-- JUNCKER SHATTERED THE EUROPEAN COALITION'S NARRATIVE - SZCZERSKI IN TRÓJKA, THUN ON THE LACK OF EURO TOPIC - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/04/30/

-- WARLIKOWSKI WITH AN OPERA OSCAR: http://wyborcza.pl/7,112395,24713835,krzysztof-warlikowski-dostal-operowego-oscara-specjalna-nagroda.html

-- THE UNION MUST RETURN TO ITS ROOTS - MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI IN POLITICO: “Brussels responds to this crisis with a proposal for centralization of power, rejection of democracy, transparency, and accountability, and disregard for national sovereignty. This is a dangerous and misguided approach. If the EU does not take appropriate action, European voters will become increasingly disappointed. To give them new hope, the EU must redefine itself. Europeans need a Union that is socially sensitive; ambitious and innovative; tough on monopolies and protectionism; and safe for its citizens. And – most importantly – the EU must return to its roots: to the vision of a union of strong, free, and equal nations.”

-- WE NEED A UNION OF NATIONS 2.0 - MORAWIECKI CONTINUES: “Freedom lies at the heart of the EU idea – economic freedom, freedom of speech, freedom from poverty and exclusion. Without freedom, building a common European home and a common European future becomes simply impossible. The time has come to reform our European democracy and unite in diversity, which has always been Europe’s great strength. We need a Union of Nations 2.0, an adaptation of the vision of Europe's founders – Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, Charles de Gaulle, Alcide de Gasperi, and Konrad Adenauer – to the challenges of our time. Europe is based on the premise that its member states are equal. Only when Europe truly becomes a group of equal and mutually respected states can our continent become a superpower.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/politico/mateusz-morawiecki-dla-politico-polska-ma-wizje-dla-europy/yb25xr3

-- THERE WERE RECORDINGS, WHERE ARE THE TAPES? - RZ's Grażyna Zawadka and Izabela Kacprzak on Channel One: “As 'Rz' has established, the Krakow prosecutor's office, which has been investigating for four years, possesses testimonies from, among others, prostitutes and waiters from the R. brothers' companion agency, who confirmed that cameras recorded clients in the rooms. However, according to unofficial information, there are no recordings in the investigation materials.”

-- IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT NEITHER THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE NOR ABW MANAGED TO OBTAIN THE RECORDINGS - RZ CONTINUES: “It is impossible that neither the prosecutor's office nor ABW (which conducted searches) managed to obtain these recordings, knowing they exist – especially since the R. brothers cooperated and, instead of the ten years in prison they faced, received sentences of one and 1.5 years. The issue of granting Polish citizenship to Ukrainians raises even more doubts – this information is in the court files in Tarnów, which sentenced the brothers for trafficking women.” http://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1402357-Byly-nagrania-gdzie-sa-tasmy.html

-- PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI ON THE COMPLEXITY OF FATES IN PEOPLE'S POLAND USING THE EXAMPLE OF TADEUSZ MAZOWIECKI AND JAN OLSZEWSKI - text from Pressja: “It is hard to find a more telling symbol of the complexities of Polish post-war fates and the paradoxes of our politics than the attitude of liberals towards Tadeusz Mazowiecki and conservatives towards Jan Olszewski. The Prime Minister, associated his whole life with Catholic circles and starting his career alongside the nationalist and antisemite Bolesław Piasecki, remains to this day an icon of transformation cherished by the native left and liberals. The lawyer, originating from the working-class left with a Masonic episode in his biography, is a legend of right-wing criticism of post-communism. Meanwhile, the biographies of both heroes have more in common than they differ. The paths they took to their prime ministerial positions do not fit into the mainstream collective imagination of Poles' lives in People's Poland.”

-- IN CONTRAST TO THE 'CURSED SOLDIERS' - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES ON THE BIOGRAPHIES OF PRIME MINISTERS - A TRUE STORY DIFFERENT FROM TURBO-PATRIOTIC PROPAGANDA: “By reconstructing their biographies, one can, for example, consider Mazowiecki's fate in communist Poland as a direct contrast to the attitude of the 'Cursed Soldiers,' and Olszewski's choices as a distinct alternative to them. At the same time, their parallel and often intersecting biographies are a fascinating, difficult, and true story of the communist night – so different from the one that turbo-patriotic propaganda feeds us today…” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2019/04/29/premierzy-z-polski-ludowej-mazowiecki-i-olszewski-zasluguja-na-wspolny-pomnik/

-- POLEXIT IS A PAPER TIGER - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: “Here, however, there is a dispute, and the two main sides of this dispute – the ruling Law and Justice party and the European Coalition – have quite balanced support. However, both declare their intention to remain in the Union; the subject of controversy is rather the model of Poland's relationship with EU powers and institutions. The instrumental use by the euro-enthusiast European Coalition of accusations against PiS of intending to leave the Union makes the topic a paper tiger. Apparently, a significant portion of Polish voters are not harmed or bothered by playing on the verge of this imaginary Polexit.”

-- IT IS DIFFICULT TO TAKE POLISH EUROSEPTICS SERIOUSLY DUE TO THEIR ACCUMULATION OF EXTREMES AND PECULIARITIES - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “It is possible that declared enemies of the Union are needed in social life, if only so that we do not get used to blissful unanimity in anything. Also because they are the first to bring to light the absurdities and sins of this institution. Although it happens that in Polish conditions they represent such an accumulation of extremes and peculiarities themselves that it is difficult to take them seriously. Are we really able to listen to the discourse of Grzegorz Braun, a proponent of imprisoning homosexuals, or Janusz Korwin-Mikke, a defender of Hitler's good name?”

-- WILL THE ATMOSPHERE OF CONFRONTATION WITH EU INSTITUTIONS PUSH PIS EXCESSIVELY TOWARDS POPULISTS? - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “The alliance with eurosceptic and populist parties can be all the more treacherous. The Polish right shares views with them, for example, on the need to curb immigration. But not on the EU budget – Western populists generally want to reduce it, we – the opposite. PiS must balance in order not to fall into either extreme. Excessive rocking of the European boat also raises the question already asked to anti-Europeans: should we be happy with the crisis of the current system? Western eurosceptic parties look to Putin. And again: we do not. Kaczyński, however, does not look to Putin, and that's good news. – Supporting membership in the Union is a requirement of Polish patriotism – he said just recently. But will the atmosphere of confrontation with EU institutions push him excessively in another direction?” https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-cztery-wazne-pytania-o-obecnosc-polski-w-unii-europejskiej/ar/c1-14087887

-- THERE ARE NO EUROSEPTIC PARTIES IN POLAND - JACEK CZAPUTOWICZ IN CONVERSATION WITH JĘDRZEJ BIELECKI IN RZ: “I do not see anti-EU forces in the ruling camp. There is rather a discrepancy between the image created and reality. According to recent studies, over 90% of Poles support European integration. They see that the government is effectively using its EU membership for the country's development. There is no acceptance from the political class and society in Poland for leaving the European Union. The opposition represented in parliament is also pro-European, which is somewhat unique, as eurosceptic parties are growing in strength in Western European countries.”

-- CZAPUTOWICZ ON POLAND RESPECTING THE LUXEMBOURG RULING: “I think so. These rulings will also be important for the entire European Union. We will see how other countries implement the principles defined by the CJEU regarding judicial independence. For example, in Germany, the system of appointing judges is more politicized than in Poland.”

-- CZAPUTOWICZ ON HOW WESTERN ACCEPTANCE OF PIS RULE IN POLAND IS GROWING: “The process of acceptance is already underway. We observe a positive evolution in Germany's approach. France is also ready for talks. We are perceived as a leader in the region, an active country with its own vision, which cannot be ignored. On May 1st, a high-level meeting will be held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw at the invitation of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Leaders from 13 countries that joined the EU in the last 15 years will participate. Poland is seen as a representative of the interests of this entire group, which constitutes nearly half of the EU member states.” https://www.rp.pl/Rzad-PiS/304299918-Jacek-Czaputowicz-Wypelnimy-wyroki-Luksemburga.html

-- WITH THE POLEXIT LIE, THE OPPOSITION IS LEFT LIKE HIMILBACH WITH ENGLISH - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “A brief 'no' from the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who is unfavorably disposed towards the current Polish authorities, to the question of whether he sees a threat of Polexit in the event of continued PiS rule, puts an end to it. This topic, or more precisely, this emotion, is now dead. It's no wonder that even Leszek Miller got annoyed. The Polexit lie has collapsed with a bang. The opposition is stuck with it like the proverbial Himilsbach with English. And the longer they practice it, the closer they are to defeat, because it's a fruitless endeavor.”

-- POLEXIT IS THE GLUE OF THE COALITION WITH POST-COMMUNISTS - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “That is precisely why POLEXIT appeared. A wonderful recipe for all problems, a single answer to all difficult questions, a magnificent glue for the coalition with post-communists. Everything within reach was invested in this topic: tabloid fears, three-day smear campaigns on commercial stations, internet campaigns financed with dirty money, marches of thousands, activated influences in Brussels. The idea was as simple as an overpriced highway: today, on the eve of the European Parliament elections, Poles were to be convinced that the ruling camp was preparing for Brexit (or, for the less naive, perhaps not preparing, but it was turning out that way), and the only salvation was to restore the previous regime, perhaps a thieving one, but submissive, meek, patted on the back. In a word – European.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/444583-polexitowe-klamstwo-runelo-z-hukiem

-- WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE ADENAUER, BUT WE HAVE SOME LEFTISTS TELLING US HOW TO LIVE - WITOLD WASZCZYKOWSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH DR ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KL: “And that is the biggest problem. We dreamt of a Union founded by Schuman, Adenauer, and others. And today we have Verhofstadt, Juncker, or Timmermans. We have some leftists who tell us how to live in many aspects of life. In each member state, many internal matters are resolved differently. And we are dealing with Brussels officials who usurp the right to interpret treaties and other solutions and 'timmermanize' European law. This is unacceptable.”

-- THERE IS NO DEMOCRATIC CRITERION IN THE EU FOR CHOOSING THE CENTRAL INSTITUTION - WASZCZYKOWSKI CONTINUES: “This is where we enter the problem of a democratic EU institution. How to create a democratic, strong government in the Union? It is unknown. We do not have a democratic criterion in Europe for choosing a central institution that would implement the interests of all member states. Therefore, we must negotiate, reconcile views, not impose them. And today, they are trying to impose them.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/04/30/witold-waszczykowski-wywiad-wybory-unia-europejska/

-- POLAND AND CENTRAL EUROPE PRESENT A PRO-EUROPEAN STANCE - KONRAD SZYMAŃSKI IN SE: "Please note that tensions related to energy and climate policy and access to the services market have existed since the very beginning of accession to the EU. In this sense, the PiS government has not opened any new fronts here. However, it has started to speak much louder about the fact that we have a serious problem here. We will not hide the real problems of the EU under the rug. Most paradoxically, it is Poland and Central Europe more broadly that present a pro-European stance in these disputes, not the countries that are guarding themselves with protectionism and which, under the pretext of, for example, energy policy, try to defend their competitiveness at the expense of others in the Union.”