1.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
2.
Council of Ministers (Poland)
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The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland is the collective executive decision-making body of the Polish government. The cabinet consists of the Prime Minister, also known as the President of the Council of Ministers, the Deputy Prime Minister, who acts as a vice-president of the council, the current competences and procedures of the cabinet are described between Articles 146 to 162 of the constitution. The process of forming the council of ministers begins with the nomination of the minister by the President of Poland. The prime minister will then propose the composition of the cabinet, furthermore, the president is forbidden to select a different cabinet composition than the one already selected by the prime minister. Following their nomination, all members of the take the oath of office within the Column Room of the Presidential Palace. Within fourteen days of its appointment, the cabinet, headed by the minister, is obligated to submit an agenda to the Sejm together with a vote of confidence. An absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of all Sejm deputies is required to approve of the cabinet, which the president will then accept and administer their oaths of office. Should a vote of confidence fail again, the process of nomination is handed back to the presidency, who must again appoint a prime minister, who will then nominate other members of the cabinet. If the vote of confidence fails a third time, the president is obliged to shorten the Sejms term of office, the council of ministers is headed by the prime minister, known also as the President of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister directs the activities and acts as its representative. Furthermore, the prime minister ensures the implementation of the policies, coordinates and controls the work of his or her ministers. The prime minister may also be assisted by a deputy prime minister, both the prime minister and deputy prime minister can discharge the functions of a minister. The deputy prime ministers position is normally offered to representatives of the junior coalition partner. Deputy prime ministers also take on other ministerial positions, the rest of the cabinet is composed of ministers, whose tasks and governmental administrative portfolios are selected and organized by the prime minister. Cabinet ministers may originate from the Sejm and Senat, Ministers may also be selected from outside of the legislature. First are the department ministers, who exercise authority and responsibility within the governments administration, including ministries, subordinate departments. Regulations by any member of the council of ministers can be overruled by the cabinet upon a motion by the prime minister, the premier is also empowered to reshuffle or remove members from the cabinet. The style of the government and the roles of its ministers are not constitutionally mandated, the constitution entrusts the cabinet to craft and implement the most important regulations and policies of the state
3.
Polish language
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Polish is a West Slavic language spoken primarily in Poland and is the native language of the Poles. It belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of the West Slavic languages, Polish is the official language of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by Polish minorities in other countries. It is one of the languages of the European Union. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic Latin script, Polish is closely related to Kashubian, Silesian, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak. It is also the second most widely spoken Slavic language, after Russian, in history, Polish is known to be an important language, both diplomatically and academically in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Polish is spoken by over 38.5 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a language in western parts of Belarus and Ukraine, west and central Lithuania, as well as the northern parts of the Czech Republic. There are 55 million Polish language speakers around the world, Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state. With Christianity, Poland also adopted the Latin alphabet, which made it possible to write down Polish, the precursor to modern Polish is the Old Polish language. Ultimately, Polish is thought to descend from the unattested Proto-Slavic language, Poland is the most linguistically homogeneous European country, nearly 97% of Polands citizens declare Polish as their first language. Elsewhere, Poles constitute large minorities in Lithuania, Belarus, Polish is the most widely used minority language in Lithuanias Vilnius County and is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries, in the United States, Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census were found in three states, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. Enough people in these areas speak Polish that PNC Financial Services offer services available in Polish at all of their machines in addition to English and Spanish. According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in England, in Canada, there is a significant Polish Canadian population, There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto and Montreal. The geographical distribution of the Polish language was affected by the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II. Poles settled in the Recovered Territories in the west and north and this tendency toward a homogeneity also stems from the vertically integrated nature of the authoritarian Polish Peoples Republic. The inhabitants of different regions of Poland still speak standard Polish somewhat differently, first-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty distinguishing regional variations
4.
Politics of Poland
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Politics of Poland takes place in the framework of a democracy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government of a multi-party system and the President is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government, which consists of a council of ministers led by the Prime Minister and its members are typically chosen from a majority coalition in the lower house of parliament, although exceptions to this rule are not uncommon. The government is formally announced by the president, and must pass a motion of confidence in the Sejm within two weeks, legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament, Sejm and Senate. Members of Sejm are elected by proportional representation, with the proviso that non-ethnic-minority parties must gain at least 5% of the vote to enter the lower house. Parliamentary elections occur at least every four years, the political system is defined in the Polish Constitution, which also guarantees a wide range of individual freedoms. The judicial branch plays a role in politics, apart from the Constitutional Tribunal. The prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers, the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, the prime minister and deputy prime ministers are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm. The Council of Ministers is responsible to the minister and the Sejm. The President is elected by terms, as head of state, supreme commander of the Armed Forces, the President has the right to veto legislation, although veto may be overridden by the assembly by a three-fifths majority vote. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President shall appoint the Chief of the General Staff, the President may, regarding particular matters, convene the Cabinet Council, although it does not possess the competence of the Council of Ministers. The Senate has 100 members elected for a term under the single member. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly, only the first kind has occurred to date. Since 1991 elections are supervised by the National Electoral Commission, whose division is called the National Electoral Office. Polands top national security goal is to integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic. Polish military doctrine reflects the same nature as its NATO partners. The combined consists of 100,300 active duty personnel and in addition 234,000 reserves, in 2009 the Armed Forces transformed into a fully professional organization and compulsory military service was abolished. The Polish Defense Ministry General Staff and the Land Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure, budget constraints hamper such priority defense acquisitions as a multi-role fighter, improved communications systems, and an attack helicopter. Poland is an ally of the US in Europe and leads the Multinational Division Central-South in Iraq
5.
Higher education
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Higher education, post-secondary education, or third level education is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. Tertiary education at non-degree level is referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education. The right of access to education is mentioned in a number of international human rights instruments. In Europe, Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, in the days when few pupils progressed beyond primary education, the term higher education was often used to refer to secondary education, which can create some confusion. Higher education includes teaching, research, exacting applied work, within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level, and beyond that, graduate-level. The latter level of education is referred to as graduate school. Higher education is important to national economies, both as an industry, in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. College educated workers have commanded a measurable wage premium and are less likely to become unemployed than less educated workers. However, the admission of so many students of average ability to higher education inevitably requires a decline in academic standards. There is some question as to whether advanced mathematical skills or talent are in fact necessary for such as history, English, philosophy. In contrast, the higher education and training that takes place at vocational universities and schools usually concentrates on practical applications. Requirements for admission to such high-level graduate programs is extremely competitive, in the United States, there are large differences in wages and employment associated with different degrees. Medical doctors and lawyers are generally the highest paid workers, and have among the lowest unemployment rates and it may encompass using insights to conceive, model and scale an appropriate solution to a problem or objective. Engineering disciplines include, aerospace, biological, civil, chemical, computer, electrical, industrial, examples are painting, sculpture, and drawing, etc. Higher educational institutions in these arts include Film schools and Art schools, Higher vocational education and training takes place at the non-university tertiary level. Such education combines teaching of practical skills and theoretical expertise. Higher education differs from other forms of education such as that offered by institutions of vocational education. Higher vocational education might be contrasted with education in a broader scientific field
6.
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland)
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The Minister of Science and Higher Education administers governmental activities in science and higher education and has a budget for scientific research provided by State funds. The Rada Nauki acts together with the Minister, in replacement of the Komitet Badań Naukowych which was closed in 2005, the headquarters of the ministry are located at ulica Wspólna 1/3, Warsaw. The current Minister of Science and Higher Education is Jarosław Gowin
7.
Polish Workers' Party
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The Polish Workers Party was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland, from the end of World War II the PPR ruled Poland, while the Soviet overall control and the Communist system were being established in the country. The Communist Party of Poland was an organization of the radical Left. The views adhered to and promulgated by its leaders led to the Partys difficult relationship with Joseph Stalin already in 1923–24, the Communist International condemned the KPP for its support of Józef Piłsudskis May Coup of 1926. From 1933, the KPP was increasingly treated with suspicion by the Comintern, the Partys structures were seen as compromised due to infiltration by agents of the Polish military intelligence. Some of the Party leaders, falsely accused of being such agents, were executed in the Soviet Union. The apogee of the Moscow-held prosecutions, aimed at eradicating the various deviations and ending usually in death sentences took place in 1937–38, the Comintern, in reality directed by Stalin, had the Party dissolved and liquidated in August 1938. The German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 changed the course of World War II, a Polish army was formed in the Soviet Union, but was soon taken out and into the Middle East by Władysław Anders. The Katyn massacre perpetrated by the Soviets on Polish POWs was revealed, Prime Minister Sikorski was killed in an airplane crash in July 1943. These and other factors, including disagreements about future borders, caused the Polish-Soviet relations to deteriorate, Polish language radio broadcasts began in August 1941, they called upon the Poles in Poland to unconditionally engage in anti-German resistance. Among the communist groups became active in Poland after Operation Barbarossa was the Union for Liberating Struggle. They had Stalins permission to create a new Polish communist party, however, it was decided not to include the word communist in the partys title in order to avoid the appearance that it was controlled by a foreign power. They were also aware of the unpopularity of communism among the Polish citizenry. With this in mind, the party took the name Polish Workers Party, the Party, intended in some sense as a continuation of the prewar KPP, was established in Warsaw on 5 January 1942, when some of the new arrivals met with local communist activists. The PPR, which presented itself as an anti-Nazi Polish patriotic front, distributed a manifesto printed in Moscow entitled To workers, peasants, to all Polish patriots. in which it called for an uncompromising struggle against the German occupant. A leftist, formally democratic program was proposed and the Party, operating mostly in the General Government, from 1943, an affiliated youth organization existed, called the Union for the Struggle of the Youth. The PPR operated under the Central Committee led by Secretary Marceli Nowotko, Nowotko was killed on November 28,1942. Mołojec took over as secretary, but he was suspected of arranging Nowotkos murder, in January 1943, Finder became secretary and the three-person Secretariat also included Władysław Gomułka and Franciszek Jóźwiak
8.
Polish Committee of National Liberation
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It exercised control over Polish territory retaken from Nazi Germany and was fully sponsored and controlled by the Soviet Union. It followed Red Army units as they moved into Polish territory, the PKWN manifesto was outlined in advance in Moscow Radio broadcast and published allegedly in Chełm on 22 July 1944, but the first members arrived there on 27 July. By the start of August, the PKWN moved its seat to Lublin, the Soviet Union pretended to transfer the power to the PKWN, but the PKWN transferred it back to the Red Army and NKVD as war zone. Among the members of the PKWN were politicians of various communist and leftist parties accepted by Stalin and his deputies were Soviet citizen Wanda Wasilewska and Andrzej Witos, a younger brother of Wincenty Witos, a notable pre-war politician. Andrzej Witos was later replaced by Stanisław Janusz, other members included those from KRN, ZPP, Workers Party of Polish Socialists, SL, Democratic Party, Polish Workers Party and unaffiliated. Stanisław Radkiewicz was responsible for Security Department and Michał Rola-Żymierski for Defense Ministry, the PKWN claimed to be leftist and broad democratic coalition, although it didnt include any of the major Polish political parties. Soviet employees outside the PPR occupied most of the key positions, only three out of the sixteen ministries were held by declared communists - security, propaganda and military affairs. The PKWNs program didnt contain typical Soviet policies i. e. collectivization or planned economy, the new regime, particularly at the outset, was completely dependent on Moscow. Polish Communists and other leftists had marginal support among the Polish population, in Stalins words to Rola-Żymierski, When the Soviet Army has gone, they will shoot you like partridges. The Committees early decrees authorized NKVDs control over the Red Armys rear areas, the PKWN used a combination of repressive and co-optive measures. It appealed to patriotic sentiment, sponsored activities, and implemented a radical land reform to bind the rural poor to the regime. The new Polish army, largely staffed with Soviet officers, retained the appearance of a national army, at the end of December 1944, the PKWN proclaimed itself the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland and was formally recognized by Moscow in January 1945. The RTRP was to govern the areas taken by the Red Army from Nazi Germany until the elections were held. This development was among reasons for the heightened the tension between the Soviet Union and the other members of the United Nations which would eventually lead to the Cold War. Provisional Government of National Unity Peoples Army of Poland Bibliography Żenczykowski, Tadeusz, mission to Moscow, Time,7 August 1944
9.
Polish United Workers' Party
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The Polish United Workers Party was the Communist party which governed the Polish Peoples Republic from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism, until 1989, the PUWP held dictatorial powers, and controlled an unwieldy bureaucracy, the military, the secret police, and the economy. Its main goal was to create a Communist society and help to propagate Communism all over the world, on paper, the party was organised on the basis of democratic centralism, which assumed a democratic appointment of authorities, making decisions, and managing its activity. Yet in fact, the key roles were played by the Central Committee, its Politburo and Secretariat, between sessions, party conferences of the regional, county, district and work committees were taking place. The smallest organizational unit of the PUWP was the Fundamental Party Organization, in the crowning time of the PUWPs development it consisted of over 3.5 million members. It was called the system of the state and economy management. In certain areas of the economy, e. g. in agriculture, the system was controlled with an approval of the PUWP and by its allied parties, the United Peoples Party. After martial law began, the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth was founded to organize these, the Polish United Workers Party was established at the unification congress of the Communist Polish Workers Party and Polish Socialist Party during meetings held from 15 to 21 December 1948. The unification was possible because the PPS activists who opposed unification had been forced out of the party, similarly, the members of the PPR who were accused of rightist – nationalistic deviation were expelled. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the PUWP was the PPR under a new name and it is believed that it was Joseph Stalin who put pressure on Bolesław Bierut and Jakub Berman to remove Gomułka and Spychalski as well as their followers from power in 1948. It is estimated that over 25% of socialists were removed from power or expelled from political life and he had served as President since 1944. After a new constitution abolished the presidency, Bierut took over as Prime Minister and he remained party leader until his death in 1956. Bierut oversaw the trials of many Polish wartime military leaders, such as General Stanisław Tatar, Bierut signed many of those death sentences. Bieruts death in Moscow in 1956 gave rise to speculation about poisoning or a suicide. In 1956, shortly after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the most well known members included Franciszek Jóźwiak, Wiktor Kłosiewicz, Zenon Nowak, Aleksander Zawadzki, Władysław Dworakowski, Hilary Chełchowski. The Puławian faction - the name comes from the Puławska Street in Warsaw, after the events of Poznań June, they successfully backed the candidature of Władysław Gomułka for First Secretary of party, thus imposing a major setback upon Natolinians. Among the most prominent members were Roman Zambrowski and Leon Kasman, both factions disappeared towards the end of the 1950s. Initially very popular for his reforms and seeking a Polish way to socialism, in the 1960s he supported persecution of the Roman Catholic Church and intellectuals
10.
Henryk Samsonowicz
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Henryk Bohdan Samsonowicz is a Polish historian specializing in medieval Poland, prolific writer, and professor of the University of Warsaw. In 1989–1990, he was the minister of education in the government of prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Samsonowicz graduated in 1950 from University of Warsaw, and 1954 he received a PhD, and in 1960 was habilitated. In 1971 Samsonowicz was named a professor, since 1967, he was a vice-dean of Department of Humanistic Studies at University of Warsaw, and in 1970 -1973, he was the dean of the Department. Also, in 1975 -1980, Samsonowicz was the director of the Institute of History, in 1980, he became a member of Solidarity, and on October 1,1980, he was nominated a rector of the University of Warsaw. Dismissed from this post on April 8,1982, Samsonowicz participated in late 1980s in talks of the Round Table. After the June 4,1989 election, he became Minister of Education, Samsonowicz remained a minister until January 1991. Currently, he lectures at the Humanistic Academy in Pułtusk, is a member of the Polish Academy of Learning and he also has honorary degrees of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, and University of Wrocław. He is a bearer of the Samson coat of arms, in 1984 he was awarded Légion dhonneur, since 2008, he has been an honorary citizen of Pultusk and Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Samsonowicz has written around 800 scientific papers, mostly on history of medieval Poland, including 16 books, selected works include, Henryk Samsonowicz, Historia Polski do roku 1795, Kraków 2000, Henryk Samsonowicz, Późne średniowiecze miast nadbałtyckich. Studia z dziejów Hanzy nad Bałtykiem w XIV-XV w. List of Poles
11.
Liberal Democratic Congress
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The Liberal Democratic Congress was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland. The party, led by Donald Tusk, had roots in the Solidarity movement, until 1991 was a part of the Porozumienie Centrum, whose leaders, Kaczynski brothers, are currently seen as conservative socialists. In the 1991 general elections KLD got 7. 5% of the votes and 37 seats in the Sejm, in 1993 KLD got 4. 0% of the votes and was left without seats. It merged on March 20,1994 with the Democratic Union into the Freedom Union, some of the former KLD members decided in January 2001 to move to join the new Civic Platform. The KLD group within Civic Platform is now seen as moderate conservative, the liberal faction within Civic Platform is small and insignificant, represented by such politicians as Janusz Palikot and Adam Szejnfeld. List of Liberal Democratic Congress politicians Contributions to liberal theory List of liberal parties Liberal democracy
12.
Andrzej Stelmachowski
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Andrzej Stelmachowski was a Polish academic and politician. Stelmachowski was a member of Armia Krajowa, the Polish resistance during Second World War, a Lawyer, professor of University of Wrocław and University of Warsaw, he was a Solidarity advisor in 1980 and took part in the Polish Round Table Agreement. He also served as Marshal of the Senate, Minister of Education, in his advisory capacity he suggested doing away with the secrecy of the Union of Solidarity, his idea was to break away and create open structures as much as possible. Stelmachowski was the founder and then president of Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska, Stelmachowski died on April 6,2009
13.
Democratic Left Alliance
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Democratic Left Alliance is a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 1991 as an alliance of centre-left parties. It has always considered a post-communist party. It has no representation as of the 2015 parliamentary election. The coalition can be classified as left-wing, however, during the 1990s, it managed to attract voters from the pro-market and even right-wing camp. The main support for SLD came from state sector employees, retired people, former Polish United Workers Party and OPZZ members. The excommunists criticized the reforms, pointing to the high social costs. SdRP, SDU and some other socialist and social-democratic parties had formed the original Democratic Left Alliance as a coalition just prior to the nations first free elections in 1991. In 1999 the coalition became a party, but lost some members, at the time, the coalitions membership drew mostly from the former PUWP. An alliance between the SLD and the Polish Peoples Party ruled Poland in the years 1993–1997, after the elections, the coalition was joined by the Polish Peoples Party in forming a government and Leszek Miller became the Prime Minister. In March 2003, the PSL left the coalition, on 6 March 2004, Leszek Miller resigned as party leader and was replaced by Krzysztof Janik. On March 26 the Sejm speaker Marek Borowski, together with other high-ranking SLD officials, announced the creation of a new centre-left party, the Social Democratic Party of Poland. On the next day, Leszek Miller announced he would step down as Prime Minister on 2 May 2004, the day after Poland joined the European Union. In the 2004 European Parliament election, it only received 9% of the votes, giving it 5 of 54 seats reserved for Poland in the European Parliament, as part of the Party of European Socialists. In the later 2009 European election the Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union joint ticket received 12% of the vote and 7 MEPs were elected as part of the newly retitled Socialists & Democrats group. However the SLD could not avoid suffering a defeat in the 2005 parliamentary election. This gave the party 55 seats, barely a quarter of what it had had prior to the election and it also lost all of its Senators. pl. The coalition won a disappointing 13% in the 2007 parliamentary election and was dissolved soon after in April 2008, on 31 May 2008, Olejniczak was replaced by Grzegorz Napieralski as SLD leader
14.
Law and Justice
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Law and Justice, abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing national-conservative, and Christian democratic political party in Poland. With 216 seats in the Sejm and 56 in the Senate, the party was founded in 2001 by the Kaczyński twins, Lech and Jarosław. It was formed part of the Solidarity Electoral Action, with the Christian democratic Centre Agreement forming the new partys core. The party won the 2005 election, while Lech Kaczyński won the presidency, Jarosław served as Prime Minister, before calling elections in 2007, in which the party came second to Civic Platform. Several leading members, including Lech Kaczyński, died in a crash in 2010. The party programme is dominated by the Kaczyńskis conservative and law, the party is solidarist and mildly eurosceptic. PiS is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe European political party, the current sixteen PiS MEPs sit, as well as three other people elected from the PiS register, in the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament. The AWS itself was created from an array of many small right-wing political parties. In the 2001 general election PiS gained 44 seats in the chamber of the Polish Parliament with 9. 5% of votes. In 2002, Lech Kaczyński was elected mayor of Warsaw and he handed the party leadership to his twin brother in 2003. In the 2005 general election, PiS took first place with 27. 0% of votes and it was almost universally expected that the two largest parties, PiS and Civic Platform, would form a coalition government. The putative coalition parties had an out, however, related to a fierce contest for the Polish presidency. In the end, Lech Kaczyński won the round of the presidential election on 23 October 2005 with 54. 0% of the vote, ahead of Donald Tusk. After the 2005 elections, Jarosław should have become Prime Minister, in July 2006 PiS formed a right-wing coalition government with the agrarian populist Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland and nationalist League of Polish Families, headed by Jarosław Kaczyński. Association with these parties, on the margins of Polish politics, when accusations of corruption and sexual harassment against Andrzej Lepper, the leader of Self Defense, surfaced, PiS chose to end the coalition and called for new elections. In the 2007 general election PiS managed to secure 32. 1% of votes, although an improvement over its showing from 2005, the results were nevertheless a defeat for the party, as Civic Platform gathered 41. 5%. The party won 166 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 39 seats in Polands Senate, on 10 April 2010, its former leader Lech Kaczyński died in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash. The party won the 2015 parliamentary election, this time with an outright majority—something no Polish party had done since the fall of Communism, in the normal course of events, this should have made Jarosław Kaczyński prime minister for a second time
15.
Roman Giertych
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Roman Jacek Giertych is a Polish politician, he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education until August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm from 2001 until October 2007, roman Giertych comes from a family of Polish politicians, a son of Maciej Giertych and a grandson of Jędrzej Giertych. His uncle on his fathers side is Wojciech Giertych, O. P, theologian of the Pontifical Household and professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome. Two of his aunts also entered religious life and he excelled in history throughout his school years while his grades in other subjects remained average. His teacher of biology recalls him questioning the validity of the theory of evolution, a stance that he carried away from his home, especially his father. He graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań with masters degrees in law and history. In 1989, he reactivated the far-right All-Polish Youth organization, becoming its chairman, for several years he was a member of the National-Democratic Party and the National Party, which merged with several other organizations to form the League of Polish Families in 2001. Giertych and the LPR have a national and anti-EU profile. Prior to the 2003 Polish referendum on EU membership, the LPR campaigned against it, denouncing it as a centralised, officially, the LPR declares that it favours a Europe of nations. Under Giertychs leadership, the LPR was successful in the European Parliament elections in June 2004 and his father Maciej Giertych was elected MEP. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, LPR gained 8% of the votes, on 5 May 2006, Giertych was appointed as Minister of Education and vice-premier, while the LPR joined a governmental coalition with PiS. His nationalist views made the decision controversial by some, the following day, about 100 people protested in front of the Ministry of Education against this appointment. A couple of weeks, later almost 140000 people signed a petition to him from the post. The project span a period of 2 years, culminating in 2016
16.
League of Polish Families
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The League of Polish Families is a nationalist conservative political party in Poland, part of the Catholic-National Movement and with many elements of far-right ideology. The partys original ideology was that of the democracy movement which was headed by Roman Dmowski. It was represented in the Polish parliament, forming part of the cabinet of Jarosław Kaczyński, since then the party has become a minor political force but continues to exist. The All-Polish Youth used to be affiliated with the party as its youth wing, the LPR was created just before the elections in 2001 and gained 8% of the vote, giving it 38 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 2 seats in the Senate. Its former leader, Roman Giertych, studied Law and History at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, during his career his political alliances have included such Polish National Democrats as Jan Łopuszański, Antoni Macierewicz, Gabriel Janowski. Roman Giertych reactivated the All-Polish Youth organization in 1989, becoming its chairman, for several years he was a member of the National-Democratic Party and the National Party, which merged with several other organizations to form the League of Polish Families in 2001. Roman Giertychs father, Maciej Giertych, also a member of LPR, is a member of the European Parliament. His grandfather was a member of parliament of the Second Polish Republic prior to World War II from the National Democracy Party, some sources claim that the LPR owes much of its success to Radio Maryja, a Catholic radio station with a nationalist, ultra-conservative agenda. In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament LPR received 15, 2% votes, however, overall turnout of that election was less than 20% of eligible voters. Thus, the significance of the LPRs strong performance in that election is unclear. In the 2005 elections LPR again received 8% of votes, however, it gained five seats in the Senate, taking it up to 7. The leader of the party, Roman Giertych, has stepped down from his post as the partys leader, some present or former members of LPR and five of its MEPs moved to Forward Poland in 2008/9. The party has been described as belonging to the populist current in European politics, that juxtaposes the simple man, the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics described the party as clerical-nationalist, the partys agenda combining conservative social values, Christian solidarism and nationalism. Adam Michnik has characterized the groups formed the party as the heirs of the chauvinist. Some of the policies the LPR opposes include, the selling of land to foreign, abolishing the draft, legalization of drugs, legalization of abortion, euthanasia. It supports capital punishment, maintaining health care and public education. The LPR also supports the publication of the archives of the Polish communist secret police—in other words. The party particularly appealed to voters sympathetic towards traditional social values, the Catholic faith, the party has been labelled as antisemitic by some authors
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Ryszard Legutko
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Ryszard Antoni Legutko, born 24 December 1949, is a Polish philosopher and politician. Professor of philosophy at the Jagellonian University in Kraków, specializing in ancient philosophy, under communism he was one of the editors of the samizdat quarterly “Arka”. After the collapse of the communist regime he co-founded the Centre for Political Thought and he has translated and written commentaries to Plato’s Phaedo, Euthyphro and Apology. He is the author of books, Plato’s Critique of Democracy, Toleration, A Treatise on Liberty and An Essay on the Polish Soul. In 2005 he was elected to a seat in the Polish Senate, in 2007 he was Poland’s Education Minister, and in 2007-2009 Secretary of State in the Chancellery of President Lech Kaczyński. He is currently a member of the European Parliament, where he sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, in 2011 the court denied that request. Plaintiffs are represented by an attorney on a basis under the Precedential Cases Program of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Fellow of Collegium Invisibile as a professor of philosophy, media related to Ryszard Legutko at Wikimedia Commons Official homepage
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Civic Platform
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Civic Platform is a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Poland. Civic Platform came to following the 2007 general election as the major coalition partner in Polands government. Tusk was re-elected as Prime Minister in the 2011 general election, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz led the party in the 2015 general election but was defeated by the Law and Justice party. On November 16,2015 Civic Platform government stepped down after exactly 8 years in power, in 2010 Civic Platform candidate Bronisław Komorowski was elected as President of Poland, but failed in running for re-election in 2015. PO is the second largest party in the Sejm, with 138 seats, Civic Platform is a member of the European Peoples Party. The party was formed in 2001 as a split from Solidarity Electoral Action, under the leadership of Andrzej Olechowski and Maciej Płażyński, in the 2001 general election, PO emerged as the largest opposition party, behind the ruling centre-left party Democratic Left Alliance. PO remained the second-largest party at the 2005 general election, but this time behind the national-conservative party Law, in 2007, Civic Platform overtook PiS, now established as the two dominant parties, and formed a coalition government with the Polish Peoples Party. Following the Smolensk disaster of April 2010, Bronisław Komorowski became the first President from PO in the 2010 presidential election, since its creation, the party has shown stronger electoral performances in the west and north of Poland. The Civic Platform was founded in 2001 as a split from existing parties, founders Andrzej Olechowski, Maciej Płażyński, and Donald Tusk were sometimes jokingly called the Three Tenors by Polish media and commentators. Olechowski and Płażyński left the party during the 2001–2005 parliamentary term, leaving Tusk as the remaining founder. I can say that I participated in a number of discussions, above all, I had to convince Olechowski and Paweł Piskorski to an idea, I also talked to Donald Tusk, said Czempiński. In the 2001 general election the party secured 12. 6% of the vote and 58 deputies in the Sejm, in 2005, PO led all opinion polls with 26% to 30% of public support. However, in the 2005 general election, in which it was led by Jan Rokita, PO polled only 24. 1% and unexpectedly came second to the 27% garnered by Law and Justice. A centre-right coalition of PO and PiS was deemed most likely to form a government after the election, yet the putative coalition parties had a falling out in the wake of the fiercely contested Polish presidential election of 2005. Lech Kaczyński won the round of the presidential election on 23 October 2005 with 54% of the vote, ahead of Tusk. Due to the demands of PiS for control of all the armed ministries, instead, PiS formed a coalition government with the support of the League of Polish Families and Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland. PO became the opposition to this PiS-led coalition government, the PiS-led coalition fell apart in 2007 amid corruption scandal with Andrzej Lepper and Tomasz Lipiec and internal leadership disputes. These events led to the new elections in 2007, in the 21 October 2007 parliamentary election, PO won 41. 51% of the popular vote and 209 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 60 out of 100 seats in the Senate of Poland
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Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska
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Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska is a Polish politician and member of the Sejm for Civic Platform. She was elected for Law and Justice in 2007, but led a group in 2010 to form the more liberal Poland Comes First. She resigned from the party in June 2011, joining Civic Platform following rumors, in November 2013, following a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Kluzik-Rostkowska was appointed to head the Ministry of National Education. Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska was born on 14 December 1963 in Katowice, Poland and she graduated from the University of Warsaw with an M. A. in Journalism and Political Science. In 1996, Kluzik-Rostkowska joined the ranks of Wprost, becoming a political correspondent and she would later join the journal Nowe Państwo in 2000, followed by the ladies weekly Przyjaciółka between 2001 and 2004. In 2004, Kluzik-Rostkowska entered Warsaws municipal bureaucracy, becoming chief specialist of the press office. Kaczyński, now elected as Mayor of Warsaw, later appointed Kluzik-Rostkowska as head of the mayors outreach department for women, as a member of Law and Justice, Kluzik-Rostkowska ran for a seat in the Sejm during the 2005 parliamentary election, but failed to be elected. Nevertheless, she joined the government of incoming Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, however, the League failed to block Kluzik-Rostkowskas nomination, who later became head of the ministrys commission on the equal status of men and women. From August to November 2007, Kluzik-Rostkowska served as the Minister of Labour, Kluzik-Rostkowska replaced Minister Anna Kalata of Self-Defence during a cabinet reshuffle following Self-Defences exit from the Law and Justice-led government. Despite the Kaczyński governments defeat in the 2007 parliamentary election, Kluzik-Rostkowska was elected to a seat in the Sejm, in 2010, Kluzik-Rostkowska presided over Jarosław Kaczyńskis campaign during the 2010 presidential election, called Poland Comes First. A leading party moderate, she was ejected from Law and Justice after hinting of her candidacy for the leadership if need be. She resigned from the party leadership on 5 June 2011, prompting rumors of her leaving the party altogether to join Civic Platform, following her defection to Civic Platforms ranks, Kluzik-Rostkowska described her decision as to do everything that Law and Justice do not return to power. She was reelected to the Sejm as a member of Civic Platform in the 2011 parliamentary election, in November 2013, Kluzik-Rostkowska was appointed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk as the next Minister of National Education, replacing Krystyna Szumilas. Joanna Kluzik-Rostowskas webpage at the Sejm
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Commission of National Education
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The Commission of National Education was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and the King Stanisław August Poniatowski on October 14,1773. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first Ministry of Education in European history, the chief reason behind its creation was that in Poland and Lithuania, the Jesuits ran an extensive system of educational institutions. Although the Jesuit schools were fairly efficient and provided the Polish youth with a good education, in addition, in 1773 the Pope decided to close down the Jesuit order. This threatened a complete breakdown of education in the Commonwealth, the Commission was formally created on October 14,1773. It was one of the newly set-up Grand Commissions, organisations with the status of a ministry and its main mastermind and chief figure was a Catholic priest, Hugo Kołłątaj, other notable supporters included Ignacy Potocki and Adam K. Czartoryski. Initially, the body consisted of 4 senators and 4 members of the Sejm. The first head of the KEN was Prince Bishop Michał Jerzy Poniatowski and they were joined by Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, the Secretary of the King of Poland. In 1773 the KEN was granted much of the property of the Jesuit order, including all the schools. Due to this fact, the Commission had not only benefited from the necessary infrastructure, the Commission supervised two universities,74 secondary schools and about 1600 parish schools. The third Commonwealths university, the Lwów University, has been lost to the Austrian Partition, to cope with the problem the Society of Elementary Books was, therefore, established. The Society sponsored competitions for creating the best textbooks, the scientists—working on the new Polish language textbooks—had, at times, to come up with the necessary vocabulary entries. Much of the vocabulary they invented is still in use up to this day, the Commission also devised several documents, outlining the whole educational process. However, several of the new principles were considered too novel for that age and these included, inter alia, the principle of equality of both sexes in education. In 1780, the Opposition refused to sign the Statute on Elementary Schools, in 1774 the Commission took over the Załuski Library. After the formative period, during which the prerogatives of the Commission were established, the three universities in Warsaw, Vilnius and Kraków were granted the right of curatorship over schools of lower degree. This included the schools remained under the influence of the Roman Church. Gradually, the teachers, who were frequently former Jesuit priests, were exchanged for young lay teachers - graduates of the three academies, thanks to this move, the opposition inside the local schools was finally broken. After 1789 the supporters of reforms in the Polish Sejm gradually started to lose their influence, similarly, the KEN was deprived of many of its former privileges
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Ministries of Poland
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The ministries of Poland are the various departments performing functions implemented by the Polish government. Each ministry is headed by a governmental minister selected by the Prime Minister, under legal regulations, the cabinet can create, combine, or dissolve ministries, with the Prime Minister determining the scope and responsibilities of ministers. The number and range of ministries has varied throughout the past, as of 2015, seventeen codified ministries exist within the government. The following departments discharge executive functions under the Cabinet of Ewa Kopacz
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Ministry of Environment (Poland)
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Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Poland was formed in 1973 to administer issues related to environment protection of Poland. The ministry existed under various names since 1972 and it has assumed its current name in 1999. The current Polish Minister of Environment, since 2015, is Jan Szyszko, greenEvo - Accelerator of Green Technologies Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Poland
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Ministry of Finance (Poland)
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Polands Ministry of Finance, headed by the Minister of Finance, is part of the government of Poland. Among its powers and responsibilities it drafts the national budget, deals with taxes, financing of the local self-governments, in the area of taxation, the ministry oversees a system of local and regional tax offices. An ordinary tax office is called urząd skarbowy, while an office is called izba skarbowa. There are approximately 400 of the former throughout the country, and 16 of the latter, in each voivodeship there is also one tax inspection office. The Ministry of Finance exists alongside the Ministry of the Treasury, which is mainly for the management of nationally-owned assets. Below is a list of Finance Ministers of Poland
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland)
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It is considered to be one of the most important offices of state. The head of the ministry is a secretary of state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible primarily for maintaining good, in doing so it is required to act primarily as a representative of the Polish people. To this end all Polish diplomatic missions around the world are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministry is considered to be one of Polands most important, with the minister of foreign affairs ranking amongst the most influential people in Polish politics. This position is reserved for seasoned, professional politicians, and is thought to require a great deal of tact and intellect. However, the ministry began to fulfil its ascribed duties truly only after the fall of the Regency Council, adoption of the Treaty of Versailles, the ministry was then, until 1939, located in central Warsaw, with its seat in the Brühl Palace on Piłsudski Square. During this period Count Edward Raczyński, a man who was later to become President of the government in exile, was the minister responsible, the departments for regional affairs exist to monitor the internal situation and politics of the countries within the area of any one specific departments competence. They coordinate development of relations, initiate the related undertakings. These departments oversee the issue of Poland’s participation in the structures of multilateral cooperation with any relevant partner states and they are responsible for the substantive activity of relevant Polish diplomatic missions abroad
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Ministry of Infrastructure (Poland)
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The Ministry of Infrastructure was an agency of the government of Poland. The ministry was headquartered in Warsaw, following the 2007 election of Civic Platform under Donald Tusk, the ministry was again reorganized into the Ministry of Infrastructure. Following the reelection of Tusk in the 2011 parliamentary elections, the Council of Ministers moved to abolish the Infrastructure Ministry on 21 November,2011 and it was replaced by the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy, and the Ministry of Administration and Digitization. State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation Ministry of Infrastructure Ministry of Infrastructure
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Ministry of Interior and Administration (Poland)
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Ministry of the Interior and Administration is an administration structure controlling main administration and security branches of the Polish government. After Parliamentary Election on 9 October 2011 was transformed for two ministries, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Administration and Digitization and it was recreated in late 2015. The current Minister of Interior and Administration is Mariusz Błaszczak, the ministry was founded in 1918 as the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During a reform of the Polish government in 1996 the administration branch was merged into the Ministry, the Ministrys headquarters was located on the Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaws city centre and the governmental district which surrounds the Belweder. The Ministry could be referred to by its initials MSWiA, the last Minister of the Interior and Administration was Jerzy Miller
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Ministry of National Defence (Poland)
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Ministry of National Defense is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of National Defense. During the Second Polish Republic and World War II it was called the Ministry of Military Affairs, Ministry budget for 2016 was 35.9 billion PLN. Władysław Sikorski gen. broni Lucjan Żeligowski gen. dyw, juliusz Tadeusz Tarnawa-Malczewski Pierwszy Marszałek Polski Józef Piłsudski gen. dyw. Tadeusz Kasprzycki Polish government-in-exile gen. broni Władysław Sikorski gen. dyw, Marian Kukiel Republic of Poland / Peoples Republic of Poland Marsz. Polski Marian Spychalski gen. armii Wojciech Jaruzelski gen. armii Florian Siwicki Third Polish Republic gen. armii Florian Siwicki wiceadm, romuald Szeremietiew Janusz Onyszkiewicz Piotr Kołodziejczyk p. o
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Ministry of Economy (Poland)
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Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Poland was a ministry dealing with economy of Republic of Poland. In 2007 the bureau of tourism was moved to Ministry of Sport, the last minister was Janusz Piechociński. In late 2015 it was merged into the new Ministry of Development, media related to Ministry of Economic Affairs, Poland at Wikimedia Commons
