-- SIKORSKI AS DEFENCE COMMISSIONER? - TOMASZ BIELECKI IN GW: “Ursula von der Leyen, who will likely announce her intention to seek a second five-year term as President of the European Commission next week, is considering appointing a separate Commissioner for Defence. – Radosław Sikorski has all the qualifications to hold one of the most important positions in Europe and the world – Kosiniak-Kamysz responded on Thursday to journalists’ questions about media speculation (today in ‘Politico’) regarding Sikorski as a potential candidate for EU Commissioner for Defence. Kosiniak-Kamysz stipulated that decisions about important positions in Brussels are still a long way off, as they are only made after the European Parliament elections.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75399,30706056,w-bydgoszczy-powstanie-nowe-centrum-szkoleniowe-nato-ukraina.html -- MYRCHA: INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE PROMOTED THROUGH THE SO-CALLED NEO KRS WILL BE ABLE TO RECTIFY THEIR STATUS. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT ANY VERIFICATION OF RULINGS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/02/16/ -- FOR THE COMMON GOOD, UNITED LEFT MUST FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF OTHER DEMOCRATIC PARTIES, MORE BOLDLY AND SELFISHLY EMPHASIZING ITS LEFT-WING AGENDA AND DISTINCTIVENESS - JACEK ŻAKOWSKI IN GW: “When the democratic left fades or – by leaning towards the center – erases its left-wing identity, democracy weakens because authoritarian populism grows stronger. There are many contemporary and historical examples of this. It is difficult to find an example of such a process being durably halted by progressive liberalism, towards which Tusk is now leaning. This means that the stabilization of Polish democracy is more strongly linked to strengthening the left than to confirming the dominance of Civic Coalition (KO). And this means that for the common good, the United Left must follow the example of other democratic parties, more boldly and selfishly emphasizing its left-wing agenda and distinctiveness.” -- ONE CAN DIFFER SO BEAUTIFULLY AND LOYALLY AS BEFORE, AND YET MUCH MORE CLEARLY - FURTHER FROM ŻAKOWSKI: “The strength of the left is not what unites it with other democratic parties, but what differentiates it. If the left fails to convince voters of this, they will not consider it necessary. It is true that participating in a coalition government requires partners to differ beautifully. But one can differ as beautifully and loyally as before, and at the same time much more clearly. If the left does not make such a turn in the ongoing campaign, all democrats will lose a lot.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,30704648,zjednoczona-lewica-musi-isc-tropem-innych-partii-koalicyjnych.html -- IN LOCAL ELECTIONS, RAZEM HAS NO CHANCE OF SUCCESS, BUT IN EUROPEAN ELECTIONS, THE LEFT CAN BE A REAL THIRD WAY FOR THE PO–PIS DUOPOLY - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “Lewica Razem (The Left Together) hopes to differentiate itself and strengthen before a series of elections. It has chances and strong arguments. (...) Together is being built, and the left sees a threat in Tusk’s movements. The more KO shifts to the left, the less room there is for Razem. The formation of Zandberg and Biejat cannot afford that. Hence the confrontation. In local elections, Razem has no chance of success, but in European elections, the left can be a real third way for the PO–PiS duopoly, whose days seem numbered.” https://www.rp.pl/polityka/art39849941-jacek-nizinkiewicz-dlaczego-razem-musi-atakowac-rzad-a-biejat-moze-byc-problemem-trzaskowskiego -- THE LEFT'S GOAL IS TO SHOW THAT IT CAN INDEPENDENTLY DIFFERENTIATE ITSELF FROM KO AND SURVIVE, WITHOUT ITS SUPPORT FALLING TO A LEVEL THAT PLACES IT OUTSIDE THE POLITICAL GAME - JAKUB MAJMUREK IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “Biejat is the optimal candidate for the left. And it's not just about her being a woman – although this time the left could not but choose a woman – nor about her first entering the Sejm in 2019 as a candidate associated with urban and activist circles. Something else is crucial: Biejat seems to have the predispositions to achieve the left’s most important goal in the presidential elections in Warsaw. This is not the Warsaw City Hall – as that task is beyond the formation’s reach – but rather showing that it can independently differentiate itself from KO and survive, without its support falling to a level that places it outside the political game.” -- BIEJAT'S CAMPAIGN IN WARSAW MAY THEREFORE BE THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY THIS YEAR - FURTHER FROM MAJMUREK IN KRYTYKA: “Biejat’s campaign in Warsaw may therefore be the only opportunity this year to show in a race watched across Poland that the left is an important force, capable of competing with its coalition partner for voters and achieving a respectable result.” -- TRZASKOWSKI WILL BE A MORE ATTRACTIVE OPTION THAN A LIST HEADED BY TUSK - MAJMUREK FURTHER WRITES: “It can be expected that for some voters who identify as left-wing, but do not necessarily vote for the left, Trzaskowski will be a more attractive option than a list headed by Tusk. The Mayor of Warsaw is also a proven quality; it is difficult to assume that over the past four years, something has happened that would show he is unfit for the position.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/miasto/magdalena-biejat-warszawa-wybory-prezydenckie/ -- ONLY BASED ON THE DOCUMENTS THAT THE AUDITORS WILL EXAMINE, WILL I BE ABLE TO PRESENT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE, WHERE THE MONEY FLOWED, WHO PROFITED FROM IT - IZABELA LESZCZYNA IN AN INTERVIEW WITH JUDYTA WATOŁA IN GW: “I am unable to find and analyze more data on my own than what the employees will present to me. That is precisely why I have ordered an audit, so that professional auditors will deal with finding and analyzing data. Only based on the documents they check will I be able to present what really happened here, where the money flowed, who profited from it. And I will be able to make it public.” -- THE AUDIT I HAVE ORDERED IS PROOF THAT I WANT TO CLARIFY THIS, BUT I AM NOT HUNTING FOR WITCHES - LESZCZYNA FURTHER TO WATOŁA IN GW: “But I do not underestimate the fact that some employees mindlessly followed management’s orders. The audit I have ordered is proof that I want to clarify this, but I am not hunting for witches.” -- LESZCZYNA ON SHORTENING QUEUES - SPEAKS TO WATOŁA: “The first is to reverse the pyramid of benefits and focus on outpatient clinics. The second – to add an assistant to the doctor who will take over some of the bureaucracy for him and simultaneously reduce it, because perhaps we do not need all the data that must be reported today. If we add to this the central registration for specialist appointments and a notification system, along with informing patients that it is important not to waste appointments, then I think so, that it will definitely shorten the queues.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30703832,minister-izabela-leszczyna-dla-wyborczej-nie-jestem-w-resorcie.html -- DURING EIGHT YEARS OF ITS RULE, PIS DID NOT EXTRACT A SINGLE PFENNIG OR ANY GESTURE FROM GERMANY. PLATFORMA THEREFORE HAS A VERY LOW BAR - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Perhaps in the coming months, it will become clear whether Germany will be willing to allocate any sums to convince Poles that they regret the crimes of World War II, even as a gesture. Then we will be able to determine if the new government's approach is effective. But we know for sure today that PiS, during its eight years in power, did not extract a single pfennig or any gesture from Germany. Platforma therefore has a very low bar, because it will not be less effective than its predecessors. That is why PiS will constantly blackmail Platforma and will call any attempt at compromise on this matter treason and a renunciation of Polish raison d'état. But this will only be a manifestation of powerlessness.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39849861-michal-szuldrzynski-spor-o-reparacje-czy-strategia-tuska-i-sikorskiego-wobec-niemiec-bedzie-skuteczna -- KAMIŃSKI AND WĄSIK ARE THE BANNER OF PIS, BUT THE PARTY RANKS WOULD MOST LIKE TO TEAR THEM APART - JACEK GĄDEK IN GAZETA.PL: “– Jarosław knows that there is a big problem with defending them. If anything falls apart for us, it will be them. Everyone has had enough of them. No one wants to defend them – says one of our sources directly. According to our information, among the individuals surveilled by Pegasus were not only politicians from the PiS camp, but also some presidents of strategic State Treasury companies. In reality, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik are perceived within the PiS camp as people who have planted a bomb under their own political camp. And they handed the detonator button to the new power bloc led by Donald Tusk. One of the sources, an opposition MP: – It is not known what exactly is in the materials that the new team received as an inheritance from Kamiński and Wąsik.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,30704240,lista-pegasusa-rozsadza-pis-kazdy-ma-ich-w-d.html -- PSYCHOSIS IN PIS. KEY POLITICIANS SUSPECTED OF CONSPIRACY - KAMIL DZIUBKA IN ONE: “PiS may lose as many as ten seats in the European Parliament. This means that a large part of the party's current representatives in Brussels will not be re-elected. Furthermore, those who have not run before want to jump into the queue for winnable seats. Among them are Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, pardoned by the president, who supervised the services at the time when the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) purchased Pegasus. Both have lost their parliamentary mandates and it is clear that they will want to secure seats in the European Parliament for a good salary. And this is where we get to the heart of the matter. While Mariusz Kamiński would probably head the PiS list in Lublin in the June elections, Maciej Wąsik would likely get a seat in the Masovian constituency (excluding Warsaw).” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/psychoza-w-pis-kluczowi-politycy-podejrzani-o-spisek/n2em3c0,79cfc278 -- FROM OWCZARSKI TO NITRAS. HOW PIS'S FAVORITE SOUGHT ACCESS TO THE NEW MINISTER - JACEK HARŁUKOWICZ IN ONE: “The results of an online auction involving Sławomir Nitras caused a stir in the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The figure of Radosław Tadajewski is, in fact, well-known in the ministry, as well as by the minister himself. We hear unofficially that an audit is underway in the ministry regarding his involvement in cooperation with sports associations supervised by the ministry and State Treasury companies involved in sports sponsorship. The minister’s services recommended that he refuse to fulfill the commitment to the winner of the online auction. – Doubts surrounding Mr. Tadajewski’s activities at the intersection of the Ministry of Sport, sports associations, and State Treasury companies lead me to consider such a meeting impossible – Sławomir Nitras stated at the beginning of the week in an interview with Onet.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/jak-pupil-pis-przez-wosp-szukal-dojscia-do-nowego-ministra/6vl1s9l -- BIRTHDAYS: Błażej Spychalski, Radosław Fogiel, Aleksandra Pogassi, Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk, Stanisław Skarżyński, Ola Kwaśniewska.