-- MICHAŁ MAJEWSKI CONVICTED FOR PREVENTING SERVICES FROM SEIZING LATKOWSKI'S LAPTOP: “The minor finale of the case took place two days ago. Judge Monika Tkaczyk-Turek of the District Court in Warsaw, in a trial initiated by Józef Gacek, the prosecutor who led the operation at Wprost, found me guilty and sentenced me to an 18,000 złoty fine under Article 224 § 2 of the Penal Code. I will only add that even during the tenure of Andrzej Seremet's prosecution and the Civic Platform-Polish People's Party coalition, investigators conducted proceedings regarding this matter and discontinued them, finding no elements of a crime in our actions.” -- I WOULD HAVE ACTED THE SAME WAY IF ANY OTHER AUTHORITY HAD USED VIOLENCE AGAINST A JOURNALIST - writes Majewski: “A final note. I understand there is a heated dispute between some politicians and the judiciary. Please remember one thing. That behavior, the opposition to the use of violence against a journalist, the fundamental issue of protecting sources for a reporter, had nothing to do with politics. Absolutely nothing. In short, I would have acted identically if agents of the services supervised by any other authority had tried to snatch that laptop. Verdicts that label ethical, morally correct actions defending the principles of press freedom as crimes do not build trust or faith in the justice system. I cannot even entertain the thought that the case might end with the described ruling. And I am counting on prudence, common sense, and imagination in the appeal.” https://www.wprost.pl/kraj/10295920/skazany-za-laptopa-latkowskiego.html -- AGNIESZKA HOLLAND REPORTS ON MACRON'S MEETING WITH INTELLECTUALS ON MONDAY EVENING - in an interview with Piotr Pacewicz in OKO: “It took place at the French Ambassador's residence in Warsaw. It was supposed to start at 8:30 AM, but Macron only arrived around 10:00 AM because he had a long conversation with Marshal Grodzki and also with Kidawa-Błońska, but most importantly, his meeting with the French community ran long. We were waiting for him in distinguished company. Adam Michnik, Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda, Marian Turski, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Piotr Cywiński, director Krzysztof Warlikowski, actors Wojtek Pszoniak and Andrzej Seweryn, writer Agata Tuszyńska. From the political sphere, Civic Platform MP Paweł Kowal, I don't know the exact criteria for his invitation. Besides, a few people who came with Macron: Jacques Rupnik, a Czech living in Paris his whole life, a Polish Jew, the eminent sociologist Georges Mink, Piotr Smolar, a journalist for Le Monde, son of Aleksander Smolar, who was missing from our group, and a legendary journalist and current MEP Bernard Guetta. Since 1980, he has constantly loved Poland, and now this love is more vibrant because the PiS era reminds him of his youth at the end of the PRL. Macron brought his ministers, who didn't say much. The President greeted everyone, saying something nice to each person, it was evident he was well-prepared and had an incredible memory and ability to connect things.” -- WARLIKOWSKI PAINTED A CATASTROPHIC VISION - HOLLAND'S CONTINUED ACCOUNT: “Adam started in French, and so did I, but Seweryn and Pszoniak, although they work in France, spoke Polish. When I had my second, longer speech, I also spoke Polish to express complex matters precisely. Warlikowski spoke in French. There was simultaneous translation, which was very good. Our statements varied, from very personal ones, some quite desperate, asking France to save Polish democracy, through the catastrophic vision presented by Krzysztof Warlikowski, to attempts at diagnosing the situation in Poland. It seemed to me that there was no point in creating a book of complaints and grievances or therapizing ourselves out of political depression, as that wasn't why we met. I myself spoke about what France could do to support the battle for the rule of law in Poland, but also about the necessity of creating a new political narrative. And about our own faults as democrats. I started by saying that Poland is not an exception; many countries have been taken over by right-wing populists; this is a global trend. I myself live in three countries, two already affected by populism, namely the United States and Poland, and a third, France, where it could happen very soon if Macron fails as a leader.” -- HOLLAND CRITICIZES THE SUPERIOR CONDEMNSATION OF POLAND: “I also wanted to break through the narrative I heard from French or Belgian politicians, that this Poland has ultimately shown it is unfit for the European salon. Such superior condescension towards Poland is simply shifting one's own fears and tensions in one's own country onto someone else. I wanted to make this intelligent man aware that PiS's Poland is nothing that special, although it is true that certain phenomena take on extreme, terrible, and at the same time, cabaret-like forms here.” -- WE EXPLAINED TO MACRON THAT HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS RUSSIA IS GREAT NAIVETY - Holland continues: “And here we moved on to the topic crucial for Macron: Russia. Subsequent speakers began to explain to Macron that his pro-Russian stance was great naivety, that no agreement could succeed because Putin simply has his own goals.” -- MACRON SUMMARIZED THAT THE MEETING WAS BETTER THAN WITH FRENCH INTELLECTUALS - Holland continues in OKO: “I also had the impression that he was interested in the story about the costs of transformation. Overall, he was pleased with the meeting, cordial, and spontaneously so. I sat next to him, and I could observe closely how he listened, took notes, and asked follow-up questions. He summarized that the meeting was great, much better than the last one he had with French intellectuals. I'm not surprised he liked it more, because they were certainly much more critical.” https://oko.press/holland-o-prywatnym-spotkaniu-macrona-w-warszawie-co-go-poruszylo-co-obiecal-tylko-w-oko-press/ -- Duda's STRATEGIC MISTAKE - writes Michał Szułdrzyński in RZ: “Thus, the law does not close anything but opens a new front in the dispute over the judiciary. The calendar is relentless. The government has been given a week by the CJEU to submit explanations regarding the procedures for disciplining judges before it decides whether to suspend the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. No matter how hard Andrzej Duda tries, this issue will resurface during the campaign. This is solely because PiS, for tactical reasons, went to war with the judges, forgetting about strategy. And that strategy was laid out by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in his exposé, when he repeatedly used the word 'normality,' called for unity, and urged focus on development projects. This was logical – to win the presidential elections, PiS needs centrist voters, and the majority of the electorate is tired of conflict. However, instead, a judicial war has been ongoing for two months.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/200209653-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Strategiczny-blad-Andrzeja-Dudy.html -- ANDRZEJ KOHUT FROM THE JAGELLONIAN CLUB DECODES MACRON'S WARMING UP - in Onet: “Where does this sudden surge of sympathy from President Macron towards Poland come from? On the one hand, French economic interests are at play, but the most important factor is politics. Macron is counting on winning over Central and Eastern European countries to his side in the dispute with Germany over the future shape of the European Union. This does not, of course, mean he expects to gain Warsaw's full support for his vision. Nevertheless, he may assume that, for example, he could manage to soften the Polish government's stance on an agreement with Russia, at the cost of concessions in other areas. This would make a potential reset in EU-Russia relations much more likely. In turn, including Poland in the European Intervention Initiative (a military project of Macron's, operating outside NATO and EU structures) could attract other regional states to this project. However, the latter would require a significant reformulation of the initiative's goals, which focus on threats from North Africa.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/polak-francuz-dwa-bratanki-wnioski-po-wizycie-macrona/gh654r1 -- SPYCHALSKI COMPARES HOŁOWNIA TO PALIKOT - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/02/06/#post-547487 -- THE VOTE DISTRIBUTION IS EVEN - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “The favorite in this race is, of course, President Andrzej Duda, but I am convinced it will not be a walk in the park. Opposition candidates may have a series of terrible gaffes noted somewhere in internet bubbles, bid too high on ideological excursions, make simple mistakes, and yet – if there is a second round of elections – they are not without a chance to defeat the current president. We have seen this to some extent (though obviously different) in local elections in large cities, we have seen it in the Senate elections. The vote distribution is relatively even as of today.” -- FIJOŁEK QUOTES A PIS POLITICIAN: “I would not be surprised if, in the end, it turns out that the outcome is decided by 200-300 thousand random votes. Random in the sense that they are based on the weather, the color of a tie, or irrational feelings – one of the interlocutors from the Law and Justice leadership recently assessed.” -- FIJOŁEK ON THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE PIS BACKSTAGE: “At the beginning of February, it looks more like the wild west – from poor control over who appears in the media and where, through ego clashes simmering in the background, to questions about defining the goal of this political (including campaign) journey of the 'good change' camp. I wrote about this more extensively a few weeks ago, posing the question about the crossroads of the center-right in Poland.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/485643-kwartal-kampanii-slowem-klucz-bedzie-ewolucja -- AGNIESZKA WIŚNIEWSKA IN KRYTYKA O TEŚCIE DLA LEWICY: “Organization for the SLD, social program for Razem, and media management for Wiosna. Now the campaign staff faces a difficult task – to coordinate and learn to utilize each other's strengths. What is at stake is not so much the presidential seat for Biedroń, but a good result, for which the entire left must work. This is a test for the left that will show whether the result achieved in the parliamentary elections last autumn was a one-off success or a harbinger of a larger political project.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/felietony/agnieszka-wisniewska/zgrywus-wesolek-madrala-i-ten-fajny-biedron-oglosil-sklad-sztabu/ -- GW REVEALS LISTS FOR THE KRS: “The list we obtained concerns Teresa Kurcyusz-Furmanik. She is a judge from Gliwice who ran for the KRS with public support. The 'Gazeta Polska' Clubs collected signatures for her; she had a total of 2130. However, a list of 32 judges who supported Kurcyusz-Furmanik was also submitted to the Sejm Chancellery (25 were required). According to our informant, these signatures were collected from those who were promoted during the PiS government or were promised such a promotion. – Similar names are on the support list for Leszek Mazur – says the 'Wyborcza' interlocutor.” -- WOJCIECH CZUCHNOWSKI WRITES ABOUT POSSIBLE SIGNATURE SUBSTITUTION: “Why is PiS so stubbornly – against NSA rulings – hiding the names on the lists? According to one of our sources, an abuse may have occurred during the signature collection process – when someone lacked signatures, they 'received them' from those the ministry already possessed, and the lists were supplemented without the supporters' knowledge.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25669530,krajowa-rada-swoich-wyborcza-ujawnia-liste-poparcia-do-nowej.html -- SPOKESPERSON FOR JARUZELSKI - JOANNA LICHOCKA IN GPC ABOUT PROF. ŁĘTOWSKA: “One could say, the professor knows what she is saying. I remember her standing by the side of 'naked political force' which 'refused to respect the law,' and when it was all 'humiliating for a lawyer, a citizen, a human being.' It was the time of the Jaruzelski and Kiszczak regime, when Ewa Łętowska mocked democracy and decency to their faces, playing the role of 'ombudsman' in the communist regime. People were in prison, beaten in the streets when they demanded democracy and freedom, while the professor was playing her game of appearances, claiming that 'socialist democracy' respected human rights. It is worth remembering this when the POstcommunist faction creates its 'legal authorities,' what their origin and achievements are.” https://gpcodziennie.pl/126335-rzecznikodjaruzelskiego.html -- SUCH PENSIONS AS WE DESERVE - PIOTR WÓJCIK IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “So why will this replacement rate drop so much? Because today's workers often pay contributions completely disproportionate to their earnings. Today's pensioners, the vast majority, worked full-time their entire lives. They paid proper contributions on their entire earnings. Currently, however, it's a free-for-all – there are dozens of ways to avoid contributions. 'ZUS-skeptics' gladly use them, and then they are surprised that ZUS has sent them a pension forecast of 300 zł. And they even boast about it, posting pictures of these forecasts on social media as proof of ZUS's inefficiency.” -- YOU WANTED IT, YOU GOT IT - WÓJCIK'S CONCLUSION: “If the Polish pension system is in a bad state, it is only by way of a self-fulfilling prophecy. For years, people have been told that it is not worth relying on a pension from ZUS, so they avoided contributions whenever possible. And now, indeed, benefits are shaping up to be terribly low. But what is so strange about that? You wanted it, you got it.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/mitologia-zusosceptykow-wojcik/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Paweł Bochniarz, Paweł Orłowski, Marek Michalik, Agnieszka Grzybek.