-- ROBERT KRASOWSKI'S NEW BOOK PREMIERE ON 300POLITYCE! A very small and very specific group makes few mistakes when describing politics. This is a genre that the public knows poorly because it rarely appears in popular media – Robert Krasowski on perceptions of politics: https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/04/23/w-opisie-polityki-bledow-unika-grupa-bardzo-waska-i-bardzo-szczegolna-to-gatunek-ktory-opinia-publiczna-zna-slabo-bo-rzadko-gosci-w-popularnych-mediach-robert-krasowski-o-wyobrazaniach-o-polityce/

-- NEW YORK TIMES ON THE POLISH CHURCH'S CONDEMNATION OF EVENTS IN PRUCHNIK: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/04/22/world/europe/ap-eu-poland-anti-semitism.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

-- "I AM ASHAMED OF MY CHURCH" - KATARZYNA KOLENDA-ZALESKA IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: “Some church hierarchies, however, decided that this time was an excellent opportunity to condemn others – especially LGBT people, and even striking teachers, as the Archbishop of Gdansk did. The Archbishop even condemned gestures of tolerance, which seems completely contrary to the essence of the Gospel. One can only be ashamed of such a Church. Unfortunately, with great regret, it must be said that many of the words spoken during this holiday truly warrant shame. For how else can one receive these words from the Metropolitan: 'Social order and peace are being undermined by the aggression of noisy anti-Christian currents and ideologies, the promotion of moral nihilism and social arrogance. It elevates the idol of tolerance to the pedestal of social acceptance. And it includes acceptance even of the greatest perversions. This also leads to the destruction of national traditions, undermines fundamental concepts about the essence of family, marriage, the sanctity of life, commandments, the Decalogue, and gives the green light to the so-called LGBT card.' What does this have to do with the Good News and the Risen God?” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24688750,kolenda-zaleska-wstydze-sie-za-swoj-kosciol.html

-- ZELENSKY: UKRAINIAN KWAŚNIEWSKI? - WOJCIECH PIĘCIAK IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “Will Volodymyr Zelensky become the 'Ukrainian Kwaśniewski'? The President-elect of Ukraine, who very decisively won the second round of presidential elections last Sunday (supported by almost three-quarters of the voters), defeating the incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, is 41 years old – the same age as Aleksander Kwaśniewski when he became President of Poland in 1995. The analogy is not limited to age. Both Kwaśniewski and Zelensky, at the time of taking office, were a big unknown – their previous life paths (though of course completely different) offered little strong indication of what kind of presidents they might be, nor what strategy they would adopt – including in foreign policy.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/zelenskij-ukrainski-kwasniewski-158597

-- UKRAINIAN ENIGMA - Gazeta Wyborcza lead story: “Will he accelerate reforms? Will he mend relations with Poland? The day after his crushing victory, we don't have the answers.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75399,24689266,czy-wolodymyr-zelenski-nowy-prezydent-ukrainy-bedzie-kontynuowal.html

-- SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE OR OLIGARCHS? - title in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

-- WHO IS THE RICH MAN BEHIND ZELENSKY - Dziennik Gazeta Prawna: https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/swiat/artykuly/596329,ihor-kolomojski-oligarchowie-ukraina-wolodymyr-zelenski.html

-- JAŚKOWIAK STABBED THE TEACHERS IN THE BACK - WIELKOPOLSKA GAZETA WYBORCZA COMMENTARY - TOMASZ NYCZKA: "In the midst of the strike, Mayor Jacek Jaśkowiak, instead of supporting the teachers, stabbed them in the back by suggesting they should suspend their protest. This solution serves the interests of his party, but not the teachers. The Mayor could have supported the teachers, but he chose to crush them. Because a strike in the autumn is in the interest of Civic Platform.” http://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/7,89336,24684734,prezydent-jacek-jaskowiak-odwraca-sie-od-nauczycieli-komentarz.html

-- THESE ARE TEMPESTS IN A TEACUP LASTING A FEW WEEKS AT MOST - GRZEGORZ SROCZYŃSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “When I observe Polish reality, for the last two or three years, I have the impression that it is extremely fluid. First, everyone criticizes Schetyna for not being a leader. Then they praise him for being a tactical genius because he united the opposition. First, they rave about Biedroń, saying he'll soon be an important player, and then they write that he's an idiot who smiles too much. Next week, it might turn out that he has 20 percent in the polls again and will be applauded for not profiling himself and for being 'progressive,' not leftist. These are all tempests in a teacup that last a few weeks at most, and then there's another topic. Just a moment ago, we had a great national tragedy in the form of the murder of the Mayor of Gdańsk. Two weeks later, no one was talking about it anymore.”

-- EVERYTHING IN POLISH POLITICS IS RITUALISTIC - SROCZYŃSKI CONTINUES IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “In our politics, it's a bit like a family, festive dinner. Uncle will tell some stale joke, Aunt will tell Uncle he's a boor, there are emotions, there's an argument, and at the same time, everything is purely ritualistic. Everyone knows it, everyone knows who will say what next, they are tired of it, but no one will stop it. There are very few issues that can interest us for longer than a week. Ask someone on the street what the death of Adamowicz means to them today.”

-- EVEN THE FIRE AT THE CATHEDRAL IS INTERPRETED TRIBALLY - SROCZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “Polarization works in such a way that there is no common understanding of issues. Every event and every statement is interpreted according to tribal rules. Even the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral can be seen as right-wing or left-wing; the explosion of idiotic comments after the fire was something unprecedented on a global scale. Politicians' statements lose their meaning because their content depends only on which side they are on. And anyway, it doesn't matter what we say, because it's already known how the other side will perceive it. Ultimately, everyone has their own monologue.”

-- IT'S NOT LIKE WHEN PO RETURNS TO POWER, THE PUBLIC SECTOR'S DEMANDS WILL AGAIN BECOME REBELLION - SROCZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “But this change has occurred. It's not like when PO wins the elections, everything will return to normal, and public sector wage demands will again become rebellion. Criticism of the mistakes of the Third Republic has been internalized by the liberal camp. Not in the sense that its representatives will go around the media repeating that they were stupid. That wouldn't make much sense anyway. But something has happened. If you ask a politician from today's opposition what they think about social issues, the answer will be different than it was before. This is not just due to anti-PiS sentiment.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/04/23/sawczuk-sroczynski-wywiad-lewica/

-- ON POLLS THAT HAVE LOST THEIR INFORMATIONAL VALUE - DR ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “If they are to have any informational value, the procedures for conducting them should be standardized, otherwise the very sense of these studies, the media that write about them, and also the companies that conduct them, are completely compromised. Until this happens, the only reasonable approach to polls is to analyze trends, not individual results. Or, if we have the means, to commission our own more detailed analyses. As all major parties do. Because even if polls rule politicians, it's certainly not the ones we learn about from the media.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/04/23/sondaze-partie-polityczne-kantar-popularnosc/

-- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GAZETA WYBORCZA ON THE LEFT IN DISARRAY: “From a political point of view, the teachers' strike is theoretically an opportunity for left-wing parties. However, neither Biedroń nor Razem managed to position themselves as the main spokespeople for this employee group. The European Coalition took their place, partly thanks to PiS, which spun conspiracy theories about close cooperation between ZNP and PO leader Grzegorz Schetyna. Biedroń could not prevent this. He was not particularly visible during the strike. The Left can only lament that the government has turned Schetyna into a demiurge.”

-- THE CELEBRITY APPEARED AS A SIMPLE BOY - WIELOWIEYSKA ON BIEDROŃ: "Bringing up this story is a dirty game against Biedroń, but a politician must know that if they want to climb to the top, every skeleton will eventually fall out of the closet. In such family matters, it is very difficult to determine what caused the mother to report her son to the prosecutor's office. What is important is that the family has reconciled. Perhaps Biedroń's image as a nice and open politician will suffer. But it has happened before that such 'hooks' have garnered more sympathy for the attacked person than worsened their ratings. Moreover, Biedroń had the image of a celebrity; now he has suddenly appeared as a simple boy from a small town struggling with problems that many families face."

-- THE LEFT MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY - WIELOWIEYSKA'S CONCLUSION: "Razem and Wiosna can, of course, reach some agreement before the parliamentary elections, but it might be too late. Voters need time to get used to a new banner. From this point of view, the first baptism of fire in the form of the European elections and then the main showdown in the parliamentary elections is the best sequence of events for any new coalition. The Left has not seized this opportunity." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24688750,lewica-zastepy-generalow-i-armie-w-rozsypce.html

-- LET THE GOVERNMENT TALK TO ITSELF - JACEK ŻAKOWSKI IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: “If the unions want to sit at this table and not regret it later, they must first receive from Morawiecki what Mandela received from de Klerk, and Wałęsa from Jaruzelski. If the government doesn't offer them this, let it talk to itself. For example, with 'Solidarity.'” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24688717,nauczyciele-nie-siadajcie-z-szulerem-do-stolika.html

-- JAROSŁAW GOWIN ON PLATFORM’S VIEWS BEING DRIVEN BY POLLS - interview with Marcin Makowski in Wirtualna Polska: “Please analyze the numerous statements of the European Coalition leaders. Not long ago, they were urging to adopt the euro as soon as possible. When we decided to call their bluff, confusion reigned among the opposition. Some are retreating en masse, others are biting their tongues... Poles have the right to know who they will soon vote for if they cast their ballot for the KE. For Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who maintains a sober distance on the euro issue, for Katarzyna Lubnauer, who is a blind supporter of adopting the common currency, or for the PO leaders, who in every matter hold the view that arises from public opinion polls…”

-- TUSK IS TRYING TO BYPASS SCHETYNA - GOWIN CONTINUES: “This is a cunning attempt to bypass Grzegorz Schetyna through the initiative of joint lists for the Senate, under the patronage of Donald Tusk and with the participation of liberal mayors of large cities. If the European Coalition loses the May elections, the verdict on Grzegorz Schetyna will be signed.”

-- GOWIN ON FAILED ATTEMPTS TO USE GRAPHENE: “It is a fact that for the last 3 years, together with Jadwiga Emilewicz and Piotr Dardziński, we have tried to interest both large state treasury companies and innovative private firms and foreign concerns in Polish graphene. Without success. For now, everything indicates that the skeptical scientist is right. However, this does not mean that I consider this matter closed. One of the priorities of the Łukasiewicz Network is the commercialization of graphene. I think that in two or three years, we will know whether Polish graphene is just a scientific curiosity or can find significant application in the economy.” https://opinie.wp.pl/jaroslaw-gowin-panstwo-ktore-nie-inwestuje-w-swoje-elity-intelektualne-bedzie-panstwem-teoretycznym-wywiad-6373161635583617a

-- THE LEFT CLEANS UP AFTER THE RIGHT - MAREK BELKA IN CONVERSATION WITH ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “In Poland, for many years, it has been the case that when the left comes to power, a relative left, it cleans up after the right-wing governments, puts the economy back on track, and then the right comes and capitalizes on the success. This was the case in 2005 – and I think the same happened in 2015.”

-- BELKA CAUTIOUSLY ON 500+: “I was never against the 500+ program, but not because it had any pro-family or pro-demographic merits. Of course not. Moreover, extending 500+ from the first child means it's not aimed at increasing fertility, because one child doesn't solve the problem. However, 500+ is undoubtedly a program that has reduced poverty, and this is a success of the PiS government. One can only complain to the Civic Platform and PSL government that they didn't come up with this idea and didn't implement this program in their second term, because we could afford it then. I know that a significant part of the European Coalition is 'for' it, but I cannot refrain from stating that this is – let's be frank – an electoral gift.”

-- BELKA ON THE PROBLEM WITH HIGHER ZUS CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE WEALTHIEST: “It depends on where you are [laughter]. In Poland, many people who are not the wealthiest hope to join the richest. But seriously – it must be clearly stated: 'We are raising taxes, period.' And you know why this is also dangerous? Today, the richest can pay into ZUS, but later they will have to be paid a pension of an appropriate amount. And they will be surprised.”

-- TUSK PROVIDES SYNERGY - BELKA CONTINUES: “I think that in the current configuration, for the leaders of the European Coalition – Schetyna, Kosiniak-Kamysz, Czarzasty, or even Trzaskowski – Tusk is not a competitor at all. He can be a provider of additional synergy.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/04/23/marek-belka-wywiad-kampania-wybory-lewica/

-- THE STRIKE WILL BLOCK 500+ - Rzeczpospolita lead story: “Soon, even 40,000 social welfare workers will join the protesting teachers.” https://www.rp.pl/Urzednicy/304229960-Strajk-pracownikow-pomocy-spolecznej-zablokuje-swiadczenia-500-plus.html

-- PIS HAS BRED A MONSTER THAT RUINS THE REPUTATION OF DECENT POLES - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON PAWŁOWICZ writes in Rzeczpospolita: “By pressing the pedal of radicalism, PiS has bred a monster that is now ruining the reputation of all decent Poles. The good change was convinced that it was only a fringe of voters, a Twitter bubble. Today, this fringe can set the tone for the debate, and certainly ruin our reputation abroad. And at the same time, it undermines our strategic alliance with the USA for our security.” http://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1401873-Obciach-na-eksport.html

-- TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA, STATING THAT PO AND PIS COULD ALTERNATELY SUPPORT THE STRIKE AND NO ONE WOULD BE SURPRISED: “A conflict of this nature seems futile in many respects. With only slight exaggeration, one could say that PiS and PO could alternately support the teachers' strike one day and attack it the next – and no one would be surprised. Members of each group would remain loyal to their camp and adjust their message to their needs.”

-- WEAVERS RATHER THAN SHEPHERDS - SAWCZUK ON POLITICIANS: “Democratic politicians are more like weavers than shepherds – they do not lead the flock, but stitch together fabric from the material provided by society. The hope associated with overturning the table could lie mainly in the fact that in a changed situation, a just action (in our opinion) would pay off more than before – for example, because a new axis of political conflict would force it. Whether it would turn out this way, we actually don't know.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/04/22/sawczuk-w-poniedzialek-inna-polityka/

-- EWA SIEDLECKA ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNDERMINING THE CREDIBILITY OF THE JUDICIARY: “Soon the words of PiS politicians will be found in the legal filings of foreign business entities, who will use them to challenge unfavorable Polish court rulings and refuse to execute them. This will also apply to disputes with the state treasury. It could also be a significant argument for filing lawsuits in US courts, for example, for the restitution of Jewish property. Especially in light of the law on the restitution of Holocaust victim property passed by the US House of Representatives a year ago. They might even summon the Prime Minister as a witness to argue that Polish courts cannot be trusted until PiS carries out its reform?” https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2019/04/22/czysciciele-sadownictwa/

-- 25 YEARS AGO, the Union of Freedom was formed from the merger of the Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress.

-- BIRTHDAYS: Anda Rottenberg, Anna Kalczyńska-Maciejowska, Miłosz Lodowski, Marcin Pieńkowski, Agnieszka Gołąbek.