Solidarity may disturb anniversary of first democratic elections. Crisis stricken companies impatient with tardy client payments and Polish web users against internet limitations.
Reviewed by Slawek Szefs
Will Solidarity spoil the freedom anniversary, asks GAZETA WYBORCZA in a frontpage article devoted to celebrations recalling the first democratic post-war elections in Poland of June 4th 1989. The main events were scheduled in Gdansk, the legendary cradle of the first independent trade union in the erstwhile communist bloc. Now that Solidarity has announced a boycott of the anniversary and threatened to stage massive demonstrations, PM Donald Tusk said he would consider moving the celebrations to Warsaw, especially that one of the parallel events would be a summit of the Visegrad Group. Security reasons connected with the presence of numerous invited state and government leaders are one of the arguments presented by the Prime Minister. The unionists’ argument is that they are fighting for the very existence of the symbolic Gdansk Shipyard, which at the same time is a major workplace about to be closed due to a European Commission decision.
RZECZPOSPOLITA focuses on actions of impatient banks and service providers to retrieve overdue payments from problem stricken clients. The spreading crisis has motivated them to the extent that even those slightly tardy in meeting their monthly obligations stemming from credit installments or just plain phone bills shouldn’t be surprised by a visit of tough vindicators. The proverb ‘time is money’ has never been as accurate. The total of so-called bad bank credits has reached 33.6 billion zloty. No wonder that companies and various financial institutions were willing to spend 2 billion zloty on vindication proceedings in the 7 biggest specialist agencies only in the first quarter of the present year.
POLSKA admonishes the European Parliament for attempting to limit universal and free access to web pages, quoting internet users’ opinions alleging censorship practice. Polish MEPs assure they will not support such legal solutions in voting. Meanwhile, the EP has received 63 567 e-mails of protest from web surfers in Poland alone. This action greatly surprised the institution, which championed the limitation project under the banner of protecting users, mainly children, from illicit content and curbing piracy.
DZIENNIK has the story of the famous Branicki family of Polish aristocrats demanding the return of the Royal Wilanow Palace on the outskirts of Warsaw, which belonged to it till the war. Wilanow used to be the residence of John III Sobieski. The monarch commissioned it for his queen, Marysienka, towards the end of the 17th century. After the war the entire Wilanow palace and park complex had been taken over by the communist state and that included its precious furnishings and priceless works of art. And it is exactly because of the latter that the descendants of the Branicki aristocrats are petitioning the Mazovian governor for a return of the property confiscated then. They say the claim would not be so categorical, if the Ministry of Culture agreed to handing back the art collections. However, should their efforts be crowned with a return of the entire complex of buildings, the Branicki family declares it is ready to keep the palace museum open to the public.