European leaders in Warsaw, Poland five years after joining the EU and a Polish stuntman in the race of top international accolade.
Press reviewed by Alicja Baczyńska
Warsaw – European Union’s capital – says the SUPER EXPRESS tabloid in its coverage of the congress of the European People’s Party. It is the top story in all the dailies. RZECZPOSPOLITA writes that Prime Minister Tusk will do his best in his meetings with European leaders to strengthen his party’s position in the EPP’s family of Christian Democrats. This is crucial for the chances of Polish candidates to fill top posts in the European Parliament. The daily POLSKA sounds an optimistic note, claiming that Tusk has already been assured of support of Germany, France and Britain for Jerzy Buzek as the next president of the European Parliament. While the chances of Poland’s former prime minister seem to look bright, DZIENNIK says that Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz is not doing well in the race for the post of secretary general of the Council of Europe. Strangely enough, this prominent leftist politician is said to have been taken to task by German socialists for the fact he is an independent senator and not a member of the leftist caucus in the Polish Senate. In contrast to Cimoszewicz, his opponent, Thorjorn Jagland of Norway, stresses his close links with the left.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of joining the EU, several papers look at various aspects of Polish transformations. POLSKA writes that thanks to membership, Poland’s GDP has been growing three times faster than before accession. From a country whose exports were mostly raw materials, Poland has become a major exporter of cars, electronic equipment and food. In an interview with the fabloid FAKT, former prime minister Leszek Miller, who signed the accession treaty five years ago, says that the current economic crisis is a chance for a breakthrough towards closer intergration within the EU. If bold solutions are not adopted, Miller warns, we shall have a Europe of two or even three speeds.
RZECZPOSPOLITA comments editorially on the results of a public opinion poll on Poland in the EU – five years after joining the bloc. The daily stresses that while as many as 77 percent of Poles are happy with the country’s membership in the EU, most Poles do not want the EU to become a super-state and only 13 percent of them support the idea of ceding some of the prerogatives of independent states to Brussels. The daily says this is a defeat of naïve euro-enthusiasts.
DZIENNIK looks at the recent meeting between president Lech Kaczynski and his predecessor Kwasniewski. According to DZIENNIK, Kwasniewski plays the role of a mediator between the two warring parties – the Civic Platform and Law and Justice. He is doing this well, possibly getting ready for a come-back as a leftist leader, if his efforts to get a prominent post in an international organization fail.
And finally GAZETA WYBORCZA has a profile of Poland’s candidate for an Oscar! Not an actor or director but a stunt man… Zbigniew Modej is in the race for the Taurus World Stunt Award in the ‘best action scene in a foreign film’ category. Tauruses are for stuntmen what the Oscars are for actors. Modej has appeared in almost 400 films over the past 30 years, including Polanski’s The Pianist and The Pirates.