-- ZIOBRO ON NEW REGULATIONS REGARDING THE TRANSPARENCY OF NGO FINANCING, CIESZYŃSKI ON THE CAUSE OF INCREASED CASES, EMILEWICZ PRAISES KWAŚNIEWSKI, MUELLER ON COALITION PARTNERS ALSO PROMISING REDUCTIONS IN ADMINISTRATION - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/08/07 -- TVN24 LOST THE CASE AGAINST THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, MUST ISSUE A CORRECTION: “TVN24 lost the case against the Ministry of Justice and must correct information from „Czarno na białym” regarding the registry of pedophiles. The Court of Appeal in Warsaw has legally ordered TVN24 to broadcast a correction of information from „Czarno na białym” from October 2018 about the so-called registry of pedophiles. The Ministry of Justice filed the lawsuit in this matter.” https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/tvn24-przegral-w-sadzie-z-ministerstwem-sprawiedliwosci-musi-sprostowac-informacje-z-czarno-na-bialym-o-rejestrze-pedofilow -- JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI STATES HE SUPPORTS OBAJEK'S ACTIONS: "I am very grateful to President Daniel Obajtek for leading all of this so energetically. I definitely and unequivocally support these actions," said the Law and Justice party leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency about the expansion of PKN Orlen. He emphasized that Orlen's actions "are in line with everything that serves the development of the Polish economy, as well as its strengthening on the international stage." -- KACZYŃSKI FOR THE CREATION OF A MULTI-ENERGY CONGLOMERATE, ALSO SPEAKS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HYDROGEN: "This is a matter of enormous, priority importance today. I am very grateful to President Daniel Obajtek for leading all of this so energetically. I definitely and unequivocally support these actions," replied the Law and Justice party leader. "I believe they are very necessary. They are in line with everything that serves the development of the Polish economy, as well as its strengthening on the international stage," he noted. He stated: "It is about creating entities, and in this case, the largest entity, that will have the opportunity to enter fields such as energy, and on the other hand, to significantly change the production profile in the chemical sector. Simply because our future – as everything indicates – lies in electric cars, and possibly also those powered by hydrogen, with a declining demand for gasoline in the longer term." "Therefore, we simply need to think about deeper processing, about petrochemistry in the strict sense, and that's where all of this will go," concluded Jarosław Kaczyński. https://www.rmf24.pl/ekonomia/news-jaroslaw-kaczynski-o-ekspansji-orlenu-jestem-bardzo-wdzieczn,nId,4652257 -- KACZYŃSKI ANNOUNCED REFORMS CONCERNING THE MEDIA TO PiS MPS BUT STATED THEY WILL BE BALANCED BY THE PRESIDENT - as reported by Michał Kolanko in RZ: “The PiS leader also emphasized that further reforms are being prepared, primarily concerning the media and the judiciary. However, as he announced, these changes are to be discussed with President Andrzej Duda and thus appropriately „balanced.” -- KACZYŃSKI ON THE FIGHT FOR ASPIRATIONAL ELECTORATE: “According to reports from our interlocutors in the PiS club, President Kaczyński announced that deep changes are coming to the party, because without them, it will be impossible to win the next elections. He admitted that PiS needs to expand to include new people. The main goal is to fight for the aspirational electorate, which is also emerging due to social changes resulting from the party's actions and programs.” https://www.rp.pl/Prawo-i-Sprawiedliwosc/200809697-Kaczynski-zapowiada-walke-o-elektorat-aspiracyjny.html -- RE-ELECTION IS PROOF THAT SUCH IS THE UNDISPUTED WILL OF THE NATION - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “But President Duda won RE-ELECTION! And this cannot be achieved – as they claim – through tricks or propaganda. One can win once this way. A repeated election is proof that such is the undisputed will of the nation. It is an undeniable verdict. Moreover, what political benefits will it bring to the opposition to be offended by the head of state or to diminish the significance of the inauguration ceremony? A bit of applause from radical voters, yes, but what more? Nothing. Yet they persist in this fatal scenario, also sending a signal to the world that weakens both the president's international standing and Poland's strength.” -- KARNOWSKI ON THE "GENES OF PARTITION": “Poles must always – every day – remember that the partitions really happened. And since they happened once, our state existence is always threatened. Especially since the partition genes – as we can see – have unfortunately survived.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/512384-rozbiorowe-geny-jak-widzimy-na-zdjeciu-niestety-przetrwaly -- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE ASPECT OF THE AZOTY AFFAIR IN BORTNICZUK'S CASE: “Some Porozumienie activists also looked critically at their leader's conversations with the opposition. Such opinions were presented in private conversations by, among others, Porozumienie politician Kamil Bortniczuk, who was initially considered Gowin's man and even solidarized by leaving the government with him in protest against the election date of May 10. But then he changed his front to anti-Gowin. He explained this by saying that he was alienated by his leader due to his plotting with political opponents. However, his critics see this change of front differently; they suspect that PiS threatened him that if he were not loyal to Nowogrodzka, someone would start digging into his life story from his time as a member of the board of Grupa Azoty ZAK. Others add that perhaps both reasons influenced Bortniczuk's change of mind.” -- KACZYŃSKI ALLEGEDLY SAID THAT GOWIN WOULD RETURN TO THE GOVERNMENT - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES: “The crisis was averted, but some activists wanted to stage a coup to remove Gowin from his leadership position. They were convinced that they would earn Kaczyński's gratitude in this way. Information circulated that the PiS leader had even designated specific MPs who were to carry out a palace coup within Porozumienie. Ultimately, Kaczyński – despite his great reluctance towards his namesake – remained a passive observer and decided to accept the decisions of the activists and authorities of Porozumienie. He allegedly told his colleagues that if Gowin retained leadership in his small formation, he would return to the government as its leader.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON OCIEPA'S MEDIATORY ROLE: “In this way, the option represented by the Deputy Minister of National Defense, Deputy Head of Porozumienie, Marcin Ociepa, prevailed within Porozumienie. He was a staunch supporter of the coalition with PiS. He did not stand by Gowin during the crisis over the election dates. At the same time, he acted as an intermediary between PiS and Porozumienie, trying to reach a consensus on the presidential vote date. And he was opposed to a change in the party leader. He expressed outrage at Bortniczuk's proposals, which aimed to remove Gowin's closest collaborators. In the autumn, Porozumienie members will decide who will be their leader. Gowin's opponents hope that Emilewicz will take up this competition, but it is very likely that the current Deputy Prime Minister will not decide to run in the internal party elections.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING EMILEWICZ'S FUTURE: “However, the principle that Porozumienie has only one ministry greatly complicates the situation. Because if Gowin is to become a member of the government again, it means that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Jadwiga Emilewicz loses her post. In PiS, there was speculation that although Emilewicz would not support a coup within Porozumienie, she would defect to PiS directly under Mateusz Morawiecki. And she would receive a ministry from the intra-PiS distribution. Her statement during a party leadership meeting in mid-July could indicate such plans. Emilewicz allegedly said, according to Interia: 'Shouldn't we strengthen one of the factions in PiS, strengthen Prime Minister Morawiecki?'” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE FACT THAT SEVERAL PO MPS HAVE DECLARED THEIR WILLINGNESS TO JOIN POROZUMIENIE: “Porozumienie also faces another dilemma. I heard from two sources that several PO parliamentarians have declared their willingness to join Porozumienie. These are individual initiatives, not an organized group. These politicians want to move to the government side, but they prefer to join a grouping that is closest to the opposition and its thinking, and this is how they perceive Porozumienie. However, Gowin is not enthusiastic about these potential transfers. He fears that it will destabilize the balance within the party. In exchange for joining the United Right, new recruits will demand guarantees of winning positions on electoral lists in future elections, and Gowin does not want to give such guarantees because it complicates the situation within the party. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,26188671,porozumienie-walczy-o-ministerstwa-nie-wierze-w-odejscie-emilewicz.html -- OCIEPA SUPPORTS GOWIN'S RETURN TO THE GOVERNMENT - as stated in an interview with Michał Szułdrzyński in RZ: “I can only speak for Porozumienie. Porozumienie, in accordance with its statute, will recommend individuals for the Council of Ministers by resolution. The return of Jarosław Gowin as party leader remains an open question. But this is, firstly, a matter of his will, and secondly, the party's decision. I personally encourage him to return. Poland needs Jarosław Gowin as a member of the Council of Ministers, not as a commentator of events outside the government.” -- PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA ON FORMER PRESIDENT KWAŚNIEWSKI - SPOKEN IN AN INTERVIEW WITH BOGDAN RYMANOWSKI ON POLSAT: “First of all, I would like to sincerely thank all those MPs and guests who came. I am immensely grateful to President Kwaśniewski. Mr. President showed class; everyone knows that on a whole range of political and ideological issues, we disagree, the President has different views from mine, but we have met several times. They have always been very cultured, pleasant conversations, and I am grateful to the President for this very pro-state gesture of his presence today. I also perceive it as a gesture of a certain cordiality, also inter-presidential solidarity with me. I am very glad he was there. In my opinion, he showed class, that the Polish state is simply more important than differences in views, because differences in views exist and will exist, and the Polish state must endure, develop, and will have its various political fortunes, because it is a democracy, and fortunately, this democracy, as we can see, is deepening here, it is becoming more mature.” https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/08/06/pad-o-obecnosci-kwasniewskiego-na-zaprzysiezeniu-pokazal-klase/ -- A DETRIMENTAL GESTURE, NOT DRAWING CONCLUSIONS FROM DEFEATS - JAKUB BODZIONY IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “This gesture appeals to the emotions of KO's most ardent electorate. However, it is detrimental for two reasons. Firstly, successive election results have shown that a radicalized base is not enough for the opposition to win elections. So why keep appealing to it? It would not be good if the main conclusion drawn by Platforma from its sixth consecutive electoral defeat was 'more of the same.' Secondly, such behavior – perhaps contrary to the intentions of the opposition leaders – contributes to undermining the authority of the state. The presence of opposition MPs was not intended to express approval of Andrzej Duda, but respect for the institution of the presidency.” -- LET PLATFORMA LISTEN TO SIENKIEWICZ - BODZIONY CONTINUES: “Platforma can continue to use the advice of radicals or listen to more balanced voices like Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz. The first method is simple and has been tested many times. Its effects, which we can analyze since 2015, are… debatable. The second option requires statesmanship and commitment. Logic would suggest that it is worth trying.” -- PLATFORM'S MISTAKE WAS EXPLOITED BY THE LEFT - BODZIONY CONTINUES IN KL: “Especially since the whole event could have been turned to their advantage. PO did not present a memorable message during the inauguration. Politicians from the Left skillfully took advantage of this, coming to the inauguration dressed in rainbow colors, as well as rainbow masks. It was a manifesto expressing solidarity with LGBT individuals, who became the target of Duda's homophobic campaign, which the United Right continues to this day after the elections. The happening became so inconvenient for PiS that the photo of Andrzej Duda against the backdrop of MPs sitting in parliamentary benches, wearing rainbow masks, quickly disappeared from the website of the Chancellery of the Sejm. The Left showed that it is possible to respect the inauguration ceremony of the president and simultaneously use it to assert one's political stance. Platforma should learn a lesson from this.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/08/06/zaprzysiezenie-prezydenta-lewica-punktuje-po-wciaz-bez-pomyslu/ -- HE DE FACTO SAID HE HAS THE STRONGEST MANDATE IN THE HISTORY OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC, DELIVERED AN EFFICIENTLY WRITTEN ADDRESS - JACEK GĄDEK ON GAZETA.PL: “Andrzej Duda de facto stated that he is the president with the strongest mandate in the history of the Third Republic. He declared his readiness to shake hands with anyone. He called for unity. But on the other hand, he jabbed at the opposition and Rafał Trzaskowski. He efficiently delivered a well-written address, but his words lead to nothing. What can we expect from the second term? Andrzej Duda will not be different, but there will be more 'Duda' in the president.” -- THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE MEDIA ON THE SIDE OF THE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANT - GĄDEK ON TVP CONSIDERATIONSP: “Considering the enormous involvement of state media on behalf of Duda and the problems with voting abroad – it certainly was not 'the best world standard.' However, this does not change the fact that TVP's propaganda was not crucial to Duda's victory (within the PiS core itself, there is a dispute whether the current TVP harmed or helped), and the scale of problems abroad did not distort the final election results. The involvement of the media on the side of the opposition candidate was also significant.” -- SIENKIEWICZ SHOWED WISDOM IN THE CONTEXT OF PLATFORMA - GĄDEK CONTINUES ON GAZETA.PL: “Duda's discourse on 'world standards' and 'democracy stronger than ever' sounds like a polemic with the opposition, which sees a fraud in the way the elections were conducted. MP Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, as well as the aforementioned Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who was the only former president to accept Duda's invitation, showed wisdom in this context compared to Platforma.” -- PLATFORMA HELPED DUDU - GĄDEK CONTINUES: “Platforma itself helped Duda today. How? The president said that he himself wants to cooperate with everyone, but 'this willingness to cooperate must also be on the other side.' – I trust it will appear. My hand always remains extended – he emphasized. Meanwhile, Platforma boycotted the president's inauguration because, according to its politicians, the elections were not free and fair, and they accuse Duda of violating the constitution. PO sent only a modest delegation to the ceremony in the Sejm. Such a boycott is detrimental not only to the state but also to Platforma itself. Moreover, such a boycott created a perfect picture – the empty seats of Platforma – when Duda was calling for everyone to cooperate. https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,26188588,oredzie-andrzeja-dudy-to-triumf-i-szpile-zdaniem-prezydenta.html -- VETOES COULD INDICATE THAT THERE IS A DESIRE SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE PRESIDENT TO MITIGATE PIS - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON ONEŁT: “The first, forgotten, veto from 2017 concerned the law on Regional Audit Chambers, which made it easier for PiS to take control of local governments. Duda vetoed this law at the request of local government officials. This may indicate that in the new term, he will not be willing to centralize power and take away competencies from local governments, as desired by Kaczyński. Later, at the request of politicians from smaller groupings – including Paweł Kukiz – he vetoed the electoral law for the European Parliament, drafted by PiS to eliminate small formations. This is also a warning that Duda will not accept every amendment to electoral law that is favorable to PiS. The President also refused to sign a law allowing the degradation of military officers who, between 1943 and 1990, had allegedly 'betrayed the Polish raison d'état' with their conduct. It is known that military circles asked Duda for this veto, but at the same time, the President used it to retaliate against the author of the law, the head of the Ministry of National Defense, Antoni Macierewicz, who had ostentatiously humiliated him. The aforementioned vetoes could indicate that there is somewhere within the president – or rather, it appeared at times – a desire to mitigate PiS, to restrain the party if it goes too far.” -- THE PRESIDENT'S APPEALS ARE DECIDEDLY TOO LITTLE IN THE SECOND TERM - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “He then became a tool in the PiS revolution, which considers everyone who thinks differently a traitor. This did not prevent him from talking about reconciliation again at the end of 2017, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of regaining independence: — The time has come for our public life to cease being dominated by the constant, destructive clash of hostile tribes. Poland belongs to no one. Poland does not even belong to us, our generation. We are merely its chosen ones, its servants, and its guardians. Later, he led the attack on the Supreme Court, collectively labelling all the judges there as communists. Even later was the presidential campaign, during which Duda spared no words, fueling divisions – which, incidentally, allowed him to defend his position. After his victory, he again began to speak of reconciliation. — There is only one way to unite Poles: respect. I ask, and will appeal endlessly for respect – he stated. However, in the second term, appeals are decidedly too little.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/czy-prezydent-moze-sie-uniezaleznic-od-prezesa-zona-moze-mu-pomoc-analiza/hrsgbz2 -- UNDER THE UNITED RIGHT GOVERNMENT, DEMOCRACY ACTUALLY BECAME MORE INCLUSIVE - PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI ON KLUB JAGIELLOŃSKI: “The first ideological foundation of this speech is precisely the praise of Polish democracy, which – in Duda's opinion, to which I fully agree – has become more inclusive during the United Right's governance. However, from the democratic legitimacy resulting from the high voter turnout, the president drew something more: an obligation to attempt to build a democracy of mutual respect and the ability to seek a national consensus. 'I want to be the president of Polish affairs. Matters important to all Poles. Both for my voters and for those who supported other candidates – my rivals' – he argued. This is a vision of 'democracy of respect.' -- DUDA HAS DONE MUCH TO MAKE HIS WORDS TREATED WITH CRITICAL DISTANCE - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “Can Andrzej Duda still be trusted? Let's be honest – Andrzej Duda, along with the entire political camp of the United Right, has done a lot to make his words treated with critical distance. A series of polarizing and often unnecessary statements by the president himself and his political allies, institutionalized propaganda by public media, the forceful push for controversial legal changes in a highly antagonistic manner, the inability to play a substantive role in constitutional or electoral crises – all of this contributes to a negative legacy of the last five years, although Andrzej Duda's involvement in these processes varied and was not always unambiguous.” -- HE SPOKE IN THE SEJM SINCERELY, WHEN VIEWING HIS PRESIDENCY WITHOUT PARTIALITY - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “On the other hand, it is not the case that Andrzej Duda is completely unbelievable in his current declarations. When we summarize his past term without bias, we see a whole series of actions that, although they did not attract excessive public attention, allow us to seriously consider the hypothesis that President Duda spoke in the Sejm today… sincerely.” -- HE WAS DECIDEDLY ONE OF THE MOST MODERATE REPRESENTATIVES OF HIS CAMP - TRUDNOWSKI ON KLUB JAGIELLOŃSKI: “Despite a certain tendency towards emotional statements, in political practice, the president was decidedly one of the most moderate representatives of his camp. In his previous term, Andrzej Duda engaged in sharp conflicts with the 'hawks' of the ruling camp. He was involved in disputes with Zbigniew Ziobro (vetoes of judicial laws and pushing through a reform shape that limited the influence of the Minister of Justice), Antoni Macierewicz (personnel disputes and significant involvement in the change at the head of the Ministry of Defense), or Jacek Kurski (negotiations around 'compensatory' laws and his dismissal, which, of course, also ended with the symbolic humiliation of the president at the moment of Kurski's return to managing TVP). In each of these areas – judicial reform, the shape of public media, and military policy under Macierewicz – the president played a different role than the one his opponents diligently try to attribute to him.” -- HE HAS SINCERE REPUBLICAN-INCLUSIVE VIEWS - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “I dare to say that the consistency with which the president speaks about our community testifies to his sincere views on this matter – similarly republican and inclusive as in the case of the late Lech Kaczyński. Contrary to popular opinion, both, in constructing historical and identity imagination, went far beyond the areas commonly associated with the supposedly inherently nationalist, restrictive, and exclusive Polish right-wing. Examples? I will cite two from Andrzej Duda's first term. The first is his speeches during the commemorations of March 1968. The second surprising example is President Duda's involvement in commemorating the soldiers of the Berling Army.” -- POLES DID NOT EXPECT INDEPENDENCE FROM THEIR BACKING AT ALL - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “Let's summarize then. Andrzej Duda did not fulfill the promise of an 'unyielding presidency.' I believe that Poles are aware of this. But, let's note, this did not prevent voters from extending his mandate with almost unprecedented support in the history of the Third Republic. Frankly speaking, 'unyieldingness' understood as independence from party backing, political agency, or the ability to act as a statesman reconciling quarreling sides – voters in polarized Poland in 2020 did not expect this from Duda at all. To win – he shouldn't have been 'unyielding' in this way, because it could have discouraged some of his existing voters, and not necessarily convinced new ones.” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2020/08/06/republikanska-wspolnota-i-demokracja-szacunku-z-dzisiejszych-slow-andrzeja-dude-rozliczy-bog-i-historia/ -- DUDA HAS A SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIFFICULT START THAN 5 YEARS AGO - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON RZ: “He began his address by stating that democracy in Poland is stronger than ever. The problem is that we are also more divided than ever. I consider the decision of a large part of the opposition to ignore the inauguration to be erroneous and disrespectful of the state, but it stems from the logic of political dispute and how the election campaign unfolded. This means that Duda has a significantly more difficult start this time than five years ago. The President wasted his first term, left no mark on history, and faithfully stood in the ranks of his camp in the battles of the Polish-Polish war. The inauguration leaves no doubt that the second term will be different. Nevertheless, I would very, very much like to be mistaken in this regard.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/308069902-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Nieporadna-inauguracja.html -- PHOTO. SERGEJ VINOGRADOV, SUMMER, was a Russian-Soviet impressionist painter; known for landscapes, genre scenes, and interiors. Russian impressionist painter creates the canvas "Summer," which becomes the culmination of the artist's work. The painting was created in 1908 at the V. M. Golovinka estate, located in the Tula region. Vinogradov was a frequent guest at the manor, where he created many works. The Golovinka estate inspired the artist to work, which is why he wanted to capture its poetry in his painting "Summer." The artist skillfully filled the canvas with warm air. Looking at it, the viewer can almost physically feel the summer heat. https://en.opisanie-kartin.com/description-of-the-painting-by-sergey-vinogradov-summer/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Jarosław Urbaniak.