister Donald <strong>Tusk</strong> has assured
the mayors of three of the four Polish cities
where the Euro 2012 soccer championships
will be held that the government will help
finance construction of their stadiums.
<strong>Tusk</strong> told the mayors of Poznan, Gdansk
and Wroclaw that the government would
put up a third of the cost of each of their
stadiums. The government will pay the entire
cost of the construction of the fourth
stadium for the games – Warsaw’s.
<strong>Tusk</strong> promised Poznan and Wroclaw
110 mln zloty each for their stadiums. He
pledged 144 mln to Gdansk.
The prime minister met with the three
mayors – and the mayor of Warsaw – after
the Union of European Football <strong>As</strong>sociations
sent a note to Polish soccer officials
saying it was alarmed at the slow pace of
Poland’s preparations for the games. The
meeting included many national politicians
and sports officials.
<strong>Tusk</strong> said he viewed the soccer organization’s
warning as helpful, not troublesome.
“We need to remain in the highest state of
readiness,” he told the newspaper Gazeta
Wyborcza Wroclaw.
The main reasons that <strong>Tusk</strong> administration
officials called the meeting were
to look at models of the stadiums and the
work schedules that must be followed to
complete them.
Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw pledged
to complete their stadiums by the end of
2010 and Warsaw by 2011.
Polish officials also have suggested that
Chorzow and Krakow be included in the
Euro championships. The two cities are
awaiting a decision by UEFA, whose representatives
will inspect their facilities soon.
Those at the meeting also created a Euro
2012 organizing committee, with <strong>Tusk</strong> as
chair. The group includes Deputy Prime
Ministers Waldemar Pawlak and Grzegorz
Schetyna, Minister of Infrastructure
Cezary Grabarczyk, Minister of Sports and
Tourism Miroslaw Drzewiecki, the mayors
of Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw,
representatives of the Polish Football <strong>As</strong>sociation
and leaders of all of the parties
in parliament. The committee secretary is
Tomasz Arabski, the head of the Office of
Prime Minister.
The committee members agreed to meet
at least once a quarter.
Those at the meeting also decided to
nominate Marcin Herra as manager of PL
2012, an organization created to coordinate
the Euro 2012 preparations. Herra, a graduate
of the Faculty of Law and Administration
of the University of Gdansk, is a former
executive at the LOTOS Group, an oil
concern from Gdansk.
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Poles want Hillary in White House
agence france-presse
Around two-thirds of Poles want Hillary Clinton to be elected
the next president of the U.S., according to a survey published early
this week. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said they wanted the
Democratic senator from New York and former first lady to win the
election in November, while 20 percent preferred likely Republican
candidate John McCain, according to the poll published in the Dziennik
newspaper.
Sixteen percent had no opinion.
Clinton still needs to win her party’s nomination to run in the fall
election, and she is facing a tough challenge from Illinois senator
Barack Obama.
The Polish survey found that 48 percent said they would like Clinton
to win the Democratic nomination, while 37 percent said they
wanted Obama to secure the prize and 15 percent had no preference.
<strong>As</strong>ked what outcome they would like to see if Obama won the
nomination battle against Clinton, 52 percent said they would prefer
him to beat McCain.
Twenty-four percent said they supported McCain against Obama
and the same number had no opinion.
The poll of 1,000 people was carried out by the TNS OBOP polling
institute on Saturday.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Dziennik said they reflected
Poles’ rejection of U.S. President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy.
Poland was a gung-ho ally of the U.S. during the 2003 overthrow
of Saddam Hussein, but with its soldiers’ deployment there having
become deeply unpopular at home, Warsaw is due to pull its 900-
strong contingent out of Iraq by the end of this year.
McCain has vowed to stay the course and win in Iraq if he becomes
president, while the Democrats have promised troop withdrawals.
Poles are also jittery about Washington’s <strong>plans</strong> to install elements
of a U.S. anti-missile shield in Poland.
The U.S. says the shield is needed to defend against potential missile
<strong>attack</strong>s by what it calls “rogue states,” notably Iran, but Poland’s
neighbor Russia has called the plan a threat to its security and threatened
to point its own missiles at any future base.

4
The Krakow Post
P O L A N D
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
R E G I O N A L N E W S
NATO tells Russia to calm
rhetoric after remark
Poland buys gas from mafia
NATO states asked Moscow to “lower the tone
of rhetoric” late last week after Russian President
Vladimir Putin spoke of a new “arms race” between
Russia and the West, a NATO spokesman
said. NATO and Russia have “all the avenues and
channels to talk in a productive and friendly way
and we should take advantage of those and not
engage in unnecessarily heated rhetoric,” NATO
spokesman James Appathurai said after a meeting
of the NATO-Russia council Friday in the Lithuanian
capital Vilnius.
Earlier, in a speech setting out the long-term
priorities of his hand-picked successor ahead of
next month’s presidential polls, Putin heralded a
wealthy Russia able to compete in a new “arms
race.” Several NATO countries also asked “for
pre-warning from the Russian federation when
they intend to send military equipment like
bombers near the airspace of NATO allies,” Appathurai
said.
Russia does “have the right to fly in international
airspace, but allies do want a confidence
note from the Russian federation before they do
that,” the NATO spokesman confirmed.
Putin announced the resumption of long-range
flights in international air space last summer.
Such flights were standard during the Cold War
but were abandoned in 1992 amid financial difficulties
after the Soviet Union collapsed.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoli Serdioukov
did not attend the NATO-Russia council meeting
Friday, and was replaced by his deputy. NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the
Russian had fallen ill. (AFP)
Russian schoolchildren hold
anti-Estonia protest
Russian schoolchildren held a history class
about World War II late last week outside the Estonian
embassy in Moscow in a protest over the
removal of a Soviet war monument from central
Tallinn. The class, which was given by a Russian
war veteran, was held outdoors in a street near the
embassy amid near-freezing temperatures. Around
20 children dressed in winter coats and hats attended,
an AFP photographer saw.
The protest was organized by the Mishki (Teddy
Bears), a children’s group affiliated with the
Kremlin-backed youth organization Nashi, which
has carried out numerous protests against Estonia.
The bitter dispute over the Bronze Soldier war
monument last year plunged relations between Estonia
and Russia to their lowest level since 1991,
when the Baltic country regained independence as
the Soviet Union fell apart.
Estonian authorities moved the monument from
a square in central Tallinn where it had stood for 60
years to a cemetery, sparking riots in the Estonian
capital in which one person died.
Russians, including the substantial minority that
lives in Estonia, see the statue as a memorial to the
millions of Soviet soldiers who died in the war.
But many Estonians see it as a reminder of five
decades of Soviet occupation, which began at the
end of the war and lasted until 1991. (AFP)
Polish soldiers charged with
murdering Afghans in jail
Polish military judges decided early this week
to extend the pre-trial detentions of seven soldiers
charged in the murders of civilians in Afghanistan
during an incident in August.
According to the judges’ ruling, the “evidence
gathered indicates that it is highly likely that the
acts for which they have been charged took place.”
Six soldiers, charged in November in connection
with shootings in a village in the eastern part of
the country, face up to life in prison if found guilty
of the killings of six civilians, including women
and children. A seventh soldier, charged with the
lesser offence of opening fire on a civilian target,
was also ordered held in custody and faces up to
five years in prison. According to an initial Polish
defence ministry statement, several Afghan civilians
were killed in the village of Nangar Khel in
eastern Wazi-Khwa region on Aug. 16 when Polish
troops returned fire after being ambushed.
But the Polish military prosecutor’s office has
said the shootings in fact took place several hours
after the ambush.
Poland has 1,200 troops serving with NATO’s
36,000-strong International Security <strong>As</strong>sistance
Force (ISAF), which is battling a Taliban-led insurgency
in Afghanistan.
The shootings in Wazi-Khwa region came two
<strong>days</strong> after a Polish soldier had been killed by the
Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, in what was the
first fatality for Poland since it joined the NATOled
force in March 2002. (AFP)
Ukrainian woman arrested
on sex slavery charges
Police in Ukraine have arrested a 26-year-old
woman at Kyiv airport as she was allegedgly prepared
to send three young women to work as prostitutes
in Turkey, the Interior Ministry said late last
week. The woman, from the city of Chernihiv in
northern Ukraine, wanted to sell the three young
women to pimps in Turkey for “sexual exploitation,”
the ministry said in a statement posted on its
web site. Human trafficking is now punishable by
up to eight years of prison in Ukraine. Although
the country toughened the laws a decade ago, the
problem continues to be widespread. (AFP)
Michal Wojtas
staff journalist
Poland has been buying natural gas from
the Russian mafia – that’s the conclusion
of last week’s investigative journalism
program “Superwizjer” aired by TVN. The
allegations by reporters against top politicians
are now being widely discussed both
by Poland’s political class and by other
media.
In September 2003, the state-owned
gas distributor PGNiG signed a contract
with Eural Trans Gas controlled by Semen
Mohylevych. He is known as one of the
key personalities in the Russian mafia, or
criminal underground. The Hungary-based
company served as an intermediary in the
agence france-presse
Poland will not send its
1,200 troops in Afghanistan to
fight Taliban insurgents in the
country’s volatile south, Defense
Minister Bogdan Klich
said in an interview published
late last week.
Klich told the newspaper
Dziennik that Canada had
asked the Poles to deploy in
Kandahar province, a hotbed
of fighting between the NATOled
International Security <strong>As</strong>sistance
Force (ISAF) and Taliban
and Al-Qaeda fighters.
“I didn’t accept the proposal.
This province doesn’t meet our
base-line criteria, which hinge
on reducing the risks to our
contingent,” Klich said.
The Polish contingent is currently
spread across five different
regions of eastern Afghanistan,
but from the autumn will
be concentrated in the eastern
Paktika province, Klich said.
ISAF commander, U.S. General
Dan McNeill, confirmed
the plan to concentrate the Polish
forces in one area.
He told Dziennik that ISAF
contract to buy gas from the Russian giant
Gazprom for the next three years.
According to Superwizjer journalists,
then-Prime Minister Leszek Miller, secret
service chief Andrzej Barcikowski and National
Security Bureau chief Marek Siwiec
all knew well who stood behind the gas
supplier for Poland and did not react.
Both Miller and Siwiec deny the accusations.
The former prime minister said that he
wasn’t responsible for short-term contracts.
Siwiec said that he didn’t know about any
links between Eural Trans Gas and the mafia.
Miller and the infrastructure minister
in his government, Marek Pol, have announced
that they will sue TVN.
On the other hand, Barcikowski admits
and Warsaw would be able to
reach an understanding on the
Poles’ role.
Canada has deployed 2,500
troops in Kandahar province,
and Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper has warned
NATO allies that Ottawa could
withdraw unless more is done
to share the burden.
Elite Polish troops, who are
not part of the ISAF contingent,
are deployed in the south
alongside the Canadians, but
Warsaw does not comment on
their operations.
In December, Poland
pledged to raise its ISAF troop
contribution to 1,600 this year.
Warsaw had already increased
the size of its contingent early
last year from around 200 to
1,200.
The UN-mandated ISAF
forces have grown from 16,000
to 43,000 troops from 40 countries
over two years, but commanders
have been calling for
another 7,500 troops to fight
the resurgent Taliban, which
has used bases in remote tribal
areas of northern Pakistan to
regroup.
that his agency informed President Aleksander
Kwasniewski about suspicious connections.
But he also points that at the time
PGNiG was under pressure to secure gas
for the country immediately.
After the TV program was aired, <strong>opposition</strong>
Law and Justice Party demanded
information on Poland’s energy security
from Donald <strong>Tusk</strong>’s government. Zbigniew
Chlebowski, one of the leaders of the ruling
Civic Platform Party, replied that two
years ago Law and Justice while in power
signed a new contract with RosUkrEnergo,
which is also believed to be controlled
by Mohylevych. According to information
presented by Deputy Prime Minister
Waldemar Pawlak during parliamentary
debate on energy, RosUkrEnergo annually
supplies 2.3 bln cubic meters of Poland’s
14.5 bln natural gas imports.
Mohylevych was arrested on Jan. 24 in
Moscow after he had lived without interference
in Russia and other European countries
for several years. He faces charges
of tax evasion and is also believed to have
taken part in illegal arms trades, drug trafficking,
money laundering, several murders
and many other crimes.
He has been on the FBI and Interpol lists
of most wanted criminals but managed to
hide by using several passports and identities.
It is unclear why he was arrested by
Russians now, two months before their
presidential elections, after he had managed
to operate for years under the Yeltsin
and Putin administrations.
Poland won’t send troops to Afghan south

FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Germany, Poland open talks
on WWII expellees center
L. Wawrynkiewicz
P O L A N D The Krakow Post 5
LOT airlines
hit by strikes
cc:sa:Foma
From left: Prof. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Jan Borkowski and Prof. Witold M. Goralski.
agence france-presse
Poland and Germany late last week held
unprecedented talks on German <strong>plans</strong> for
a center commemorating the expulsion of
millions of Germans from Central Europe
after World War II, a move that has angered
Poles.
“Both sides stressed the importance of
open historical dialogue for Polish-German
relations and the need to seek forms
that will aide historical truth and prevent
misunderstanding,” Germany’s secretary
of state for cultural affairs, Bernd Neumann,
and Poland’s Wladyslaw Bartoszewski
said in a joint statement issued
following talks.
A former Polish foreign affairs minister,
Auschwitz survivor and key figure in
Polish-German post-war reconciliation,
Bartoszewski was appointed by Poland’s
new liberal Prime Minister Donald <strong>Tusk</strong>
after taking office in November.
The 85-year-old is tasked with improving
relations with Germany, severely
strained during more than a year of government
under the germanophobic conservative-nationalist
administration of
Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
The conciliatory tone of Tuesday’s
joint statement stands in contrast to the
openly hostile attitude displayed by the
defunct Kaczynski government that lost
power in a snap October parliamentary
election.
Bartoszewski is expected in Berlin for
further talks on Thursday and Friday, according
to his secretariat.
Moves in Germany to build a center in
Berlin commemorating the expulsion of
12 mln Germans from Central Europe after
Nazi Germany’s defeat in WWII have
burdened Polish-German relations since
2000. Both Poland and the neighboring
Czech Republic have been hostile to the
plan, fearing the focus on the victims –
one mln Germans died during the exodus
– could obscure Germany’s responsibility
for the war and its horrors.
According to the joint statement, the
German delegation presented its ideas for
the German government’s <strong>plans</strong> for a permanent
exhibition addressing the expulsions.
It intends to “present the historical
context and also take into account the deportation
of Poles.”
Poland “does not foresee formal participation
in this initiative but does not
exclude the participation of Polish historians.”
“Both sides agreed on the necessity of
activating a European network of ‘Remembrance
and Solidarity’ which should
become an important forum for European
historical dialogue.”
The move involves projects examining
20th-Century history marred by Nazi and
Soviet totalitarianism. The bilateral talks
on the sensitive historical issues were initiated
in December during an initial meeting
in Berlin between German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Donald <strong>Tusk</strong>.
the krakow post
The Polish airline LOT is
threatened by strikes as different
groups of its employees
demand substantial increases
in salaries.
The Warsaw airport Okecie
was already hit by a strike
of ground service workers last
week.
They stopped work for two
hours between 6 and 8 a.m. on
Wednesday, Feb 6. The interruption
in check-in activities
resulted in 10 flights being
cancelled and another 35 delayed.
The company says it lost
700 thousand zloty as a result
of the strike.
Ground service employees
are demanding pay raises as
well as severance pay to those
laid off by the company. Leaders
of the Solidarity trade union
say they have no other choice
but to strike to protest their low
wages. Previous negotiations
with the company board have
brought no solutions.
And ground service is not
the only group of employees
threatening to strike. On
Wednesday, the trade union
of flight attendants negotiated
pay with the board. This also
did not lead to any agreement,
and another strike was scheduled
for Friday from 10:00 to
00:00.
Even though the walkout
was cancelled, the flight attendant
situation is serious.
The attendants want 30 per
cent pay raises, while the board
says it can offer only 6.8 percent.
According to trade union
leaders, the employees haven’t
received a raise in five years,
while their productivity and
the revenue of LOT have risen
substantially
Pilots also are demanding
higher salaries. They also want
longer rest breaks between
work shifts and better insurance.
A strike of pilots is likely
to take place at the beginning
of March.
LOT is the biggest airline in
Poland, controlling 31 percent
of the local market. Last year
the company transported 4.2
mln people and earned 161 mln
zloty in revenue.
This year much lower revenue
is expected because of increases
in fuel prices and other
charges.
The government is still the
major shareholder of LOT, with
68 percent ownership. The Polish
Ministry of Treasury <strong>plans</strong>
to sell its stake to one of the
world’s major airlines, but a
buyer has not been identified.
This autumn, LOT will enter
the Warsaw stock exchange.
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6 The Krakow Post
P O L A N D
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
R E G I O N A L N E W S
Monaco’s prince opens ties
with Estonia, praises friendly
ties among small nations
Prince Albert II of Monaco late last week
marked the establishment of diplomatic relations
between his Mediterranean statelet and the ex-
Communist Baltic country of Estonia.
“It is very important for small countries like
Estonia and Monaco to be very open to the rest
of the world and to have friendly ties,” the prince
said as he opened an honorary Monegasque consulate
in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
“Monaco and Estonia have a lot in common,”
said honorary consul Juri Tamm, who is Estonian.
“Monaco has been a functioning state for 800
years ... showing that an even smaller state than
Estonia can survive well.”
Estonia, which broke free from the crumbling
Communist bloc in 1991, has just 1.3 mln people
– making it a minnow in the EU, which it joined
in 2004.
But it dwarfs non-EU member Monaco, which
has a population of 32,000 and is best known for
its celebrity residents.
“There is hardly a rally fan in Estonia who
doesn’t know that the renowned Estonian rally
driver Markko Martin lives in Monaco,” Estonian
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet quipped after signing
the diplomatic accord. (AFP)
Slovakia postpones EU treaty
ratification amid battle
The Slovak parliament late last week indefinitely
postponed a vote on ratifying the EU reform
treaty amid wrangling between government
and <strong>opposition</strong> lawmakers over a new press law.
Opposition lawmakers were not present in the
chamber at the time of the scheduled vote in protest
at a proposed new media law, leaving government
parties short of the majority required to
approve the treaty.
Prime Minister Robert Fico’s three-party coalition
can muster 85 votes in the 150-seat parliament
but needs 90 votes to approve the treaty.
While two out of three center-right <strong>opposition</strong>
parties back the Lisbon Treaty, they have united
to stall its progress in protest of a new law which
they say represents an <strong>attack</strong> on the media and
puts democracy at risk in the post-Communist
country. (AFP)
French ministry says nation
prepared to help Canada
fight in restive Afghanistan
French Defense Minister Herve Morin said late
last week that France was prepared to help Canada
in Afghanistan’s restive south, but he stopped short
of pledging troops as demanded by Ottawa.
“I told my Canadian partner that we would help
the Canadians,” said Morin following talks with
Canadian counterpart Peter MacKay on the first
day of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in
Lithuania’s capital Vilnus.
“But the solution does not depend on only
France, and all this must be considered in a global
framework,” he added.
“If I have a message for Canadians, it is to be
patient,” Morin said, explaining that firm decisions
would be made at the NATO summit on April 2-4
in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
Canada’s parliament will vote next month on
extending the presence of its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan
to February 2009.
“There is little time between the beginning of
April and the end of March,” Morin said.
Heeding advice from an independent committee,
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
warned that Canada’s troops would be brought
home from Afghanistan unless NATO allies stump
up an extra 1,000 troops plus helicopters.
France has indicated it could beef up its military
presence in Afghanistan, but a firm commitment
would only be made by President Nicolas Sarkozy
at the Bucharest summit. “To make solidarity
work, we have examined half a dozen hypotheses,”
a French diplomat told AFP on condition of
anonymity. “Sending troops to the south is one of
them. The president will decide.” (AFP)
Ombudsman wants parents
punished for smacking
their children
Iwona Bojarczuk
staff journalist
Parents that hit or beat their children are
breaking the law according to the Polish
constitution which prohibits citizens being
assaulted.
Poland’s Ombudsman for Citizen Rights
Janusz Kochanowski has expressed his
concern regarding the laws lack of enforcement
on this issue, where he considers even
a slight smack to a child a crime.
In a recent letter to the Minister for Justice
Zbigniew Cwiakalski, Kochanowski
outlined his concern at a legal convention
in the Polish justice system that has led to
non-prosecution of parents for hitting their
children “in light of the fact that the child
was physically punished only when they
deserved it.”
Kochanowski wants to see every parent
who physically punishes his or her child in
front of a judge for assault.
Social conventions towards children
having individual rights to fair treatment
and protection from harm only emerged
in Western society less than a century ago.
This is not the case globally, as children are
still exploited for their labor and sold into
servitude or slavery in many parts of the
world. And in the case of Western countries
such as Poland, where laws against child
abuse are in place, enforcement is patchy,
especially concerning physical discipline
in the family.
Ombudsman Kochanowski points out
that the National Penal Register records
only 10 cases sentenced for bodily violations
against children between Sep. 1998
and Dec. 2005, while 2,138 people were
sentenced during the same period for violations
against adults. Set against research
undertaken by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Policy in 2007, where 26 percent of
parents admitted using physical violence
towards their son and 18 percent towards
their daughter, it is evident that social convention
is circumventing lawful administration.
Additionally, a study by the Centre
of Social Opinion Research found that 22
percent of parents physically punished their
children with 63 percent surveyed stating
they were punished by smacks in their
childhood, of which 38 percent were beaten
with a strap or other item.
Psychologists promote rewarding over
punishment for behavior modification with
children, arguing that physical punishment
has negative effects on a child’s development.
Most Poles surveyed on use of physical
punishment for children disagree, with
only 12 percent saying it causes negative
outcomes. Kochanowski says the use of
physical punishment cannot be excused
by tradition or custom. “Any physical
punishment, even moderate or rational, is
not excusable,” said Kochanowski. In Poland
there is a popular belief that physical
punishment is an essential part of bringing
up children. Kochanowski argues that using
physical punishment violates a child’s
dignity which is enshrined in the Polish
Constitution and UN Convention on Rights
of the Child to which Poland is a signatory.
“Respecting human dignity and its protection
is an obligation of the public authorities,”
said Kochanowski.
cc:2.5:Cancre
Obwarzanek to be
protected by the EU
Michal Wojtas
staff journalist
The Ministry of Agriculture recently applied
to the European Commission to add obwarzanek,
a baked snack similar to pretzels,
to the list of regional products protected by
the EU.
If the application is not vetoed by any of
the member countries, Krakow bakers will
get a certificate of Protected Geographical
Indication. Then only snacks produced in this
city will be called obwarzanek. The certificate
is likely to be granted in early 2009 as
EU procedures take a lot of time.
The 40-page application to the EU includes
descriptions of the shape, color, taste
and baking process of traditional obwarzanek
as well as its history. The bakers have to prove
that their product is unique and characteristic
for this region.
According to their evidence, the snack was
mentioned for the first time in the year 1394
in a summary of Polish royal court, spending
together with its Latin name circinellos.
The application also states that obwarzanek
should be between 12 and 17 centimeters in
diameter, weigh 80 to 120 grams and its color
should range from golden to light brown.
Obwarzanek is usually covered with salt,
poppy or sesame seed. In Krakow there are
14 major producers of this regional snack and
their production reaches 200 thousand pieces
daily in the summer.
If the application succeeds, this will be
the second Polish regional food product protected
by the EU. Last June sheep cheese
called bryndza from the mountain region
of Podhale was granted protection. Several
other products, including lisiecka sausage
and another sheep cheese called oscypek, are
waiting for their protection applications to be
sent to Brussels.
A list of traditional Polish food prepared
by the Agriculture Ministry contains 369
products, 24 of them from Malopolska region,
of which Krakow is the capital.
Producers of some of the foods will try to
repeat the success of regional products like
prosciutto di Parma ham or Roquefort cheese.
France and Italy are the leaders in the number
of regional foods on the EU list with 160
each.
Czech Republic leads among the new EU
members with 10 products already recognized.
Of the other Central and Eastern European
countries, only Poland and Slovenia
managed to get one certificate each.
Universities look
to attract students
the krakow post
The Polish educational market is becoming
more and more aggressive as the number of candidates
decreases every year. There are two reasons:
a population decline and the emigration of
young people abroad.
In 2005, the number of students decreased
by 10,000. The Main Statistical Office in Warsaw
calculated then that in five years time
the number of young people aged 19-24 will
decrease by 600,000 and in 10 years by 1.1
mln. In 2016 there will be about 40 per cent
less graduates than now. Universities in fear of
their own futures are competing with offers for
future students.
Bielawa, where the Didactic Center of
Wroclaw’s Polytechnic was established, offers
students free transport throughout the
city and also from nearby Dzierzoniow, a free
swimming pool, fitness center, gym and sauna.
It gives away tickets for cultural events organized
by the city, such as the Reggae Dub Festival,
and free tickets to the cinema.
“Future faculties – for example, renewable
energy sources or modern technical support
– are not enough. That is why we will propose
even more for young people,” said Lukasz Masyk
of the city council in Bielawa. “We don’t
pauperize and many people will be encouraged
to study.”
Recently the community offered a course to
help graduates pass the exam to attend Polytechnic.
About <strong>100</strong> people took advantage of the opportunity.
Among them was Maria Jankowicz.
She does not know if she will continue her
studies but if she does, she will choose Bielawa.
“I will not have to pay for riding and I will be
able to benefit from free entertainment,” she
said. “The swimming pool is expensive; that is
why I cannot swim more than once a week. It is
worth studying just for the bonuses.”
To encourage students to attend the university,
rectors are using more sophisticated advertising.
Educational fairs, information brochures
and traditional press advertisements are out of
date.
Research conducted among students at one
of Wroclaw’s universities showed that over 90
per cent of them got their information about the
university from the Internet.
That is why in Walbrzych at the Higher
Education School of Marketing and Enterprise,
it is possible to ask questions about enrollment
through Internet communicator Gadu-Gadu.
“The Internet communicator Gadu-Gadu is
very popular among the young,” says Dominika
Twardowska of the Higher Education School
of Marketing and Enterprise. Most often, the
questions are about payments and documents.
Students get the answers immediately.
Universities also compete for foreign students.
In Great Britain, Holland and Austria, as
many as 50 per cent of the students are foreign.
But in Poland, about 5 percent of the students
are foreign. In addition, foreign students also are
sought for short-term courses at Polish language
schools and the Socrates-Erasmus program.
“Foreigners at university mean more money
and additional prestige,” says Dr. Hannah
Mausch, the chairman of University Center of
International Education of Adam Mickiewicz
University.

FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Polish borders to change
GDFL:1.2-Gerrit
P O L A N D The Krakow Post 7
Striking
miners
return to
work
<strong>Tusk</strong> tells
migrants to
come home,
Poland will be
second Ireland
Iwona Bojarczuk
staff journalist
Poland is going to get back 3.68 square
kilometers of its border with the Czech Republic
that it lost in 1958.
Most of the territory it will recover in
three years is in the Glucholazy area in the
Opolszcyzna region.
The Czech government has agreed to return
the territory Poland lost when Soviet
authorities ordered the border straightened
in June 1958 for security reasons.
The border change ignored the wishes of
many villagers who wanted to remain Polish.
Pawel Szymkowicz, an expert on the Polish-Czech
border situation, said the change
involved straightening a border that meandered.
“Why?” he asked. “The reason was obvious:
It was easier to guard such a border.”
The change involved Poland getting 8.4
mln square meters of Czechoslovakian territory
and Czechoslovakia getting 12.06 mln
square meters of Polish territory.
It shortened the border by 80 kilometers.
But “Poland lost 3.68 mln square meters
through that change,” said Jan Bielanski a
representative of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1991, after the break-up of the Soviet
Union, Czechoslovakia signed an international
agreement that it would compensate
Poland for the territory it had lost.
Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic
and Slovakia in 1993. Until recently
the Czech Republic had insisted on giving
Poland money for the territory it had lost
rather than returning the land. Poland has
always insisted that the territory be given
back.
Finally the Czechs agreed to give Poland
back at least some of the land. Poland is
holding out for all of it, however.
Czech surveyors are taking measurements
of the 85 places where the border will
be changed. The Czech government said the
surveying will be completed by June.
A total of “132 hectares of land can be
transferred without any problem” because it
is clear that originally they were all Polish
land, said Peter Kubera, a spokesman for the
Czech Embassy in Warsaw.
But there are questions about the ownership
of the rest of the 368 hectares, so Poland
and Czech experts will have to negotiate the
matter, Kubera said. “It is a very complex
task,” he said.
Some Polish officials have interpreted
Kubera’s statement as a hint that the Czech
Republic wants to pay Poland for the remaining
236 hectares. Poland’s Interior
Ministry says it will accept only a return of
all the lost territory.
“It is not a single area but several small
pieces of ground owned by the Czech Republic,”
said Jacek Sońta, a spokesman for
the head of the Polish border guard. “The
ground is ours and must come back to Poland.”
Lothar Wittek of Rudyszwald near Krzyzanowice
is one Pole who is glad to see the
old border being restored.
His farm was divided 50 years ago in
such a way that part ended up in Czechoslovakia.
The Czechoslovakians did not allow him
to use the land because he was a foreigner,
and Polish authorities threatened to imprison
him when he criticized the border change.
“Now I am looking forward to seeing
guards remove the border posts put in my
field 50 years ago,” he said.
the krakow post
The striking miners from the Budryk
mine in Jastrzebia-Zdroj, Lower
Silesia have finally agreed to go back
to work after their union representatives
came to an agreement with their
employers. The radio station RMF
FM has estimated that the 46-day
strike over pay conditions could cost
the Jastrzebia Mining Company as
much as 80 mln zloty.
During what turned out to be a particularly
bitter strike, a group of 30
hunger strikers barricaded themselves
underground while others occupied
the mine buildings above.
Under the terms of the deal struck
between the unions and employers,
the miners will receive a 10 percent
wage increase and a one-off payment
of 1,500 zloty after tax. In addition, a
special commission has been appointed
to look in to leveling out the pay
structures at the various mines in the
region so that all miners will be compensated
at the same rate irrespective
of where they work. The commission,
which will contain a union representative,
should be able to ensure that
the salaries of the Jastrzebia miners
will fall in line with their colleagues
in other mines by 2010.
The union representatives were
anxious to stress that not all their
demands had been met, but, even so,
there was a collective sigh of relief
from both sides in the dispute as the
miners went back to work. It took
three <strong>days</strong> before safety procedures
necessary for extraction to resume
had been implemented.
the krakow post
The current wave of Polish migration,
especially to England and Ireland, raises
questions about the consequences of such
movement.
Is it an efficient cure for domestic unemployment
or a curse for those employers
struggling to find good workers?
Or is it a dilemma for Poland, which
clearly is losing some its best and brightest
young people to other European nations?
And what is migration’s effect on social
life here and in the countries of destination?
It appears divorce rates are rising in areas
with large numbers of migrants and that it
is growing more difficult for those who’ve
left families behind to care for children and
the elderly.
The scale of Polish migration has been
presented by scientists from Warsaw University.
According to Central Statistical
Office (GUS) it is difficult to ascertain the
number of migrants, because of the great
number of people who work illegally.
The number of hired workers is between
half a mln to 2 mln Poles. The largest group,
about 580,000, work in Great Britain.
“The wave of migration after Polish
access to the EU is a continuation of the
previous tradition. It isn’t something really
new. What we know is that during the
whole process of transformation almost 1
mln Polish have begun working abroad,”
said Dr. Piotr Kaczmarczyk from Warsaw
University.
According to GUS, almost half of migrants
had a job in Poland before leaving.
They decided to work abroad only because
of higher pay.
Those for whom money is among the
most important issues usually come from
villages or small towns.
There are also well-educated people who
come from big cities. They quit jobs to gain
some experience abroad. However, many
experts emphasize that often they just end
up as waiters, au pairs or maids.
Some highly educated migrants work in
stores or in greenhouses. The effect is easy
to foresee. The more time they spend in
run-of-the-mill jobs, the more their intellectual
competences diminish.
MA in TransAtlantic Relations
- For foreigners at Jagiellonian University
- Deadline for applications: August 15, 2008
- Visit our web page: www.transatlantic.uj.edu.pl
- Or our office: Rynek Glowny 34, 2nd Floor, Room 7A
TransAtlantic Studies Office
Institute of American Studies
and Polish Diaspora
Jagiellonian University
Rynek Glowny 34
31-010 Krakow
e-mail: transatlantic@uj.ed.pl
Phone: (48)124296157
Fax: (48)12422 03 64
“The terrifying view is that somebody
can think about himself, after five years
of studying, as 5.5 pounds per hour,”said
Dr. Joanna Tyrowicz from Warsaw University.
Janusz Kochanowski, civil rights
spokesman in Poland, said the migration
often causes the breakdown of families. In
the areas where migration is the most intense,
for example in the West Pomeranian
district, about 47 marriages out of each <strong>100</strong>
end in divorce. In the Lubuskie region it’s
about 44 of every <strong>100</strong>. The migration also
makes taking care of children or the elderly
from migrant familes difficult.
Often migrants struggle with discrimination,
exploitation, deception and sometimes
physical abuse. Although the current xenophobic
climate in some of the host societies
is partly responsible for this situation, it is
also because of the vulnerable position of
migrants in the labor market and the lack of
enforcement of labor standards in countries
of destination.
A common practice is for political figures
to use migrants to gain or retain electoral
support. Extreme politicization of
migrants in many countries bears further
testimony to this fact, as does the rise in
violence against migrants.
Migrants and foreigners have always
been used as scapegoats, being unfairly
blamed for existing or perceived social and
economic problems ranging from unemployment
to criminality.
Prime Minister Donald <strong>Tusk</strong> has convinced
Poles that Poland can become the
second Ireland. Many migrants believed
those promises and voted for him. However,
the politicians have short memories,
especially for promises made during the
election campaign.
There is no progress on the abolition
on taxes for migrants and no programs to
encourage them to return to Poland. <strong>As</strong> a
result, many of the most talented young
people travel abroad to find new and better
lives.
Human migration has taken place at all
times and in the greatest variety of circumstances.
Today, however, there’s great disagreement
over whether this is good or bad
for Poland.
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8 The Krakow Post
B U S I N E S S
R E G I O N A L B I Z
Estonian consumer inflation
jumps in January to 10-year
high, reaches 11 percent
Estonian consumer price inflation jumped to a
10-year high in January, reaching 11 percent compared
with the same month in 2007, the national
statistics office said late last week.
Compared with December, prices in the Baltic
state increased 2.2 percent in January, the office
said. Inflation in January was driven primarily
by increases in costs of food, housing and vehicle
fuel, according to the office’s data.
Estonia, which regained its independence from
the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, has enjoyed
robust economic growth for a decade, notably
since joining the EU in 2004.
But inflation has been climbing progressively
in recent months, raising jitters about economic
overheating.
In December, the 12-month inflation rate was
9.6 percent, in November, 9.1 percent and in October,
8.5 percent.
The latest figure is the highest recorded since
April 1998, when 12-month inflation was 12.6 percent,
Viktoria Trasanov, head of the prices department
at Statistics Estonia told AFP.
Curbing inflation is a key plank of EU criteria
for countries that want to adopt the European
single currency. Estonia’s failure to keep below a
benchmark set by Brussels scuttled its goal of joining
the eurozone at the start of 2007.
Although no new date has been set for making
the switch from the national currency, the kroon, to
the euro, Estonian officials have suggested it may
be possible by 2011. (AFP)
Slovak industrial production
rises 6.4 percent in December
Slovak industrial output rose 6.4 percent on a
12-month comparison in December, down from
November’s 13.2 percent, the Slovak Statistics Office
announced late last week.
The highest growth was registered in the electrical
and optical devices sector with output up
22.3 percent. The key auto sector – Slovakia is
home to plants owned by Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot
Citroen and South Korea’s Kia Motors – rose
17.5 percent.
Industrial output for the whole of 2007 was up
12.8 percent, driven by a gain of 25.9 percent in
mining and a 15.3 percent rise in manufacturing,
the statistics office said. (AFP)
Czech unemployment rises to
6.1 percent in January
Czech consumer price inflation spiked sharply
in January, rising to a near 10-year high of 7.5 percent
on a 12-month comparison from December’s
5.4 percent, the national statistics office reported
late last week.
“This is the highest annual rise registered since
November 1998,” the office added.
Most analysts, while braced for a high figure,
had expected January price rises to come in at
around 6.5 percent.
Key factors fuelling the rise were higher food,
rental, transport and health costs, the statistics office
said. (AFP)
Polish unemployment rate
rises for second month
straight, reaches 11.8 percent
Poland’s unemployment rate rose in January
for the second consecutive month, climbing to
11.8 percent from 11.4 percent in December, according
to a Labor Ministry estimate released late
last week. The rate of joblessness in Poland, which
was 15.1 percent in January 2007, had been falling
month-by-month throughout the year and was
down to 11.2 percent in November before picking
up steam again.
The Labor Ministry said that out of Poland’s
population of 38 mln people, 1.81 mln were unemployed
at the end of January, up from 1.75 mln
a month earlier.
Poland’s national statistics office is due to publish
the final unemployment figures for January at
the end of this month.
Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, has one
of the highest unemployment rates in the 27-nation
bloc.
In the EU as a whole, the unemployment rate
fell in December, the most recent month for which
complete figures are available, to 6.8 percent from
6.9 in November.
An estimated 16.2 mln people were out of work
across the EU in December. (AFP)
Lithuania, Poland sign
power deal, spurring
nuclear plan
President Lech Kaczynksi meets Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus.
agence france-presse
Poland and Lithuania early this week signed a deal
paving the way to hook up their electricity grids, helping
offset Russia’s energy clout and clearing a hurdle to
related <strong>plans</strong> to build a new nuclear power plant.
In a ceremony with President Lech Kaczynski and
his Lithuanian opposite number Valdas Adamkus, the
bosses of the two countries’ state-owned electricity grid
firms inked the accord.
The link is seen as a crucial element in beefing up
regional energy security by plugging Lithuania and its
Baltic neighbors into the electricity systems of the rest
of the EU.
Adamkus called Tuesday’s agreement a “corner
stone” for energy security in the region and a significant
development for the entire EU.
Kaczynski said it was crucial for EU members to
“mutually guarantee their energy security.”
Lithuania and its fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia
were part of the Soviet Union until 1991 and remain
tied into Russia’s power grid, raising the spectre of Moscow
flexing its energy muscle against them.
Under the deal, Poland’s PSE, or Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne,
and Lithuania’s Lietuvos Energija have
formed a joint company in which each holds a 50-percent
stake.
The new company is due to start operations in April,
launching a technical and environmental study for a
154-kilometer (95-mile) high-voltage link from Elk in
northeast Poland to Alytus in southern Lithuania.
The power link is expected to be completed by 2012-
2015.
It is seen as a crucial way for Lithuania to deal with
electricity shortfalls that could be caused by the planned
closure of its Soviet-era Ignalina nuclear power plant,
which operates Chernobyl-style reactors.
Lithuania pledged to close the 1980s facility by 2010
during its membership talks with the EU, which it joined
in 2004.
Lithuania and its fellow 2004 EU entrants Poland,
Latvia and Estonia are together planning to build a new
power plant at the site.
The facility is meant to come on stream by 2015,
although some experts have suggested that 2017-2020
is a more realistic target. In the meantime, Lithuanian
authorities have been pushing Brussels to allow a temporary
extension of Ignalina’s lifespan.
Negotiations on the nuclear project were hampered
last year by Poland’s demands for the largest share of the
new facility’s output.
Poland’s former conservative-nationalist government
had warned that it could put the power grid project on
the back burner unless it got its required share.
The previous government lost office in a snap election
last October.
International Women’s
<strong>As</strong>sociation of Krakow
www.iwak.pl
iwak_krakow@yahoo.com
ANNOUNCEMENT
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Women want equal
employment opportunities
Kinga Rodkiewicz
staff journalist
Both women and men play important
roles in productive work
throughout the world, providing for
themselves and their families. Gone
are the <strong>days</strong> when women did all the
domestic chores and men worked
outside the home to put food on the
table.
But this worldwide change isn’t
complete. Even today, women’s roles
often seem invisible, as they tend to
be more informal, such as self-employment
and subsistence production.
And, no doubt, they still do
most of the historic cooking, cleaning
and taking-care-of-baby tasks.
And even when women and men
perform the same tasks for pay,
women are often paid less and receive
smaller benefits from their
work.
Not many Polish companies have
fulfilled the European standards of
equal treatment of men and women
in work. This is the main conclusion
after the second part of the
competition: the Company of Equal
Chances.
“The incomes, access to promotion,
the protection from the mobbing
and sexual harassment are the areas
in which we can observe unequal
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treatment. Few companies have these
arguments on the workers’ complaints,”
said Ewa Lisowska of the
Warsaw School of Economics.
She emphasized the fact that only
28 percent of companies monitor
the incomes of their workers. The
competition jurors found that there
are differences between women and
men in income. And women rarely
work as supervisors.
Only in 17 percent of small and
medium companies and in 31 percent
of big companies were there
organized courses that present techniques
on how to protect women
from discrimination and sexual harassment.
Men hold the majority of power
positions and decision-making in
the public sphere, with the result that
decisions and policies tend to reflect
the needs and preferences of men.
Discrimination is also seen in
recruiting and hiring. In the helpwanted
advertisements employers
frequently use “men” instead of neutral
suffixes. For example, mailmen
rather than letter carriers or delivery
men instead of delivery drivers.
According to the report, in job
interviews women are often asked
about family <strong>plans</strong> and having children.
Sometimes, the employers
force young women to sign a declaration
that they won’t have children
in the next two years. Such procedures
are illegal but many women,
desperate for work, as a ploy to find
much-needed jobs, forfeit their legal
rights and declare that they won’t
have children during the specified
time period.
However, from among the <strong>100</strong>
private and national companies that
were monitored during the competition,
analysts found the winners. In
the category of small and medium
companies, the best was Skrivanek
Company, a translation agency. According
to the jury, the company
ensures equal access for men and
women, co-financed medical service
for workers and their families and
did the same to help children learn
foreign languages.
Among big companies, the winner
was the Academy of Humanities
and Economics in Lodz, which
stands out with good policies in promotions
and hiring. The second and
third place honorees were Procter&
Gamble and the Specialist Hospital
in Tarnow. Many experts have
emphasized that such competitions
play a large role in the struggle for
equal rights for women on the job.
Prestige justifiably follows when organizations
win the modern battle as
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FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20 B U S I N E S S
The Krakow Post 9
Trade grows
in Poland at
quick rate
the krakow post
According to daily Gazeta Prawna,
Poland can expect to see expansion of
hypermarkets, supermarkets and discount
stores.
At the same time, the number of grocers
is decreasing rapidly. In 2007 about
3,000 grocery stores closed.
The owners of the small shops, usually
on housing estates, aren’t able to
compete with the hypermarkets, which
always have lower prices and more to
sell.
“The necessity of competition with
the discounts and supermarkets forces
the small shops to cooperate, e.g. to reduce
the costs of logistics and supplies,”
said Marcin Szaleniez of the company
PMR.
The small local shops are facing purchase
by big foreign companies or else
they likely must declare bankruptcy. The
other way is to join Polish retail trade
organizations. This kind of organization
includes ABC, which links almost 2,500
shops, including Lewiatan and Zabka,
with 2,000 shops.
The experts as well as the traders predict
consolidation of Polish retail trade
as a result.
According to Gazeta Prawna, lone
sellers are doomed to lose against the big
corporations, because they aren’t able
to sell at the same low prices as supermarkets.
It is estimated that wholesale
shopping can reduce the costs by up to
15 percent.
The situation in Poland isn’t encouraging,
which is true in many other European
countries. In the Slovak Republic
69 percent of retail trade belongs to
foreign companies, in Czech Republic
76 percent and in Germany and France
almost 90 percent.
Experts say the Polish trade market is
among the most scattered in Europe.
Few nations have more than <strong>100</strong>,000
shops.
On the other hand, many Polish people
can’t imagine shopping somewhere
else than in their own neighborhood
because of long and close relationships
with them.
Poland simplifies
working procedures
for Ukrainians
the krakow post
Workers from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia
will be allowed to work in Poland – with no
special permits..
The government therefore fulfills the employers’
requirements to liberalize the policy
toward Eastern neighbors. According to the
new regulation they can work in Poland six
months.
“There is no secret that employers in Poland
are struggling with insufficient laborers.
They have often no chance to find suitable,
national workers,” said director Janusz Grzyb
from the Ministry of Labor. “The extension of
the possibility of employees with no permits
from our neighbors from the eastern border
was essential.”
Lack of Polish workers – especially in the
building industry – is primarily caused by the
migrations of young, well-educated Polish
specialists who prefer to work in well-paid
jobs in Ireland, Great Britain or Scandinavia.
Although many Ukrainians appreciate this
extension, many also say that Polish access to
the Schengen zone complicated contacts with
the employers.
Since Jan. 1 Ukrainians as well as citizens
of other Eastern neighbors must receive a
special entry visa.
To receive it they should have <strong>100</strong> zloty for
each day they remain in Poland, medical insurance
and the special original invitation.
Before Poland joined the Schengen zone,
Ukrainians had obtained documents easily
and free of charge.
They can receive two kinds of visas:
Schengen’s visa which costs 35 euro and
which allows travel in the whole UE area or a
national visa that costs 75 euro and which is
in force for more than 90 <strong>days</strong>. However, it
permits stays only in Poland.
About 700 Ukrainians protested in January
against the visa procedures. Displaying banners
urging “No to a new Berlin wall,” and “It
is time to respect Ukrainians,” the protesters
erected barbed-wire imitations of the Polish
and Ukrainians borders in front of a Polish
consulate in Lvov.
Miroslaw Gryta, a consul-director of the
visa department in Lvov, explained to Gazeta
Prawna that “the consulate is given the visas
which are valid to travel in all of Europe.
That’s why there are higher requirements.”
The government hasn’t excluded the possibility
of more liberalization, according to
Eastern workers.
Labor Minister Jolanta Fedak has emphasized
that before the government decides to
simplify the conditions of employing Eastern
workers “we should check if unemployed Polish
people can’t fulfill the employers’ needs.
The reduction of unemployment in Poland is
the top priority for us.”
Slovak inflation
rises to 3.8 percent
agence france-presse
Slovak inflation edged up to
3.8 percent in January on an annual
basis from 3.4 percent in
December 2007, the Slovak Statistics
Office announced early this
week.
Price rose by 1.3 percent in
January compared with the previous
month.
In another report the office said
Slovakia’s foreign trade deficit
narrowed by 1.5 bln koruna to 9.5
bln (279 mln euro, $413 mln) in
December from November.
Exports rose by 9.2 percent on
a 12-month comparison to 108.2
bln koruna, outpacing a 6.9 percent
rise in imports to 117.7 bln
koruna, the office said. In 2007
Slovakia’s trade deficit narrowed
to 19.7 bln koruna from 75.3 bln
in 2006.
Reach
your clients
before they set
foot in Krakow.
The Krakow Post
is on board LOT,
Brussels and
Lufthansa
airlines

10 The Krakow Post
W A R S A W
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Warsaw receives PET scanner
Zofia Owczarek
Staff Journalist
Warsaw medical patients will no longer
have to go as far as Bydgoszcz or Gliwice
to be examined by one of the newest inventions
in modern medicine. Warsaw finally
has a PET scanner.
PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography,
a medical imaging technique
which produces three-dimensional images
of our internal organs. The technique is
considered to be the most sensitive and accurate
method for early detection of tumors.
The new positron tomograph is already in
use in the Mazovian PET-CT Center at the
Military Institute of Health Services on
ul. Szaser in Warsaw. The center was created
by Euromedic, a pan-European health
company. Although the machine is the
company’s private property, Euromedic has
agreed to hand it over to the institute in 10
years.
Some of the expensive examinations will
be financed by the National Health Fund.
“We have agreed on a 5 mln zloty contract,”
Jerzy Serafin of the Mazovian department
of the health fund told the newspaper
Zycie Warszawy. This means that by
the end of the year about 1,<strong>100</strong> patients will
be examined for free. Patients can be diagnosed
privately as well, as long as they can
afford to pay 4.5 thousand zloty per examination.
“The method is intended for specific
groups of patients,” Michal Korczeniewski,
the marketing director of Euromedic, told
Zycie Warszawy. Thus the new equipment
is to be used mostly for diagnosing bone
metastases, recurrences of ovary and thyroid
cancer, epileptogenic foci, etc. The examination
is available both to patients who
present medical examination referrals from
specialists (such as oncologists, cardiologists
or neurologists) and ones who do not.
The grounds for the examination are always
determined separately by doctors in the institute.
For the time being, the patients are
registered two weeks in advance. The tomograph
works two <strong>days</strong> a week, examining
six patients per day. The limited number
of examinations and their detailed planning
result from the complexity of the procedure
and the use of a special substance delivered
by plane from Vienna. The chemical is so
unstable that after two hours it loses half
of its power so that the dose needs to be
doubled.
The PET technique locates early cancerous
changes with extreme precision, down
to the level of cells. Such outstanding accuracy
accounts for the variety of the method’s
applications. It is mostly used in oncology to
detect cancer or its metastases and to monitor
the effectiveness of the applied therapy.
It is also used in diagnosing nervous
and cardiovascular diseases. It can identify
Alzheimer’s disease more than a year
before its clinical symptoms appear. The
imaging technique is also most helpful in
determining medical treatment of the diagnosed
disease. PET is also an important
research tool in mapping human brain and
heart functions.
The Mazovian PET-CT Center is the first
of its kind in Warsaw and the fourth in Poland.
The other three operate in Bydgoszcz,
Wroclaw and Gliwice.
However, two other medical institutions
in the Polish capital stand a chance of getting
their own PET scanners. The hospital
on ul. Banacha and Maria Skbodowska Institute
Oncology Center still await the National
Health Fund’s decision on financing
the equipment.
Examinations by positron tomography
are already routine in other countries of the
EU. Experts estimate that soon up to a mln
Europeans will annually benefit from the
technique.
Short Feature
Poznan alternative community prospers
Joanna Zabierek
staff journalist
Rozbrat is the oldest squat in Poland. It
was “founded” 14 years ago by groups of
the Poznan freedom movement looking for
their own place of safety. They found the
barracks of a bankrupted warehouse.
Initially, Rozbrat’s role was as a house
similar to freedom communes. Now it is
also a center of alternative culture, freedom
and anarchist movements. But soon it may
become history, as the bank that bought out
the debts of the former owner of the area,
where Rozbart is situated, wants to get his
property back.
The founders of Rozbrat are shocked, but
they are not giving up.
“I can’t believe it. I’ve lived here for a
while now. It is an uncommon place, and
(helps) great people,” said Justyna, a sociology
student. Last week a bailiff visited Rozbrat
to estimate its value for further auction.
Here is how the squatters living in Rozbrat
described this incident on their web site:
“Around 10:00 the bailiff together with
cops came to Rozbrat squat. The policemen
drilled the lock of the gate. The bailiff had
court permission to come in and estimate
the price of the ground. The middle part of
Rozbrat squat (including both concert halls,
gallery, bars, library and part of the living
area) was indebted for a long time by a
company that doesn’t exist anymore. The
ground price evaluation today means that
the ground can be auctioned within one or
two months. That can mean the end of Rozbrat
squat – the longest occupied space in
Poland.”
“We count on you being ready to organize
solidarity actions by you and your
groups. We’re not gonna give up without a
fight,” they added.
From the beginning, Rozbrat has been
a flat for a group of people. Now there are
15 to 20 squatters there. Broad cultural and
social activity is undertaken at Rozbrat, for
example, concerts, exhibitions, festivals
and similar events. <strong>As</strong> individuals and as a
group, people living in Rozbrat are often
invited to take part in organizing projects.
They arrange lectures and workshops.
In time, concerts were organized at Rozbrat.
For safety reasons, admission was allowed
only by invitation, but the concerts
were organized more and more frequently,
and their character began to be more open.
This kind of cultural activity dominated
the early years. A bigger room was adapted
and sound equipment collected. Slowly, Rozbrat’s
character began to be more cultural.
Today, Rozbrat is a unique center of independent
culture in Poznan and the entire
Wielkopolska region. The activity there
would be difficult to duplicate in the commercialized
world.
People who live there have created an
environment based on independent social
and cultural activity: without donations,
subsidies, sponsors, outside of the system,
outside of the good or bad economic situation,
for themselves, for propagating independent
thought and for building social
consciousness.
<strong>As</strong> Marek Piekarski of the Rozbrat Collective
said after the bailiff’s visit last week,
nothing that would change their situation has
happened. They are still under the threat of
eviction, but it is hard to say when it could
happen. Their legal situation should clarify
within two or three weeks.
In Europe squat evictions often end up
with struggles or even fights with police and
bodyguards seeking to clean up the area. Inhabitants
are supported by city inhabitants
and artists and squatters from other cities
and countries. It is likely that squatters in
Poznan will receive some help by, for example,
squatters from Berlin in return for
last year’s support.
Rozbrat’s founders and inhabitants say
they will defend Rozbrat with all legal and
necessary means.
“So far, Rozbrat is still active,” its web
site reports.
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FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20 K R A K O W
The Krakow Post 11
Discovery focuses on Krakow as capital
Grazyna Zawada
Staff Journalist
Discovery Historia, the Polish branch of the
Discovery History TV channel, and Krakow will
cooperate to organize several artistic events and to
promote the city on TV.
On Thursday, Barbara Bilinska, the director of
Discovery Historia, and Jacek Majchrowski, the
mayor, signed a contract for cooperation to produce
programs on Krakow’s historical attractions.
Bilinska said that Discovery Historia’s motto is
“Be there where history was made” and that Krakow
is exactly the kind of place to report from.
The cooperation with the TV channel actually
began last November when Discovery Historia
and Krakow organized a happening on Market
Square entitled “Painting Matejko.” Matejko was
a famous 19th-Century Polish painter, and the
event was a part of the 750th anniversary of Krakow’s
incorporation and city charter. Discovery
also is broadcasting “Krakow’s Memoir,” showing
the process of urban changes. And Discovery
will launch this week a series of programs entitled
“What if Krakow was the capital of Poland?”
These are light stories presented in the form of
questions asked by journalist Brian Scott, with
answers given by Michal Niezabitowski, the director
of Krakow’s Historical Museum.
Niezabitowski walks Scott around Krakow and
tells interesting and funny stories about Krakow
and its history.
The script for the show was written by wellknown
satirists Lukasz Rybarski (the “Pod Wyrwigroszem”
cabaret) and Tomasz Olbratowski
(radio journalist and author of biting and funny
features).
Another Discovery venture is planned for Sept.
12, the 325th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna.
In 1683 the Polish King Jan III Sobieski, commanding
Polish, Austrian and German armies,
defeated a Turkish army that had besieged Vienna,
thus relieving Western Europe from the threat of
Turkish conquest.
On Sept, 12, Krakow will present a commemorative
show in the Market Square. The dramatic
program will feature King Sobieski presenting
war trophies from Vienna, his army re-enacting
the battle and many more activities.
Discovery channel will televise all of this live,
and in the future more enterprises are planned. It is
speculated that Discovery will also help celebrate
the 90th anniversary of Krakow’s liberation after
World War I.
Childhood pals exhibit at S-ka
Malgorzata Mleczko
staff journalist
Photographer Kuba Dabrowski graduated
with a degree in sociology from the Jagiellonian
University, and a degree in photography
from the ITF in Opava (Czech Republic). He
works as a photo-editor and photographer for
“Przekroj” weekly. His freelance work has
been in “Viva,” “Machina,” “Exklusive” and
“Die Zeit.”
His best friend Karol remarks: “He’s sincere,
both in his life and in what he does, and on every
level. He’s professional, even mega-professional,
one of the most professional people I
know, in the full sense of the word. And I can
also say that he’s consistent.That consistency
always crops up somewhere. He’s a good person.
Kuba is an optimist, even when things are
bad he says ‘don’t worry, everything will be
ok.’”
Karol Radziszewski is a painter, performer
and journalist. Some of his noted works include
installations, events, photographs and
video art.
He graduated from the Painting Department
of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and is
the initiator and co-creator of the Szu Szu Flying
Gallery, and the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief
of “DIK Fagazine” – the first gay
magazine in Poland.
Kuba described Karol as consistent: “They
say he isn’t, but he is. He’s coherent in what he
does. He’s very intelligent. On the other hand,
he has big doubts that he sometimes gets hung
up on...”
The two are great friends.
Both were born in 1980 and lived in Bialystok.
Although they both have much in common,
they are notably individual and unique.
Karol didn’t play with cars, but he drew
many pictures of limousines and Rolls-Royces
with princesses emerging from within them.
Kuba had cars and toy soldiers – except that
they weren’t soldiers, they were always the entourage
touring with the car.
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Karol was into classical music, and used to
attend the Philharmonic, while Kuba was listening
to hip-hop. Karol was a square; Kuba
was more of a cool kid.
Kuba and Karol met in high school where
they both worked for the school newspaper
Rysa (Scratch). Karol Radziszewski was the
founder, and Kuba did the photography.
The newspaper was about what was happening
at school, music, culture, and skateboards. It
was the first time they began working together.
After high school they parted ways.
Karol went to Krakow, Kuba to Warsaw.
During this transition, the two kept in contact
with each other.
When Kuba moved to the capital, Karol began
doing “DIK Fagazine” – which is when
they renewed their collaboration.
At this time, Kuba and Karol, while compiling
work from adolescent times discovered that
it foreshadowed things to come, namely what
they’re doing now as professional artists.
Karol has photos, drawings and works from
the past that mimics things that existed earlier.
And with Kuba, you can see a straight line that
runs through to his present-day photography.
They made those pieces without the awareness
they have now. It turned out that what they
are doing now comes from things that they had
been doing, unconsciously, way back then.
“We don’t want to pretend that we’ve been
doing these things for a very long time. We
want to show that those naive things have a direct
translation into what we’re doing now. And
comparing the two causes them to interplay.
They show how two people with very similar
circumstances can go in slightly different directions,”
says Karol Radiszewski.
On display we can see approximately 20
pieces documenting the artists’ past.
There are Kuba Dabrowski’s photos depicting
a school disco, boys with skateboards; gray,
depressing blocks of flats, a fight on a playground,
and many other pieces.
Karol presented a series of drawings made in
an activity book, such as dress designs for Barbie
rendered in detail (made between the ages
of 9 and 11, including evening fashion, daytime
fashions, and piles of paper with drawings of
dresses), but also a drawing of a half of a dog
or a mouse wearing a girl’s outfit.
The artists’ pieces seem very personal and
intimate, but on the other hand, they evoke a
universal story of people born in the 80’s. The
exhibit helps to recall memories of our own
childhood, but it can also be considered as a
small documentation of what the late 80’s and
mid 90’s in Poland were like.
“Pals” plays with convention on many levels.
The show raises the question of what an exhibition
is/might be and what the artwork is. Is
it as Kurt Schwitters said, “Whatever the artist
will expectorate is art”?
What status do the pieces on exposition have
if they were made by artists, but in childhood?
What is a piece of art? Is it an art exhibit if
works are too difficult to define?
Kuba Dabrowski, Karol Radziszewski, Pals
(Feb. 8-March 8)
GALERIA ZPAF i S-KA
ul. sw. Tomasza 24
krakowpost.com

12 The Krakow Post
K R A K O W
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Film-goers buy tickets for Berlinale 2008
Martyna Olszowska
Staff Journalist
The 58th International Film Festival
in Berlin, one of the most important film
events in Europe, will run from Feb. 6-
17.
Over 20 films are competing for the
Golden Bear. The winner will be announced
this Saturday.
Berlinale, in contrast to film festivals
in Cannes or Venice, is the most accessible
to filmgoers: one can buy tickets for
nearly all screenings.
The heart of the festival is located in
the Potsdamer Platz, and in fact, it is hard
to imagine this event in any other Berlin
district.
Polish films will also be shown at the
festival. The international premiere of Andrzej
Wajda’s Oscar-nominated “Katyn”
is scheduled for Feb. 15. Wajda is attending
the Berlin festival together with actors
from his film.
Wajda received the Honorary Golden
Bear Lifetime Achievement Award at
Berlinale in 2006. Earlier this week, he
met with young filmmakers participating
in the Talent Campus, a series of film
workshops held at the festival.
While speaking with German film critics
Ulrich Gregor and Mark LeFanu, Wajda
expounded on the art of giving period
pieces the right mood.
For the first time ever, a documentary
will open the festival. “Shine a Light” by
Martin Scorsese was screened on the very
first evening. His latest film is the recording
of the Rolling Stones’ concert, which
took place in New York in 2006.
Scorsese came to Berlin with Mick
Jagger and Keith Richards. He said in
an interview for one of the Berlin daily
newspapers that he felt it could be the
very last opportunity for recording a Rolling
Stones concert. Having taken into account
the energy of the “Grandfathers of
Rock” in the film, it is difficult to believe
Scorcese’s words.
But the phenomenon of this years’
festival in Berlin is, for certain, the Bollywood
cinema. Organizers of the Berlinale
were surprised by the popularity
of the screening of the film, “Om Shantı
Om” by Farah Khan and the meeting with
the main star of that movie – Shah Rukh
Khan. For the first time in the history of
the festival, “the black market” officially
began when all tickets for the Bollywood
screenings sold out in a matter of minutes.
Most of the fans were waiting from early
morning to meet with the actors, and what
happened near the Berlinale Palast could
be described in one word – hysterical.
But they were not the only celebrities
that came to Berlin.
During the first week of the festival,
Daniel Day-Lewis and director Paul
Thomas Anderson turned up on the red
carpet in front of the Berlinale Palast.
They were promoting “There Will Be
Blood,” which is in the main competition
section. Actresses such as Diane Kruger
(member of the international jury), Tilda
Swinton, Goldie Hawn and Penelope
Cruz dominated opening night.
Until Feb. 17, the Platz will be shining
bright with celebrities.
Live upscale
in Krakow!
Award-winning Penderecki
record simply compelling
Soren A. Gauger
Staff Journalist
Back in 1969, when Penderecki
was still in his “avant-garde phase,”
he had this to say: “The general
principle at the root of a work’s musical
style, the logic and economy
of development, and the integrity
of a musical experience embodied
in the notes the composer is setting
down on paper, never changes.
The idea of good music means
today exactly what it meant always.
Music should speak for itself, going
straight to the heart and mind of the
listener.”
Coming from a composer who
had virtually abandoned conventional
musical notation, preferring
at times (e.g. 1961’s Threnody for
the Victims of Hiroshima) black
bands of “clusters” or wavy lines,
who seemed driven to stretch the
instruments until they more resembled
plummeting airplanes than instruments
of any sort, this statement
might seem a bit peculiar.
When I heard Penderecki’s
Violin Concerto for the first time
twelve years ago, I recall struggling
to fit it into any musical context
whatsoever.
But in the year 2008 the greatest
surprise in listening to the Midemaward
winning edition of Capriccio
(1967), De Natura Sonoris II (1971)
and the “Resurrection” Piano Concerto
(2001/2002) is how much of
this music
one recognizes,
and
has to some
extent been
assimilated
The idea of good music
means today exactly what
it meant always. Music
should speak for itself, going
straight to the heart...
into the
musical vocabulary
a
listener brings to a record.
The most impressive piece here
is undoubtedly the opening Capriccio
with stunning violin work by
Patrycja Piekutowska (her work in
the collection of Penderecki’s violin/piano
chamber music, also put
out by DUX, is another highlight
of the current “special edition” of
Penderecki’s work).
This is clearly a case of an award
well chosen – I cannot recall another
DUX release in which both the
soloist and the orchestra play with
such passion.
Particularly in this first piece,
there is an imperative quality to every
phrase. The liner notes speak of
the solo part as a “mockery of the
classical cadenza,” however, and
here I cannot agree; even in his
avant-garde phase, as the quote at
the top of the
page would
seem to suggest,
Penderecki
seldom strikes
my ear as being
ironic vis à vis
tradition.
The “cadenza”
in question resonates emotionally
in a way that goes far beyond
mockery, though it does carry the
weight of historical trauma. Detractors
have sometimes accused
Penderecki of calling added attention
to his music through the use
of dramatic titles, linking his works
to major historical tragedies (Auschwitz,
Hiroshima).
The “Resurrection” Piano Concerto’s
title was given in tribute
to the events of Sept. 11, 2001 in
America, where it was to have its
premiere. The work was commissioned
before the <strong>attack</strong> in New
York; Penderecki changed the lighthearted
Capriccio he was preparing
into something more serious in
nature.
I have not been troubled by his
“tributes” in the past, but here it
seems he stumbles at times in trying
to express the gravity of his material.
Near the end things become
positively anthemic, church bells
start ringing, and the phoenix comes
flying up out of the ashes, as it were.
All this has a certain logic, given
that it was written for the birthplace
of the “happy ending.” But there is
a tone of falsity – or at least a forced
quality – that is seldom found in
Penderecki’s work.
Having said the above, the orchestra
and soloist (Beata Bilinska
is on piano) are again top-notch,
and the opening of the piece has
some wonderful – and surprisingly
melodic – passages.
The piano concerto is a difficult
genre, which the best of composers
have struggled against and lost.
All things considered, the work is a
qualified success.
Advertorial
To many, Krakow may seem as one of the
most beautiful cities in Europe. And besides
the great number of historic landmarks, it
would take just a short walk through the
narrow streets of the Old Town, to positively
verify this claim. But how about the
inside spaces, where one would live? How
about the apartments that are the souls
of these beautiful townhouses you see all
around? Would they comfort your imagination
as the surroundings do, or perhaps
leave with some dissonance?
Well, the answers to these questions may
vary, but what we have found is that those
exceptions, while they do exist, are just a
few. The other problem is that they are very
rarely introduced to the market, and since
the market for such is pretty narrow (they
are priced for what they are) – even fewer
get to know them.
Therefore, it is with a great pleasure to
present to you this special property, being
introduced to the market for the very first
time, and representing without a doubt the
most unique proposal, targeting the most
selective clients who seek for themselves
something unmatched, one of the kind, and
prestigious. So, relax and imagine…
Imagine a sprawling interior, custom designed
to suit your needs as a comfortable
escape, yet carefully harmonized with the
outside world according to the ancient art
of Feng Shui.
Imagine a space infused with light, entering
from the four ends of the world and
creating a unique atmosphere – day or
night.
Think of the architecture with vision;
brave yet functional, beautifully merging
traditional with modern, experiencing the
whole picture through the nature of the
details.
Feel connected with your surroundings.
Enjoy this brief moment spent in your
Home. Welcome to Boguslawskiego 7!
The apartment is located on the top,
third floor of the gut renovated, landmark
townhouse from the end of 19th Century.
Situated on a beautiful street just off of the
outer rim of the Planty Park, it represents
a wonderful base to explore all of so many
attractions of the Magical City of Krakow.
For more comfortable access, the current
owner has arranged for a modern, private
elevator.
The entire interior has been custom designed
by an architect and interior decorator,
with the main idea of leaving the most
of the space open. Therefore, besides a clear
division of day and night zones, a number
of spaces interact with each other in a harmonized,
functional way: a sprawling living
room is connected with an impressive,
open dining space, leading further to an
open kitchen which is nicely hidden behind
the counter; a dining space that naturally
flows into the sitting area, connected with
a home office space and the rest of the day
zone area.
Then, custom designed sliding doors
made of exotic wood and frosted glass,
opens into the night zone area, that includes
two generous sized bedrooms, a separate
wardrobe, and an impressive master bathroom,
also nicely divided by independent
and functional zones. In the main entrance
hallway, there is also a separate space to
greet your guests and an original powder
room, which by itself could be an inspiration
for a separate essay in some architectural
magazine.
All the finishes used in the apartment
are of the highest world quality: starting
from the exotic, Brazilian hardwood flooring,
to imported stone and terracotta. From
custom thermopane windows, to high end
stainless steel kitchen appliances. Intricate
custom cabinetry, custom bathrooms,
heated ceramic floors, 240 and 110 Volt
electrical systems, designated HVAC, security
and audio-video systems grace this
opulent space.
In addition to the above, one should note
that the western wall of the apartment is almost
entirely made of an impressive floorto-ceiling
window, opening beautifully to
the 30 square meter terrace, from which
one can observe a lovely panorama of the
old Krakow where several majestic towers
and landmark churches; including the Mariacki
Church and the Saint Peter and Paul
Church, grace the lovely terrain.
In the summer, by opening those windows
and placing some outdoor furniture
onto the terrace, it becomes an integral
part of the apartment, inviting all to spend
as much time there as possible…
There is much more we could say, but
nothing would give you a better picture
than seeing this exceptional residence for
yourself. And the time could not be better,
for the property is currently listed on market
for sale.
Also, no later but this Friday, Feb. 15,
from 14:00 to 17:00, there will be the very
first public Open House hosted there! Your
kind RSVP is welcome, and the registration
form plus some more information can be
found on the following web site:
http://boguslawskiego7.abartestate.com
So register today and stop by on Friday,
to verify if we were right!
More info in English at: 1-212-699-0947;
in Polish: 012-426-1495
By: Agnieszka & Blazej Cichy, © 2008,
ABART ESTATE, LLC

FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20 K R A K O W
The Krakow Post 13
Art exhibit in launches in apartment block
Iwona Bojarczuk
Staff Journalist
Krakow’s blocks of flats may startle
passer-bys when they become artistic
backdrops. Project “Huge slab – Great
art” is a new idea which city authorities
have developed to promote Krakow. It
will be a gigantic gallery of modern art for
which the exterior walls of the apartments
will be exhibition space.
“This project will create probably the
biggest-in-the-world gallery of modern
art,” said Mateusz Zmyslony, chairman
of the advertising agency Eskadra Market
Place. “It will be the biggest because it is
measured by the square meters of surface
of gigantic buildings. We are going to
change city tissue where it is the ugliest.”
Eskadra Market Place is the originator
of the project and prepared a new strategy
of Krakow promotion for 2008-2012.
Zmyslony adds that the art display idea
has been accepted by the mayor of Krakow.
Action on the art project probably
will begin this year. Several well-known
artists are going to be invited to take
part in the paintings, but we still do not
know which individuals exactly. The goal
is to make the blocks of flats more human-friendly
by painting them in warm
colors.
The Krakow National Museum has
joined the public art movement by creating
a project called “Through streets to
art.” The museum will remind citizens of
the artists whose names have been given
to streets.
To start the museum project, one of the
biggest districts of flats – Azory – was
chosen.
The block of apartments is on ul. Maria
Jarema. Jarema was one of the greatest
Polish avant-garde artists. November will
mark the <strong>100</strong>th anniversary of her birth
and the 50th of her death.
Few residents on Jarema Street know
who she was, says Agata Malodobry of
the National Museum. That is why Malodobry
started the art project. The biggest
and gloomiest wall on the block will
display a reproduction of Jarema’s 1956
painting entitled “Penetracje” (the original
is exhibited at the National Museum).
Residents of the block of flats will be
given brochures containing a biography
Jarema, reproductions of the artist and
tickets for the exhibition of Jarema works
in the Gallery of Polish Art of the 20th
Century.
“Through streets to art” will cover the
entire city and cost up to 30,000 zloty. All
of the streets named for artists will have
paintings.
The idea of using building walls for
paintings is not new in Krakow. One
project involved a building on Mazowiecka
Street built in 1959. The wall was
divided into frames painted pastel colors.
The building’s art resembles the works of
famous Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, and
when looking at it, we may think that the
building is smiling at us.
Thanks to such actions, blocks of flats
can become icons of modern art. And the
apartment art can enable block dwellers to
get rid of the soulless mask of the Communist
period and gain the attention of
cc:sa:Frozenfish
Int’l Ferret Exhibit 2008 to open in Krakow
Magdalena Lyko
Staff Journalist
Those who know little about ferrets
got a treat – and an education
– in Krakow last week.
The Second International Ferret
Exhibition included ferret beauty
contests. It also included tests of athleticism
and agility, such as eating
eggs, drinking milk, holding a kiss
the longest, standing on two feet the
longest, racing other ferrets through
a tunnel and conquering barriers in a
steeplechase-type race.
The exhibition, organized by the
Krakow-based <strong>As</strong>sociation of Polish
Ferret Breeders, was at the PTS
Soko Hall at ul. Pisudskiego 27 on
Feb. 9.
Although ferrets are becoming
more popular in Poland, many
Poles know little about them. Some
are startled when they see an owner
walking with an animal on a leash
in park. Ferrets are cute, so some
people want to buy one for their
children, as they would a rabbit or
hamster. But ferrets are meat-eating
predators so making a pet out of one
requires some special knowledge
and understanding.
They also have a musky smell
that some people can’t stand.
For all these reasons ferret breeders
are trying to educate people about
what nice pets the animals can be,
but also the challenges they pose.
Ferret owners also want to meet
to talk with each other. Organizing
a ferret exhibition is a way both to
educate non-ferret owners and to
give owners a chance to trade information
about the animals.
Those who brought ferrets to the
exhibition were from all over Poland
and from such other countries as
Hungary and the Czech Republic.
In addition to the ferret athletic
events, there was an interesting photo
contest. Photos of ferrets could
be entered in one of two formats
– prints or on slides that could be
shown on a screen.
But the main attraction was the
ferret beauty contests. The categories
included juniors, adults, neutered
and senior.
The jurors for the beauty contests
included Professor Anna Szeleszczuk
of Poland, Dr Piotr Borsuk of
Poland, Beverly Redden of England,
Keith David Redden of England and
Przemyslaw Baran of Poland.
The jurors examined each ferret
very thoroughly, as jurors in purebreed
dog shows do. In situations
where two ferrets both had outstanding
qualities, the jurors looked at
each twice.
Dr. Piotr Borsuk of the <strong>As</strong>sociation
of Polish Ferret Breeders gave a
lecture during the exhibition on how
to breed ferrets.
Those attending the exhibition
could buy food, treats and accessories
for their ferrets. Three of
the companies selling the products
– Ferplast, Bosch and Bungo, the
owner of the web site www.fretki.
com – sponsored the awards that
owners got for the various contests.
All ferrets that won a contest got
a certificate and something good to
eat. Beauty contest winners also got
medals.
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krakowpost.com

14 The Krakow Post
j o i e d e v i v r e
FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
Cafe Botanica: A green city center break
Krzysztof Skonieczny
Staff Journalist
This time of year – when
the exhilaration brought by
the New Year wears off, and
the hope promised by the
early spring seems still too far
away – can be difficult. One
finds oneself looking out the
window into the ever-gray surroundings
just a bit too often.
Both the body and the soul
seem to demand a break.
What first comes to mind
is a refreshing week in some
tropical, sunny resort, with
no issues other than whether
to tan or take a plunge in the
sea. Unfortunately, most of us
are not able, because of time
or money, to take such excursions,
and the biggest break we
can hope for is the short one
for coffee. If that is the case,
it is worthwhile making the
most of our brief refreshment
breaks.
Among the many cafes in
Krakow, some are better than
others, and one of the most
interesting ones is certainly
Botanica Cafe on ul. Bracka 9.
The place welcomes its guests
with a giant tree-shaped metal
sculpture, neatly harmonized
with the counter. Green is the
dominating color of the interior,
and the fauna theme appears
here and there in pictures, furniture
design, and plants.
Some may argue that the
extensive use of metal in the
tables, chairs, lamps and sculptures
may give the cafe a cold
appearance.
But the atmosphere is much
warmer and happier inside
than out, and the green color is
rather lively and soothing.
The hubbub of the voices in
the usually crowded cafe does
not scare you away; it encourages
you to get next to the diners
at the small tables and share
in the conversations. Among
the usual visitors are people of
various ages and traits, with a
slight majority being students,
both Polish and foreign, young
people and tourists.
The menu includes a variety
of coffees (from 5.5 zloty up)
and teas (4-7 zloty), which can
be accompanied by a piece of
cake or pie. If one has more
time, or decides to turn the
coffee break into a lunch, it
is possible to order something
more substantial, such as the
“podplomyk” toast (a Botanica
specialty made from traditional
Old Polish bread) or a variety
of tarts (9-11 zloty).
The lunch dishes are quite
highly rated, as the tarts have
been called “the best in Krakow”
by one newspaper, and
the menu states that the cafe
has sold more than 95.000
pieces of “podplomyk” toast
since 1997.
This February is a big
month for Botanica, with the
cafe adding a big new room,
with a mezzanine and lower
murals. The staff says this will
make Botanica the biggest cafe
in the city.
So whether you are looking
for a pleasant coffee break, a
tasty lunch, or just a moment of
relaxation during a day of busy
sightseeing, Cafe Botanica is
certainly worth a visit.
Botanica is on ul. Bracka 9,
a 3-minute walk from the Main
Square. For additional information,
including the menu,
visit www.cafebotanica.pl.
An immigrant’s thoughts on returning to Krakow
John Marshall
Staff Journalist
Beneath a full, crisp, Polish
moon, I stepped onto the
airport tarmac, glad to be back
home, in Krakow. A moment
later, the shuttle bus was whisking
me efficiently the thirty or
so meters from the aircraft to
Customs. Although welcome,
I always think this 15-second
hop quite unnecessary. Is it a
piece of classic British health &
safety stowed away to Poland
via an Extraordinary Rendition
flight, a nod to a full-employment
Communist past or, and
this I suspect, a simple act of
kindness to us, the weary travelers?
Either way, it is infinitely
preferable to the 15-minute slog
through the Essex countryside
when arriving at London
Stansted.
Owing to my somewhat
old-fashioned and probably
reactionary English attitude to
standards of public behaviour,
I have, for as long as I can
remember, always adopted a
sedate, almost langorous, pace
when joining a queue, considering
any unseemly jostling or
scrambling for position to be
rather barbaric, certainly not
‘British’. However, I’ve been
an expat for over two years
now and, hopping quickly first
off the bus, I found myself the
first to stand before the guard
at passport control, looking
just over his shoulder with a
carefully-constructed mix of
innocence (me, a terrorist?) and
affected boredom in an effort
to convince him I feel just the
same as he does and the sooner
he lets me back onto Polish soil,
the sooner both he and I can
go home. He appears not to
notice my subliminal attempt
at camaraderie and merely
slides my passport back to me,
his gaze already transferred to
the babcia behind me, who is
already digging her passport
into my back, in mute defiance
of both regulations and what
was once-upon-a-time known as
‘personal space’.
On the bus, I’m immersed,
cocoon-like, into blissful ignorance
as the still largely-unfamiliar
Polish language begins to
bubble all around me. I’m tired
of being shouted at from invisible
speakers to buy Ryanair
scratchcards and to choose
from the exclusive range of
in-flight purchases. Now, as the
familiar houses and blocks slip
past in the night, I relax, safe
in the knowledge that whatever
inanities and profanities are being
muttered, most of them will
slip harmlessly by.
I close my flat door behind
me, disconnect myself from my
rucksack (na koncu!) and, as
my granny advises, try to ‘feel
how I feel’. It, in fact, feels
good to be back in Krakow.
And I like my flat. A little cold
now, but a small adjustment
to the brown ceramic sentinel
standing guard in the corner
will soon sort that. I switch on
the kettle and fire up some BBC
radio comedy on the laptop.
Windows XP appears rudely
disturbed by my presence. It
yawns, rubs the sleep out of its
eyes and staggers slowly out of
hibernation.
Under the streetlight outside,
an alcoholic shakily proffers his
mate a cigarette and receives, in
exchange, a swig of something
nameless and purple from a
clear glass bottle. I wonder,
once again, just how many
broken, middle-aged alcoholic
men there are in Krakow. Tens
of thousands? Maybe. For
every one on the street, you can
bet there are another ten creeping
about in dosshouses and
soon-to-be redeveloped attics
and basements. Where do these
poor souls go when they get
their marching orders? Where
now, for example, are all those
dangerous individuals who,
we hear, made it impossible to
walk safely through Kazimierz
before the fall of Communism
began to reunite kamienicas
with long-forgotten landlords?
Because of the passage
of time, and the passing of
both generations and title
deeds, some of these nouveau
landlords, of course, have little
connection to the city and have
probably never even set foot
here. Strangers from afar
remoulding the country and its
economy. I’m an immigrant
myself, of course. Sounds
strange, doesn’t it? Me, an
Englishman, an immigrant.
‘Funny how we all prefer the
term ‘expat’, when the name
we give to the rest of the world
is immigrant. Is it because
many of us “expats” consider
ourselves only temporary Krakowians,
ready to skip off to the
next country in a year or two or
is it that the word ‘immigrant’
suggests a search for money and
material gain while we are, in
contrast, so wonderful, talented
and comparatively affluent that
‘expat’ is so much more appropriate:
empowered, assured,
cosmopolitan, safe?
If the truth be told, I am
three things in one: expat,
immigrant and asylum-seeker.
Firstly, I am an expat, by which
I mean that I am an educated
Westerner who is blessed with
opportunity and choice. Imagine,
as a native English-speaker
and teacher with money in my
pocket, I can actually choose
just about any country in the
world to live in! Like most
expats, I am fairly affluent by
Polish standards. Also, I am
able to skim along the surface
of everyday Polish life without
getting bogged down in
details. It’s easy to be invisible
in Poland. It’s easy not to pay
taxes (or so I hear). It’s easy
not to understand the language
and remain aloof from day-today
life. There is, to use Milan
Kundera’s phrase, a ‘lightness
of being’ in being an expat.
But if immigration is about
seeking a better standard of
living, then I am also an immigrant
as well as an expat.
Currently, I am in the process
of buying a flat in Krakow and
have also begun working for a
company that never, never pays
cash.
After two years, I have this
week officially become a resident,
I have a tax number and I
shortly intend to start my own
business. Why this sudden loss
of social invisibility? Money. I
want more of it and I want it
here, in Poland, where I don’t
have to work as hard as I would
in England, just like any other
immigrant.
Oh, yes, I said I was an asylum-seeker,
too. OK, maybe not
in the real sense of the term but,
come on, have you seen your
country lately? Americans love
America and I sure love England,
but, to misquote Shakespeare,
I fear that England has
become quote a country afraid
to know itself unquote. I am
happy to be back in Poland.
Sure, Krakow’s not all Rynek
Glowny and beautiful Planty:
outside the old city dogshit,
graffiti and alcoholics assault
the eye at every turn while the
city and its people struggle
to find a sense of self and of
pride after generations, if not
centuries, of humiliation and
subjugation to foreign powers.
But at least Poland is moving,
slowly and painfully, in the
right direction, not squandering
its inheritance, afraid of its
own shadow like England. I
am here seeking asylum, not
from oppression or tyranny, but
from cultural ignorance, mental
slavery and moral and political
cowardice.
Now of course Eastern
Europe (like much of the world)
is seeking to emulate the west
in so many ways: its embrace
of free-market economics and
the attendant fracturing of
once-supportive communities,
for example. Poland is not a
paradise and I am very glad I
don’t understand the moronic
television news or the foulmouthed
teenager standing next
to me on the tram. But I am
lucky: in England, it would be
nigh-impossible to escape such
things. Here, I am an expat, an
immigrant and an asylum-seeker,
and am thus largely able to
cherry-pick from Krakow and
Poland only those experiences
and realities I wish to.
One thing that definitely is
“expat” and not ‘immigrant’ or
“asylum-seeker” is that sense
of difference, the feeling of
otherness that we all enjoy so
much. I suspect that, for many
of us, besides the wanderlust
and sense of cultural inquiry
that first sent us from our
shores, there is also a desire to
be a little out of focus, just a
bit off the radar in a way that
we could never be back home.
We enjoy being the foreigner,
the one looking in instead of
out. <strong>As</strong> we wonder, marvel,
gripe and groan about our new
surroundings, we sometimes
also stop and learn things about
ourselves and those around us:
things we’d never notice in our
own cultures. And that’s worth
a hell of a lot of dogshit!
John Marshall

FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 20
C L A S S I F I E D S
The Krakow Post
BUILDING & REPAIR
BOOKS
ANGLO-POLISH EXPERT BUILDERS
Specialists in Interior Renovations. Quality,
Efficiency and Reliability. In Poland and
Across Europe. References Available.
Please Call: +48 608-849-189
WOODEN HOMES
Companies wanted who can built wooden
houses in Western Europe. pas@fruitier.nl
MEDICAL SERVICES
Medical Service for Foreigners
+48 609-201-372. Since 1990.
GUITAR CATERING
Are you looking for classical guitar music
for your restaurant or gathering. Spanish,
Argentinian and Italian classical music.
guitarcatering@gmail.com
EDITING SERVICES
Need help editing your English-language
texts? Write: media.editing@gmail.com
PRIVATE LESSONS
Lessons in English with native speakers
– journalists. Improve your conversation
skills and grammar through reading, analyzing
and discussing interesting articles.
Decent rates. jerrybarrows@yahoo.com
Learn Russian from native speaker in Krakow.
susanna202001@yahoo.com
NETWORKING
A Dutch businessman is looking to meet
fellow countrymen based in Krakow and
the region for networking, chatting and
generally being cheap together. Write:
namhctud.gniylf.eht@gmail.com
Looking for Russian speakers to hang out,
talk, have a good time. Please write me at:
jamisonmarshall@gmail.com
Searching for lonely depressed people
who are questioning the meaning of life.
yourfavoriteunclebob@gmail.com
Taxis
Barbakan
ul. Ks. St. Truszkowskiego 52
(0) 12 683-3599
eMail:
biuro@barbakan.krakow.pl
www.taxi.barbakan.krakow.pl
Tele-Taxi
ul. Dzielskiego 2
Toll Free!
(0) 800 500-500
Tel.: (0) 12 413-9696
(0) 501-449-626
9626@tele-taxi.krakow.pl
krakowpost.com
Looking for books of Betrand Russell in
English. anaksymander@wp.pl
I want to find any and all books printed by
Soviet and pre-Soviet Russian publishing
houses, or even old samizdat. I am also
looking for Soviet newspapers and
magazines of sorts and genres.
krichlvivpublications@yahoo.com
INVESTORS
Looking for individuals interested in investing
in a growing and successful business in
Poland. Please write: alec_news@mail.ru
CATERING
Interested in trying homemade Russian
pelmeni or Armenian pierogi? Top Russian
chef offers great quality for low prices.
Write: russianchef@gmail.com
Looking for
individuals
interested in
investing in a
growing
successful
media
business
in Poland.
Write:
alec_news@mail.ru
Companies &
Business Centers
British-Polish
Chamber of Commerce
British Petroleum Polska
ul. Jasnogorska 1
Buma Square
Office Building
ul. Wadowicka 6
Energoprojekt-
Krakow SA
ul. Mazowiecka 21
Euromarket
Office Center
ul. Jasnogorska 1
IBM BTO
ul. Armii Krajowej 18
International
Paper Polska
ul. Lubicz 23
Krakow Tech Park
Lubicz Office Building
ul. Lubicz 23
Symposium Cracoviense
ul. Krupnicza 3
Universities & Schools
Accent Language school
ul. Libelska 4
British International
School of Krakow
ul. Smolensk 25
Center for
International Studies
Tischner European
University
ul.Westerplatte 11
Gzegrzolka
ul. sw. Tomasza 1
Maly Rynek
Language School
Maly Rynek 3
Open Mind
ul. Bracka 1a/1
Pedagogical University
of Krakow
ul. Karmelicka 41
Politechnika
Krakowska
1. International Training
Center “Czyzyny”
2. Centrum “Sokrates”
Jagiellonian University:
1. Campus
2. Administration
Building
3. Dom Goscinny
“Przegorzaly”
4. Institute of European
Studies
5. Students Hostel
Jagiellonian University
Instytut Amerykanistyki i
Studiow Polonijnych
Rynek Glowny 34
AGH
Technical University
al. Mickiewicza 30
University of Economics
ul. Rakowiecka 27
Consulates
American Consulate
ul. Stolarska 9
Austrian Consulate
ul. Krupnicza 42
German Consulate
ul. Stolarska 7
Hon. British Consulate
ul. sw. Anny
Hon. Norwegian
Consulate
ul. Mazowiecka 25
Airlines & Travel
British Airways
Brussels Airlines
El Al Airlines
Krakow Airport
LOT Airlines
Lufthansa Airlines
Seekrakow
ul. Florianska 6
Bars & Restaurants
Any Time Sandwich Bar
ul. Estery 16
Aqua e Vino
ul. Wislna 5/10
Arka Noego
ul. Szeroka 2
Art Club Cieplarnia
ul. Bracka 15
Bagel Mama
ul. Podbrzezie 2
Baraka
pl. Nowy 7
Bohemia
ul. Golebia 2
Boogie Cafe
ul. Szpitalna 9
Budda Bar
Rynek Glowny 6
Bull Pub
ul. Mikolajska 2
Cafe Camelot
ul. Tomasza 17
Cafe Golebia 3
ul. Golebia 3
Cafe Manekin
ul. sw. Tomasza 25
Cafe Philo
ul. sw. Tomasza 30
Cafe Sukiennice
Rynek Glowny 1/3
Cafe Zakatek
ul. Grodzka 2
Coffeina Internet Cafe
Rynek Glowny 23/3
Camera Cafe
ul. Wislna 5
Casa della Pizza
Maly Rynek 2
Club Clu
ul. Szeroka 10
Club Pod Jaszczurami
Rynek Glowny 8
CK Browar Pub
ul. Podwale 6/7
Czekolada
ul. Bracka 4
Del Papa Ristorante
ul. sw. Tomasza 6
Dom Podroznika
ul. Koletek 7
Drink Bar “Vis a Vis”
Rynek Glowny 29
Dynia
ul. Krupnicza 20
Faust Klub
Rynek Glowny 6
Globetroter
pl. Szczepanski 7/15
Grill 15/16
Rynek Glowny 16
Herbaciarnia
ul. Golebia 1
Internet Cafe 24/7
Rynek Glowny 23
Ipanema
ul. Tomasza 28
Irish Arms Pub
ul. Poselska 18
Irish Mbassy
ul. Stolarska 3
Karczma
“Podworko Maryny”
Rynek Glowny 9
Klub Internetowy Planet
Rynek Glowny 24
Lemonday
pl. Na Groblach 22
Le Scandale
pl. Nowy 9
Les Couleurs
ul. Estery 10
M Club
ul. Tomasza 11a
Massolit Books & Cafe
ul. Felicjanek 4/2
Mechanoff
ul. Estery 8
Metropolitan
ul. Slawkowska 3
Mleczarnia
ul. Meiselsa 20
Moliere Cafe
ul. Szewska 4
Nandu Internet Cafe
ul. Wislna 6
Nic Nowego
ul. Krzyza 15
Nikita Bar
ul. Slawkowska 26
Nowa Prowincja
ul. Bracka 3
Nowy Kuzyn
Maly Rynek 4
Pod Sloncem
Rynek Glowny 43
Property Krakow
ul. Cybulskiego 2
Prowincja
ul. Bracka 3/5
Punkt
ul. Slawkowska 24
Re
ul. Krzyza 4
Ross Amores Cafe
Rynek Glowny 15
Restauracja
Pod Krzyzykiem
Rynek Glowny 39
Ristorante Da Pietro
Rynek Glowny 17
Sakana
ul. Slawkowska 5-7
Siesta Cafe
ul. Stolarska 6
Square Pub
ul. Grodzka 51
Srodziemie
pl. Wszystkich Sw. 8
Szara Kamienica
Rynek Glowny 6
Szara na Kazimierzu
ul. Szeroka 39
Tajemniczy Ogrod
ul. Bratska 3/5
TramBar
ul. Stolarska 11
Tribeca Coffee
Rynek Glowny 27
Trzy BIS
ul. Krowoderska 70
Vesuvio
ul. Florianska 38
Wedel Pijalnia
Czekolady
Rynek Glowny 46
Wentzl Restaurant Rynek
Glowny 19
Wierzynek Restaurant
Rynek Glowny 15
Wodka Bar
ul. Mikolajska
Zblizenia
pl. Nowy 8
Hotels, Hostels &
Guest Rooms
Abella Guest Rooms
ul. Dluga 48
Affinity Flats
ul. Karmelicka 7
ARS Hostel
ul. Koletek 7
Atlantis Hostel
ul. Dietla 58
Blue Bells Apartments
ul. Starowislna 22
Campanile
ul. sw. Tomasza 34
City Hostel
ul. Krzyza 21
Deco Hostel
ul. Mazowiecka 3a
Dizzy Daisy Hostels
ul. Pedzichow 9
Express Holiday Inn
ul. Opolska 14
Flamingo Hostel
ul. Szewska 4
Good Bye Lenin Hostel ul.
B. Joselewicza 23
Grand Hotel
ul. Slawkowska 5/ 7
Holiday Inn
ul. Wielopole 4
Hotel Amadeus
ul. Mikolajska 20
Hotel Copernicus
ul. Kanonicza 16
Hotel Eden
ul. Ciemna 15
Hotel Major
ul. Gdynska 6
Hotel Pod Roza
ul. Florianska 14
Hotel Pod Wawelem
pl. na Groblach 22
Hotel Senacki
ul. Grodzka 51
Hotel Stary
ul. Szczepanska 5
Hotel Wentzl
Rynek Glowny 19
Hotel PTTK Wyspianski
ul. Westerplatte 15
Ibis Krakow Centrum
ul. Syrokomli 2
Momotown Hostel
ul. Miodowa 28
Novotel Krakow
Bronowice
al. Armii Krajowej 11
Novotel Krakow Centrum
ul. T. Kosciuszki 5
Orbis Cracovia
al. F. Focha 1
Orbis Francuski
ul. Pijarska 13
Radisson SAS
ul. Straszewskiego 17
Red Brick Apartments
ul. Kurniki 3
Sheraton
ul. Powisle 7
Tournet Guest Rooms
ul. Miodowa 7
Trzy Kafki
al. Slowackiego 29
Trzy Kafki Premium
ul. Dolnych Mlynow 9
Zodiakus Hostel
ul. Augustianska 4
Katowice\
Novotel Katowice
Centrum
al. Roździenskiego 16,
Katowice
Night Club 37
37 Mogilska St.
Tel.: (0) 12 411-7441
Cell: (0) 506-698-745
Krakow’s top
night club offers the most
beautiful escorts in town.
In-house and outcall.
Professionalism and
safety guaranteed.
Open:
Mon-Sat: 11:00-06:00
Sun: 20:00-06:00
Discounts on drinks with this ad. Credit
cards accepted.
krakow
post.
com
Nicolaas Hoff, Publisher
Marshall Comins, Publisher
Wojciech Zaluski, Editor-In-Chief
In cooperation with:
Hal Foster, Editor
Don Summerside, Editor
Jim Patten, Editor
Randy Renegar, Editor
Aaron Wise, Editor
Nicole R. Miller, Editor
Soren A. Gauger, Journalist
Danuta Filipowicz, Journalist
Grazyna Zawada, Journalist
Anna Biernat, Journalist
Adelina Krupski, Journalist
Alicja Natkaniec, Journalist
Justyna Krzywicka, Journalist
Krzysztof Skonieczny, Journalist
Michal Wojtas, Journalist
T O O U R R E A D E R S
CALL TO
ADVERTISE:
Andrzej Kowalski,
Marketing Manager
+48 (0) 798-683-160
The Krakow Post welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and
bear the signatory’s address and telephone number. Letters should be sent by eMail to: editor@krakowpost.com,
or by post. The Krakow Post reserves the right to edit letters.
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