-- POLITICAL AGENDA FOR WEDNESDAY: PARLIAMENT ON HEALTH CONTRIBUTIONS, FREE CHRISTMAS EVE, AND CITIZEN'S CPK DRAFT LAW; TUSK IN SWEDEN, KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ AT A DEFENSE CONGRESS, CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL ON RELIGION CLASSES https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/11/27/polityczny-plan-srody-sejm-o-skladce-zdrowotnej-i-wolnej-wigilii-tusk-w-szwecji-kosiniak-kamysz-na-kongresie-o-obronie-rp-tk-o-lekcjach-religii/ -- TRZASKOWSKI AT A BAKERY IN THE MORNING - 300LIVE: Generally speaking, I assess this year very positively, however, we are all a bit impatient with the pace of change. https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/11/27/ -- EUROPEAN PEOPLE'S PARTY CONSISTENTLY WORKS TOWARDS NORMALIZING THE FAR-RIGHT - PAULINA PACUŁA IN OKO.PRESS: “It is thanks to the EPP that far-right parties are entering the political mainstream. It is now official: the European People's Party, to which PO and PSL belong among others, is widely opening its doors to national conservatives in the European Parliament. Now the ECR group, composed of national-conservative parties, is to be part of a new European coalition that will give a mandate to the new European Commission.” -- URSULA VON DER LEYEN WANTED TO SECURE THE FAVOR OF THE ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER IN THE COUNCIL OF THE EU - PACUŁA CONTINUES IN OKO: “By thus distinguishing the Italian candidate, Ursula von der Leyen wanted to secure the favor of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Council of the EU. Italy is the third largest country in the EU. Meloni's vote carries significant weight in the Council's decision-making processes. Her importance has further increased due to Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. Few leaders in the EU (perhaps with the exception of Viktor Orbán) have as good relations with Trump and his circle as Giorgia Meloni.” -- OKO.PRESS ASKED WEBER ABOUT PiS WITHIN THE ECR: “So we asked Manfred Weber if, in his opinion, PiS also belongs to this 'broad political center.' Here is his answer: 'Of course, PiS does not belong to the group of parties with which we can cooperate. We have all seen what happened in Poland with the rule of law under that party's rule. Therefore, PiS is not a member of this broad coalition I am talking about. Moreover, PiS MEPs will most likely not support Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission. Parties from the ECR must be treated separately; not all of them meet our criteria,' Weber stated.” https://oko.press/komisja-europejska-skrajnej-prawicy-weber -- WE WILL HAVE A DIFFICULT FOUR YEARS. AND THEN THERE WILL BE VANCE. DARK CLOUDS, DARK CLOUDS OVER THE WORLD - ADAM MICHNIK IN CONVERSATION WITH IRENA GRUDZIŃSKA-GROSS: “I am offended by the world. Truly, I am offended by the world. I am now reading the autobiography of playwright Arthur Miller—this is the America to which I am attached. I got furious. And Trump's first nominations! We will have a difficult four years. And then there will be Vance. Dark clouds, dark clouds over the world.” -- THIS REMINDS ME OF THE 1930S, THIS BROWN WAVE, BROWN-RED, THIS IS NOT OPTIMISTIC, WHAT I AM TELLING YOU - MICHNIK CONTINUES IN CONVERSATION WITH GRUDZIŃSKA-GROSS: “Europe has a very deep internal conflict, as deep as the United States, although a European version of Trump is not yet in power in Europe. This resembles the 1930s, this brown wave, brown-red, because in Germany, anti-European forces are on one side this Ms. Sahra Wagenknecht, on the other, the AfD. Some speak with post-fascist rhetoric, others with post-Bolshevik rhetoric, but they have a common goal: to destroy the parliamentary system of the European Union. This is not optimistic, what I am telling you.” -- HARRIS HAD A VERY GOOD CAMPAIGN, SHE WAS PERSUASIVELY DIFFERENT FROM TRUMP, SHE SHOWED A DIFFERENT FACE OF AMERICA, THE FACE I LIKE - MICHNIK TELLS GRUDZIŃSKA-GROSS: “I believed until the end that Trump would not win, especially since, in my opinion, Kamala Harris had a very good campaign, she was convincingly different from Trump, she showed a different face of America, the face that I like, accept, and still believe in. But that America lost. Now we will have to wait, and these next four years at least will be a torment. The impact of this on Europe will be disastrous; it will be fuel and wind for anti-European, anti-democratic, populist, nationalist, authoritarian forces, for the spirit of dictatorship, not for democracy.” -- I DON'T SEE THIS SCENARIO TODAY, PERHAPS TOMORROW I WILL BE WISER. TODAY I AM TERRIFIED. PERHAPS NOT TERRIFIED, BUT TRULY HEALTHILY FRIGHTENED - MICHNIK FURTHER TO IRENA GRUDZIŃSKA-GROSS: “Today, the biggest threat is what is emerging before our eyes. It is a strange mix of Nazism with Bolshevism, or post-Nazism with post-Bolshevism. It is something new, and therefore I don't know what might happen. I don't see this scenario today, perhaps tomorrow I will be wiser. Today I am terrified. Perhaps not terrified, but truly healthily frightened.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/adam-michnik-o-przyszlosci-europy-ukrainy-i-rosji-po-zwyciestwie-trumpa/b4ghccl,79cfc278 -- WILL TRZASKOWSKI MAKE CONCESSIONS TO CONSERVATIVE POLAND? - ARKADIUSZ GRUSZCZYŃSKI IN GW: “Interestingly, Trzaskowski is to make several gestures towards conservative voters. - Not to win their support, but to weaken their mobilization. Perhaps a week after our convention, the Mayor of Warsaw will be present at the installation of the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, Adrian Galbas, and will return to the idea of naming a street in the capital after Lech Kaczyński. But these are just loose proposals; perhaps we will choose something else - I hear from KO campaign staff. However, other interlocutors doubt that such ideas will actually be implemented in Trzaskowski's campaign.” https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,31491119,trzaskowski-kompletuje-sztab-wyborczy-w-pierwszym-miesiacu.html -- IT WILL BE CLOSE - JERZY BACZYŃSKI IN TYGODNIK POLITYKA: “Now, on the democratic side, no one underestimates even such an exotic candidate as Nawrocki. In every previous poll, the still unknown PiS nominee gained over 30% of the votes, and in the first round, this X even defeated Sikorski. Nawrocki comes from nationalist circles, so to the hard PiS electorate, one can already add 10-15% of Confederation votes in the second round, and likely some part of PSL voters. It will be close.” -- IF SUCH A PERSON AS DUDA COULD WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, AND TWICE, THEN THE CITIZEN NAWROCKI CAN TOO - FURTHER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF TYGODNIK POLITYKA: “Rafał Trzaskowski is the favorite in these elections, but the vote is still six months away, and PiS is good at campaign mystifications, as it has proven many times. Third candidates can also stir things up. Undoubtedly, Czarnek would have been a more dangerous opponent for Trzaskowski, but on the democratic side, everyone probably remembers that if such a person as Andrzej Duda could win the presidential election, and twice, then the citizen Nawrocki can too.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/2279633,1,obywatel-nawrocki.read?src=mt -- OUR PRIMARY GOAL IS TO RAISE AT LEAST 30 MILLION PLN. WITHOUT THAT, THERE WILL BE NOTHING TO DISCUSS REGARDING THE CAMPAIGN - ANNOUNCES MP HENRYK KOWALCZYK CITED BY ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ IN INTERIA: “Party treasurer Henryk Kowalczyk says the party's goal is to raise 30 million PLN. This is what PiS would like to use for the campaign to run it according to the original plan. This is a huge sum, but—at least officially—PiS politicians are not losing optimism. - In three months, we managed to raise about 10 million PLN, and this campaign will last another six months, until May. Assuming the current pace of contributions, there is a chance to raise 30 million PLN, and the emotions in the campaign will only grow, so the fundraising process should become more effective.” -- PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS REWARD FUNDRAISING LIKE NO OTHER. WE HAVE 80 THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE DONATIONS IN RECENT WEEKS - BIELAN CITED BY ROGOJSZ IN INTERIA: “- Presidential elections reward fundraising like no other. We have 80,000 people who have made donations in recent weeks; this is a very large base and an excellent starting point - believes MEP Adam Bielan. - If we master fundraising, if we are effective in it, then maybe we will still thank the National Electoral Commission for taking our money away - he adds.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/wybory/prezydenckie/news-nadzieja-i-lek-pis-pod-finansowa-sciana-kampania-nawrockiego,nId,7863753 -- LOOKING AT THE WIDE SHOT OF THE BEGINNING OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN, KAROL NAWROCKI STARTED FASTER THAN ANDRZEJ DUDA A DECADE AGO. AND HOW WILL HE REACH THE FINISH LINE? - JAKUB MACIEJEWSKI ON WPOLITYCE.PL: “Of course, the right-wing commentary cannot give up its labels; it's always appropriate to sigh pessimistically, otherwise, contemptuous epithets are thrown around, calling one a stooge, uncritical, obedient, etc. And of course, Nawrocki must elevate his speaking skills from a very good level to a grandmaster level, and he should hide the cue cards deeper and deeper in his pockets. However, looking at the broad picture of the beginning of the election campaign, Karol Nawrocki started faster than Andrzej Duda a decade ago. And how will he reach the finish line?” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/714098-nawrocki-startuje-mocniej-niz-duda-w-2014-r-a-to-oznacza -- ABOUT TADEUSZ FISZBACH IN NAWROCKI'S COMMITTEE - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “Another surprising person on the committee is Tadeusz Fiszbach, former First Secretary of the PZPR Voivodeship Committee in Gdańsk, who, despite his communist past, enjoys sympathy not only in the Tricity and has always been considered by most of the opposing side as a good communist who strived for a free and democratic Poland. Fiszbach is also an asset for Nawrocki, as it shows that the group supporting him is broad and, it would seem, includes individuals who are politically and mentally distant. Fiszbach also supported Jarosław Kaczyński years ago and has been close to the right for years. In Gdańsk, he enjoys exceptional esteem.” https://www.rp.pl/polityka/art41500281-czlonkowie-pzpr-muzyk-kombi-byly-polityk-po-zaskakujace-osoby-w-komitecie-karola-nawrockiego -- RAZEM PLANS TO FIELD ITS OWN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT. "ADRIAN, YOU MUST" - TOMASZ NYCZKA IN GW: “- It's a bit like: 'Adrian, you must.' There's no other way. Especially after what happened, how the left has divided recently. It would be unprofessional to now support the New Left candidate, and supporting Trzaskowski is entirely out of the question.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,31494822,razem-planuje-wystawic-wlasnego-kandydata-na-prezydenta-adrian.html -- THE DISTRICT PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE IN LEGNICA HAS COMMENCED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL FINANCING OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN BY THE KGHM FOUNDATION. INVESTIGATORS ARE CHECKING WHETHER THE MONEY FROM THIS SOURCE WAS USED TO PRODUCE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, LANYARDS, MUGS, UMBRELLAS, AND T-SHIRTS WITH THE PiS LOGO - ARKADIUSZ GRUSZCZYŃSKI AND MARCIN RYBAK IN GW: https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,31493660,ujawniamy-prokuratura-zbada-czy-15-9-mln-zl-trafilo-z-kghm.html -- LUCRATIVE POSITIONS FOR LOCAL OFFICIALS AFTER MBA STUDIES. THEY STUDIED IN A ŁÓDŹ RESTAURANT. WHO PAID? - PIOTR BRZÓZKA AND TOMASZ MATUSIAK IN GW: “Doubts are raised about the diplomas of Łódź local officials obtained from the Heweliusz Institute, where President Hanna Zdanowska, Vice-President Tomasz Piotrowski, and Zoo President Łukasz Goss lectured, and which were co-financed by the city budget. - But what's the problem? Everything was 'legal' - insists one of our interlocutors, an MBA in Community Management graduate.” https://lodz.wyborcza.pl/lodz/7,35136,31478505,intratne-posady-dla-samorzadowcow-po-mba-studia-robili-w.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Anna Kamińska, Stanisław Gawłowski.