Is Minister Sikorski trying to promote himself before new NATO head appointment? Unemployment hits Polish cities. Farmers are cheated on EU subsidies. And who are Polish people most afraid of?
Joanna Najfeld reviews the dailies
Minister Sikorski takes a milder stand on Russia, because he wants to become the head of NATO, writes the DZIENNIK daily, commenting on the visit of Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Washington. The daily quotes the spokesman of the Foreign Minister, who assures that Minister Sikorski has not gone to Washington to promote himself as a candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General. But the agenda of Minister Sikorski suggests, he may be on such a mission, suggests DZIENNIK. Because lately his chances for success seemed to be weakening, Sikorski decided to present a milder stand towards Russia to win some of his opponents, says the paper. Sikorski also tried to meet the expectations of the Obama team on the issue of the Afghan war, with his call for solidarity, which mirrored last week's announcement of Barrack Obama about increasing the American contingent in Afghanistan, and his appeal to other nations to do the same. Will Sikorski succeed, we will know on the 3rd of April, when the NATO head will be finally elected, concludes the paper.
Unemployment hits the cities, frontpages RZECZPOSPOLITA. Several Polish cities, dependent on one employer hurt by the crists, are in danger of a drastic crash on the local job market, the paper reports. There are no chances to provide jobs for all dismissed personell, a clerk of one labor office told the daily. In his town, ten percent of a 25 hundred strong crew were sacked and unemployment jumped to 16%. There are more towns in this situation. We have to train people for other jobs and prepare them for a possible need to move to other localities, one expert told RZECZPOSPOLITA.
We are being cheated on EU subsidies! - complain farmers in the FAKT daily. The record weakest Polish currency is having a catastrophic effect on Polish agriculture. Polish farmers are receiving EU subsidies calculated according to the rates from September 2008, when euro cost only 3.39 Polish zloty. Now it stands at 4.7. Polish farmers feel cheated, because they receive much less money, and are at the same time forced to cover their expenses in the present, very expensive euro, writes FAKT.
Who are Polish people afraid of? RZECZPOSPOLITA publishes the results of a research commissioned by the Polish Police Headquarters. Reckless drivers was the most frequent answer, mentioned by 36% of respondents. One in five of those polled replied they were afraid of hooligans, drunkards and drug addicts. At the same time, Poles are less afraid of going for walks after sunset than they were 15 years ago. Also, more people declare that they are not afraid of anything. Perhaps the most surprising finding of the research is that as many as 57% of respondents said in their opinion the police is effectively fighting crime.