The European Union has declared 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Take part in a series of exceptional events to celebrate the richness and diversity of European culture.
The Polish May 3rd Constitution of 1791, second only after America
The Polish May 3rd Constitution was the second modern constitution to come into force in world history. The Americans were first in 1789 but the Poles did manage to beat the French to second place by exactly 3 months. The May 3rd Constitution was the last attempt by king Stanisław August Poniatowski to save Poland from becoming completely dominated by foreign powers, and particularly by the Russian Empire.
Salvini calls for an Italian-Polish alliance to save European traditional values
The Italian Minister of Interior travelled to Warsaw to meet with his Polish counterpart, Joachim Brudziński, and the head of the ruling Law & Justice Party Jarosław Kaczyński. A meeting with the Polish Prime Minister Matuesz Morawiecki wasn’t initially on the schedule but took place anyway.
The Italian daily “La Republicca” was the first source to break the story that Salvini was heading to Poland for a meeting with the head of the Law and Justice Party regarding the prospect of forming an alliance in the European Parliament.
Salvini’s first meeting of the day was with the Polish Minister of Interior. During the joint press conference Minister Brudziński made it clear that the neither Lega nor the Law & Justice Party are planning for their country to leave the EU. However, they do have a different view on the future of the EU and they want their voices to be taken seriously.
“Poland and Italy aren’t leaving the EU. We form an integral part of the it and we want to have an influence on how our common European house will look like. To the people who would like to portray us as fringe, anti-European forces, we have only one thing to say: it’s mission impossible”. -Joachim Brudziński
Both ministers agreed that more migrant who have been rejected asylum need to be deported. Salvini spoke during the press conference talking about another subject that unites the two parties, namely traditional families.
“John Paul II talked about how Europe that needs to return to its true identity and its Judeo-Christian roots, and this is fiercly opposed by Brussels The institution of family is neglected while other values are allowed promoted” -Matteo Salvini
Salvini’s second meeting for the day was with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Salvini told the press that an Italian-Polish axis is needed to counter the German-Franco alliance dominating Europe. He continued by saying that Poland and Italy will work for a new e new European spring of Europe, which will lead to the the renaissance of European values, less dominance by the financial sector, less bureaucracy, more jobs, more focus on the family and most aboce all, better security for Europeans.
The final meeting of the day, between Salvini and the party leader of the Law & Justice Party, Jarosław Kaczyński. They didn’t want to reveal much about what had been discussed but it was hinted at that they two parties will be working on creating an alliance ahead of the European election in May. Kaczyński was invited to visit Salvini in Italy in March, presumely to finalize the agreement.
Interestingly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who at the moment remains in a rival party group of the European Parliament, the European People’s Party, voiced his support for the new Polish-Italian initiative by saying that it will help to limit mass immigration to Europe. The Hungarian PM also stated that he hopes that the new alliance will help to build an anti-immigration majority in the European Parliament as well as in the European Commission.
Whether Orban himself is considering to join the Polish-Italian initiative remains unclear at the moment.
Much will depend on the way his party Fidesz is treated by the leadership of the EPP and the most likely new President of the European Commission, the current leader of the EPP Manfred Weber. One thing is clear, Lega and the Law and Justice Party will do everything they can to attract as many allies to their new EU party group. According to estimations by opinion polls, the two parties will be able to get as many as 60-65 MEPs elected to the European Parliament in May. Not far away from constituting 10 percent of the the total 751 MEPs sitting in the European Parliament. The current powers in Brussels will surely have to contend with a new force in European politics in 2019.
Matteo Salvini to meet with head of Polish ruling party regarding an EU alliance
The Italian Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini will arrive in Warsaw to meet with the leader of the conserative ruling Law and Justice Party, Jarosław Kaczyński, on Wednesday January 9th. According to the Italian daily La Republicca which broke the story, Salvini’s main goal with the trip is to secure the support of the Polish ruling party for an alliance of ahead of the election to the European Parliament which will be held in May 2019.
Salvini met earlier this year in Italy with the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban. The two of them declared at a joint press conference that their goal was to cooperate in the European Elections in order to stop the aspirations of EU federalist forces lead by the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Orban was at the time looking for new allies as the European People’s Party group which his own party Fidesz currently belongs to, was sending out signals that it was seriously considering to throw out Fidesz from its ranks to alleged Hungarian breaches in the rule of law.
The likelihood of such a development increased after large parts of the EPP voted against Fidesz and Orban on September the 12th and in result launching an Article 7 procedure against Hungary, a process which in the end could lead to political sanctions being placed on Budapest.
In recent months however, it appears that Fidesz will be allowed to stay in the EPP after all, as the party group is afraid of losing its control over the European Parliament if it the Hungarian MEPs from Fidesz would be forced to leave its ranks.
It looks as if Salvini has instead decided on trying to strike a deal with the ruling party in Warsaw. The Law and Justice Party will have to decide on a new strategy for the European Parliament as it’s main ally, the British Conservative Party, in its current party group The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will not be able to join forces with the Law and Justice Party in the next European Parliament as Great Britain will leave the EU this spring.
The Law and Justice Party in effect has two choices it can make. It could try to follow in the footsteps of Viktor Orban and join the EPP or it can look for new allies, which like its current partners in the ECR, are against EU federalist ideas and instead support the concept of “A Europe of Nations”.
The Law and Justice Party has according to earlier reports played with the idea of joining the EPP, a move that could facilitate a reaproachment between Warsaw and Brussels in order to stop the Article 7 procedure which has been launched against Poland as well. What complicates such an initiative is the fact that the main Polish opposition party, the Civic Platform, is a member of the EPP and would likely leave the party group if it would accept the Law and Justice Party as a new member. Many EPP MEPs already have difficulties in accepting the fact that the national conservatives from Fidesz are a part of their party group and would likely protest another national conservative party joining the EPP.
Lega, the party headed by Matteo Salvini, would be an interesting partner if the Law and Justice Party will decide for the option of finding new anti-federalist allies to replace the British Conservative Party. According to most opinion polls, Lega will win´around 35% of the Italian vote in the European Parliament elections and will thus be able to place a substantial number of MEPs in the benches of the next European Parliament. Other national conservative parties across Europe, including in countries such as in France, Sweden and the Netherlands, have also seen growing support during the current term of the European Parliament. A new party group containing such parties as well Lega and the Law and Justice Party would be a force that Brussels would have to reckon with.
An alliance between the Law and Justice Party and Lega is not without its complications though. As many observers have noted, Kaczyński and Salvini have a diametrically different stance on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Poland has together with Lithuania and Romania been the most vocal opponents against Russian aggression and imperial tendencies in Eastern Europe in general and Ukraine in particular.
Salvini on the other hand is a self-professed admirer of Vladimir Putin. However, Law and Justice politicians have in recent days pointed to the fact that Russophile forces are present in practically all EU party groups whether socialist or conservative and that EU party group affiliation is a decision that cannot be made on the basis of a single political issue but rather something that must me made after having used a holistic approach to the European Union as a European project.
Other commentators note that alliances being declared ahead of the elections to the European Parliament elections is one thing but that the real alliances will be formed once the election results are in and the number of mandates has been settled.
The meeting in Warsaw between Kaczyński and Salvini is a sign that a new anti-federalist conservative party group could be in the making but it remains to be seen whether a potential alliance between the largest political forces in Italy and Poland will be a lasting one.
The real game regarding the formation of EU party groups will start after the elections in May.
Estimation of December 2018 inflation at 1.1 %
Central Statistical Office (GUS) said that December inflation in Poland stood at 1.1 percent in year-on-year terms. This is slightly less than economists had expected (1.2%)
In November the prices of consumer goods and services were 1.3 percent higher than in the same month a year earlier and inflation in October stood at 1.8 percent year on year.
Labour cost up in 2019
Employers expect shortages on labour market. Wages will rise?
91 percent of Polish employers expect difficulties in recruiting new staff, and many companies will be forced to increase wages says Puls Biznesu Daily. According to a report by recruitment company Hays Poland, the paper said that 87 percent of Polish employers want to increase the number of people they are hiring.
Polish companies are most often looking for IT, finance and sales experts as well as engineers, Puls Biznesu daily reported.
Legendary Apple Computer Co-Founder Steve Wozniak To Visit Poland
You may be reading this article on a virtual platform whose presence is a testament to the enduring impact of Steve Wozniak’s technological contributions. The legendary co-founder of Apple, an American of Polish lineage, will be visiting Poland in the near future.
This amazingly energetic leader with his accompanying entrepreneurial spirit will be arriving in Warsaw on November 27th. Alongside Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs, Wozniak invented the prototype of Apple’s modern Macintosh computer with his creation of the Apple 1 Computer in 1976.
Wozniak’s career has been inspiring for so many, from their early days creating the computer with his friend Steve Jobs in their bedrooms and Job’s garage. “The Woz” has done it all, still seeking to empower young people. He recalls Founders Day, promulgated by him as Sunday, 29 June 1975, when he first illuminated to Steve Wozniak a working prototype of the Apple 1, and typed a keyboard character on a screen. Thus, Apple computer, the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad, and much more began. His honors and award are voluminous, including the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985, the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators.
Wozniak will be bringing his entrepreneurial talents to Warsaw thanks to the 100*100 Program, a brainchild of the National Polish Foundation. At its launch, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo inaugurated the National Polish Foundation as bolstering and promoting the modern Poland we have come to revere, “A beautiful, friendly Poland, a Poland that’s worth visiting, an ambitious Poland. A Poland with immense opportunities, great people and great ideas.” Who better to advance this noble mission than the man responsible for ushering the world into a modern era enhanced and defined by the optimization of our high-tech capacities?
Affectionately known as The Woz, this amiable innovator, philanthropist, and technology entrepreneur has dedicated recent efforts towards invigorating companies with the necessary passion and understanding for revolutionary industrial development and, therefore, provide new value in our constantly evolving globe. In the wake of adding another award to his repertoire, Wozniak proclaimed, “I have dedicated my career to building a better world through technology. Only through fostering innovation can we develop the solutions that will meet the economic and business challenges of tomorrow.” Attendees of the event will reap the benefits of the time Wozniak is investing in those committed towards solving our world’s greatest challenges. At the Summit, Polish start-up ventures will sit center stage for this occasion recognizing the country’s thriving entrepreneurial sector. The link connecting Poland and Silicon Valley, California, the hub of societal transformation, will be enhanced on November 27th, a developing trend upon which we shall continue to focus our attention. As “The Woz” articulated in a 2102 Forbes magazine interview, “Don’t give up your free time to partying. You can make something big when young that will carry you through life.” To express his ideas more concretely, one recalls his admonition “Think Different”, following one’s own dreams even if they seem unattainable.