Anna Walentynowicz: Cold War Heroine the 'Mother of Solidarity'
Bonnie Erbe

I often write about women's issues, but I came across Anna Walentynowicz -- a woman of note whose legacy has been largely neglected by Western historians. Her life and death should be more widely known to American women. So here goes

Puzzling & Dangerous U.S. Foreign Policy Comes to an End
William Pfaff

President Barack Obama's cancellation of his predecessor's missile-defense scheme for Poland and the Czech Republic presumably brings to a close one of the least explicable and most dangerous American policy initiatives since the cold war officially ended.

Territoriality clause slammed by EU
The European Commission has decided to send a request to Poland to stop the violations of the EU rules creating a Single Market for gas. The obligation imposed by Poland on gas importers to store a certain percentage of gas in Poland and the lack of access to the Yamal...

Poland goes nuclear
The United States will assist Poland in its plans to launch the first nuclear power station by the end of 2020 under a declaration signed here on Tuesday Polands economy ministry said. The declaration was signed by Deputy Economy Minister Hanna Trojanowska and U.S. Commerce Undersecretary Francisco Sanchez. After Mondays...

Poland prepares to leave Afghanistan
Polish acting President Bronislaw Komorowski said on Thursday that he had asked the government to prepare a document defining Polands postulates concerning the date of the withdrawal of Polish troops from Afghanistan. The document for the Polish president is to be ready before a NATO summit in Lisbon in November...

GDP expected to grow
Polands GDP will likely grow 3.5% in 2010 and even more in 2011 if there is no turbulence on financial markets Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said on Wednesday. It seems especially after a very good May industrial output result that economic growth at 3.5% is likely to be achieved in...

Duma debates Polish patriots
The Russian State Duma will address the deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland during the ratification of the new Russian-U.S Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START the chairman of State Duma Boris Gryzlov said on Saturday. The theme would surely be discussed in the debates Gryzlov said in an...

Poland Russia now partners in law
Polish and Russian Justice Ministers Krzysztof Kwiatkowski and Aleksandr Konovalov signed a memorandum on legal cooperation between the two countries justice ministries in Lodz central Poland Xinhua reported. It was the first step on the way to make cooperation smoother. The two agreed on signing within the coming two weeks...

Poland should withdraw troops from Afghanistan before 2013: defense chief
Poland should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan before 2013 Polands Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said on Wednesday but added that some conditions had to be met before such a move was possible Xinhua reported. The minister said that Afghan forces should start taking over responsibility for Ghazni districts next year. In order...

Polands Parliament elects new central bank head
Polands Sejm lower chamber of the Parliament on Thursday elected Marek Belka the new head of the National Bank of Poland NBP Xinhua reported. Belkas candidature was backed by 253 deputies 184 deputies voted against according to the PAP news agency. Before the vote the candidacy forwarded by Sejm Speaker...

Barroso commends Polands EU Presidency programs
José Manuel Durão Barroso President of the European Commission said that during Polands upcoming EU Presidency in second half of 2011 he hopes see progress on the priorities set by the Polish government in particular the New Financial Framework for 2014-2020 the deepening of the internal market further implementation of...

Forum for Fauna
The ENEA was set up in September 2004 by the European Commission to provide assistance to the EU Member States and the Candidate Countries to allow their Environmental Authorities keeping the Commission informed on their progress and criticalities at national and regional level sharing their good practices limiting their environmental...

Parliament rejects no-confidence motion
The Portuguese lawmakers recently turned down a no-confidence motion against the minority Socialist government in the parliament as the main opposition party the centre-right PSD abstained in the largely symbolic vote. The PSDs move however was very much expected. The motion proposed by the Communist Party in protest against the...

Portugal urgently needs budget cuts says Trichet
European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet recently noted that Portugal was in urgent need to trim its budget deficit. As regards Portugal the challenges for this country are related to the very urgent need of implementing effective and convincing fiscal consolidation improving competitiveness and boosting productivity growth Trichet said...

Romanian unions reject austerity plan
Labour unions last Monday rejected a government plan that envisions cutting salaries in the public sector by 25 % and pensions by 15% SE Times reported on May 18. During a meeting with government officials and business representatives unions called for a compromise warning that without one about 40 000...

FDI halved in the first quarter
Foreign Direct Investment FDI in Romania dropped by half in the first quarter this year according to data from the central bank Romanian Times reported on 18 May. The value of the FDI fell to € 754 million in the first quarter from € 1.48 billion in the same period...

EBRD lends 200 million Polish zloty to modernise tram system in Warsaw
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EBRD is supporting the modernisation of the tram system in Polands capital Warsaw with a loan of up to 200 million Polish zloty equivalent to approximately €49.2 million to Warsaw Tramways to finance the companys investment programme. Wholly-owned by the city of Warsaw Warsaw...

IMF commends Poland for anti-recession measures
Poland is the only EU economy to have escaped a recession in 2009. Similar to its regional peers it experienced spill-overs from the crisis through real and financial channels as an abrupt slowdown in capital inflows caused a credit crunch and a sharp decline in investment. However consumption held up...

Polands Green Investment Scheme agreed with Ireland
Poland and Ireland have agreed on a €15 million emissions trading contract. The agreement is facilitated by the EBRD-EIBs Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund. The transaction aims to provide significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the associated greening programme known as the Green Investment Scheme GIS . Resources made available...

Short selling to be introduced in stock exchange
The Warsaw Stock Exchange plans to introduce short selling on 1 July following a rule change by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Only shares which meet a certain criteria will be able to be sold short and the Exchange will publish a daily update on the list of eligible securities...

Kulczyk Oil Ventures is considering digging for oil in Russia
Kulczyk Oil Ventures KOV which is planning to enter the Warsaw Stock Exchange in May is already developing oil and gas projects in south-east Asia Brunei the Middle East Syria and south-central Europe Slovenia Ukraine . The company believes that diversification of oil and gas deposits will help the company...

Its a LOT quicker flight to Japan
In a sign that relations between Poland and Russia are improving Russia is likely to make its Siberian air corridor accessible to Polish Airlines LOT after a meeting between the countries two Prime ministers. Opening the skies to LOT would enable the airline to begin flights to Japan which it...

Politicians quarrel over economic zones
Puls Biznesu reports a quarrel is about to erupt over the creation of economic zones across Poland. The finance minister was so opposed to their creation when the idea first surfaced that he started planning his own project detailing what such a system could look like. However it is not the...

Ukrros may hold IPO on Warsaw exchange in 2011
Open joint stock company Sugar Union Ukrros Kyiv one of the biggest operators in the Ukrainian sugar market is holding preparations for an initial public offering on the Warsaw stock exchange which may take place in 2011 says the chair of the companys supervisory board Serhiy Fedorenko.We are concentrating assets...

Poland loses a political generation
A tragic plane crash that has instantaneously left Poland one generation of Politicians less occurred as Europe was waking up on 10 April. On the way to a commemoration ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katy? Massacre the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash...

ExxonMobil Statoil strike up a deal in Tanzania
Statoil has signed an agreement with an affiliate of ExxonMobil to transfer 35 % of its interest in Statoil operated Block 2 in Tanzania. Statoil now holds 65 % interest in the 11 099 square kilometres block Norway Post reported on 6 April. Statoil is looking forward to working with ExxonMobil...

Statoil strengthens US shale gas position
Statoil has signed an agreement with Chesapeake which will add approximately 59000 net acres to Statoils current 600000 net acre positions in the Marcellus Shale Norway Post reported early last week. The cost to Statoil of the transaction is $253 million with an average acreage cost of $4325 per acre....

Tusk says EU should reform like Poland
Ahead of Thursdays EU summit in Brussels PM Donald Tusk has sent a letter to leaders of the 27-nation bloc urging investment in infrastructure projects to ensure economic growth. Gazeta Wyborcza reports that the letter is addressed to Prime Minister of Spain - who currently leads the six-month rotating presidency -...

GTC Polnord join forces in retail project in Warsaw
Polands real estate developer Globe Trade Centre S.A. GTC and Polnord S.A. Polnord one of the most experienced companies in the construction and developer market in Poland have recently signed a term sheet of a joint venture for the development of a modern shopping centre on a 7 hectare site...

Prince Charles throws a royal bash
During a dinner hosted in honor of British Royal Couple on 15 March the Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in his assessment that the Polish and the English joining forces in the struggle to defend peace and the basic principles underlying our civilization has become almost a tradition. The President...

30 mln in Emissions sale to Japan succesful
Professor Andrzej Kraszewski the Polish Minister of the Environment has signed a contract with a Japanese private sector partner on the sales of greenhouse gas emission Assigned Amount Units AAUs under the Kyoto Protocol that will bring about almost 30 million euros i.e. more than 100 million Polis zloty proceeds...

WSE becomes a Recognised Stock Exchange
The Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE received the Recognised Stock Exchange designation from HM Revenue and Customs HMRC . The designation awarded to the WSE Main List and the retail EU-regulated segment of Catalyst will make these markets more attractive and accessible for UK-based investors. Being the largest stock exchange in...

Telekomunikacja Polska receives EU Commission objection
The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections SO to the Polish telecoms incumbent operator - Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. TP . The SO outlines the Commissions preliminary view that TP has abused its dominant position by refusing to supply remunerated access to its wholesale broadband services. On 17 April 2009...

PKO Bank Polski ratings affirmed
Capital Intelligence CI the international credit rating agency announced that it has affirmed PKO Bank Polski PKO BP s foreign currency long-term rating at A- its short term rating at A2 and its financial strength rating at BBB+ early last week. All ratings carry a Stable outlook. The additional capital...

Ferro shifts work from Portugal plate factory
Ferro Corporation has recently announced its decision to shift operations from its dinnerware ceramics facility in Castanheira Portugal to its plant in Almazora Spain local media reports revealed. Ferro makes materials used in the manufacturing of electronics and other industries. The company also said it would move plastics manufacturing from...

Electric bulb swap in return for electronic waste
The action of acquisition of electric energy saving bulbs in return of electrical and electronic waste is under way. The recent collection event which took place in the Wigry Lake National Park resulted in output amounting to 30 tons waste equipment gathered. That is the way the Ministry of the...

Housing construction down 47.1% year-on-year 2010
According to preliminary data in January 2010 11 681 dwellings were completed i.e. by 47.1 % less than in 2009 and in comparison with January 2008 it means a drop by 20.2 %. Keeping from one and half years reducing in the number of permits issued for construction reflects a...

Moroccan Prime Minister at Presidential Palace
In Warsaw Lech Kaczynski the Polish President and Abbas El Fassi the Prime Minister of Morocco discussed such issues as the economy the Eastern Partnership the Union for the Mediterranean and tourism. The Polish President also invited King Mohammed VI of Morocco to visit Poland. After the meeting Mariusz Handzlik the...

65th anniversary of liberation of Nazi concentration
The 65th anniversary was celebrated in Oswiecim of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Around 150 former inmates of the camp and numerous politicians took part in the celebrations including President Lech Kaczynski of Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel...

More Poles are poping pills
The Polish pharmaceutical market has grown dynamically in the past five years showing great resilience to the impact of adverse trends prevailing in the market. As demonstrated by the results of the most recent study conducted by the advisory company KPMG and the research company PMR in June 2009 the current...

Congratulations go to Tusk
The Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk received congratulations from far and wide as he was notified of having won the EUs Charlemagne prize given to those for exemplary EU efforts. The organizers at the city of Aachen describe it as a citizens prize for distinguished service on behalf of...

Poland Russia have yet to sign gas agreement
Poland and Russia have yet to sign a gas delivery deal for 2010 due to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom owing Warsaw around $410 million. Gazproms debt of $350 million results from paying lower tariffs for gas transit in Poland as required by the Energy Regulatory Office. Additional $60 million debt...

KW signs $1.5 bln coal deal with generator PKE
Polands second largest power generator Poludniowy Koncern Energetyczny PKE said it had signed a five-year contract with the countrys biggest coal producer Kompania Weglowa KW for hard coal supplies to its power plants Platts reported. The contract which runs from 2010 through 2014 is worth 4.3 billion zloty $1.5...

Fortum enters the Polish electricity market
Fortum has established trading operations in Warsaw Poland. The companys first trade on the Polish electricity marketplace was done on 9 December. By entering the Polish electricity market Fortum prepares for the commission of its new combined heat and power CHP plant in Czsstochowa Poland in 2010. Once completed the...

Commission authorises tonnage tax scheme
The European Commission decided to authorise the introduction in Poland of a flat-rate tax regime based on fleet tonnage early last week. This so-called tonage tax regime enables shipping operators not to pay corporation or personal tax but only a flat-rate tax based on the tonnage of their fleet. The...

Merrill Lynch starts trading on WSE
At the end of the last month the London based Remote Member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE Merrill Lynch International commenced trading on the WSE in scope of all securities on behalf of clients and for its own account it was reported early last week. Mark Lear Managing Director and...

Mercuria agreement with Grupa LOTOS PKN ORLEN
Early last week Polish oil corporation Grupa LOTOS SA signed an agreement with Mercuria Energy Trading SA of Geneva for the supply of 18 million tons of REBCO crude oil by Mercuria Energy Trading SA to Grupa LOTOS SA in the period from 1 January 2010 to December 31st 2014....

Retail sales decline in October
Portugals seasonally adjusted retail sales decreased 0.6% year-on-year in October slower than the 1.2% decline in the previous month revised from 1.3% drop estimated initially the Statistics Portugal revealed in a recent report. The retail trade turnover excluding fuel increased 0.4% on an annual basis in October compared to a...

Impel Security Polska acquires 49% of Asekuracja shares
Impel Group Polands largest provider of outsourcing services announced early last week that Impel Security Polska ISP acquired 49% of shares of Przedsiebiorst wo Specjalistyczne Asekuracja Sp. z o.o Asekuracja . It was the effect of implementing the investment agreement in which ISP had been given a right of pre-emption...

RWE opens first public charging point for electric vehicles
The first Warsaws electric vehicle charging point was opened by German energy operator RWE at its headquarters at Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie 41 on November 17. It is the first of 130 similar points that under a research programme financed with EU funds will be built thanks to the collaboration between RWE...

Drilling of fourth well confirms Tupis potential
The contractor group for BM-S-11 in ultra deep water of Santos Basin including Petrobras BG Group and the Portuguese integrated oil and natural gas company Galp Energia announced on November 12 that it concluded the drilling in the fourth well informally known as Tupi NE located in Tupis Evaluation Plan...

Warsaw Madrid sign Intent on biological biodiversity
The Polish and Spanish governments have signed Declaration of Intent to establish a framework for cooperation in the area of protection of biological biodiversity. Today we are signing an unprecedented agreement on the sale of emission rights which is also important for Poland This mysterious title stands for an excellent...

Poland News - New Europe News
Poland News - New Europe News: The European News Source.

 

Biometric ATM gives cash via 'finger vein' scan
Poland's cooperative BPS bank says it's the first in Europe to install a biometric ATM -- allowing customers to withdraw cash simply with the touch of a fingertip.

Poland's brain gain: Country's brightest return home to seek fortune
With their fine shirts, ­their initials embroidered on them,­ their cufflinks and custom made jackets, the Modrzejewski twins ­Jan and Pawel ­seem the prototype of the London banker. Their hairstyle, their clothes, their gestures, everything is almost identical.

Poland goes football crazy for Euro 2012
Football fever is already gripping Poland ahead of co-hosting the European Championships in 2012.

Poland recovers from year of national tragedy
Poland is getting back on its feet after suffering an extraordinary few months of tragedy.

How Poland became only EU nation to avoid recession
While the rest of Europe has battled with recession, Poland remained the only country to keep its head above water.

Country profile: Poland
In 1989, Poland became the first member of the Soviet bloc to establish a non-Communist government.

Polish floods start to recede
Flood waters began to recede across parts of Poland on Friday after heavy rains killed 17 people nationwide, the Interior Ministry said.

Poland's historic and cultural gem
Krakow is the Boston of Poland -- a charming and vital city buzzing with history, college students, and tourists. Though not the capital, Krakow is the cultural and intellectual center of the country -- and easily Poland's best destination.

World leaders can't get to Poland for funeral due to ash
Numerous world leaders were forced to cancel plans to travel to Poland for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski on Sunday, as volcanic ash from Iceland continued to ground flights to and from Europe.

Obama's gesture to a grieving Poland
Presidents of the United States rarely attend the funerals of foreign leaders, but President Obama's decision to go to the state funeral of the Polish president and first lady is right on several levels, says analyst Fareed Zakaria.

Grieving Poland eyes June vote for new president
Polish legislators were planning Wednesday to hold a June election to choose a successor to President Lech Kaczynski, whose death in an air crash is generating unprecedented scenes of public grief.

Poland pays tribute as body of first lady returns
The body of Poland's first lady, Maria Kaczynska, killed with her husband in an airplane crash in Russia, returned to Warsaw on Tuesday.

Analysis: Ramifications of crash on Polish politics
Experts say the deaths of senior military chiefs in Saturday's plane crash could have more serious implications for Poland than the loss of the country's president.

World leaders pay tribute to Polish leader
World leaders, agencies and officials mourned the death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski who was killed in a plane crash early Saturday.

Why Poland's grief is doubled
The tragic death of President Lech Kaczynski and Poland's political and military elite among the trees of the Katyn Forest is surreal, given that in those same woods, thousands of Polish prisoners of war were murdered by Joseph Stalin's secret police.

Poland agrees to host part of new U.S. missile defense plan
Poland has agreed to host elements of the new U.S. missile defense plan despite initial surprise over the Obama administration's recent decision to overhaul President Bush's strategy.

Analysis: Missile shield move leaves Europe's politicians exposed
The decision by the United States to drop its plans to base an anti-ballistic missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic will have reverberations across Europe.

WWII anything but history for Poland
On a sand swept stretch of Afghanistan, a high-ranking Polish general put his country's mission there into perspective.

On International Correspondents this month
On this month's show we rewind the clock to June 4th, 1989. It was on this day that the media reported on two monumental events - the Tiananmen Square massacre in China and Poland's first free elections. The latter signalled the start of the end of Communism in central and Eastern Europe.

The New Poland: A country transformed
It is 20 years since Poland's Solidarity movement defeated the Communist Party in an historic election that prompted the fall of communism across central and eastern Europe.

Poland: From Soviet satellite to 'Tiger of Europe'
Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's former finance minister, recently said his country is enjoying "its best period in 300 years." CNN looks at how the country emerged from communism to become one of eastern Europe's most stable and thriving democracies.

Life after communism
Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's former finance minister, recently said his country is enjoying "its best period in 300 years." CNN looks at how the country emerged from communism to become one of eastern Europe's most stable and thriving democracies.

Polish navy training flight crashes
A Polish navy aircraft on a training flight crashed Tuesday on Poland's northeastern coast, and the four service members aboard are feared dead, navy spokesman Lt. Gregory Lyko told CNN.

Poland: Jazz and all that politics
Jazz has always been a popular form of music because its improvisatory nature is easily adapted by a community or nation to reflect its individual identity.

Your opinions on Poland
As part of its Eye on Poland coverage, CNN is asking its viewers -- including Poles living in Poland and abroad -- about what defines the nation today.

Eye on Poland: Country at the crossroads
A nation with a proud past and promising future -- Poland's influence on the global stage is growing. A driving force in the new Europe with a skilled workforce spreading its influence beyond its borders and an economy increasingly attractive to foreign investors -- Poland is making its mark.

Playing poker with the Polish powerbrokers
Some say Poland is the biggest of the "small countries" in the European Union. Others call it the smallest of the "big countries."

Football offers Poland chance to shine
In April 2007, UEFA's executive committee voted to accept a joint proposal from Poland and Ukraine to host the European football Championships in 2012.

Poland's Jews alive and kicking
Before its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1939, Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish community, and its capital Warsaw was the continent's largest Jewish city.

Eye on Poland: Daily Coverage
Eye on Poland focuses on the color and contrast of one of Europe's fastest developing nations, explaining Poland's rising influence across the European region and the impact its people are having on the wider international stage - from business to politics to pop culture. TV Schedule

Man held over daughter's '6-year kidnap, rape'
A Polish court has ordered the detention of a man accused of holding his daughter captive for six years and repeatedly raping her, ultimately fathering two children with her.

Poland signs missile shield deal with U.S.
The United States and Poland on Wednesday signed an agreement to base U.S. ballistic missile interceptors in Poland, a move that angered Russia.

Behind Poland's Defying Russia
Moscow's regional threats ended up making Poland more resolved to embrace the controversial U.S. missile shield

Will Russia Attack Poland Next?
Russia warned Poland on Friday that it is exposing itself to attack, even a nuclear one, by accepting a U.S. missile interceptor base on its soil

Poland, U.S. sign missile shield deal
Poland and the United States have signed a preliminary deal to place part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Poland, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia.

US, Poland Deal Angers Russia
Poland and the United States reached an agreement that will see a battery of American missiles established inside Poland, a plan that has infuriated Russia

Poland, U.S. to sign missile shield deal
Poland and the United States will sign a preliminary deal to place part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Poland -- a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, the Polish president's office confirmed Thursday to CNN.

Poland firm on U.S. missile defense opposition
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried and failed just before leaving for Europe on Monday to seal a deal to place missiles in Poland, the State Department said.

U.S., Poland strike missile deal while Russia objects
The United States and Poland have reached a tentative deal to place part of a ballistic missile defense system on its territory, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Nostalgia in a Polish 'milk bar'
I remember a bleak time in Poland when the economy was so maddeningly out of touch with the needs of its people that anyone lucky enough to own a car would remove their windshield wipers at night and take them inside. In their command economy -- oblivious to the laws of supply and demand -- some official forgot to order wipers and consequently, they weren't for sale anywhere. Inspired by a hungry black market, thieves would work late into the night snapping them up.

Opposition wins Polish election
Poland's opposition parties have won the parliamentary elections, ending two years of robust nationalism which have frequently led to confrontation with other countries.

Is it the flu? Get the fast flu test
Fast flu tests, which drastically cut the time to diagnose a patient with influenza or not, are helping doctors better treat the illness, according to a recent study and medical experts.

Mine blast kills eight; 15 missing
At least eight miners were killed and another 15 missing after a gas explosion in a Polish coal mine Tuesday, a government spokesman said.

Poland pledges 1,000 Afghan troops
Poland will send up to an additional 1,000 troops to bolster NATO forces in Afghanistan, Polish defense ministry spokesman Leszek Laszczak says.

Poland collapse toll now 67
A 34-year-old man seriously injured in the roof collapse at a Polish exhibition hall died Monday, bringing the total number of deaths to 67.

Poland collapse: Buildings shut
The Polish government ordered the temporary closure of some large buildings Monday after the roof collapse of an exhibition hall in the southern city of Chorzow that killed 62 people.

Roof collapse: 'No more survivors'
Emergency workers shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery Sunday at the site of an exhibition center that's roof collapsed over the weekend in southern Poland, killing 66 people, after officials determined it unlikely that anyone else would be found alive.

Pope's heart may rest in Poland
The city that captured the heart of Pope John Paul II long before he followed his calling into the priesthood may become the final resting place of his physical heart, a Roman Catholic church official in Krakow has told CNN.

Your e-mails: Europe
CNN.com asked its readers to share their thoughts about the death of Pope John Paul II. Here is a sampling from thousands of responses, some of which have been edited:

Polish hostage pleads for life
A video of a Polish woman captured last week by an Iraqi militant group showed her pleading for her life Saturday and urging Poland to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Poland may pull troops out of Iraq
Poland may reduce its commitment of forces to the war in Iraq by 40 percent by January 2005 and have all its troops out by the end of that year, Polish officials said Monday.

Poland on Iraq: 'No rash gestures'
Poland's outgoing prime minister has said his country cannot ignore Spain's plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq, but a government spokesman denied Warsaw was considering a similar pullout.

Poles hoping for economic gains
Warsaw is already beginning to look like other cities to the West. The same multi-national names are on display. In glitzy malls, shoppers can take their pick of international merchandise.

HOTTEST NEW STOCK MARKET
What country was home to 1993's fastest-growing emerging stock market? If you guessed China, think again. The clear winner is Poland. From December 31, 1992, through December 23, 1993, the Warsaw t...

WARM MEMORIES ARE AWAKENED
I want to tell you how very much I enjoyed the October Editor's Notes, ''An American Dream.'' I've recommended it to everyone I know. I've had similar stories told to me by my late father. He came ...

SHOCK THERAPY WORKS IN POLAND
Ten months of fiscal austerity may not have made Poland paradise, but it has noticeably improved the lives of 38 million Poles. Though real wages have dropped 40%, shop shelves now sag with consume...

GLASNOST'S HARVEST: JEANS THAT NEED A SCREWDRIVER, AN ANGEL FOR BORIS, AND MORE
-- The red star and the Cyrillic writing on the back pockets and an accessory in the form of a free screwdriver mark a hot new seller: cotton jeans ($60 and up) from the Soviet Union. The screwdriv...

POLAND IS FOR GAMBLERS
Investing in Poland is like buying into a bankrupt company, says Jan Vanous, research director of PlanEcon, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm specializing in Eastern bloc countries. ''It's for ga...

Poland: News & Videos about Poland - CNN.com
Find stories, videos, and photos about Poland from CNN.com.

 

Gay Parade in Warsaw Meets Jeers From Some
Thousands of police officers holding back egg-throwing youths were a reminder that Poland is not the Netherlands when it comes to gay demonstrations.

In Poland, Loser Could Still Play the Spoiler
Bronislaw Komorowski’s narrow victory in the presidential election could allow his rival, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, to exploit his strong showing in the future.

A Polish 'Nationalist' Whose Music Also Resonates Across China
Chopin bicentennial commemorations are plentiful in China, where the 20th-century composer is as admired for his expressions of patriotism as for his works.

Acting President in Poland Wins a Narrow Victory
Poland’s acting president fended off a stiff electoral challenge on Sunday from the twin brother of the leader who died in a plane crash in April.

On Holocaust Education
Our job is to demonstrate how historical events, including the Holocaust, are unique opportunities to understand the world today.

Runoff Appears Likely in Polish Presidential Race
The acting president, Bronislaw Komorowski, is likely to face Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of President Lech Kaczynski, who died in an April plane crash.

Polish Film's Amoral New Wave
Over 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new wave of young directors is finally shaking up the sometimes staid and moralistic universe of Polish cinema.

Soldiers Charged in Polish Crash Theft
Four soldiers assigned to guard the wreckage of a Polish airliner in April were charged with stealing bank cards from an official who died in the crash.

Polish Pilot Saw Chance of Landing
Polish authorities released the cockpit transcript hoping to quiet persistent speculation about the April crash that killed much of Poland’s government.

Miniatures Amplify a Story of Horror
Hotel Modern, a Dutch theater group, uses a miniature scale model of Auschwitz to bring a story of horror to life at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Polish Leader’s Mother Finally Learns of His Death
Six weeks after a deadly plane crash, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the brother of the dead president, informed their invalid mother of the catastrophe.

Renewed Push for Privatization in Poland
The Polish government intends to sell parts of the energy, chemical, financial and commodities sectors by 2011.

Authorities Say Passenger Voices Were Recorded in Cockpit of Doomed Polish Plane
Russian authorities identified the voices of at least two people in the cockpit who were not part of the crew just before the crash that killed Poland’s president.

Grappling With Soviet Symbolism
Unlike past Victory Days, this time there was an absence of the traditional Soviet chest-thumping.

Eastern Europe, Seeking Energy Security, Turns to Shale Gas
Countries looking to reduce their dependence on Russian gas are inviting U.S. energy giants to explore.

NYT > Poland

Updated: July 6, 2010

On April 10, 2010, Poland's government suffered a staggering blow when a plane crash killed the president, Lech Kaczynski, and dozens of the country's top political and military leaders, as their Soviet-designed aircraft was trying to land in heavy fog in western Russia.

President Kaczynski, 61, was arriving in Smolensk for a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the murder of more than 20,000 Polish officers by the Soviet secret police after the Red Army invaded Poland.

In Poland, a Central European country of 38 million, the plane crash was described as the nation's worst tragedy since World War II.

Despite facing long odds against a victory, the president's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, declared his candidacy for president in a special election called after the crash. Mr. Kaczynski said he would carry on his brother's work and stand in his place as the candidate for the conservative Law and Justice Party in the June 20 election.

But the crash, as well as Mr. Kaczynski's surprise candidacy and deadly floods in May and June, for which the government was strongly criticized for its response, made for an unpredictable voting environment.

In a July 4 runoff, Bronislaw Komorowski, the speaker of the lower house of Parliament, won a narrow victory against Mr. Kaczynski.

Read More...

The high turnout showed the continuing polarization of Polish society, with Mr. Komorowski winning support from the cities and the young, while Mr. Kaczynski's support came from the small towns and villages where the Roman Catholic Church, a strong supporter of Law and Justice, still exerts big influence.

In 2006 and 2007, the Kaczynski brothers served as president and prime minister at the same time. Their efforts to uncover former Communists and suspected collaborators in government and the news media, and oust them from important positions, led to a deep polarization of politics. While they were staunch allies of the United States, skepticism toward the European Union often put them at odds with European allies.

Most analysts had predicted that Lech Kaczynski would lose to Mr. Komorowski in the 2010 presidential election. The crash upended all expectations, moving the election forward and placing pressure inside the party on Jaroslaw Kaczynski to carry on in his brother's place.

Lech Kaczynski was elected president in 2005 just as Jaroslaw became head of the nationalist-conservative Law and Justice government, often putting Poland on a collision course with Russia.

Mr. Kaczynski forged close relationships with Ukraine and Georgia and pushed for their accession into NATO, arguing passionately that a stronger NATO would keep Russia from reasserting its influence over Eastern Europe.

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Election Brings Poland Closer to EU

Poland's Test
Poland’s tragedy—Germany and Russia’s opportunity

America's Fatal European Policy
The current American administration has just enacted its most disastrous foreign-policy decision to date.

The World Shakes, America Slumbers
America’s wispy presence at this week’s 70th-anniversary commemoration of the start of World War II did not go unnoticed.

New Anti-Federalist Group in EU Parliament

Polish-German Relations Improving
The Polish foreign minister’s visit to Germany has been hailed as a breakthrough in foreign relations.

Poland Draws Closer to Germany, EU
Poland’s new prime minister is determined to mend relations with Berlin—even if it means accepting Germany as a victim of World War II.

EU Leaders "Get Tough With Russia"
The European Union has decided that it needs to take a strong position in its relations with the Kremlin.

Papal Vote Rigged?
Poland and mathematics seem to go together.

EU Parliament to Block Attempts to Water Down Reform Treaty
The European Constitution lives again.

German-Russian Energy--a Dangerous Partnership
The ensuing completion of the Nord Stream pipeline heralds a developing relationship in which Germany and Russia are slicing up their respective spheres of influence within Europe.

Britain to Become German Energy Vassal
As Britain’s North Sea energy supply begins to fail, the nation is looking for replacement energy from Germany.

What Eastern Europe Offers the EU
Romania and Bulgaria have just joined the European Union. What does Europe get out of the deal?

EU to Give Power to Fewer Commissioners?

Skittish About EU, Russia Looks East for Energy Customers
More evidence of Russia joining forces with its Asian neighbors

Berlin Exhibition Depicts Germans as Victims

Right-Wingers Make Waves in Europe
The rising influence of right-wingers in Germany is sweeping across what is widely regarded as a secular, liberal-socialist Continent.

EU Threatens Members States That Help U.S.
Anti-Americanism is a rising sentiment in Europe. But what if every European Union nation were forced to embrace this as official policy?

Forging a More Efficient Europe
Leaders plan to overhaul the massive bureaucracy that is the European Union.

Energy Alliance Fuels Fears
Could the new Russo-German “energy alliance” be history repeating itself?

Church Uses Same-Sex Marriage Issue to Rally Catholics
Despite Spain’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, the run-up to the parliamentary vote was frought with mass protests from its Catholic citizens. Other events in Poland and Italy show the increasing power the Roman Catholic Church holds over European politics.

theTrumpet.com: Poland
theTrumpet.com -- Understand your world.

 

Surging exports boost Swedish economy
The data promise to bolster the government's economic message ahead of the September 19 election, with recent polls showing the four-party Alliance edging ahead of the Red-Green opposition

Spanish jobless rate continues to climb
Latest household employment survey reveals that 32,800 additional people had joined the dole queue in the three months to the end of June, taking the total to 4.65m, or 20.09 per cent of the active population

Berlusconi party implodes over split with Fini
The Italian prime minister has dramatically split with his one-time most powerful ally, accusing him of trying to administer a 'slow death' to their party, but says his government will survive the rupture

Kremlin gives nod to $29bn sell-off
Budget defecits have prompted the Russian government to give initial backing for the biggest privatisation programme since the 1990s

Europe set for overhaul of rules on share dealing
Push to boost transparency of regions' securities markets includes call for a 'consolidated tape' for pricing data to tackle lack of transparency as part of biggest regulatory overhaul in years

Police use tear gas on striking Greek truckers
Greek police fired tear gas to break up a demonstration at the transport ministry by hundreds of striking truck drivers who had rejected an emergency civil mobilisation order

Stern test for Turkish opposition chief
New opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu set for a gruelling summer campaign to persuade voters that he will end a long history of army intervention in politics

Greece: A marathon to sprint
Reforms demanded in return for a €110bn loan to prevent sovereign default are on track, offering the chance to make rapid economic progress – though hurdles remain to be cleared

Surge in German consumer confidence
Germans have become less worried about unemployment than at any time in the past two years, triggering a surge in consumer confidence in Europe's largest economy

French police question minister in tax scandal
One of President Nicolas Sarkozy's key ministers is probed as a witness in an investigation into a political donations affair that has rocked the government

IMF approves $15bn loan to Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund approved a $15bn loan for cash-strapped Ukraine after the country demonstrated its commitment to austerity measures.

Russia confirms $29bn asset sales
Officials have yet to approve a final list of which state assets will be sold, even though the programme was first announced close to a year ago

Catalonia votes to ban bullfighting
Region becomes first part of mainland Spain to prohibit the spectacle as parliament amends animal protection laws

Italy approves €25bn austerity package
Berlusconi uses confidence vote to hammer through legislation

Police search home of L'Oreal heiress's daughter
Police searched the home of Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, daughter of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, on Wednesday as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations of invasion of privacy

FT.com - World, Europe
FT.com - World, Europe

 

US Embassy in Paris Receives 'Suspicious' Mail
Initial tests indicate letter not harmful, two staff members being treated after handling mail

Growing World Population Stresses Governments, Environment
Rich nations aging as developing countries remain young and growing

Spain Reissues Warrants for US Soldiers in Iraq Artillery Deaths
Three U.S. tank soldiers are wanted in Spain for firing at Baghdad's Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003; shelling killed Spanish cameraman

Prosecutors: French Mother Confesses to Killing Her 8 Newborns
They say Dominique Cottrez did not want any more children and did not want to visit a doctor for contraception

Russia Unveils Privatization Plan as Largest US Investor Divests
Wide-ranging program has ambitious revenue goals and is most significant since early 1990s

British PM Defends Remarks on Pakistan and Terrorism
David Cameron says Britain wants a strong, stable Pakistan that does not 'promote the export of terror' to India or anywhere else

US Unclear if Russia Complying with Chemical, Biological Weapons Pacts
New report could have some bearing on US Senate's decision on whether to ratify nuclear arms treaty

Moscow Toasts Suspected Spies
Russia's spies get star treatment and heroes' welcome behind the scenes

Serbia Submits Kosovo Resolution to UN General Assembly
Resolution seeks new dialogue on Kosovo, but does not call for reopening of status talks on its former province

Somali Pirates Release Turkish Ship
Turkish officials say Somali pirates have released Turkish cargo ship, 21 crew members four months after hijacking

Montenegro Court: No Mass Grave in Andrijevica
Court officials say investigation has been closed after finding no evidence that remains of Kosovo Albanians were buried there

Greek Terrorist Group Claims Responsibility For Death of Journalist
Investigative reporter Sokratis Giolias was shot on his doorstep outside of Athens on July 19

Russian Court Bans YouTube for Extremist Content
Court in the city Komsomolsk-on-Amur ordered ban in response to government lawsuit against Internet provider Rosnet

London Begins Two-Year Countdown to 2012 Olympics
Despite cost concerns, British authorities say they are ahead of schedule and IOC indicated its satisfaction with the progress

British Prime Minister in India Seeking Business, Trade Deals
India signs $800 million agreement to buy dozens of jets from a British defense company during David Cameron's visit

VOA News: Europe
Europe Voice of America

 

Russia's heatwave: A hazy shade of summer

A potent mix of heat, haze, alcohol and corruption

RUSSIA’S ability to deal with its legendarily severe winters is a source of national pride. But now Russia’s survival skills have been tested by the hottest summer since records began, 130 years ago. In the country’s central region temperatures have not dropped below 30°C since mid-June; in recent days the mercury has risen as high as 37°C.

A haze from forest and peat-bog fires around Moscow has enveloped the city, turning the multicoloured domes of St Basil’s Cathedral into ghostly apparitions. Moscow’s air is polluted at the best of times, but this smog, heavy with carbon monoxide, makes breathing difficult. Outside the city a swathe of farmland the size of Portugal has been destroyed. ...

Spanish politics: Zapatero's balancing act

Nationalists to the left of him, markets to the right, Spain’s prime minister is in a tricky spot

HE WAS once considered a political magician, with a sleight of hand that distracted from his country’s problems. But now the circus skill needed by Spain’s Socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is that of a tightrope walker.

Summer holidays, Spain’s World Cup victory and positive-ish bank stress-test results have granted a lull in the storm that engulfed the country when bond markets turned their gaze from Greece to Iberia. But now Mr Zapatero must pull off a delicate balancing act if he is to stay in power until his second term formally ends in 2012. For the economy to survive, he must please the investors that lend Spain money. And for the government to survive, he must satisfy the Catalan and Basque nationalists who prop up his minority administration. ...

Bullfighting in Catalonia : The land of the ban

First the burqa, now the bullfight. What will Catalonia outlaw next?

ON JULY 28th Catalonia’s regional parliament outlawed bullfighting. It is a bit like a German state banning wurst or a French region condemning those pesky berets.

As is the way in fiercely independent Catalonia, the debate over bullfighting became caught up in regional politics. Many Catalans are concerned less about animal welfare than they are about rejecting the bull as a symbol of Spain and distancing Catalonia from Spaniards’ habit of referring to the corrida as the “national fiesta”. ...

Kosovo and Serbia: Jubilant Kosovo, chastened Serbia

The fallout from a surprisingly pro-Kosovo legal decision

HOW wrong can you be? Almost everyone had expected the International Court of Justice to give an ambiguous opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence. When, on July 22nd, a summary of the opinion was read, most strained to understand the legal jargon. But one line was clear. The declaration did not, said ten of the 14 judges, violate international law.

Serbs, Albanians and just about everyone else were stunned. In October 2008 Serbia had, via the UN General Assembly, asked the ICJ to give its opinion on the independence declaration of eight months earlier, and was confident of a favourable answer. After all, Kosovo was a former Serbian province (although it had been under UN rule since the end of the war in 1999). In the wake of the opinion the Serbs complained that the ICJ did not examine Kosovo’s right to secede. This is because the Serbs did not ask it to; their question was simply whether the declaration was legal. ...

NATO and Russia: Trust, but make military plans

The allies reach out to the Kremlin, and start to think about the unthinkable

IN THE heart of NATO’s military headquarters, SHAPE, near the Belgian city of Mons, an unspoken revolution is taking place: planners are thinking about how to defend eastern European members from Russian attack. For years after the cold war, the orthodoxy was that Russia did not pose a threat, so NATO did not need to draw up contingency plans to protect newer members, such as the Baltic states.

That has now changed, NATO officials say, though nobody wants to speak about it publicly. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s secretary-general, puts it obliquely. “We have all necessary plans in place to defend and protect all allies. I think the Russians would be surprised if we didn’t. That’s the core purpose of the alliance.” ...

Germany's fatal Love Parade : Death in Duisburg

The Ruhr’s attempt to reinvent itself takes a tragic turn

Correction to this article

IN THE end the Love Parade had little to do with love and was no longer a parade. At the first parade, in 1989, 150 people cavorted down West Berlin’s Ku’damm to the blare of techno from a single Volkswagen bus. This year hundreds of thousands streamed into a disused freight-train yard in Duisburg, in Germany’s Ruhr region—or tried to. In place of the usual urban promenade, 16 lorries manned by DJs circulated through the penned-in throng. A scramble to get in caused a crush in which 21 people died and more than 500 were hurt. The tragedy would overshadow any future Love Parade, said Rainer Schaller, the impresario behind it. The Duisburg edition will therefore be the last. ...

Charlemagne: Bored by Brussels

Why does Italy punch so far below its weight in the European Union?

DISCUSSING his approach to foreign affairs this month, Silvio Berlusconi puzzlingly declared that he had “inaugurated the policy of the cuckoo”. This he defined as one of “being open and understanding others, of friendship”. An insight into how it works in practice is offered by a story told in Brussels. Some years ago Europe’s leaders were toiling over an important, if dreary, issue when Mr Berlusconi suddenly turned to Gerhard Schroder, Germany’s then chancellor, and said: “Let’s talk about women. Gerhard, you’ve been married four times. Why don’t you start?”

Apocryphal? Maybe. But the story has a point. For Italy’s prime minister, the EU is boring. In foreign affairs Mr Berlusconi reserves his enthusiasm for his personal diplomatic relations with the leaders of the likes of Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Libya and the Central Asian republics—all countries outside the EU, some of which inspire deep misgivings in Brussels. ...

The latest Italian scandal: Out of the shadows

The return of secret-society scandal to Italian public life

SECRET societies run through the tapestry of Italy’s history like a half-hidden thread: from the 19th-century proto-nationalists known as Carbonari to Propaganda Due (P2), a rogue Masonic lodge with a mission to infiltrate the organs of state and a membership that included politicians, soldiers, spooks and the current prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The discovery of the P2 in 1981 prompted a law outlawing secret societies.

It is back in use. In recent weeks prosecutors have cautioned seven people they suspect of belonging to an illegal cabal. (All deny wrongdoing.) Some are close to the prime minister. Senator Marcello Dell’Utri, who is already fighting a conviction for mafia links, created the party with which Mr Berlusconi entered politics. Denis Verdini is a national organiser of his current political vehicle, the People of Freedom movement (PdL). Nicola Cosentino was a junior economy minister until he resigned on July 14th. ...

German education: Leave them kids alone

A setback for German education reformers

“SCHOOL reform chaos?” asked a frowning satchel depicted on posters plastered around Hamburg. “No thank you.” The sorrowful satchel was the mascot of a citizens’ rebellion against a proposed school restructuring in the city-state. Voters rejected the plan in a referendum on July 18th. The stinging defeat for Hamburg’s government, a novel coalition between the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Green Party, has national consequences, as it may make the CDU-Green alliance a less appealing model for a future federal government. Ole von Beust, Hamburg’s mayor, announced his resignation before the result, saying he had done the job for long enough. He is the sixth CDU premier to leave office this year. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who leads the CDU, must now promote a new generation of leaders.

More important are the implications for schools. Hamburg’s plan was a bold attempt to correct a German practice that many think is both unjust and an obstacle to learning. In most states, after just four years of primary school children are streamed into one of several types of secondary school: clever kids attend Gymnasien, middling ones Realschulen and the slowest learners Hauptschulen, which are supposed to prepare them for trades. (A few go to Gesamtschulen, which serve all sorts.) Early selection may be one reason why the educational achievement of German children is linked more closely to that of their parents than in almost any other rich country. Children at the bottom often face low-wage drudgery or the dole. ...

Charlemagne : Europe's dark secret

They might not like to admit it, but Europeans don't mind a bit of capitalism

WHEN history comes to write the tale of the euro-zone crisis, the chief villains, if Europe’s leaders have any say, will be not dissembling Greeks or dithering Germans, but the financial markets. Traders subjected Greece to “psychological terror”, declared George Papandreou, its prime minister. They were “making money on the back of the unhappiness of the people”, lamented Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for the single market. The crisis was blamed on wolf-pack markets (Anders Borg, Sweden’s finance minister), cynical hedge funds, cocky credit-ratings agencies, neoconservative capitalism (Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister), a duplicitous Anglo-Saxon press (Mr Zapatero again), and other wicked forces still.

Not all Europeans demonise the market. Ex-communist Europe, which only recently threw off the command economy, is less hostile. So are the Germans, with their small-business Mittelstand and consensual labour relations. Elsewhere, though, market-aversion seems to go deeper than mere disapproval of extravagant stock options or bonuses (which is common to market-friendly Britain and America too). Fully 29% of Spaniards and Italians, and 43% of the French, told a global poll last October that free-market capitalism was “fatally flawed”. Only 13% of Americans shared that view. ...

Russia and Belarus: It takes one to know one

A media war of words breaks out between two supposed allies

RUSSIA and Belarus are unlikely champions of democracy and freedom of speech. But a postmodernist approach to politics can yield odd results in the post-Soviet world. In recent weeks these authoritarian regimes have denounced each other’s authoritarianism and deployed state-controlled media to attack each other’s lack of media freedom. Bizarrely, this war of words has been waged in the name of brotherly ties and economic union.

Hostilities broke out three weeks ago when Moscow and Minsk sparred over gas prices and Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Belarus’s president, nearly reneged on a customs union between his country, Russia and Kazakhstan, which was finally signed on July 5th. A day earlier NTV, a television channel controlled by Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, aired “Godfather”, a documentary that portrayed Mr Lukashenka, long backed by Russia, as a brutal election-rigging, opposition-repressing tyrant. ...

Turkey and its rebel Kurds: An endless war

Turkey’s long-running battle with Kurdish separatists is intensifying, again

SHOULD the Turks and Kurds live together? The answer from many of Turkey’s restive Kurds has long been no. A vicious separatist campaign launched by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been raging since 1984. In recent months the PKK has stepped up its attacks, killing dozens of Turkish soldiers in and beyond the predominantly Kurdish south-east. Most recently, on July 20th, a Kurdish raid near the town of Cukurca killed six Turkish troops and injured at least 15.

But now a growing number of Turks are questioning the merits of cohabiting with the country’s estimated 14m Kurds. Never mind that Istanbul is the world’s largest Kurdish city, or that few of the provinces claimed by the Kurds are ethnically homogenous. In television debates and across the blogosphere support for the idea that the Kurds should go their own way is growing. Onur Sahin, who heads the Chamber of Agriculture in the Black Sea province of Ordu, says his fellow producers no longer want seasonal migrant Kurds to harvest their hazelnut crops. ...

Gay rights in Poland: Poland's pride

Not, in fact, a seething hotbed of homophobia

ANY west Europeans expecting last week’s Europride celebrations in Warsaw to trigger a homophobic backlash will have been surprised. Saturday’s gay-rights march in the Polish capital was low-key compared with previous events in Cologne and Madrid. But it was well received and excellently policed.

As the largest central European country, Poland was an obvious choice for the first ex-communist Europride. Activists have an agenda. Unlike gay Hungarians and Czechs, Poles cannot apply for civil partnership. The Catholic church continues to exercise a conservative influence over public life, and politicians are shy of voicing support for homosexuals. There are no openly gay Polish MPs. ...

Serbia and Turkey: Exit, pursued by a Turk

Past and present intertwine in Serbia in unexpected ways

JANUS-faced Serbia is looking to past and future. On July 11th Boris Tadic, its president, paid homage to some 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys murdered at Srebrenica when the town fell to Bosnian Serb forces 15 years ago. Meanwhile, in Novi Sad in northern Serbia, revellers from across Europe were enjoying the tenth annual Exit music festival.

Exit, the name chosen by the festival’s organisers to represent an “exit” from Serbian nationalism, has become one of the continent’s coolest summer destinations for thousands of young foreigners each year, attracted by some of the world’s top acts. For them Serbia’s wars are something they might read about in the history books they slip into their rucksacks. ...

State industries in Lithuania: Follow the money

State-owned enterprises in eastern Europe are often a mess. Lithuania is trying to reform them

DIG into the political undergrowth anywhere between the Baltic and the Black Seas and you soon find curious connections between state-owned enterprises, officials and politicians. They mostly escape public scrutiny—not least because politicians of all stripes tend to benefit from the state firms’ largesse.

Lithuania’s government, faced with suicidally unpopular tax rises and spending cuts as it tries to reduce its deficit of nearly 9% of GDP, has just launched a rare attempt to run these firms properly. A new analysis shows that state-owned assets in energy, transport and land at the end of 2009 were worth some 18 billion Lithuanian litai ($6.6 billion) but provided only 45m litai in dividends. The return on equity was negative, at -6%. ...

The Bettencourt affair: Calumny, lies and more questions

Nicolas Sarkozy tries to disperse the whiff of scandal

BASTILLE DAY on July 14th, with its shiny military parade and precision flypast over the Champs-Elysees, is meant to be a time to celebrate French grandeur before the nation heads off on holiday. This year it felt like a brief distraction from grubbier matters. Despite President Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempt to defuse the scandals hanging over him and his government, many questions remain unanswered.

In a prime-time television interview on July 12th Mr Sarkozy denounced as “calumny and lies” the allegations against him and Eric Woerth, his labour minister. The charges relate to a party-donations and alleged tax-evasion scandal centred on Liliane Bettencourt, billionaire heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics empire. Mr Sarkozy admitted that he had dined at Mrs Bettencourt’s mansion but described as “slander” the idea that he ever left with an envelope of cash to help his political career. Mrs Bettencourt’s ex-accountant, Claire Thibout, who first made this claim, has since retracted it—under pressure, says her lawyer—insisting that she never said Mr Sarkozy “regularly” collected money, and never saw money change hands. ...

Community service in Germany: An army of volunteers

The end of conscription may have uncharitable effects

SIX days a week a small fleet of compact cars sets off from the Diakonie-Zentrum in Mariendorf in southern Berlin to deliver cheap hot meals to pensioners in the district. More often than not they are driven by “Zivis”, young men who have refused military service and so are obliged to spend nine months in “community service” instead. Some 90,000 a year man hospitals, sports clubs and kindergartens across Germany (a lucky few monitor eagles in the forest). Anything involving driving is popular. Alexander Flaschner, a meals-on-wheels man, is happy “to see a bit of Berlin by car” before he begins his studies in the city.

The government’s decision to shorten basic military service from nine months to six and the possibility it might be eliminated altogether is causing worry at the Mariendorf centre and at thousands of similar outfits. Since community service is an alternative to conscription, it will be cut back to the same degree. Ending it altogether would have “huge consequences” for “social welfare as a whole”, says Jens Kreuter, the federal official in charge of the service. ...

Charlemagne: Calling time on progress

Europeans thought they were progressing towards an ideal civilisation. Now time is up, and it hurts

VIEWED from afar, Europeans are a complacent, ungrateful lot. Nannied from cradle to grave by the world’s most generous welfare systems, they squeal like spoiled children when asked to give up just a few of their playthings. As governments in the euro zone trim benefits and raise the retirement age in the wake of the sovereign-debt crisis, a wail of indignation has rung out and a wave of protests set in. “Unfair!” thundered Antonis Samaras, the Greek conservative opposition leader, this week, at the government’s proposed pension-reform plans. “Totally unfair!” howled Martine Aubry, the French opposition Socialist leader, at her country’s attempt to do the same.

American commentators seem particularly amused to watch Europeans “dismantle” their welfare systems, just as America embraces European-style universal health care. Only a year ago Europe’s leaders were laying into American free-marketry and declaring unbridled capitalism finished. “After listening to two years of stern and self-righteous lectures about the ‘failure’ of the American capitalist model,” writes Walter Russell Mead, an academic, “many Americans…are quietly enjoying the spectacle of the smug Europeans writhing in helpless indecision and pain over the continent’s self-inflicted wounds.” ...

Organised crime in Italy: Nobbling the 'Ndrangheta

Police deal a hammer blow to one of Italy’s nastiest criminal gangs

HE OWNS a house in the mafia-ridden town of Rosarno. In the adjoining plot of land, say neighbours, he grew vegetables that he drove to market in an Ape, the three-wheeler beloved of parsimonious Italian peasants. But, say investigators who on July 13th led one of the biggest-ever operations against organised crime in Italy, 80-year-old Domenico Oppedisano also presided over what the interior minister, Roberto Maroni, calls Italy’s “most powerful, most aggressive” criminal fellowship.

Enriched by the transatlantic cocaine trade, the ‘Ndrangheta, the little-known mafia of Calabria (the “toe” of the Italian “boot”), is reckoned by police and prosecutors to be more of a threat than the Neapolitan Camorra or even Sicily’s Cosa Nostra. Some 3,000 police and semi-militarised Carabinieri, armed with more than 300 arrest warrants, executed this week’s raids. They found drugs and weapons. They impounded property and cash worth tens of millions of euros. And they caught several alleged ‘Ndrangheta leaders, including the previously unknown Mr Oppedisano. He headed a council, known as Il Crimine (“The Crime”), that agreed on the syndicate’s policies and settled its disputes. ...

The Economist: Europe
Europe