Scouting is great. This is the best adventure that young man can have. One can learn how to be resourceful, how to be responsible for oneself and others and how to cooperate. But – perhaps most importantly – this is where friendships for life are born. My generation already has kids in scouting age and as during every summer […]
Poland
Is fuelling hate in Poland PiS’s way to toughen its power?
The situation that had place in Warsaw is really a sad illustration of the current anti-migrants tensions in Poland. On the huge district heating pipe a mural (or rather “rural” – from Polish rura – pipe) was painted. It depicted kids of all nations and races holding hands. Soon the painting became a target of […]
Why I stopped writing about Polish politics for a while
One of my readers e-mailed me with question why I am not writing about Polish politics for Britske listy any more. He said that there is so much going on in Poland and that the coverage in Czech media is pretty chaotic. The fact is that I gave up covering this events not only on […]
Invisible Poles: How the Polish community in Scotland is changing
After the first huge wave of arrivals from Poland in 2004, Eastern Europeans never really stopped coming to the UK. The Polish language nowadays can be heard everywhere from the Isles of Scilly to the Outer Hebrides. It makes Nigel Farage very uncomfortable during his daily commute. I have to say I do understand […]
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 […]
20 miles to heaven
Mariusz “Pudzian” Pudzianowski, a former strongman champion and MMA fighter owns a transport company. Annoyed by the situation in which migrants in Calais try get past that last 20 miles that separate them from Great Britain by breaking into the lorries and by the fact that hauliers are left to face the consequences (including a hefty fines […]
The noise of PiS’ barrel organs
“Poles of worst sort”, as Jarosław Kaczyński branded those, who inform foreign media about the situation in the country, have suceeded in their attempts to bring Polish issues to the attention of the rest of Europe. EU institutions are now taking a closer look on Law and Justice (PiS) actions and disrespect to the constitution. […]
Waszczykowski’s method
Internets, in Poland and abroad, are having a good laugh at the expense of the Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who, in his recent interview with German tabloid Bild, stated, that new Polish government is willing to cure Poland from disease of veganism and cyclism. The Minister defends himself by claims, that he had to […]
PiS is crossing the Rubicon
It cannot be stressed enough how extremely significant PiS’ actions are: we are witnessing the most important events in Polish politics since 1989 that might mean a complete rejection of the democratic mechanisms introduced by governments of Tadeusz Mazowiecki and his successors. One has to remember, that the new statute of the parliament is already […]