Archive for May, 2009

The Belgian government has found a way to get the economy moving. It just arrived in my mailbox.

It came in the electricity bill from Electrabel. Usually I pay around 40 euro, but this time the bill was 7 euro. I looked closer. As it turns out, I got a 30 euro reduction. “This allocation comes from the federal government as part of the plan for economic reinvigoration”, said the small print.

I am moved. A gift! And one I didn’t even ask for! As a good citizen, I am going to run now and spend the 30 euro. It should buy me a shoe.

Oh no, I just remembered: it’s a holiday here today. My favourite shopping centre is probably closed*.

* If you haven’t noticed: the above is a summary of how the economy functions in Belgium

Due to the economic crisis Poles and other Central Europeans are no longer flocking to work in the UK.

The latest numbers from the Home Office show that in the first three months of 2009 23,000 new workers arrived, half as much as the previous year and 1/3 of the records from 2006 (all data here). This is of course not nothing, but obviously the big wave is over.

I have to say, this was a phenomenon which in my opinion changed Poland and Poles for the next decades. So many people versed in British culture, in the English language has got to make a difference. Places like Scotland or Wales used to be far away and unknown. Now they have Polish papers, Polish radio stations etc.

I hope we copy some of the great things about the UK: political culture (minus the latest scandals), journalism and media, universities. And of course that we manage to avoid some of the bad ones: food, teenage pregnancies and excessive drinking (yes, statistics and street observation shows the Brits drink much more than the Poles).

Hey Brits, thank you for having us, you were great sports about it.

The European Commission clip which infuriated the Poles has been slightly changed. Some “Solidarity” flags can be seen. Footage from 1993 which was mistakenly used to illustrate events from 1981 has been removed.

I have already written several posts about this clip here, here and here, so I won’t go on about what’s wrong with it. I am happy to report that at least some of the changes requested by the Polish ambassador to the EU and many other Poles has been made. “Solidarity” is now present, if not very prominent. There is still no mention of Lech Wałęsa, the Round Table agreements and generally the events in Poland in 1989. But it’s better than nothing.

Polish candidates for the European Parliament are holding debates in English. The point, of course, being that if you don’t speak any foreign language you will not be of much use in Strasburg/Brussels.

The first such debate was held in Gdańsk between Janusz Lewandowski, Longin Pastusiak and Dariusz Szwed, as reported here (in Polish). Law and Justice (PiS) candidates did not accept the invitation. This is I think the first debate held in a foreign language in this campaign, but others have been proposed, also in French.

Of course it’s only logical that we send MEP who speak something other than Polish. Still, can you imagine such a debate being held in France, the UK or elsewhere?

This is a continuation of my pervious post about the European Commission’s video clip without “Solidarity”. I have to say, I find European Commission officials completely arrogant on this issue.

They were of course asked about it during the midday briefing in Brussels. Although they said that the spot may be changed, especially where 1993 footage was used to illustrate events in 1981, I found their attitude competely unacceptable. They (Joseph Hennon and the main spokesman Johannes Laitenberger) repeatedly said the changes would make “a rather good artistic contribution an even better one”.

A rather good clip? Guys, you messed up big time and the sooner you apologize the better. If you make a clip about 20 years of freedom and omit the key events that gave us this freedom it’s not a good spot, no matter how artistic or how well filmed.

I’m afraid this subject is not going to go away. The Polish foreign minister spoke about it at his press conference in Brussels today, saing he expects a new version of the clip as soon as tomorrow. “It woudn’t cross my mind not to mention “Solidarity”, so I expect the Commission will put the obvious – “Solidarity’s” input into the fall of communism – into this material”, he said. Polish MEP are putting out statements and calling press conferences.

The subject is not going to go away. The only effect can be anti-Brussels feelings rising. Guys, you f… up and its better to stop the snowball rolling before it get bigger.  

The European Commission has produced a clip for the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism, but it forgot to mention that it all started in Poland.

“Solidarity”, Lech Wałęsa and the events of 1989 are completely absent. The rare shots from Poland show general Jaruzelski, who introduced martial law in 1981. The Poles – from ordinary people to the authorities are furious.

I cannot think of a better way of introducing anti-Brussels sentiment in Poland, and just in time for the European Parliament elections. Congratulations, Commission! 

The clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X87zcC6bntY) shows events in various countries in 1989: Romania, Lithuania, and of course the fall of the Berlin wall. It does not mention Poland at all.

I guess this reflects the Western European vision of what happned. Many people seem to think the fall of the wall was the first event which launched a series of others in other countries. In fact it was the other way around: it was the Polish Round Table agreemens and first (semi) free elections on June 4 1989 which pushed other nations to break free.

I understand that some common people in other countries might have forgotten about this, but the fact that the Commission propagates these untruths is absolutely scandalous. To boot, the clip uses material from demonstrations in 1993 to illustrate events in 1981. Protesters hold a banner with the name of a paper which did not exist in 1981!

One Pole got so angry that he put on youtube another film to counter the Commission’s one. It’s in slightly broken English, but all the photos which symbolise the fall of communism to us Poles are there (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XnVZ1HVa0).

The Polish ambassador to the EU has today sent a letter of protest to the Commission.

“The fact is that the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the last accords in the chain of events which took place all over Central and Eastern Europe prior to November 1989, yet still the same year. The pro-democratic movements all over Central and Eastern Europe, the Round Table talks, the elections on June 4^th 1989 in Poland (symbolically almost exactly 20 years before the EP elections ahead of us) followed by the first non-communist government in Poland which ironically hosted the German Chancellor in the very days of the events in Berlin. Without it all the Fall of the Berlin Wall simply would not have happened. And forgetting about it all is like trying to play the ‘Ode to Joy’ using only one chord. It simply does not sound like the truth”, wrote the ambassador.

If you ask me, the European Commission should appologize and delete this clip from youtube and history as fast as it can.

Not many things have struck me in my temporary home – Belgium – as much as their love for the Eurovision song contest and how seriously they take it.

Yesterday, when the Belgian candidate for the 2009 title was participating in the semifinals, the contest was all over not only radio and TV, but also serious newspapers. “Le Soir” presented strategies countries could take to win votes, from “seducing the eastern bloc” (sic!) to “exporting the local star”.

Especially the first one is interesting to me. As it turns out, the East/West old/new divide is also visible in the Eurovision. As more countries from Central and Eastern Europe participate in the contest (open to all European from Russia and Georgia to Israel , the veterans have lost their voting power. The former Yugoslavs tend to vote for each other, the Cypriots always support the Greeks etc., and the veterans feel left out.  No matter that they usually do the same, with the Benelux overcoming their differences for one night. “Le Soir” talks in all seriousness about the “confiscation of voices by the new countries from the European East”. I heard the same on a local radio.

Because of their pressure the rules of the game have been changed. This year only half of the votes will come from citizens (voting by SMS), and the other half from jurys. I don’t know if that will change the geographical patterns, but it may spare us some pretty amusing performances.

So who is this Belgian candidate this is all about? His name is Patrick Ouchene, but he is better known as Copycat. His show was an impersonation/parody of Elvis. He didn’t make it to the finals, but you can take a look anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlAEnxPbtAs

By the way, if the language rules had not been changed some years back, he would not be able to participate. After all, you can’t imagine him impersonating Elvis in his native French (or Dutch), can you?

The former Polish opposition leader, Nobel prize winner and president Lech Wałęsa plans to participate in more Libertas rallies.

He told Polish media he will speak at a Libertas campaign meeting in Madrid on Thursday, and then perhaps others. Why? Because he has been hotly criticized in Poland for his first appearance in Rome. “I have been kicked around, accused of selling out so I am extending this operation, we will fight”, he said.

I have already shared with you my opinion on the issue here. Now I can only add that this is Wałęsa true to form: nobody, but nobody will tell him what he can or cannot do.

But I do have to agree with him that some of the criticism went too far, like the Polish minister of foreign affairs Radosław Sikorski saying Wałęsa is doing this for the money, because the pension of former presidents is too low in Poland. Really Mr. Sikorski, I think the list of those willing to pay our great historic figure for speaking is long.

Just to keep you updated there is another intersting twist to this story. Mr. Wałęsa’s son Jarosław, currently a national MP, is running for the European Parliament. No, not from Libertas, from the governing Civic Platform.