Jurek Owsiak is the Man of the Hour today and his Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is the frontpage story in almost all the dailies. ‘Great thanks, Jurek’ says ZYCIE WARSZAWY.
Press reviewed by Michal Kubicki.
‘The Orchestra plays loud – even in crisis’ – writes GAZETA WYBORCZA in its report on yet another edition of Poland’s largest charity campaign which raised an equivalent of 8 million euros to support early cancer diagnosis in children. The daily POLSKA does not share in the optimistic mood, however, stressing that while Poles like such spectacular actions as Owsiak’s Orchestra of Christmas Charity, the number of people supporting charity organizations has fallen by one third over the past three years. The number of volunteers working for various charities has also tangibly decreased.
DZIENNIK reports on a brief visit to Poland by Declan Ganley, the main architect of the Irish ‘No’ on the Lisbon Treaty, who wants to set up a Polish branch of his anti-European Union grouping. Some 2, 000 people turned up at a meeting with Ganley in the town of Lublin. According to DZIENNIK, his address lasted three minutes but was delivered in Polish and was interrupted many times by applause. RZECZPOSPOLITA has an interview with Ganley in which he says: ‘I am not a Euro-sceptic. I support a European idea, but the E.U. in its present shape is not the organization of Robert Schuman’s dream. We have the right to influence E.U. policies. People can’t be offered a 400-page document by politicians who know full well that no one will be able to read it.’
In an interview for DZIENNIK, Archbishop Jozef Michalik, who chairs the Polish Bishops’ Conference, says that Poland’s membership in the European Union is an historic necessity. In an age of globalization, no country can maintain full sovereignty. This is an illusion.’, he said.
On the arts pages, ZYCIE WARSZAWY salutes Wanda Wilkomirska, the famous Polish violinist who celebrated her 80th birthday yesterday. The daily reports on a gala concert in the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall for which Wilkomirska came all the way from Sydney, where she currently teaches. There were lots of congratulatory messages, including those from the Polish President and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the ‘Glora Artis’ medal for outstanding services to Polish culture, and a long standing ovation. There were no flowers, though, as Wanda Wilkomirska asked the invited guests to give donations instead for a Senior Musicians’ Home, to be built near Warsaw. Wilkomirska is among the most acclaimed living violinists. In the 1960s and 70s, she performed in the world’s most prestigious venues. Having protested against the imposition of martial law in 1981, she left the country amd settled in Germany, and later moved to Australia.