Michael Meadowcroft on what progressive parties need to do. Also letters from Jess Deacon and Chris Dickenson I was puzzled that Martin Kettle, in the broad sweep of his analysis of the dangers of the rise of far-right populist parties in Europe (Europe has entered a new age of anxiety – and it’s dragging Britain along too, 30 November), did not mention the one piece of significant recent good news: the result of the general election in Poland on 15 October. The liberal leader Donald Tusk, with his political allies, was able to form a coalition to defeat the incumbent rightwing nationalist party. This was achieved by enthusing thousands of […]
もっと読むThere is a sense of betrayal among some at the Medyka border crossing, where the queues are said to stretch 70km On a snowy road next to Poland, Ukrainian lorry driver Vitaliy Zemyenko pondered the long journey ahead. It would take him nine hours to get through the Medyka border crossing. Over on the other side he would drop off a consignment of vodka. The problem was getting back. “At the moment it’s taking a minimum of eight days to re-enter Ukraine,” he said. “That’s the best case scenario. Worst case is two weeks. This is a terrible situation”. The Poles, he added, wanted to stop Ukrainian drivers from operating […]
もっと読むReal-life pianist Tymoteusz Bies and his younger brother Jacek star in Damian Kocur’s extraordinary and intriguing debut There’s an icy, unforgiving clarity and compositional rigour to this arresting feature debut from Polish film-maker Damian Kocur, made using non-professionals and partly inspired by a violent incident from real life; it won the special jury prize at Venice in 2022. Real-life Polish pianist Tymoteusz Bies plays Tymek, a high-achieving young man studying piano at Warsaw’s Chopin University of Music. He’s returned for the summer break to his drab home town, perhaps based on Ełk in the north-east, where all the kids he grew up with are heading for useless jobs and humdrum […]
もっと読むPoland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said Russian assets and those of Russian oligarchs present a ‘huge pot of gold’ that should be used for Ukraine’s reconstruction. ‘We must make sure that the offender pays for reconstruction. Russia should pay Ukraine war damages, war reparations,’ Morawiecki said on Tuesday at a conference in Berlin working to build international support to finance Ukraine’s postwar rehabilitation. He also said Europe had been a ‘to some extent, a paper tiger’ and was much stronger than Russia. ‘Europe must prove its strength. It is our “to be or not to be” moment’ Russia-Ukraine war live news: Ukraine invites UN nuclear inspectors after discredited ‘dirty […]
もっと読むWith one demanding stronger sanctions and the other blaming the EU for soaring energy prices, relations remain tense In December 2021, Poland’s ultraconservative, nationalist government hosted some of the biggest names in European far-right politics, including France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. At the close of the Warsaw gathering, the group issued a declaration against “social engineering” aimed at creating “a new European nation” and made promises, largely unfulfilled, to work together in the European parliament. Only a few months after the Warsaw summit, the governments of Poland and Hungary, who have been ideological soul mates in the EU for years, fell out over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. […]
もっと読むWe are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: Many Polish people remember Soviet soldiers saving them from Nazi occupation. But a growing number are rejecting that narrative, and the monuments that come with it Archive: Euronews, TV Regionalna pl Continue reading…
もっと読むAga Woszczynska’s incisive debut skewers guilt, desire and class for a vain pair of holidaymakers Polish director Aga Woszczynska’s methodical and incisive debut feature offers a painterly study of guilt, desire and class, rendered in sky blues, terracotta tiles and white-people nude fabrics. Through an account of a holiday on an Italian island that goes wrong for extremely blond Polish couple Anna and Adam (Agnieszka Zulewska and Dobromir Dymecki), the script explores the chasms of cultural disconnection that lie beneath the tourism-industry fantasy of free-moving people of EU nations gaily traversing the continent in search of jollies. Anna and Adam arrive at the spacious, secluded villa they’ve hired and are […]
もっと読むPrime minister will welcome the US president for first time since taking office on Sunday at No 10 Liz Truss will meet Joe Biden and other world leaders flying in for the Queen’s funeral over the weekend but the government will not reveal what is discussed because of the national mourning period. The prime minister is to see the US president on Sunday in Downing Street, along with the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau. She will meet the Australian prime minister, Tom Albanese, and the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, at Chevening on Sunday. Continue reading…
もっと読むCulture minister says ‘traces of hundreds of thousands of items lead to the Russian Federation’ Poland will formally ask Russia to return seven paintings from a Moscow museum that were looted by the Red Army during the second world war, the Polish culture minister has announced. Piotr Gliński said about 20 previous requests to Moscow for the return of thousands of other items stolen during the war had fallen on deaf ears. Those items included archives of the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, paintings by Old Masters such as Dürer, Holbein and Cranach and manuscripts by Polish authors. Continue reading…
もっと読むWith energy bills adding to the strain on their hosts, some refugees are are choosing to return home Alisa, a 16-year-old art student from Kharkiv, arrived in Hungary in April with her family after fleeing their apartment in the suburb of Saltivka, which came under heavy shelling for weeks on end. After two days in a Budapest hotel, the family found an elderly Hungarian couple living in the countryside nearby who agreed to host Alisa, her brother and parents. The couple said their Ukrainian guests could stay as long as they needed. Continue reading…
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