-- TUSK: WE ARE NOW FACING A SIMPLE CHOICE: EITHER MONEY TODAY, OR BLOOD TOMORROW. I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT UKRAINE, I'M TALKING ABOUT EUROPE - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/pl/live

-- "LEX SZYSZKO 2" FALLS OFF THE SEJM AGENDA. TREE CUTTING WITHOUT SIMPLIFICATIONS AFTER ALL? - KATARZYNA KOJZAR IN OKO.PRESS: “As OKO.press learns, Minister of Climate Paulina Hennig-Kloska has requested that the vote on the amendment to the Nature Conservation Act be removed from the Sejm's schedule. According to this draft, plot owners would have an easier procedure for cutting down trees. (...) As OKO.press learns, Minister of Climate Paulina Hennig-Kloska requested the postponement of proceedings, 'until a compromise is reached.' 'The Ministry of Climate and Environment sees the need to refine the provisions so that they do not cause controversy,' informs us Deputy Minister Mikołaj Dorożała. 'If a compromise cannot be reached, we will recommend withdrawing the project,' he adds.”
https://oko.press/lex-szyszko-2-spada-z-agendy-sejmu-wycinki-drzew-jednak-bez-ulatwien

-- CHINESE CARS "SEE AND HEAR" EVERYTHING. AND EUROPE IS BLIND - WARNS JAKUB JAKÓBOWSKI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR EASTERN STUDIES, HEAD OF THE CHINA TEAM IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAŁ DUSZCZYK IN RZ: “This brings us to the most difficult element to grasp, namely intelligence activities. Smart cars are packed with sensors: cameras, radars, and LiDARs (laser radars). The Chinese themselves admit that these devices can be used for real-time mapping of the surroundings over very long distances. Chinese regulatory documents state directly: the risk is impossible to determine until verification procedures are implemented. That is why Beijing has introduced strict rules for controlling cars on its market, especially foreign ones like Tesla. We in Europe, until we start systematically monitoring this, are dealing with a black box.”
https://www.rp.pl/biznes/art43519871-chinskie-auta-widza-i-slysza-wszystko-a-europa-jest-slepa

-- IN THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY (PIS) IN THE LAST TWO OR THREE YEARS, SEVERAL NAMES HAVE APPEARED THAT RAISE MY GREATEST HOPES - PROF. ANDRZEJ NOWAK IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAŁ GĄSIOR IN WP: “In PiS in the last two or three years, several names have appeared that raise my greatest hopes: people with broad horizons, energy, and the ability to lead the party. Some of them are currently in President Nawrocki's chancellery: Zbigniew Bogucki, Paweł Szefernaker. Within PiS itself: Patryk Jaki - a man of great energy and honesty - and Tobiasz Bocheński.”

-- DESPITE HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE, JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI IS CAPABLE OF NURTURING TALENT, NOT DESTROYING IT - PROF. NOWAK TELLS GĄSIOR IN WP: “Show me at least one politician in Civic Coalition who, in recent years, has emerged as someone capable of leading the party if Donald Tusk were to leave. There is a clear mowing down of talent there. This has not happened in PiS: despite his leadership style, Jarosław Kaczyński is capable of nurturing talent, not destroying it.”

-- ONLY BY BUILDING A BROAD COALITION, FROM THE VISION OF ASSERTIVE POLICY IN EUROPE REPRESENTED BY PRIME MINISTER MORAWIECKI, TO A TOUGHER, MORE RIGHT-WING VISION - PROF. NOWAK FURTHER IN WP: “Only by building a broad coalition, from the vision of assertive policy in Europe represented by Prime Minister Morawiecki, to a tougher, more right-wing vision, advocated by Czarnek, united in a program to defend Poland from the consequences of Tusk's rule, can ensure PiS success. Choosing one of these options and cutting off the other is political suicide for PiS.”

-- IF PIS CUTS OFF ONE OF THE ORIENTATIONS, IT WILL LOSE THE ELECTION. IF IT MAINTAINS DIFFERENT CURRENTS, IT HAS A CHANCE TO WIN IN 2027 - NOWAK CONTINUES IN WP: “I am not a member of PiS and I am not playing for a faction. Mr. Sasin is a leader of one of them and treats the other as a rival. This is a political game. If journalists make a diagnosis based on this internal struggle, it is an error in their craft. My diagnosis is this: if PiS cuts off one of the orientations, it will lose the election. If it maintains different currents, it has a chance to win in 2027.”

-- THIS IS DONALD TUSK'S GOAL, WHICH HE CONSISTENTLY PURSUES. HENCE THE ADOPTION OF THE METHOD USED BY BRAUN, NAMELY LOWERING THE LEVEL OF PUBLIC DEBATE TO PROVOCATION - PROF. NOWAK FURTHER WITH GĄSIOR IN WP: “This is Donald Tusk's goal, which he consistently pursues. Hence the adoption of the method used by Braun, namely lowering the level of public debate to provocation. It is enough to listen to the speeches of Civic Coalition MPs in the Sejm: the level of vulgarity and disrespect for state institutions contributes to radicalization in the worst sense. The main author and responsible for this policy is Tusk. His Twitter rhetoric, as well as that of Mr. Sikorski, is radically unbecoming of high-ranking state officials, especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs. What Grzegorz Braun does with a fire extinguisher in hand, Prime Minister Tusk does 'with Mr. Żurek in hand,' 'with Mr. Sikorski in hand.'”

-- THE AIM IS TO IMPRISON ALL PIS MEMBERS, AND THEN SAY: SINCE PIS DOESN'T EXIST, IT'S EITHER TUSK OR FASCISM. THE DREAM SCENARIO - DONALD TUSK VERSUS BRAUN AND HIS ALLIES - PROF. NOWAK CONTINUES: “The essence of my interpretation of the threat from Tusk and the implementers of his politics of hate is to delegalize PiS as a centrist party. Because PiS is a centrist party - since 20% of voters are to the right of PiS, PiS is the center. Tusk is trying to eliminate the center and say: 'I am the center, the left, and the right in Poland - the only ones allowed to be voted for.' This is the end of democracy. This aim, to imprison all PiS members, and then say: since PiS does not exist, it's either Tusk or fascism. The dream scenario - Donald Tusk versus Braun and his allies.”

-- THERE ARE ALSO "WELL-FED BEARS" IN PIS, THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, NOT TURN TOWARDS IDENTITY RADICALISM - PROF. NOWAK FURTHER IN WP: "A 'tough program' means shaking up the party, rousing it to action, to fight for voters, not through antisemitic slogans, but by building an alternative to Tusk's anti-democratic government. There are also 'well-fed bears' in PiS, activists stuck in local arrangements. This is the inevitability of long periods in power. This needs to be cut off, not turned towards identity radicalism.”

-- I DO NOT SYMPATHIZE WITH BRAUN'S PROGRAM, BUT IF MILLIONS OF POLES WANT HIS REPRESENTATION, THESE VOTES MUST NOT BE DELEGITIMIZED - NOWAK TELLS GĄSIOR IN WP: “I do not sympathize with Braun's program, but if millions of Poles want his representation, these votes must not be delegitimized. We need to talk and try to negotiate a compromise: preserve what is good for Poland, eliminate what is bad.”
https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/prof-andrzej-nowak-dla-wp-nie-wykluczam-koalicji-pis-z-grzegorzem-braunem-723344647913984a

-- IT APPEARS THAT GRZEGORZ BRAUN'S PARTY IS THE ONLY PARTY THAT CONSOLIDATES THE ANTI-SYSTEM ELECTORATE. AND THIS IS THE WHOLE SECRET OF HIS RISE - SAYS PROF. EWA MARCINIAK, HEAD OF CBOS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH FAKT: “It appears that Grzegorz Braun's party is the only party that consolidates the anti-system electorate. And this is the whole secret of Grzegorz Braun's rise. And perhaps it's not so much about anti-European, antisemitic, or anti-Ukrainian slogans, although they may be important for this group, but also about the form, the way they are proclaimed, the public behavior of the leader himself. He operates on the verge of political hooliganism, which impresses a part of our society. I don't feel there are about 10% of the antisemitic or anti-European, Polexit-seeking electorate in Poland looking for political representation. It seems that the electorate of rebellion is looking for political representation.”
https://www.fakt.pl/polityka/nowy-sondaz-namieszal-na-prawicy-to-jest-cala-tajemnica-wzrostu-grzegorza-brauna/eg15bf9

-- MINISTER ŻUREK STEPPED INTO ZIOBRO'S SHOES AND SPOKE HARMFUL NONSENSE AFTER THE MURDER - MARCIN RYBAK IN GW: “When I listened to Waldemar Żurek's several-minute statement for the radio program 'Sygnały Dnia' on Wednesday, December 17, I thought that the minister was not suited to wear Zbigniew Ziobro's shoes. The sheriff who knows and publicly speaks on every media matter and personally leads all important investigations in Poland. There are several hard-to-understand stupidities in Minister Żurek's morning statement. And these are the kinds that require important questions to be asked.”
https://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,32477142,minister-waldemar-zurek-naopowiadal-szkodliwych-bzdur-o-tragedii.html

-- FEWER MEDICAL VISITS AND STAFF REDUCTION - REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SUPREME MEDICAL COUNCIL (NIL) CITED BY KATARZYNA PRUS IN WP: “- The effect we are truly afraid of will be the same: fewer visits and the associated staff reduction. The hole in the National Health Fund (NFZ) is unlikely to shrink by next year, and will likely grow larger, so these are not just hypothetical scenarios - admits Iwona Kania from NIL. - These limitations are already visible, even in large Warsaw hospitals; at the end of the week, the wind blows through empty corridors, there are no people at registration - she adds.”
https://portal.abczdrowie.pl/lekarze-alarmuja-limitowanie-wizyt-uderzy-w-pacjentow-co-na-to-nfz/7233400638913472a

-- MILLIONS ARE AVAILABLE, BUT AID FROM THE JUSTICE FUND WILL NOT COME. OFFICIALS ARE AFRAID TO ACT - MICHAŁ JANCZURA IN WP: “The network of centers providing assistance to crime victims will cease to operate on January 1st. Victims of accidents will be left without rehabilitation, domestic violence victims without lawyers, vouchers for medication and food, and sexually abused children without psychological support. The ministry did not manage to resolve the competition from the Justice Fund on time. It is unknown how long this will take and how many organizations providing assistance will cease to operate.”

-- "WE DON'T HAVE MONEY RESERVES TO SURVIVE" - SAYS THE HEAD OF NIEBIESKA LINIA IPZ, WHICH HAS BEEN HELPING CRIME VICTIMS FOR YEARS - FURTHER IN JANCZURA'S ARTICLE IN WP: “These are stories from all over Poland that Maja Kuźmicz, the head of Niebieska Linia IPZ, one of the organizations helping crime victims, knows well. She wonders who will take care of the support for people like Joanna, Aniela, or Marek in the new year? There are thousands of them. On Facebook, Niebieska Linia announces: 'WE INFORM you that from January 1, 2026, the support we provide as the Center for Assistance to Crime Victims will be suspended.' They have known that things are bad at Niebieska Linia and other organizations financed by the Justice Fund for two weeks.”

-- DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE ADMITS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH WP THAT THE DECISION-MAKING PARALYSIS RESULTED FROM THE FEAR OF OFFICIALS, WHO ARE AFRAID OF PROSECUTORIAL CHARGES: “- The verification of formal prerequisites was not carried out in a timely manner. This was partly due to decision-making paralysis related to officials' concerns about performing these tasks. Imagine that some of your former colleagues are now facing charges for actions that you are now supposed to perform - reports Deputy Minister Pałka. We ask the minister if it was about fear of signing documents and making decisions. Pałka confirms and says directly that they are afraid of prosecutorial charges.”
https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/miliony-sa-pomocy-z-funduszu-sprawiedliwosci-nie-bedzie-urzednicy-boja-sie-dzialac-7233441538870240a

-- BIRTHDAYS: Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Jacek Kozłowski, Magdalena Szefernaker.