Papers survey the scene as yet another in a series of clashes erupts between the president and prime minister.

Press reviewed by Alicja Baczyńska

Newspapers look into the controversy that has erupted after President Lech Kaczyński backed the candidacy of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for head of NATO during the recent summit of the alliance – against the instructions, or rather suggestions, given by the government. The Polish president claims it had been certain that Rasmussen would be selected for the post, and so expressed his support on the opening evening of the summit on Friday. Yet Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose intention was to play for time, considers the move hasty, as Poland could have benefited from prospective negotiations.
NATO’s weekend summit proved to be Poland’s biggest failure in the international arena since the first day of cohabitation of the two top officials originating from disparate political camps, writes Polska daily. The unfortunate incident may diminish the country’s role in the struggle for top EU and NATO posts, concludes the paper. Instead of a common Polish foreign policy we have two eager power centers pulling stunts on each other, sums up Gazeta Wyborcza in the headlines.

Roads strewn with speed cameras and heftier fines for drivers exceeding the speed limit, with the sum rising by every extra ten kilometers per hour – is what the new amendment to the traffic law has in store as of next year, writes Dziennik. Drivers may find it a relief that the new regulations have introduced an increased speed limit on highways and expressways, which is expected to come into force as soon as the president approves the act in the coming month.
Also, a Center for Automatic Supervision of Traffic will be set up to take over the workload of the police so far responsible for fining drivers. This will boost efficiency, allowing to deal with more lawbreakers on a daily basis. Up till now a dozen policemen have been capable of processing only a hundred photos per day, while speed cameras usually take about 60 photos per hour. Also, habitual offenders, that is, those who are caught speeding five times within half a year will have to pay double. The sole consolation there is, is that by switching from fines to administrative penalties the lawmakers themselves will no longer be shielded by immunity and therefore will not be able to get away from paying up, concludes Dziennik. 

And on a lighter note, the Warsaw supplement of Gazeta Wyborcza looks back at the two flash mobs that descended on the city center last Saturday. First, up to a hundred people gathered at the open space in front of the entrance to the Centrum metro station to engage in a pillow fight to celebrate the International Pillow Fight Day. Twenty minutes of pillow mayhem were followed by another gathering at the main hall of the Central Railway Station. A throng of masked coat-clad youngsters armed with air freshener sprays emptied their aerosol containers to freshen the place up a bit, leaving passengers gasping for air and coughing from the deadly mixture of scents. As opposed to the earlier action, this one proved to be sponsored by a mobile phone company, which prompted a protest from a witness of the assembly. “This goes against the rules of the game – it is not supposed to be commercial or sponsored,” said the protester quoted by the daily.