Author: Krystian Schneyder
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Poland and the EU: a case study in pandering to authoritarianism
OPINION Poland could introduce another draconian law to further restrict civil liberties. The bill, proposed by right-wing activist Kaja Godek, would amend existing legislation on public congregations, banning peaceful protests for LGBT rights. ‘Questioning marriage as a union of man and woman, propagating same-sex marriage, propagating adoption by such couples, propagating gender as separate from…
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Power grabs, conservatism lite and fake justice: six years of no opposition in Poland
Support Politika News on Patreon. OPINION In a Poland still divided across multiple lines (West and East, city and country…), how has one party come to dominate national politics? One explanation can be found in Law and Justice (PiS)’s monopolisation of both the press and the justice system. Another is the right-wing zeitgeist of the…
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Years of appeasing Lukashenko are backfiring: assessing Warsaw’s policy towards Belarus
Support Politika News on Patreon. OPINION Poland’s foreign policy as regards Aleksander Lukashenko’s regime has not been subject to much change since he became president in 1994. Relations between the two countries have tended to be warm, with Poland at times being the regime’s only ally West of Russia. This was the case until Belarus’…
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Remembering the Katyn Massacre and Stalinist crimes in Poland
HISTORY In April and May of 1940, 22 000 Polish army officers and civilians were murdered by Stalin’s NKVD. This year marks the 81st anniversary of what for a long time has been one of the many forgotten crimes of Stalin’s oligarchy. Remembering the Katyn Massacre today defies decades of denialism and renewed attempts to obscure the truth.…
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Vaccination glitch highlights Warsaw’s negligent handling of the pandemic
OPINION On 1 April, without any apparent warning, thousands of Polish citizens aged 40-59 were invited to book their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. This, despite the fact that many older residents were yet to be vaccinated. Vaccines for the 40-59 age group had initially been expected to start in mid-May. The Chief of the Chancellery…
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Remembering Polish-born revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, 150 years after her birth
OPINION Rosa Luxemburg was born on the 5 March 1871 in the Polish town of Zamość, as Rozalia Luksenburg. She was a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), before splitting from the latter to help establish the Communist Party of…
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Poland’s Virgin Mary case: our barbaric blasphemy laws need revoking
CN: this article contains discussion of sexual abuse and homophobia OPINION On the 2 March 2021 a Polish court acquitted activists Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar, Anna Prus and Elżbieta Podleśna. They had been put on trial for ‘offending religious feelings‘, after using the image of the Virgin Mary whose halo displayed the colours of the LGBTQ+ pride rainbow flag,…
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Examining the oppression of Polish socialism offers answers to Poland’s socio-economic woes
OPINION Socialism and the struggle for self-determination in Poland always went hand in hand. However, every time the country regained its autonomy it ended up rejecting democratic and egalitarian ideals. This was the case after Poland gained its independence in 1918, following over a century of foreign rule. In the nineteenth century socialist activists, including Józef…
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PiS’ proposed ‘free speech’ law: state hypocrisy and a radical right-wing agenda
OPINION Following the storming of the Capitol building in Washington, Twitter, followed by other social media outlets, took the decision to suspend Donald Trump’s accounts, sparking an international debate regarding freedom of speech. The Polish government gave its contribution to this debate in the form of its proposed social media ‘free speech’ law. The law…
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Young Polish progressives dismiss an EU incapable of punishing corruption
OPINION Why are young progressives in Poland growing disillusioned with the European Union? In December of last year, the Union was plunged into yet another crisis when Poland and Hungary vetoed the EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund. This was done in response to a proposed mechanism which sought to make access to EU funds…
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