European Parliament candidates have participated in the first English-language debate between candidates to be held in Gdynia yesterday.

Organized by Civic Platform’s youth group from the Baltic Sea city of Gdynia, the debate touched topics such as the Lisbon Treaty, human rights, discrimination against women and homosexuals.

Participants in the debate were Dariusz Szwed from the Central-Left, Janusz Lewandowski from Civic Platform and Longin Pastusiak from the Democratic Left Alliance.

“The European Parliament is an unusually important institution both for myself and for our generation,” stated Euro MP Janusz Lewandowski in fluent English. “But, we need your active participation because only then can we have influence on what is going in the European Union,” added the Civic Platform MP.

Lewandowski’s opponents in the debate equally managed the English language. The hall at the Business and Administration School of E. Kwiatkowski, where the debate was held was filled to the brim. Students were well-prepared and asked questions about the Lisbon Treaty, Poland’s entry to the Euro zone, about the rights of women and sexual minorities as well as about their opinions on the rights of homosexual couples to adopt children.

The debate took about two hours and was conducted entirely in English. None of the ten candidates invited from the Law and Justice Party accepted the invitation to participate in the debate.

“That says something about their qualifications,” added Lewandowski. “And besides, it is difficult to imagine one working in the European Parliament without knowing English.” (mmj)