According to Polish daily „Super Express”, the Polish government is working on a plan to exclude former communist aparatchicks from receiving one additional month’s pension payment each year. This extra pension benefit is one of the Law and Justice government’s proposals to help Polish pensioners with every day expenses. The amount of pension received by retired communist functionaries is usually at the upper level, so it has been decided that they do not need the additional payment.
The 13th pension was supposed to be for all retirees, irrespective of income. Now, as reported by Super Express, the government is considering changes as a result of which the allowance may not be paid to retired judges and prosecutors from the communist era, as well as former officers of the communist security apparatus.
No extra pensions for communist apparatchiks
Poles commemorate the death of Pope John Paul II
April 2nd marked the 14th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. The first Polish pope, was also the first non-Italian pope in 400 years when elected in 1978.
He contributed greatly to the fall of communism in the Soviet block together with US President Ronald Reagan & UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Pope John Paul II was born as Karol Józef Wojtyła on 18 May 1920 and served as the head of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. Apart from the role played in defeating communism behind the Iron Curtain, John Paul II is remembered for his focus on econumism which helped the Catholic Church to improve its relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Church. The Polish Pope held conservative views on the Church’s teachings on matters such as contraception, the ordination of women and abortion. John Paul II was the most travelled Pope in history, having visited 129 countries during his pontificate and is remembered for placing a special emphasis on the well-being of children and young adults. To strenghten the bonds between young Catholics, Pope John Paul II initiated the World Youth Day in 1985, bringing together hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young Catholics in a new place and country every year. By his compatriots, the Polish Pope remains one of the most respected and loved Poles to have ever lived.
A monastery as old as the country
When in Cracow, make sure you do not miss the chance to visit a thousand year old monastery in Tyniec, which has been with us almost since the beginning of Polish statehood.
The Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec was set up in 1044 on a hill by the Vistula river, in a picturesque area no more than fifteen kilometres South-West from Cracow. As it used to be located near the border, it used to serve as a stronghold for centuries. Due to that unfortunate fact, parts of the monastery were teared down and rebuilt numerous times. Between 1618 and 1622, the Gothic church that had been a part of the complex was remodelled in a baroque manner and it retains that shape to this day.
After a couple of havocs more, in 1816, the abbacy in Tyniec was abolished by Austrians, making the monastery a dwelling for the bishop, and a regular church a few years later. Finally, a fire started by a lightning consumed most of the buildings in 1831. Only the church was rebuilt after that. However, in 1939, thanks to the efforts of Belgian Benedictines, monks were reinstantiated to Tyniec after 123 years of absence, in order to rebuild the monastery, which was accomplished by 1947.
In 1968, the abbacy was finally reintroduced and the place has become a lively spiritual and cultural centre once again. Today, you can stay in the guest house, attend workshops in icon writing, calligraphy or literature, join the monks for the Liturgy of the Hours, go on a retreat, find inner peace and tranquility, or just relax. There is a museum, a restaurant, a café, a library, and a shop with various Benedictine products like food and cosmetics. The monks are doing their best to renew the place for its 1000 year jubilee in 2044, so new things spring up all the time. There are also many cycling and walking paths around the hill and the view are truly breathtaking. The monastery is open for everyone: pilgrims wishing to draw on the Benedictine spirituality, as well as tourists interested in the history and beauty of the place.
Polish PM: 500+ is an investment in the nation's future
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” Words attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius, which may or may not have been in the mind of Poland’s prime minister as he spoke about the future of Poland on Sunday.
Mateusz Morawiecki, and Elżbieta Rafalska, the labour and social policy minister, were visiting Puławy and attending an event to promote the government’s 500+ programme, which gives families with two or more children a payment of PLN 500 (EUR 116, USD 130) a month per child. According to the prime minister, the child benefit programme is an investment in the nation’s future. “Not only does the programme help parents across the country, but it also benefits the state as a whole. “With this programme, Poland is changing beyond recognition,” Morawiecki said.
The prime minister said that the payments “have created a new space for the development” of Polish children and young people and for the entire country. Morawiecki said that the government would not abandon or reduce the programme in the years ahead. For her part, Rafalska said the “Family 500+” initiative was benefiting more than 3.6 million children nationwide, adding that payments to parents have totalled PLN 67 billion (EUR 15.5 billion, USD 17.5 billion) since the programme was launched on April 1, 2016.
Indeed, far from reducing the programme, the plan is to be extended to include all single-child families regardless of income, rather than being restricted to poorer families as at present. This extension is part of a package of measures dubbed the “Kaczyński Five” after Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński who announced the package at a party convention last month.
Of course, for children to be the future they need to be properly educated, which is why the government resumed talks on Monday with teachers in an attempt to avert a teachers’ strike over pay which is scheduled to begin on 8th April, just before pupils at various levels face important examinations.
After the meeting, the deputy prime minister, Beata Szydło said that four out of the five points offered by the government had been agreed upon by both sides. However, the chairman of the teacher’s union, Sławomir Broniarz, said it was too early discuss suspending the strike decision. Talks were to be continued on Tuesday.
The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP) wants the government to increase teachers’ wages by PLN 1,000 (EUR 230, USD 265) a month. In response, the education ministry has said that last year it began carrying out a government plan to raise pay and that spending on teachers’ salaries is set to increase by 16.1 per cent by September compared with March last year.
The Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper last week quoted a survey according to which more than six in ten Poles are against teachers striking at a time of important school exams, although respondents to the survey by pollster IBRiS said they were convinced teachers would eventually secure the pay rise they are demanding from the government.
Certainly, teachers’ salaries, like many in the public sector in Poland, are very low, with minimum gross monthly salaries ranging from PLN 2538 to PLN 3483 depending on qualifications. Over ninety per cent of teachers fall within this category. The average gross monthly salary in Poland in February was PLN 4,949.42 (EUR 1,153). Hardly the best way to invest in the future of the nation, to attract and retain the quality of teachers needed to produce the educated citizens needed, one might think.
Of course, all public employees are equal, but some are more equal than others; not everyone has friends in high places. Be that as it may, it is a great shame, and not only in Poland, that those who do essential work – teachers, nurses and so on – are often taken for granted and undervalued. The problem seems especially acute in Poland where salaries in general, and public sector salaries in particular, are far below comparable salaries in the more westerly EU member states.
And therein lies the danger. With free movement folk increasingly have a choice – a choice which Poles have not been slow to exercise – to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Rome might not have been built in a day, but it was built on solid foundations. The challenge for the Polish government is choosing those policies that build the best home for the children, Poland’s future, and in which they are happy to dwell.
Polish Folk Dances
Polish folk dances — with their colorful regional costumes and enchanting music — are both a beautiful and entertaining experience to behold. Their traditions are rooted many centuries in the past, when every region of Poland had its own dance and local style of dress. The most famous of the traditional Polish dances are:
The Kujawiak — a 19th century dance from the Kujawy region near the coast of the Baltic Sea;
The Mazurka — a dance from the Mazovian area surrounding the capital, Warsaw. An interesting fact is that the rhythm of the Mazurka dance is based on the rhythm of the work of peasants who used to tend the fields;
The Polonaise — The most elegant amongst the folk dances, the Polonaise was traditionally the dance of the Polish nobility.
When it comes to dresses, these were also unique in every part of Poland. They were normally worn with accessories such as hats, necklaces and capes. Tradition called for a married woman to wear a headscarf, while an unmarried one would wear flowers in her hair.
The Polish folk songs that underlie the traditional dances are usually about love or religion.
What Konrad Szymański Gets Right (and Wrong) About Brexit
Speaking in London earlier this month, Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymański announced that Poland was determined to rescue British Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal Agreement. In a speech at the Polish Economic Forum conference in England’s capital city, Szymański said:
“Lack of an agreement would mean that we would find ourselves in an unprecedented situation…A return to World Trade Organisation rules from March 30 would be a tragedy for the British economy but also for the EU economy. There is an important message from Warsaw: it is not exclusively Great Britain’s problem”.
Speaking to TVN24 this week, Szymański reconfirmed his position and said that the Poland will continue to help Brexit take place on the basis of a deal with the EU.
The idea that the UK would suffer tremendously by leaving the European Union on WTO terms is hotly contested. Proponents of staying in the European Union suggest that UK would run out of sandwiches, not be able to supply diabetics with insulin medication, and quickly descend into chaos. Brexiteers, however, have suggested the UK would thrive when operating on WTO terms.
As with most things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The UK would by no means descend into total chaos should we leave the EU on the renegotiated date of April 12th, but it wouldn’t exactly be simple either. Operating on WTO terms would allow the UK to drop tariffs and begin operating outside of the EU’s restrictive common market, but it would see UK trade ministers scrambling to negotiate better deals with big trading partners. The UK would also be able to end its budgetary payments to the EU, and the cutting of EU tariffs under WTO rules could slash consumer prices by up to 1.2%.
The UK government would have its work cut out, but there would also be opportunities for the UK with third countries – nations outside the EU who are looking to strike trade deals. The United States has already made it clear they are ready and willing to strike an ambitious trade deal with the UK once Brexit has been delivered.
This is where Szymański is wrong. But, he is right to suggest that the UK leaving the EU without a deal could damage the EU economy.
Washington-based International Monetary Fund said in 2018 that growth across the remaining EU member states could fall by as much as 1.5%, and the European Union would be hit by the loss of the £39 billion fee agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement. The EU would also find itself having to renegotiate new deals with the City of London and spend time negotiating new deals with the UK. It would not be easy, and it could hurt the EU’s most fragile national economies.
As a Brexiteer from Britain, this is difficult for me to say – but I believe it is in my own nation’s best interests at this point to leave without a deal.
Konrad Szymański is right and wrong, but I believe he is well intentioned. At this point I hope the UK can leave the EU while maintaining positive relations with Poland, but I do not expect the eventual departure to be easy. The last three years has shown us that this process is not going to get any easier, any time soon.