“They have finally shown what interest they are acting in. Although they write in Polish, they think in Russian,” Law and Justice MP Michał Jach assessed in an interview with Niezalezna.pl. In a dramatic tone, the German portal describes stories of ‘civilians recruited by the military’ and hints at how to change the military category.
“Who are the civilians recruited by the military? Drivers and a parrot breeder – that’s the title of the text on Onet.
The article focuses on civilians who spread their arms upon hearing that they have been called up for a month’s military exercise.
“50 cars are waiting for me at the garage, how am I supposed to go on such a long exercise?”, immediately adding that “my grandmother warned me that I had better not go to the post office for this advice,”
one young man asks an Onet journalist.
Another civilian is a young man, a logistician by profession and a parrot breeder by day. “The military eventually decided that 800 parrots needed constant care. But it is not out of the question – as the breeder heard at the WCR – to repeat the referral in subsequent years. And next time, the bird-related explanation may no longer be enough,” we read.
“[…] many Poles wonder whether military exercises can be avoided, what the different military categories oblige them to do and whether there is a way to change such a category.”
we can read in another text dedicated to military exercises.
The note about “many Poles” is not confirmed by the text itself, but since the authors posed such a dilemma, they also decided to share a remedy. Interestingly, it is a quote from an article on Tomasz Lis’s website – natemat.pl:
"Can a person who has received a military category A change to a lower category? Such a possibility exists. In order to do so, it is necessary to submit an appropriate application to the Military Recruitment Centre and submit a medical certificate showing that our health has deteriorated."
MP Michal Jach, head of the Parliamentary Committee on National Defence, shared a comment on those articles.
“Hands down (…) They (Onet editorial office – ed.) do unimaginable things when it comes to our (Poland – ed.) country’s security. If they question one of the basic provisions of the constitution, I ask: in what interest are they acting? They are obviously strengthening the greatest existential threat to Poland, which is the Russian Federation,”
he says after hearing some of the quotes.
“For me, this is acting in the interests of Russia and Putin. This is something that a Polish journalist, even just with Polish citizenship, should not write. The enemies of Poland are visible. Onet has finally shown what interest they are acting in. Although they write in Polish; they think in Russian,”
he adds.
The editor-in-chief of Gazeta Polska, Tomasz Sakiewicz, also spoke on the matter. Portal’s actions remind him of “images from films about World War I or World War II, when leaflets were distributed to enemy soldiers, calling for surrender, informing them of betrayal, etc.”
“This was how they tried to demobilise the enemy forces. Today, leaflets are not distributed, but the internet is used. The fact that a German portal exhorts people not to defend Poland, not to take part in minimal but necessary actions that can prepare Poland for defence, is an aggressive and hostile action of a foreign state. This is done using the media dominated by foreign capital. This calls for a robust response from all those who are responsible for the security of the state, but also of every citizen,”
Sakiewicz believes.
He also warns that “supporting it, advertising in it, is supporting treason and actions to the detriment of Poland.”
He believes that weakening the Polish army “brings us (Poles – ed.) closer to the moment when Poland itself faces the threat of war.” “Why is Germany putting the security of Poland and NATO at such a monstrous risk?” he asks.
Colonel Miroslaw Bryś, head of the Central Military Recruitment Centre, spoke to the media on Thursday. At the very beginning, he indicated that those who are called up will be those who have taken the military oath and have been assigned of posting. He pointed out that “only a minimum number of people can be called up without training; these are people who have military specialities important to the Polish Armed Forces.”
“The purpose of the exercise will be to familiarise people with new military equipment and refresh habits already possessed by those previously trained,”
he explained.