-- TODAY MARKS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE "DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS" 27:1! Donald Tusk was re-elected as President of the European Council.

-- 300LIVE: BIELAN ON PROSPECTS FOR ENDING THE DISPUTE WITH THE EU, MORAWIECKI THANKS LITHUANIA: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/03/09/

-- WILL MPS GRIND DOWN THE CHAIRMAN'S BILL? - Wiktor Ferfecki in RZ: “The bill supported by Kaczyński banning fur farming has been sent to a committee from which it may not emerge. Or it could be stalled for many months. On February 28, Marshal Marek Kuchciński unexpectedly sent it to the parliamentary shredder. This concerns the high-profile amendment to the Animal Protection Act, whose main proponents are the head of the National Media Council, Krzysztof Czabański, and, most importantly, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński.” http://www.rp.pl/Polityka/180309416-Poslowie-zmiela-projekt-prezesa-Kaczynskiego.html

-- "WE SHOULD HAVE WITHDRAWN THE IPN ACT" - PRIME MINISTER JAN OLSZEWSKI in conversation with Jacek Nizinkiewicz in RZ: “Let’s be frank, the provisions of the IPN Act in its current form are inapplicable. Unfortunately, it has happened. We have the act, there is no way back, and we must look for ways out of this international-scale problem. At the very beginning, before the Senate began its work, we should have withdrawn the IPN Act.”

-- "IT WAS A MISTAKE TO PUSH THE ACT THROUGH THE SENATE," SAYS OLSZEWSKI TO NIZINKIEWICZ: “It was a mistake to push the act through the Senate, in response to foreign reactions, just to have our way. Currently, this legal act is only a burden for Poland. However, a situation has arisen from which we cannot withdraw, and we must fight for the scope of matters that can be regulated.”

-- JAN OLSZEWSKI ON SUCCESSION IN PIS: "THE RIGHT WOULD NOT HAVE SUCCEEDED WITHOUT KACZYŃSKI": “I wouldn't want to predict what will happen in the future. Perhaps there are people who are making such plans. Mr. Ziobro certainly has his ambitions. At the moment, there is no one who could replace Jarosław Kaczyński as the head of PiS, the leader of the right, and a person uniting right-wing circles. Without President Kaczyński, the right would not have succeeded. That is a historical fact.” http://www.rp.pl/Polityka/180309787-Olszewski-Przepisy-ustawy-o-IPN-w-obecnym-ksztalcie-sa-nie-do-zastosowania.html

-- JOANNA MUCHA RESPONDS TO THE QUESTION: SCHETYNA OR BIEDROŃ? https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/bardzo-sie-ciesze-ze-od-tego-zaczal-joanna-mucha-chwali-kampanie-trzaskowskiego-6227979591620225v

-- "WE WANT MORE OF THE FIRST LADY!" - headline in Fakt. https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/agata-kornhauser-duda-spotkala-sie-z-kobietami-w-dniu-ich-swieta/b43khjx

-- DUDA'S WORDS ARE MORE HONEST THAN MORAWIECKI'S - Zuzanna Dąbrowska in RZ: “Andrzej Duda's words are more honest and truthful than the recent statement by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who said that 'Poland did not exist then,' so the problem of responsibility does not exist. But they are not sufficient.” http://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/303089880-Czy-Polska-bardzo-zaluje.html

-- GAZETA.PL WILL PRINT PIOTR SKWIECIŃSKI'S ARTICLES - INTRODUCTION BY GRZEGORZ SROCZYŃSKI: “From the editors: Starting today, every week on Gazeta.pl, Piotr Skwieciński will deconstruct our anti-PiS fears (he calls them spiders). Frankly, I don't know if anything will come of this. Piotr's articles probably won't convince you (most Gazeta.pl readers are – to put it mildly – not supporters of PiS). But it’s probably not about convincing anyone here. So what is it about? If I’m to speak for myself, the gesture itself is important, the attempt to engage in dialogue. The hatred, dislike, and complete lack of mutual understanding on both sides of the barricade have become unbearable, and all attempts to break this deadlock, to start a discussion that doesn't involve exchanging insults, I consider to be – to put it grandly – good for Poland.”

-- PIOTR SKWIECIŃSKI ON THE DEMONIZATION OF PIS, THE FEAR OF A COSMIC SPIDER-KING: “Living in a reality where a spider the size of a dragon lurks for you must be very unpleasant. And many Poles live in such a psychological reality, including – I feel – you too. Because you have completely demonized a political group you dislike. After 1989, various social and ideological groups lived in fear of various spiders; SLD and Platforma played that role. But PiS has become the cosmic spider-king, inspiring dread, hatred, and fear. Destructive emotions, primarily for you, who let yourselves be driven by them. No formation has a monopoly on truth. Not PiS either. But neither is an incarnation of evil – PiS isn't either. From my point of view, the problem begins when dislike for a given group starts to organize someone's world. When such a person stops seeing things in their normal proportions.”

-- SKWIECIŃSKI WRITES THAT HE ALWAYS SMILES WHEN HE HEARS ABOUT ELECTION FRAUD: “Let's start with something that you will probably immediately write in the comments under my article. 'This Skwieciński claims that if we don't like PiS, we will be able to vote against it. But that's not obvious at all. Because Kaczyński might falsify the elections or at least rig them by changing the electoral law so that they are impossible for the opposition to win.' I smile every time I hear that. Because such fears are a twin copy of fears harbored by a significant part of the Polish right a few years earlier. On my side of the barricade, there have always been those who could not accept the fact that the majority of voting Poles (until now!) had different views than ours. And they made this psychological situation easier for themselves by assuming that the elections were being rigged by Platforma.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,161770,23110265,skwiecinski-do-anty-pis-u-totalnie-zdemonizowaliscie-sobie.html#Z_Czolka3Img

-- "I AM SURE KACZYŃSKI IS NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE" - JAKUB MAJMUREK QUOTES JANINA JANKOWSKA AND SEWERYN BLUMSZTAIN: “Jankowska doesn't believe in such a scenario. 'Jarosław Kaczyński is obsessed with the idea of a strong state, and he also has a strange bitterness in him,' she says. 'His ideas of the nation are quite 19th-century, but I am sure he is not an anti-Semite. It was never an anti-Semitic family; they had Jewish friends.' Jankowska worked pro bono in Lech Kaczyński's chancellery. 'He was a president who did a lot for Polish-Jewish reconciliation. He was the first head of state in Poland to celebrate Hanukkah,' she recalls. I mention these doubts to Blumsztajn, but he dismisses them: 'Kaczyński will simply say whatever gives him power.'”

-- "WE NEED TO CONSIDER THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ANTI-SEMITIC EMOTIONS AND MODERN ARTICULATIONS OF POLISH IDENTITY," WRITES MAJMUREK: “If these divisions are to be rational and meaningfully describe real social differences, it is worth considering what happened in March '68. Instead of denying reality and saying that Poland didn't exist then and essentially there's no issue, we need to listen to the accounts of the actors of those events, and consider the connection between anti-Semitic emotions and modern articulations of Polish identity. So that after Kaczyński, it can finally be articulated beyond old tracks.” http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/dziwna-rocznica-majmurek-marzec68/

-- TOMASZ SAKIEWICZ ON THE TANGIBLE LOSSES FROM ESCALATING RELATIONS WITH THE USA - writes in GPC: “Many of our officials or politicians may fear the escalation of relations with the USA, and the other side will exploit it. The losses can be tangible. Poles have the right to defend their dignity, and such actions always cost. However, good strategy involves the liars paying for insults, not those who defend themselves. Perhaps it is worth not buying products from companies that advertise in media that denigrate us. We need to tell them that. It is sometimes more painful than prosecutorial actions. And it is certainly concrete money.” http://gpcodziennie.pl/83720-realnacena.html

-- WILL MORAWIECKI CUT SZYDŁO? - FAKT: “The cuts in government administration announced by the prime minister are not only intended to reduce bureaucracy. Mateusz Morawiecki wants to use them to weaken the forces of Deputy Prime Minister Beata Szydło and Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. The head of government believes they are just waiting for him to stumble. (...) Wednesday afternoon. Morawiecki arrives at PiS headquarters on Nowogrodzka Street. He talks with Jarosław Kaczyński (69) for an hour. A few dozen minutes later, a limousine with Szydło pulls up to Nowogrodzka. The Deputy Prime Minister looks heavily disheartened. Her approval ratings fell after information about bonuses awarded to herself and ministers in her government dominated the front pages of newspapers.” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/szef-rzadu-obawia-sie-spisku-wewnatrz-pis/j341yz5

-- "NO SUPERPOWER CAN IGNORE BEING INSULTED" - LUDWIK DORN IN NOWA KONFEDERACJA: “If that is the case – and these are still speculations and conjectures – then the question must be asked: why did they do it? A deep divergence on the IPN Act is not enough for such a brutal action. What, then, could have been the possible cause? If it is true that President Duda declined a phone call with the US Secretary of State just before signing the amendment to the IPN Act, it could have been a very strong impulse for retaliatory action from the USA. The authorities of a country situated on the eastern flank of NATO, and whose security largely depends on the United States, suddenly begin to throw tantrums and, contrary to diplomatic rules, insult their protector. No superpower can overlook this, and the reaction in the form of dragging 'good change' by the ears like a naughty schoolboy from the American perspective is rational and understandable. If my speculations have any connection to reality, then President Duda should direct the immortal question to the mirror: 'You wanted it yourself, Grzegorz Dyndało'.” https://nowakonfederacja.pl/amerykanie-targaja-dobra-zmiane-uszy/

-- "THE WHITE PAPER IS NOTHING MORE THAN PROPAGANDA AND DISINFORMATION" - EWA SIEDLECKA: “Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented a 'white paper on judicial reforms in Poland' on Thursday in Brussels, at a meeting with the President of the European Commission. The document is nothing more than propaganda and disinformation. (...) Now this document will likely be analyzed for as long as it is long. And that's the point. It's a diplomatic game by both sides, which gives both an opportunity to show that they are 'in dialogue'. And that they treat each other with seriousness and due respect. And it gives the EU time so that it doesn't have to, on the word 'checkmate,' show that it is unable to activate the sanction mechanism from Article 7 of the EU Treaty.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1741022,1,co-zawiera-biala-ksiega-rzadu-o-reformach-w-wymiarze-sprawiedliwosci-sprawdzamy.read

-- ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI ON THE PRIME MINISTER'S FURTHER HISTORICAL LECTURES: “On the 50th anniversary of March '68 at the University of Warsaw, Prime Minister Morawiecki gave a special speech about pride in March, and Deputy Prime Minister Gliński announced that the Ghetto Museum should 'speak of the mutual love of two nations.' We explain to both gentlemen why they were saying bizarre and offensive things. (...) This is not a statement of fact, but an opinion, but taken literally it is bizarre. Morawiecki directly says that the anti-Semitic campaign – and the forced departure of several thousand people of Jewish origin from Poland – is a cause for pride. The Israeli newspaper 'Jerusalem Post' (here) almost fell for such an interpretation. The daily cited a report from Polish Radio and added that the radio did not explain exactly what Morawiecki meant – although according to the journalists, he probably didn't mean pride in the anti-Semitic campaign. In fact, Morawiecki did mean something else.” https://oko.press/dumni-marca-muzeum-getta-muzeum-milosci-morawiecki-glinski-znow-opowiadaja-kurioza-o-zydach/

-- "THE DIPLOMATIC SANDBOX" - front page of DGP.

-- "THE SMOLENSK CRASH AS AN ASSASSINATION" - front page of GW: “Although the Smolensk sub-commission has spent millions of zlotys and had the support of the entire Ministry of National Defence, it will not present the report that President Jarosław Kaczyński himself expected on April 10. It is unknown if it will ever present any report.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,23119817,katastrofa-zamachu-w-smolensku-raportu-podkomisji-10-kwietnia.html

-- "THE PRESIDENT ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS" - headline in GW.

-- "IN THE 21ST CENTURY, POLAND'S ONLY INSURANCE POLICY IS EUROPE" - Jakub Majmurek in GW: “Poland needs an insurance policy in case of the weakening of the transatlantic community, and that policy can only be an integrated – including in the military dimension – Europe.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23119894,w-xxi-wieku-polisa-polski-moze-byc-tylko-zjednoczona-europa.html

-- "THE CHAIRMAN'S DOUBLE SUICIDE" - Roman Imielski in GW: “Thus collapsed the PiS myth that we can disregard everyone because America loves us and will support us in every situation. (...) The latest news from the PiS camp is that the chairman has issued an order: 'not one step back.' And so it turned out that 'evil has returned' to PiS, putting the Polish authorities in a no-win situation. If the IPN Act is not thrown out by the Constitutional Tribunal, one can only rely on the strategic alliance with Viktor Orbán. Don't ask how many divisions he has, or you might die laughing.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23119728,podwojne-samobojstwo-prezesa-kaczynskiego.html

-- MONIKA OLEJNIK ON THE POLICE'S REACTIONS TO STUDENTS FROM THE ANTI-FASCIST COALITION AND THE LACK THEREOF TO FASCIST SLOGANS - writes in GW: “Minister, Mr. Prosecutor, when will those who disgraced our country on November 11 by carrying fascist slogans be punished? Has our brave government reached them yet? It should be recalled, and recalled daily, about Kinga Kamińska, who says in 'Wyborcza' that the threat of penalties doesn't keep her awake at night, and yet it was she who disrupted the November 11 march with thirteen other women. For the banner 'Stop Fascism!', they were spat on, beaten. One PiS politician says that 'our country is a country of gentlemen,' and the police, on behalf of the authorities, issue fines, take down details.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23119814,przepraszam-czy-tu-bija.html

-- "THE STATE COMPLETELY FAILED THE EXAM" - Tomasz Pietryga in RZ: “There is also the other side of the coin. By introducing restrictive regulations, the state has completely failed the exam. Although the changes directly affect all citizens, it did not even bother to conduct the slightest public information campaign in the media, clearly explaining which shops the ban applies to and which it does not.” http://www.rp.pl/Kadry/303099996-Zakaz-handlu-wstyd-i-zenada---komentuje-Tomasz-Pietryga.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Jarosław Krajewski, Maks Kraczkowski, Zbigniew Ćwiąkalski, Jacek Hugo-Bader, Kinga Rusin.