The UN climate summit, can there be a common view on European history and should the Polish Parliament have as many as 460 deputies.
Press reviewed by Michal Kubicki
On the UN climate conference in Poznan, the daily POLSKA writes in an editorial that most of the participants in this huge summit seem to believe that it is enough to proclaim several noble slogans and write a couple of pompous speeches to start a world revolution on climate change. For Poland, the paper claims, the event is a splendid opportunity to show that present-day Poland differs vastly from what it was two decades ago. The summit in Poznan is a better promotion for Poland than thousands of spots on CNN Television, POLSKA concludes. DZIENNIK predicts that Poznan will be the venue of a sharp confrontation between Europe and Asia on carbon dioxide emission quotas, with China saying ‘No’ to the EU’s call for a thirty percent emissions cut.
Several papers criticize the blueprint for the House of European History which is to be built in Brussels on a commission from the European Parliament. ‘European history without Poland’ is the headline in RZECZPOSPOLITA, and ‘Europe without the Round Table’ writes DZIENNIK, referring to the Round Table talks in 1989 that paved the way for the collapse of communism in Poland. RZECZPOSPOLITA finds it shocking that there is no mention of the 120 year-long partitions of Poland and of the 1944 Warsaw Rising. The German occupation of Europe is described as a ‘traumatic experience for many people’. The document also says that during World War Two Poland was a neutral country, which is a lie, Polish MEP Wojciech Roszkowski told RZECZPOSPOLITA. DZIENNIK has an interview with the director of the Warsaw Rising Museum. ‘In the French-German history book the chapter on the birth of fascism is illustrated by a portrait of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, one of the founders of Polish independence in 1918. I wouldn’t like to see things like that in a planned Museum of European History’, he told the daily.
On Poland’s current political scene, FAKT notes that while in Germany one parliamentary deputy represents 133,000 people, the corresponding number in Poland is 82,000. According to the daily, a reduction of the number of Polish MPs to 150 from the current 460 would be a step towards improving the standards of political debate and of Polish legislation.
And finally RZECZPOSPOLITA again which looks at the results of a public opinion survey on what unites and divides Poles. Christmas traditions, Pope John Paul II and national pride – these are the things that Poles are ready to agree on. At the other end of the scale are political issues and abortion.