Following up PiS in Poland is a constant chain of being shocked with what they do, saying that this is unbelievable, briefly being unable to imagine how anyone could go a step further and then watching with disbelief as they go three steps further. I had yet another of such moments this week when I […]
Essay
Is Poland at the verge of becoming a fascist state?
I know that after over 125 pieces of my series “Meanwhile in Cuckooland”some people might be bored with all that Polish kerfuffle. Those who still follow the series might see me and my warning about fascist/authoritarian tendencies of the Polish government as that boy who cries “wolf”, as I constantly cry how Polish democracy is in […]
On relations between Poles and Jews
The topic of Polish-Jewish relations recently often draws international attention. Depending of who’s talking, we can hear about Polish anti-Semitism, Jewish anti-Polonism and attempts to rewrite history coming from everywhere. Infamous Polish law penalising attribution of Nazi crimes to Poles was met with the outrage after it was portrayed by Jewish communities as yet another […]
Can Scotland learn something from Slovakia?
Everyone has those few memories from childhood that stick out. One of mines is the day, when I was about 12 years old and for the first time become witness to serious discussion on the topic of foreign politics. My distant uncle, a prominent Slovakian politician, visited Poland somewhere in 1992. The adults – my […]
How propaganda works
Frankly speaking, I face a dilemma here: should I tackle this rubbish on, generating more visits to the right wing propaganda sites, or should I ignore it? I’ve decided, that from time to time I will do some little debunking of the right wing rubbish. Of course I am not that naive to think, that […]
Kaczyński’s Golem
I need to take break from my “Meanwhile in Cuckooland” series, as the matter in question is not funny. Jarosław Kaczyński rise to power was build on fuelling xenophobic moods in the society and flirting with extreme right. My first ever piece for Britske Listy was pointing out this very problem. Today, actions of PiS […]
Poland – a divided country
The construction of the alternative universe of PiS, that I described few years back in my first article for Britske Listy (English version here), was an overwhelming success. This system of interlocking conspiracy theories and alternative version of history appeals to many Poles, who believe in it. And “believe” is the right word here, as similarities […]
Polish media under fire. A great transformation, or a standard changing of the guard?
The overall transformation from public to national media seems to be an indispensable part of PiS’ “conservative revolution”. But Europe looks with worry upon the new Polish government’s introducing new laws, purging the public media and attempting to smother criticism. Changes have never been conducted with such great momentum, on such a scale and with […]
The mutiny of the lemmings
In last month’s parliamentary elections in Poland, the right-wing Law and Justice Party won a clear majority. With the opposition abated, they are now setting their sights on rewriting the constitution and dramatically changing the Polish political system. But will they succeed? When V4Revue asked me to write about the outcome of the Polish Parliamentary […]
Tens of thousands of people protested on the streets in Poland. What is their anger about?
Poles voted Prawo i Sprawiedliwość to power as they believed in their promises of delivering “higher quality of democracy”. But for last month Kaczyński and his party did exactly the opposite. Recent attempts to take over the state institution made Poles really angry. According to different sources, 50 000 to 70 000 people took the […]