The press today has been reviewed today by Michał Kubicki.
All the papers write about the horrific story of a 45 year-old man charged with kidnapping and raping his teenage daughter for six years. ‘Six Years of Hell’ is the headline in GAZETA WYBORCZA. The tabloid FAKT carries the testimony of the 21 year-old woman and asks: why nobody helped her for such a long time. The frontpage headline in another tabloid, the SUPER EXPRESS, refers to the similar case in Austria, calling the man just arrested in Poland - ‘The Polish Fritzl’.
On current international affairs, most Polish dailies are disappointed with the outcome of the French president’s visit to Moscow. ‘Russia sets its conditions to Europe’ is the RZECZPOSPOLITA headline. In its editorial, the paper comments sarcastically on Mr Sarkozy’s pledge to have EU-Russia trade talks resumed if Moscow implements the six-point peace plan. In other words: in return for partitioning a sovereign country the European Union is going to cement its economic ties with Russia. DZIENNIK recalls that the six-point plan negotiated by the French president fails to stress the fundamental principle of the inviolability of Georgia’s territorial integrity. The Moscow visit was a face-saving mission for Sarkozy. To use sporting terminology, what he achieved was at best a draw as no one can have any doubt who holds the cards.
DZIENNIK also writes about what it calls Poland’s diplomatic offensive on Ukraine. Warsaw has lobbied in the European Union for the abolishment of visas for Ukrainian citizens and for pledges to conclude a free-trade agreement and an association accord with Kiev. The collapse of the ‘orange coalition’ in Ukraine marks a setback however for any plans to speed up the process of Ukraine’s integration with the EU. Nonetheless, GAZETA WYBORCZA expects that the summit in Paris will mark a small step on Ukraine’s road to EU’s waiting room.
On domestic affairs, DZIENNIK looks at reports of segregation in Polish schools, based on economic status, perceived intelligence and gender. Test scores and annual school ratings do more harm than good, teachers claim, because little is being done to help children who could drag the standards down. The parents, too, contribute to the problem, sparing no effort to ensure that their child is in the brightest class.
The SUPER EXPRESS tabloid runs a story about an 8 year-old boy who saved his family’s house from being destroyed in a fire. He was at home with his grandma who could hardly move because of her poor health. The parents were out busy on the farm. Having smelled smoke coming from the garage, he dialed the fire emergency services.