The Warsaw Voice magazine, No. 1226, Autumn 2021

ISSN 0860-7591

Autumn 2021 No. 1226

Lex Anti-TVN: Conflict Continues Page 18

Focus on Poland | Published since 1988

Two Hopes?

Money From Brussels in Serious Danger Page 20

19.50 PLN (includes 8% VAT)

Donald Tusk (left) and Rafał Trzaskowski, leaders of the opposition Civic Platform, announce their fight to oust the ruling United Right from power Pages 3-11

SPECIAL SECTION

PAGE 26

Włocławek, Inowrocław

This publication is part of The Warsaw Voice Multimedia Platform in Poland

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Table of contents POLITICS AND SOCIETY Tusk’s Return Gives Hope Donald Tusk: A Savior of Polish Democracy?

Rafał Trzaskowski: A New Hope Mark Brzezinski: A Difficult Challenge for a Diplomat USA-Poland: A Not So Special Relationship (Any More) Lex Anti-TVN: Conflict Continues

3-7 8-9 10-11 12-13

THE BUZZ | 30-33 Artist against all odds Palestinian here and now in artistic focus Exhibition: Andrzej Pągowski in Łódź Musical about female empowerment Sasnal confronts Holocaust

BUTIK | 34

14-16 18-19

BUSINESS We Are Prepared For Different Scenarios

17

ECONOMY Money From Brussels In Serious Danger

20-21

IN BRIEF| 35-37 30 Years of Hoteling in Międzyzdroje Premiere of the New Lexus NX Model Record-Breaking Half Year for Porsche Golden Jubilee Premiere of a Train Powered by Hydrogen

REAL ESTATE Cushman & Wakefield Analyses Remote Work Issue Axi Immo Summarizes the Polish Office Market

22-23 24-25

SPECIAL SECTION Włocławek: Perfect Place For Your Business Inowrocław: A Healthy Business Climate

MOTO Sport Utility Vehicle Safety and Ecology for Everyday Driving

38-46 47

SOCIETY We Will Never Give Up

26-27 28-29

48-49

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POLITICS AND SOCIETY

TUSK’S RETURN GIVES HOPE Professor Radosław Markowski, political scientist, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, talks to Witold Żygulski.

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fter six years in Brussels, Donald Tusk, longtime prime minister and the founder and former leader of the now opposition Civic Platform (PO), has returned to Poland, once again taking the reins of the party. What significance does this have for the Polish political scene?

Enormous significance. We are talking about a former head of government, a politician who led Poland through the worst crisis in recent years, in 2008. The ridicule surrounding the term “Green Island” [the symbol of the place least affected by the economic collapse] back then, today can be considered completely unfounded; Poland was reporting 1.7-percent economic growth while the rest of Europe was usually between minus 5 and minus 11 percent. So this is the comeback of someone who, first of all, was a very effective prime minister for a very long time and, secondly, later held several very important positions in European Union structures. In politics, you cannot underestimate someone who phones the mighty of this world as if they were his closest acquaintances or friends. What is more, he speaks to them fluently in German or English. In short: an important figure is returning to the Polish political scene.

Donald Tusk also has the advantage that, unlike Borys Budka or any of the previous leaders of the PO, he can convince his audience that if he promises to do something, he will do it. It is about - what we call in political science - competence.

After Tusk’s return, it is easy to see that there has been a major shift in the polls registering support for political parties. Support for the opposition PO has jumped, depending on the polls, between a few and a dozen or so percentage The Warsaw Voice

points, which means it has practically doubled or increased by two-thirds. Something really important has happened.

Won’t the new PO under the leadership of the old Tusk simply dominate the opposition, whose parties are trying to cooperate on key issues within the framework of the Civic Coalition?

It will dominate, there is no doubt about that. Of course, there will still be such groups as the one represented by Barbara Nowacka, a very valuable politician of the left, or the Greens, who somehow don’t manage to accomplish anything even though they should have probably double-digit support today because of what the government is doing with

THE MAJORITY OF POLES DO NOT HAVE CONSERVATIVE VIEWS, ABOUT 35-40 PERCENT HAVE LIBERAL/COSMOPOLITAN VIEWS, AND THERE ARE ALSO MANY LEFT-WING SUPPORTERS Autumn 2021

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natural resources. For example, the hooligan policy of the authorities toward forests is simply a crime, it is stealing from their own people. This is the first time in history that international organizations have had to intervene to protect Polish nature from the pests of the Polish government.

However, it’s not that Tusk comes along and dominates the smaller opposition partners through his greed. They are consistently losing support all by themselves. Nowoczesna, which used to have up to 10 percent of supporters, today is spontaneously nonexistent, with 1, maybe 2 percent followers.

It is wise not to show that there are conflicts within the ranks of the Civic Coalition. I have been saying for many years, based on our research, that the PO has been living in sin for many years, leaning toward conservatism, believing that the Catholic Church is a value that should not be questioned. Meanwhile, the majority of Poles do not have conser-

prof. Radosław Markowski, sociologist and political scientist

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vative views, about 35-40 percent have liberal/cosmopolitan views, and there are also many left-wing supporters. These people are progressive, educated, open to the world. This is noticeable especially among young people. So, one can hope that all the opposition parties, but above all the PO, will make a slight turn toward this open-minded attitude, toward concern about universal values, about the common good, like, for example, our Planet as a whole.

What worries me in Tusk’s latest statements are his words that we should simply wait until the governing United Right finishes off themselves. I think this is a fundamental mistake. People who think that Law and Justice (PiS) is a political evil for Poland, and there are many of them, undoubtedly have to be supported in drawing attention to the situation, to all the scandals, the siphoning off of public money, corruption, clientelism and other pathologies on an unprecedented scale in Poland. Of course, to be fair: every government included people who tried to do something for themselves on the side, but today we are dealing with systematic robbing of the country, a system of kleptocracy, which Hungarian political scientist Balint Magyar recently described in great detail in his book Post-Communist Mafia State. The latest declarations of the PiS party and its leader Jarosław Kaczyński about fighting nepotism are a curiosity: we are dealing with a system created precisely for the purpose of siphoning off public money (including money coming from the plundering of Polish forests) and transferring it to people who will then pay the party back in some way. Or else, this money goes directly to the ruling party, through various channels. Anyone who refuels at the stations of PKN Orlen [fuel company under government control] should realize that at last one-fifth of what they pay for fuel or hot dogs will end up at the disposal of PiS. The fuel giant recently bought out an entire chain of regional newspapers [Polska Presse concern], which are now to become the propaganda tube of the PiS party, just like public television TVP [managed by a PiS politician and financed by the government]. Although I do admit that it might be impossible to match TVP with its low intellectual standard of cheap arguments, and embarrassing level of culture has not been seen for decades.

You spoke about large progressive circles in society, people with open minds; why is it, then, that the governing rightwing party does not actually lose support, maintaining its roughly 10-percent advantage over the opposition?

It is true, some 5-5.5 million people of Poland’s almost 31 eligible voters million are willing to vote for PiS. Who are they? The first group consists of people converted ideologically, those who are swayed by incessantly repeated nationalist slogans, obsessed with the idea that Poland is the civilization center of the world. Such a megalomaniac narrative suits some of this group. These are the same people who believe that Poles have always been victims, have never done any harm to Jews, Belarusians or Ukrainians, never collaborated with the Nazis, that these are things of which they can only be accused by enemy, evil propaganda.

The second group are people who want the state to take care of their lives. They are afraid of the market economy, entrepreneurship, responsibility; it is one of the manifestations of the “escape from freedom”. Most of them are elderly, pensioners or people just before retirement, most of them The Warsaw Voice

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Donald Tusk, Photo PAP

with low social and cultural capital. A system of growing social spending suits them. Meanwhile, this is money sucked from hard-working Poles, enterprising people who work 16 or more hours a day. This money is taken from them and transferred, via the budget, to people - for all kind of reasons - absent from the labor market, who hardly contribute anything to the state coffers.

PiS attempts to convince Poles it is building a welfare state. That is a mockery; it is serves well their electorate, but moderately competent people familiar with the history of welfare states’ creation, e.g. in Scandinavia, know that the funds generated by high taxes taken from higher earners there did not go directly into the pockets of the poor, but into infrastructure, into building nurseries, kindergartens, creating jobs, roads, public transport. They were spent on everything that makes life better for everyone. That’s why we call it universal welfare state. Meanwhile, today’s social policy in Poland is a sheer political clientelism, corrupting part of the electorate. The result being that the poor receive “political” money, only to spend them on private healthcare as the public one malfunctions dramatically.

The existence of the third group of PiS party supporters results from the fact that we live in a country where the Catholic Church plays a direct political role. This worldwide - allegedly - religious corporation has its own interests, its own morally decadent leaders, it sees that the process of secularization is progressing, sees the beginning of the end of its domination. But it still fights fiercely to continue ruling Poles’ hearts and minds.

Words from the pulpit explain from morning till night that PiS is the best thing that can happen to people. PiS, in turn, gives the clergy impunity, allows them to do illegal business... we come full circle.

The Warsaw Voice

Let’s go back for a moment to Donald Tusk’s return: doesn’t it pose a threat to the PO itself because of the internal struggle for leadership?

I think that today Tusk should be friendlier, more conciliatory in his dealings with Rafał Trzaskowski [deputy chairman of the party and also mayor of Warsaw], who himself also has a lot of political catching up to do. It has been a year since he had a fantastic result in the presidential election, losing marginally to Andrzej Duda. Had it not been for the frenzied propaganda of public television and the bizarre voting results outside Poland, who knows how things might have turned out. Since then, however, Trzaskowski has hardly been visible, not turning his electoral success to his advantage as much as he could.

Coming back to the essence of the question, everything depends on Tusk’s attitude. If he tries to be a strong man again, someone eliminating all the competitors in his own camp instead of encouraging cooperation, it would be far-reaching political infantilism. However, I think that in all the years of his career in the European Union, when he had to negotiate with many political sides, the former Prime Minister has learned something incredibly important in politics: getting along at all costs. Of course, other, smaller parties should also follow this path. Otherwise, if the opposition arranges some kind of internal brawl again, the voters will not forgive them.

The biggest problem, Tusk’s biggest task - which also results from the polls - is to reach out to Szymon Hołownia [leader of the new political movement Poland 2050, which is now in third place in opinion polls, after the governing PiS party and the opposition PO]. Hołownia is disappointed today because initial successes in the polls promised him the position of the second political force in Poland. But if he and Autumn 2021

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Tusk read the polls wisely, they must see that the electorates of both parties work synergistically. While the possible alliance of PO with the Polish People’s Party (PSL) or the Left will not have a big effect, in the case of Hołownia’s party both electorates add up without any problems. The two leaders should therefore join forces if they really want to remove the political pests from power.

Political theory has the term “minimum winning coalition.” It is not necessary to build 70- or 80-percent support for the government. Two or three parties are quite enough to get a good 50 percent or more and be able to govern.

In Poland today, it might turn out that more parties will be needed for such a result. Besides the PO and Szymon Hołownia’s Poland 2050, this might be the PSL in some configuration with, for example, Jarosław Gowin’s Alliance [a group which recently left the PiS coalition government].

But the PSL’s political intuition seems to be getting worse lately, as clearly proven by them counting on Paweł Kukiz as a partner and valuable political figure. Gowin, on the other hand, although he deserves respect for not letting himself be maneuvered into some of PiS’s harmful ideas when his party was still a junior partner in the governing coalition, is by no means a sure ally; out of all the parties on the Polish political scene, he has only never been in an alliance with the left wing.

The Left, in turn, would be a very dangerous ally for the PO and Poland 2050. Some of its representatives sometimes declare views that could be a real Trojan horse for the democratic opposition.

AFTER WINNING AN ELECTION, THE RULING PARTY HAS THE RIGHT TO IMPLEMENT ANY POLICIES AT THEIR PLEASURE EVEN IF THEY SEEM INADEQUATE TO EXPERTS What do you mean?

Adrian Zandberg [leader of the radical left-wing party Razem (Together)] is full of revolutionary fantasies about income redistribution, which are possible, yes, but only in such rich countries as Finland or Sweden. Ideas such as a guaranteed basic income, regardless of whether someone works or not, cannot be implemented in Poland, as the country simply cannot afford it. Transplanting such ideas to Poland is absurd.

Of course, it must be clearly emphasized: social inequality is evil, especially unjust social inequality. It must be combated, but the pendulum should not swing the opposite way.

Robert Biedroń [leader of the left-wing Wiosna (Spring) party], in turn, seemed to be a progressive candidate in the presidential campaign, someone able to attract large numbers of supporters. However, due to his exceptionally poor, simplistic campaign, which did not even reach the supporters of the left, he received a little over 2 percent in the first round. This result is a total embarrassment, a disaster.

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Today left-wing parties have, depending on the polls, support between 7 and 9 percent. At one time, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) [the largest of the left-wing groups in Poland] alone had 10 to 12 percent. Biedroń had his few percent and Zandberg about 3 percent. When these groups united before the elections, not only was there no synergy, no accumulation of votes, which should have ensured support of 20 percent or so, but the individual left-wing groups significantly reduced the number of their supporters.

First of all, the leftist narrative could have been presented effectively without any obsessive emphasis on hatred for the PO. Most of the left-wing electorate wants PiS ousted from power at any cost, and not the PO removed from the political scene. Politicians of the Left have apparently failed to understand this. As long as they distribute the blows equally between PiS and the PO, they will stop at their 6 to 8 percent. Forming a long-term coalition will also be impossible.

They simply have to grow up.

The name “United Right” is rather outdated now; how can the ruling camp deal with the crisis in its own ranks and with the very probable, if not already inevitable, loss of the parliamentary majority?

The same way it has been doing for the last five years: blackmail, corrupting MPs, breaking off parliamentary sessions and pushing envelopes behind the scenes... Jarosław Kaczyński probably has a huge collection of files with dirt on many people... All of PiS’s major appointments are based on the same mechanism: Kaczyński wants posts everywhere to go to people who can be easily blackmailed and are totally dependent on him. The only time when Kaczyński met his match was the case of Marian Banaś [current president of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK)], who, despite the fact that the file on him probably contains a lot of blackmail material, did not give in. On the contrary, he is conducting a fierce counterattack with his own files from NIK resources.

What will happen now? The same as we witnessed a few weeks ago: back-room subterfuge in the parliament, the cancellation of votes unfavorable for PiS, corruption of individual members of parliament by, for example, the offer of lucrative positions in state-owned companies... The quality of Polish politics has deteriorated drastically in recent years, and this process will probably continue.

After winning an election, the ruling party has the right to implement any policies at their pleasure even if they seem inadequate to experts. Voters in democracy will most likely hold parties accountable during their next trip to the polling stations. But PiS is doing something else, incomparably worse: it has been violating procedures, changing the institutional rules of the game or invalidating them from the first day of its rule, from the moment when three judges were appointed to the Constitutional Tribunal who should not have been there.

Today when you read statements made by Lech Kaczyński [brother of the PiS leader, president of Poland, who died in a plane crash near Smolensk on April 10, 2010], a politician in whose lifetime PiS had not yet made such brazen moves violating the principles of a democratic procedures and the rule of law, you get the impression that these are insults to his twin brother.

The worst thing is that people, and I can even see this among my students, seem to be getting used to the fact that The Warsaw Voice

In your opinion, is the prospect of early parliamentary elections real today?

I am afraid that the dirty dealings of PiS politicians and people connected with them, and especially the fear of being held accountable, will make hundreds of international observers necessary during any early elections. This team does not want to relinquish power. What we saw in the Sejm proves that the PiS party is ready to cheat even in front of cameras, in front of a nationwide audience, in a hard to imagine brazen way. So we have good grounds to fear for the fairness of the next parliamentary elections, especially since foreign observers are usually a little dozy. Unless they see soldiers in the streets leading people to the polls, they think that everything is more or less OK. Hardly anyone on the PiS side, especially those holding politically appointed high positions resulting in equally high incomes, who is interested in speeding up the elections. But I do not see any particular enthusiasm for such a solution among the opposition, either.

One more remark: in normal, democratic multi-party systems, minority governments are as rare as we tend to think. Approximately 1/3 of the post-World War II West European governments happened to be minority governments.

Minority governments proved in many cases effective and politics under such conditions turns pretty substantive; a minority government has to seek allies for each of its legislative proposals, working hard on convincing people, presenting the opinions of experts, discussing the consequences of the proposed new legal regulations. However, for this you need political wisdom, not political slyness and cunning, qualities

that, unfortunately, are personified in Poland by Jarosław Kaczyński. For the PiS leader, power is a kind of cure for his frustration, for his complexes stemming from the fact that he was nobody important in the democratic opposition of the 1970s and 1980s. While other heroes of that time were fighting for freedom and democracy, Kaczyński was sleeping comfortably in a villa in Warsaw’s Żoliborz district, which had been given to his father by the Polish United Workers’ Party [PZPR, the communist party that ruled until 1989].

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

they live in a country whose authorities do not care about the rule of law or other democratic principles and values.

At the social consciousness level, it will take many years, probably decades, to undo this.

Has the role of President Andrzej Duda changed in any way after the recent turbulent events on the Polish political scene?

That is non-issue. Remember that in the 2015 election, when Duda was first elected, polls showed a 70-percent lead for the PO’s Bronislaw Komorowski, the incumbent head of state. All the political parties fielded figureheads instead of political leaders. Duda as the PiS candidate was no exception. His task, in the best case, was to get to the second round by some miracle and lose to Komorowski not too embarrassingly. To everyone’s surprise, the opposite ensued. Duda was not meant to be president at all! But it came about, and it was an accident waiting to happen: the president does not have his own opinion, he does not have his own ideas; he is completely dependent on Kaczyński’s will.

Some optimists had hopes for the second term of office, when even presidents previously completely dependent on their political sovereign had emancipated themselves, started making independent decisions, their backbones hardened and they started thinking about what would be written about them in encyclopedias. In Andrzej Duda’s case, nothing like that has happened so far. He is an obedient bureaucrat following orders from Nowogrodzka Street [where PiS has its headquarters]. Frankly speaking, I don’t think I am ready to waste my time talking about him…

Szymon Hołownia, Photo PAP

The Warsaw Voice

Autumn 2021

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DONALD TUSK:

A SAVIOR OF POLISH DEMOCRACY?

Donald Tusk’s return from Brussels was undoubtedly the most important political event in Poland in recent months. Time will tell if his experience and political charisma will make the opposition catch up with the ruling right wing and fight for victory in the next elections.

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fter six years spent in European institutions, the former long-time prime minister and founder of the now opposition Civic Platform returned to domestic politics, once again taking the position of leader of his mother party. The political significance of his comeback is best demonstrated by the unprecedented attack in the history of the Polish media by the public broadcaster TVP, which is under the full control of the ruling right wing. Since Tusk set foot on Polish soil, media analysts noted that the main news program Wiadomości (News) devoted up to 40 percent of its airtime to Tusk for several days. The materials about him were and still are exclusively critical; old, unsubstantiated accusations are reminded, new accusations are created day after day. Every statement of the former prime minister (Tusk held the position for the longest time among all heads of government after 1989) was and is subject to violent attacks.

Right-wing critics of Tusk have been arguing for years that he is and always has been a consistent implementer of the policy that Berlin is trying to impose on Poland. Even before the PO leader finally lost the 2005 presidential election, none other than today’s TVP president Jacek Kurski, then an active Law and Justice (PiS) politician, accused Tusk that “his grandfather volunteered for the Wehrmacht during World War II”. In fact, Józef Tusk, a prisoner of the Stutthof concentration camp, was conscripted into the German army in 1944 as a citizen of the Third Reich, which he automatically became upon the annexation of the Free City of Gdańsk.

Such attacks are still continuing today; the phrase “Fur Deutschland” which Tusk, fluent in German, used in his speech to the representatives of the German Christian Democrats is constantly repeated (out of context) on TVP. Just like the opinion that Tusk, a citizen of Gdańsk by birth, always emphasizing his roots, is in fact a puppet of Angela Merkel, aiming at German hegemony over the Polish neighbor.

An avalanche of criticism from right-wing journalists 8

Autumn 2021

was also aimed at the former prime minister’s appeals for a humanitarian solution to the issue of refugees from Afghanistan and the Middle East, who have been living for weeks in a makeshift camp on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Their small group of less than 30 people has been isolated by the Polish army, police and border guards, surrounded by barbed wire entanglements; despite efforts, no Polish humanitarian activists, doctors or opposition politicians have been allowed near them. Even people who were just trying to donate food, water or medicine to the needy. Tusk publicly called for a discussion on how to deal with the migrant crisis and appealed to the authorities to be more lenient. In response, he was accused of acting to scenarios written by Vladimir Putin or Alexander Lukashenko.

The alleged cooperation with the former was already discussed in 2010, after the tragic crash of the Polish presidential airplane near Smolensk airport [President Lech Kaczynski with his wife and 94 other people, including many politicians, died then]; the right wing accused Tusk of hiding evidence of the alleged assassination by bomb put on the plane by the Russians.

Does the ruling United Right actually have reason to be so afraid of the political consequences of Tusk’s return to Poland? Opinions are divided, but it is hard not to notice the fact that the opposition’s ratings in opinion polls increased significantly just a few days after his comeback. According to political scientists, there is a chance for Tusk to unite a large part of the opposition and to start - after a series of 7 elections (parliamentary, presidential, European and local) that the opposition lost - the successful fight against the ruling right wing.

The main question is whether the new-old leader of PO will not return to the times when he controlled the party in a strongly authoritarian way, without hesitation putting aside politicians who expressed an opposite opinion or tried to compete with him. But the supporters of the thesis about The Warsaw Voice

Donald Tusk, Photo PAP

Observers of the Polish political scene agree that the key issue for today’s opposition will be, firstly, to preserve the unity of its dominant Platform, and secondly, to establish a constructive dialogue with Szymon Holownia’s Poland2050, a new party, popular especially among the younger electorate. Admittedly, Hołownia, who in the last six months was close to taking second place in the popularity ratings (after the ruling Law and Justice party), lost heavily after Tusk’s return and is probably not overly happy about it, but at the same time, as a young, budding politician, he should be aware of the benefits of at least partially joining forces before the next parliamentary elections.

The coming months, which in Poland will rather surely be full of fierce political conflicts, will bring an answer to the question, whether Tusk’s experience and his political intuition will make the forces of the ruling coalition and the opposition equal. The polls show unequivocally that among all politicians from the opposition he has the best chances to do so.

Born in 1957, Tusk graduated in history from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Gdańsk (1980).

The Warsaw Voice

It was during his studies that he first became involved in opposition activity against the communist authorities.

During the strike in August 1980, he was one of the authors of the appeal for the establishment of the Independent Polish Students’ Association (NZS).

After the political breakthrough in 1989, Tusk became one of the founders of the center-right Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD). In 1991, he became chairman of the party, which won 37 seats in the Sejm and 6 in the Senate in the parliamentary elections of the same year.

In April 1994, he became one of the vice-chairmen of Freedom Union (UW), formed after the merger of KLD and Democratic Union. In the parliamentary elections of 1997, he was elected senator and joined the coalition supporting Jerzy Buzek’s government. He became Deputy Speaker of the Senate. At the beginning of 2001, after losing a rivalry for the chairmanship of the UW with Bronisław Geremek, he left the party.

On 24th January 2001 Tusk founded the Civic Platform together with Andrzej Olechowski and Maciej Płażyński. In the elections of the same year, PO won 65 seats in the Sejm, becoming the largest opposition club. Tusk became Deputy Speaker of the Sejm. On June 1, 2003, he became Chairman of PO. On May 2005, he declared his intention to run for president.

In the first round of the election, on October 9th, he was supported by 36.33% of voters. In the second round, on October 23rd, he received 45.96% of the vote, losing to Lech Kaczyński, the Law and Justice candidate.

Also in the parliamentary elections, Civic Platform lost by less than three percentage points to Law and Justice and became the opposition party to the governments of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński.

In the early parliamentary elections of 2007, led by Tusk, PO won with 41.51% of the vote and 209 seats in the Sejm and 60 in the Senate. The party leader ran for a seat in the Warsaw constituency, receiving 534,241 votes, which was the best individual result in the history of elections to the Sejm after 1989.

On November 16, 2007 Tusk was appointed Prime Minister.

In the next election in 2011, Tusk ran again in the Warsaw district and received 374,920 votes, again the most in the country. PO won the election, receiving 39.80% of the vote and 207 seats in the Sejm and 63 in the Senate. Thus, for the first time since 1989, the party in power remained in power.

On 30 August 2014, during a meeting of the European Council, Tusk was confirmed as its president for a two-anda-half-year term. Following his election, he resigned as head of government on September 9. He took up his new office on December 1, replacing Belgian Herman Van Rompuy.

On March 9, 2017, at an EU summit in Brussels, Tusk was re-elected as president of the European Council, winning the support of representatives from 27 countries. His re-election was not supported only by Prime Minister Beata Szydło, representing the Polish government.

In November 2019, Tusk was also elected as the new president of the European People’s Party.

On November 29, 2020, he officially handed over the duties of Council President to his successor, who became Charles Michel.

On 3 July 2021, following the resignation of Borys Budka, Tusk was elected as the vice-chairman of the PO, becoming acting chairman in accordance with the statute.

Autumn 2021

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

the possibility of Tusk’s success point out that 6 years in the structures of the European Union, working on the principle of a constant search for consensus among all 28 countries, must have taught Polish politician the art of making compromises. Admittedly, already in the first days of his term, the former prime minister made several changes in the party leadership and its parliamentary club, but so far this has not been met with any internal criticism. So it seems that his political plan was consulted beforehand.

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RAFAŁ TRZASKOWSKI: A NEW HOPE

When in summer 2020 Rafal Trzaskowski got support of more than 10 million Poles in second round of presidential election, minimally losing to Andrzej Duda, many opposition’s sympathizers saw him as a future leader. The return of Donald Tusk has changed this situation, but it is certain that he will play a very important role in the fight for Civic Platform’s return to the helm of government.

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n the last days of August, Trzaskowski launched his new project Campus Poland of the Future. “It is a space for dialogue and meetings created for active, young people who want to have an impact on the future of their country,” was one of the slogans of the meeting, during which more than 1,000 young Poles debated about the future for several days, meeting with politicians, economists or social activists.

“We all have free will, we are proud people and we want to influence the reality. We don’t want anyone to limit our rights.

We want to decide about ourselves, what values we hold, who

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we are friends with, what we want to learn, what Poland should look like,” Trzaskowski said at the opening of the event.

In opinion polls, the current vice-leader of the Civic Platform and mayor of Warsaw has for years enjoyed the greatest trust among the young electorate. No wonder then that his political activity is to a large extent aimed at people just entering adulthood. It is hard to say, however, whether the change connected with Tusk’s return to the Polish political scene will not negatively influence the position of the ambitious young politician. For the time being, both of them are outdoing each other in mutual compliments (their debate was the first point of the Future Poland Campus), but political scientists do not exclude that their relationship in the coming years will rather resemble the famous “rough friendship”, which was supposed to link the leftist president Aleksander Kwasniewski with the leftist prime minister Leszek Miller at the turn of the 20th and 21st century.

The 49-year-old Trzaskowski graduated in international relations from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at Warsaw University (1996). He also completed English philology studies at the Faculty of Neophilology of the University of Warsaw (1996) and European studies at the College of Europe in Natolin (1997). He was a scholarship holder at Oxford University (1995) and the Paris Institute for European Union Security Studies (2002). In 2004 he received a doctoral degree in political science at the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science of the University of Warsaw on the basis of the thesis titled: Dynamics of institutional reform in the European Union.

Trzaskowski, which is rare among Polish politicians, is fluent in five languages - English, French, Spanish, Russian and Italian.

Political activity on a grand scale began when in 2009, from the PO list in the Warsaw district, he became a member of The Warsaw Voice

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

the European Parliament. European episode lasted less than 4 years. In the autumn of 2013 Trzaskowski was appointed Minister of Administration and Digitization in Donald Tusk’s cabinet. As a result, he resigned his mandate as a MEP. Later, in the new government of Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, he took the position of Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for European affairs in September 2014.

In 2015 he ran in the parliamentary elections as the leader of the PO list in the Krakow district. In the Sejm, he became vice-chairman of the Commission for European Union Affairs.

In November 2017, Trzaskowski was presented as the joint candidate of the Civic Platform and the Nowoczesna party for mayor of Warsaw in the 2018 local elections. In the October 2018 vote, he won in the first round with 56.67% of the vote, outclassing the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) candidate Patryk Jaki (28.53%).

Trzaskowski’s activities as mayor of Warsaw, however, have not brought him only laurels. The first controversial decision was the signing of the LGBT+ Declaration at the beginning of 2019, assuming the implementation in the capital city of the demands of this community in the areas of security, education, culture and sports, labor and administration, the patronage of the Mayor of Warsaw over the Parade of Equality, the introduction of anti-discrimination and sexual education in line with WHO standards or the appointment of a presidential plenipotentiary for LGBT+ communities. This document has been criticized by some political, non-governmental, and media circles, especially those of a Catholic, conservative, and right-wing profile, as well as the Polish Bishops’ Conference and the Ombudsman for Children.

The new mayor was also held responsible for failures at the The Warsaw Voice

POLITICAL ACTIVITY ON A GRAND SCALE BEGAN WHEN IN 2009, FROM THE PO LIST IN THE WARSAW DISTRICT, HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT city’s main sewage treatment plant “Czajka”, which resulted in hundreds of tons of toxic substances flowing into the Vistula River. Trzaskowski tried to explain that the “Czajka” issue has been going on for many years and during his term of office the repair program is being intensively continued, but for the ruling right wing the sewage issue was and remains one of the main methods of attack on him.

Despite the problems in the capital, it was time to fight for the highest stakes in 2020. On May 15, after the prior resignation of opposition Civic Coalition candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Trzaskowski was presented as a candidate in the presidential election. His campaign slogan was Strong president, common Poland.

In the first round of voting, Trzaskowski came in second with 30.46% of the vote, entering the second round along with Andrzej Duda, who was seeking re-election (43.50% of the vote).

In the second round, he received 48.97% of the vote.

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11

MARK BRZEZINSKI: A DIFFICULT CHALLENGE FOR A DIPLOMAT

The 56-year-old son of one of the most prominent Poles in the world of American international politics is about to arrive in Warsaw as the new U.S. ambassador. There is no doubt that this will be the most difficult task in his diplomatic career.

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n August 4, the White House officially announced the nomination of Mark Brzezinski to serve as ambassador to Poland. However, the nomination requires Senate approval, which may face complications, according to observers of American political life. Republican senator Ted Cruz appealed to his party colleagues to block the diplomatic appointments of Joe Biden’s administration in protest against the president’s decision to lift sanctions on companies participating in the controversial Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Many politicians in the U.S., Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states warn that the approval of this project means acceptance of the Russian monopoly on delivering gas to Europe, bypassing the interests of the countries once dependent on the Soviet Union.

Some 70 candidates for diplomatic posts have been waiting for formal Senate approval, sometimes for months, and only seven have received approval so far. Cruz said he will continue his protest until the Biden administration imposes the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG required by Congress. It is unclear whether the blockade will extend to Brzezinski’s nomination.

Internal disputes in the American political world were not the only troubles that Brzezinski faced on his way to the 12

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Warsaw embassy. His candidacy was opposed by the Polish side, which for a long time delayed the expression of the necessary agreement.

The pretext for this attitude was that the candidate for ambassador, as the son of Zbigniew Brzezinski (a Pole by descent who never renounced his Polish citizenship) is formally a Polish citizen. According to Polish law, a person who is a Polish citizen or has the right to Polish citizenship cannot serve as a diplomat of a foreign country in Poland.

Bill Clinton’s nominee for ambassador in the fall of 1993, Nicholas Andrew Rey, faced a similar problem to Brzezinski when he renounced his right to Polish citizenship.

In July, a solution was found by referring to international agreements from the communist era on avoiding dual citizenship of the then Eastern Bloc countries. Zbigniew Brzeziński, Mark’s father, was an American at the time of his birth, but also formally a Polish citizen, and his wife was a citizen of Czechoslovakia. Since parents did not indicate until he came of age whose citizenship he should have (that of his father or mother), he automatically received his mother’s citizenship.

Either way, the attitude of the Polish authorities will not make it easy for Brzezinski to get a good start at the post in Warsaw [see also page 16]. Representatives of the Polish democratic opposition from the period of the People’s The Warsaw Voice

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Republic of Poland [1945-1989] have always exalted to the skies the merits of his father Zbigniew, a political scientist who died in 2017, former U.S. National Security Advisor during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish decoration, years ago even considered as a candidate for the Polish presidency. Meanwhile, the attitude toward Brzezinski-junior turned out to be diametrically opposed. Some observers stress that this was an expression of the crisis visible in recent months in Polish-American relations, which few people today describe as a “special relationship” anymore.

Brzezinski is a career diplomat and political scientist. He graduated from Dartmouth College, then the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville. He participated in the Fulbright program and spent time in Poland as a fellow.

At Oxford University he defended his doctoral thesis titled Struggle for the Constitutionalism in Poland.

In the administration of Bill Clinton he was an adviser on Eastern European affairs from 1999 to 2001, during the presidency of George Bush he ran a private practice and lectured at Columbia University.

During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, he was an advisor to Barack Obama, and after Obama was sworn in as president, he was considered for the position of U.S. ambassador to Poland, but was eventually appointed ambassador to Sweden. He served in that position until 2015.

His two-year older brother Ian Joseph Brzezinski is an American expert on foreign policy and military affairs. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy (2001-2005), under President George W. Bush.

His two years younger sister Mika is a popular journalist and television presenter for the MSNBC network.

Mark Brzezinski is fluent in Polish.

The last US ambassador to Poland was Georgette Mosbacher. She took up the post in August 2018 on the nomination of President Donald Trump. Mosbacher completed her mission in January. Until the new US ambassador to Poland arrives, US interests are represented by Bix Aliu as chargés d’affaires ad interim.

Mark Brzezinski with Lech Wałęsa

The Warsaw Voice

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13

USA-POLAND: A NOT SO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

(ANY MORE)

Professor Bohdan Szklarski, a professor at the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw and a lecturer in Collegium Civitas talks to Witold Żygulski.

Prof.

Bohdan Szklarski

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or many years Poland boasted about the special character of its relations with the U.S.; what is left of this today?

The answer has to be twofold. One issue concerns the Polish narrative, how the authorities in Warsaw perceived relations with the US, and the other is how these matters were perceived in Washington. The Polish view was that we were a vital ally for the U.S., both militarily and politically; the American view was that we could be a useful ally in particular political games as well as a valued counterparty to multi-billion dollar arms deals.

The Polish view of the alliance with the U.S. is well illustrated by several old caricatures drawn by Andrzej Mleczko [a popular Polish satirical cartoonist]; in one, a Polish boxer is trying on a giant glove, larger than himself; in another, an American soldier is carrying a flag whose tiny element is the Polish flag, carried by an equally tiny Polish soldier.

However, the authorities in Warsaw, especially in the last years of the so-called United Right governments, consistently

promoted a narrative of strategic partnership, in fact being at best a client of the US. What is worse, at some point it was decided that the Polish little ship, which so far has been following the great American battleship, can sail on its own, in the same direction, but without looking at the hegemon’s ship.

Donald Trump’s administration, so well liked in Warsaw, wanted Poland to be America’s mouthpiece in the European Union, to buy American military equipment, and to support the U.S. in military operations around the world, as exemplified by the Polish military presence in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Today, however, the U.S. involvement in both countries especially with the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan - is at least questionable. Poland’s role in the European Union, in turn, has diminished to an extraordinary degree, due to a series of conflicts with the Polish government over the rule of law, media freedom and other systemic issues.

The same issues that the Trump administration treated instrumentally, while Joe Biden’s team recognizes as the basis of shared democratic values.

MANIFEST SUPPORT FOR TRUMP DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BEHAVIORS VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE, SUCH AS THE MUCH-DELAYED CONGRATULATIONS TO BIDEN

BY POLISH PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA, WERE CERTAINLY NOTICED IN WASHINGTON

To what extent does the Polish government, which previously bet heavily on Donald Trump, now count with Biden’s new policy?

Manifest support for Trump during the presidential election, behaviors visible to the naked eye, such as the much-delayed congratulations to Biden by Polish President Andrzej Duda, were certainly noticed in Washington. This is evidenced by the fact that the new American president met with Duda only once, on the occasion of the Baltic Leaders Summit, in the corridor, without any diplomatic setting due to a “strategic ally”. We simply ceased to be important, not because of any dislike of the new administration, but because of the many political mistakes we made, both in relations with the United States and with the European Union. Their result has been a loss of position, best demonstrated by the cardinal change in U.S. policy toward the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Joe Biden made a deal with Angela Merkel and cancelled all sanctions against the companies carrying out this investment, without considering the position of Poland,

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The Warsaw Voice

So what were the mistakes you mentioned?

First of all, it was forgotten that the US, with all its pragmatism in foreign policy, is committed to democratic values.

This was less evident under Trump, his administration rather wanted Poland to represent the pro-American trend in the EU. But even then we offended Washington, for example with the new law on the Institute of National Remembrance or changes in the re-privatization regulations. According to the US and Israel, they hit the victims of the Holocaust.

The last controversial move of the Polish authorities was, of course, the famous “anti-TVN” law [see also pages 18-19], directly aimed against the most popular independent private television, owned by the media giant Discovery. According to many, the possible entry into force of this regulation [parliamentary procedure is underway] may cause a colossal change in the attitude of American business towards investing in Poland.

Do you think that the act, which many politicians and experts believe is aimed at media freedom, may have serious consequences for Polish-American relations?

I would be far from panicky comments on this issue. The ‘anti-TVN’ law is not that different from media regulations in other European Union countries. So I don’t think that, as some people say, the result of its coming into force will be e.g. reduction of the American military presence in Poland or cancelling lucrative contracts for the USA concerning supply of equipment for the Polish army. Therefore, it is likely that Abrams tanks, Patriot missiles or F-35 fighters will be sold to

Poland. This is simply due to business reasons. American servicemen will continue to take pictures with President Duda or Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak. One cannot forget, however, that the American military contingent in Poland, so often boasted by the United Right government, has mainly a symbolic dimension. A few dozen fighter planes or a few bases are of no military importance if, God forbid, a war were to break out in the East. Their presence was and is an act of good will on the part of the U.S., which is aware that the probability of any conflict on the eastern front is negligible.

Another issue, however, a very important one, is the question of investor confidence. If the “lex anti-TVN”, concerning, which is worth emphasizing, the biggest American investment in Poland, came into effect, other companies from the States would think twice whether it is worth putting their capitals into ventures in the Vistula region. After all, there are plenty of places to invest in the world.

A separate issue is of course freedom of the press, a fundamental value for Americans. U.S. senators have already sent several letters to the Polish authorities on this issue and a spokesman for the State Department has also expressed criticism. There is no doubt that the bill pushed through by the ruling majority, targeting a station sympathizing with the opposition, will seriously damage Poland’s image as a country of liberal and democratic values.

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Ukraine or the Baltic States, which was seen in Warsaw almost as an act of betrayal. We simply ceased to be an ally that Washington counts with and I am afraid that it may take not years but decades to regain this role.

In recent months, politicians from the ruling camp have repeatedly accused U.S. diplomats of meddling in Poland’s internal affairs without justification and inconsistent with their status. What do Polish-American diplomatic relations look like today?

The situation is indeed complicated. Witold Waszczykowski, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Law and

Abrams tank, Photo PAP

The Warsaw Voice

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15

POLITICS AND SOCIETY Andrzej Duda and Joe Biden, Photo PAP

Justice (PiS) government openly writes about the American charge’d’affairs Bix Aliu as a diplomat unacceptably violating his status through comments on violations of the rule of law in Poland, violations of LGBT rights or the aforementioned freedom of the media. Earlier, the former Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher was criticized for her comments on the new legislation on reprivatization. Now the issue of the new ambassador’s prolonged Polish citizenship agreement has been added to the mix [Mark Brzezinski is the son of Zbigniew, former international affairs advisor to President Jimmy Carter].

What role can the new ambassador play?

I think that the appointment of Mark Brzezinski [see also pages 12-13] as ambassador was a kind of goodwill gesture on the part of the Americans. For many years his father was praised in Poland as one of the most outstanding Poles, a star in world political science and diplomacy. He was even proposed as a candidate for the Polish presidency. A candidate for ambassador to Warsaw therefore seemed ideal, and yet the Polish authorities said “no, thank you” to begin with.

If I were Mark Brzezinski, then, I would think that I was about to leave for a country that is reluctant to me, a country that elevates my father to the heavens and shuts the door in my face. Brzezinski is a young diplomat, not a classic State Department insider, and not a businessman like his predecessor Georgette Mosbacher. She could call straight to the White House bypassing the State Department. That will no longer be the case, by any means. The new ambassador is not an entrenched figure in American power structures. His appointment was a symbolic gesture, it did not mean that Washington was sending to Warsaw someone really important, a politician who would represent American interests in Poland and Polish interests in the United States. That is 16

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the role of an ambassador - he represents the interests of his country in the country where he serves, but at the same time he is the best lobbyist for that country. Yet even before taking up his diplomatic post, the Polish government made it clear that it did not care about the latter. Therefore, Brzezinski will not be a fringe event in Warsaw’s political salons, and Polish politicians will not take pictures with him.

This brings us back to the question of goodwill; will Mark Brzezinski be willing to turn a blind eye to the circumstances of his arrival, will his evening talks with his father be more important to him than the reproaches he suffered in Poland?

I think so, but the Polish side has to work for it. I am reminded of the former foreign minister Władysław Bartoszewski’s apt description of “diplomorons”.

Georgette Mosbacher raised primarily economic issues, herself a businesswoman. Brzezinski is not a businessperson, he is a stranger to the American Chamber of Commerce. At various conventions of business organizations he does not feel like a fish in water, this is not his environment.

So what kind of game do you think the current Polish government will play in relations with the US? I have an impression that someone in our government made a strategic decision: let’s wait for 4 years of Joe Biden’s government. Those in power are counting on Donald Trump coming back in 4 years. Imagine what will happen in Poland if Trump runs in the next presidential elections, what will be the coverage of the Polish public journalists, controlled entirely by the ruling right wing. I can already hear it being said that Trump will come back and things will be good again. Perhaps someone in Law and Justice has bet on such a strategic scenario. I am very careful to use the term “strategic thinking” when talking about this grouping, but such a scenario is possible.

The Warsaw Voice

BUSINESS

WE ARE PREPARED FOR DIFFERENT SCENARIOS Monika Kowalska, general manager of the Vienna House Amber Baltic Międzyzdroje, talks to Bartosz Grzybiński

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Vienna House Amber Baltic Międzyzdroje is one of several dozen hotels on the island of Wolin.

Every year new apartment blocks and hotels are built. How does Vienna House cope on this increasingly competitive market?

If you look at the number of guests in recent weeks, we are doing very well. We are achieving the maximum possible occupancy, and guests still call us to ask if anything is vacant.

It shows that during these 30 years we have managed to create a strong and recognizable brand while following the latest trends. At Vienna House Amber Baltic Międzyzdroje, the most important thing has always been quality and acting in accordance with the values and the DNA of Vienna House.

We stick to that and, as you can see, this strategy brings good results in such a competitive market. We are especially proud of the fact that many guests return to us every year, and some even several times in one season.

Vienna House Amber Baltic celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. In the case of the hotel industry, which has changed a lot in the last dozen or so years - is such “seniority of the hotel” an advantage or disadvantage?

From my perspective, it is a great advantage. New buildings may be more modern, but they don’t have that “something”. Many people are emotionally attached to our hotel, precisely because we have been on the market for several decades and we care about our relations with guests. This summer Lara Gessler and her family visited us. She talked about how she used to come to the hotel as a girl. Today she showed Vienna House to her daughter. That is the kind of stories we are looking for. The touching, sentimental ones. They will always distinguish us and are our strength.

They make the Vienna House Amber Baltic Międzyzdroje something more than just an accommodation facility. Besides, perfect location, high standard, great hospitality and excellent cuisine are timeless. And these issues are the most important The Warsaw Voice

for many people. The Vienna House Amber Baltic Międzyzdroje responds to this demand.

What, then, makes the Vienna House Amber Baltic different?

What do you do, that you are still one of the most popular hotels in the region?

I think this question should be addressed first of all to our guests. Certainly one of the major advantages is the location and the architecture, which means that every room has a terrace overlooking the sea. And after all, this is a holiday dream for most of us. Photos taken from the restaurant terrace or room balconies flood social media. They are the best holiday postcard. Stories about terraces that “go into the sea” are almost legendary. Interviews with movie stars during the Festivals of the Stars have certainly contributed to this. The media have taken a liking to our terrace. The festival has been gone since last year, but we decided to replace it with our own project - a series of literary meetings “Stars of Bestsellers”.

What do you think about the upcoming prospects for the hotel industry in Poland?

There is talk of successive waves of the coronavirus, and it is well known that the tourism industry is the one that suffers first. Talking about what the autumn will look like is a bit like reading the leaves. We hope that appeals for vaccinations will have an effect and soon we will all feel safer and avoid another lockdown. However, this is a very optimistic version. But last year tested our flexibility and we are prepared for different scenarios. We will not be surprised. What will it be like? Time will tell. We will react on an ongoing basis.

And one more question about the hotel’s plans for the next maybe not 30, but 5 years? What changes are you planning, in what direction do you plan to go?

Generally with the wind, and when necessary against the wind.

We are very consistent with our brand. We have prepared many changes and surprises. As soon as the pandemic situation becomes a distant memory, we will be able to present them. One thing is certain - we will surprise you more than once.

When did you travel last - privately or for business? Do you have any travel plans?

I have the impression that lately all my private travel is partly business. I gather inspiration and look at different solutions with a professional eye. In general, however, I love slow travel.

However, I leave further travel destinations for a quieter time.

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LEX ANTI-TVN: CONFLICT CONTINUES The new media law being pushed through by the ruling camp has caused one of the most fierce political disputes, involving American senators and European Union politicians. Demonstrations have also taken place in the streets of Polish cities in defense of private TV broadcaster TVN, which will be the controversial bill’s first victim if the bill becomes law.

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n August 11, the lower house (Sejm) passed the draft bill. It was supported by 228 deputies, with 216 votes against and 10 abstentions. In the unanimous opinion of commentators, the new regulations, submitted to the Sejm by Law and Justice (PiS) deputies, are targeted at the independence of the TVN station.

The proposed amendment to the Broadcasting Law changes the rules of granting licenses to media with capital from outside the European Economic Area. According to the draft, a license for broadcasting radio and television programs may be obtained by an entity based in a European Economic Area member state, provided that it is not a subsidiary of a foreign entity from outside the EEA. The amendment stipulates that television and radio stations operating on the basis of Polish licenses may be owned by entities with foreign, non-European shares not exceeding 49 percent. TVN is owned by the American Discovery Corporation. The new law would force the company to sell its majority stake.

Marek Suski, a PiS MEP, said that the act is intended to protect the Polish media market against attacks from hostile countries. “After this law comes into force, TVN will not be liquidated, because the law does not interfere with economic freedom. And every state must protect its market,” he added.

“This bill does not introduce any new fundamental changes. There is a provision in Polish law that allows 49 percent of capital from outside the EEA to participate in media enterprises. These regulations are in force,” Suski argued.

On September 9, the Senate rejected the amendment to the Broadcasting Law by a majority of 16 votes. 53 sena18

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tors voted against the amendment, 37 were in favor and 3 abstained. “The team of advisors for the control of constitutionality of the law concluded that the amendment is unconstitutional in many points,” Senator Barbara Zdrojewska stated.

Marek Suski, Photo PAP

The Warsaw Voice

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Photo PAP

Before that, a team of advisors to the Speaker of the Senate has drawn up a legal opinion in which they list objections to the bill’s compliance with the Constitution as well as with the 1990 Treaty Between the United States of America and the Republic of Poland Concerning Business and Economic Relations. The experts conclude that a number of constitutional principles have been violated, as well as specific articles of the aforementioned international agreement.

After the rejection of the bill by the Senate, it will return to the Sejm, where, according to most observers, the ruling majority will have great difficulty in gaining enough votes to override the Senate’s veto. If they are successful, however, the bill will be sent to the Polish president’s desk for signature.

The adoption of the controversial act by the Sejm was met with an immediate international response.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “deep concern.”

European Commission Deputy Commissioner Vera Jourova tweeted that “the draft Polish law on broadcasting sends a negative signal,” adding that “media pluralism and diversity of opinion is welcome, not fought against in strong democracies.”

Two official letters from U.S. senators have also been sent to the Polish authorities, expressing concern over both the issue of media freedom and the problem of freedom of American business to invest in the Polish market.

“We are not yet treated like Hungary in the United States, but we are already not far away from Mateusz Morawiecki being compared to Viktor Orban, who has full authoritarian control over the media in his country,” says Prof. Bohdan Szklarski, an Americanist. “Such a perception of Poland will not have a good impact on either mutual relations or the attitude of investors considering new ventures in the Polish market,” the academic adds.

In recent days, however, both ruling party representatives and President Andrzej Duda began to send signals that may suggest a change in their approach to what has been The Warsaw Voice

dubbed “lex TVN.” The head of state’s veto is supposedly a fallback solution that will allow the ruling camp to take a step back without suffering an image disaster or giving satisfaction to the opposition.

Duda called the planned media reform “highly controversial,” and stressed that any media re-Polonization moves should be based on market principles. The president added that the bill could seriously damage Polish-American economic relations and undermine foreign investors’ confidence in Poland. These words, spoken in an interview with wholly government-controlled television station TVPInfo, were taken as an indication of a possible veto of the controversial bill.

Law and Justice “calmly awaits” the president’s decision, PiS caucus leader and Deputy Sejm Speaker Ryszard Terlecki told reporters. The president “seems to be declaring he does not like the bill much,” he admitted. Terlecki denied that PiS had agreed with the president that the bill would be vetoed, as suggested by some media.

Meanwhile, news channel TVN24, part of the TVN group, was cleared to broadcast after September 26, media market regulator KRRiT said on its website.

“The decision ensures continuity for TVN24 program broadcasting also after September 26, 2021, regardless of the results of currently ongoing proceedings,” the regulatory statement read.

TVN24 was allowed to broadcast on the basis of a license of Discovery Communications Benelux BV, according to the statement.

TVN recently obtained a Dutch license for TVN24, to prevent a scenario in which the station would be left without a local license after the current one expired.

KRRiT has already sent its consent to TV operators to include TVN24 in their registers, KRRiT also said.

Poland’s media market regulator had been reluctant to extend a local license for TVN24, which was widely interpreted as manifestation of the ruling camp’s hostility toward opposition-friendly news channel.

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MONEY FROM BRUSSELS IN SERIOUS DANGER Negotiations on the disbursement of money from the Reconstruction Fund are dragging on in Brussels. Representatives of the European Commission are bringing the issue of the primacy of European Union law in Poland to a head.

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russels has admitted outright that it is blocking the payment of billions of euros to Poland. Paolo Gentiloni, the EU commissioner for economic affairs, attended an MEP hearing on the Reconstruction Fund and the state of implementation of National Recovery Plans (NRPs) in individual EU countries. Asked about the reasons for the protracted negotiations with Poland on its draft NRP submitted at the beginning of May, Gentiloni explained that the ongoing discussions concern, “as the Polish authorities are well aware,” the question of the supremacy of EU law and the possible consequences of this matter on the Polish NRP. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis added that the funds will not be released until Brussels says Poland has met European requirements.

The sums in question are to play a key role in the return of the Polish economy onto a path of stable growth, according to statements by representatives of the Polish authorities headed by the prime minister. The money at stake is 57 billion euros.

It is therefore not surprising that the words of the EU commissioners caused a violent reaction of the most important Polish politicians from the ruling camp.

“No one will lecture us on what democracy and the rule of law are, because Poland has a very long and noble history of fighting all kinds of totalitarianisms and despots,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook.

“We fought for the rule of law and democracy during the terrible years of communism, but we have a much longer tradition of democracy and we don’t want to be lectured by anyone from Western Europe about what democracy is, what the rule of law is, because we know it best,” reads the prime minister’s post.

“Such an aggressive, pushy and blackmailing demand to disregard the order of the Constitutional Tribunal from 2011 and to thereby violate the Polish Constitution in a deliberate manner, and to make it a condition for the payment of the 20

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JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI’S IRRESPONSIBLE AND FOOLISH POLICY IS CAUSING DRAMATIC DAMAGE TO POLAND AND ALL POLES European funds due to us, is an absolute scandal as far as the action of a European official is concerned. He said something, clearly without thinking first. This happens. Sometimes people say the wrong thing,” commented Zbigniew Ziobro, Poland’s minister of justice. “I hope that the European Commission will back down and apologize,” he added.

“The commissioner has undoubtedly overstepped his remit,” Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, MEP from the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), commented on Poland’s public television channel TVP, adding that his information suggests that European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was said to be astonished by Gentiloni’s statement.

“The procedure for adopting the NRP has no connection with other EU procedures. The EC has not taken any decision to reject the NRP or suspend the measures. Paolo Gentiloni only expressed the obvious position of respecting EU law. The resulting media messages are an overinterpretation of these words,” said Waldemar Buda, deputy minister in the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy.

The Polish government hopes the EC will approve Poland’s NRP in September, Buda added. Government spokesThe Warsaw Voice

after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis,” said Hanna Gil-Piątek of the Poland 2050 party, which is new on the political scene.

Poland is to receive 23.9 billion euros in grants and 12.1 billion euros in low-cost loans under the Reconstruction Fund. The government can apply for another 22 billion euros in loans until 2023.

National Reconstruction Plans, once agreed with the European Commission, must be approved by 27 finance ministers, for which a majority vote in the EU Council is sufficient.

Poland submitted a draft of its NRP to Brussels in early May, but Morawiecki’s government asked the Commission to wait up to four weeks before starting its official assessment of the plan, during which time it can still be amended in a “technical dialogue” with Brussels. Brussels only confirmed in the second half of May that the standard two months for assessing Poland’s plan had been extended to three, which expired on August 1.

The National Reconstruction Plan was already negotiated in mid-July and its translation into the legal language of an “executive decision” of the EU Council was just finishing. However, a “let’s not rush” order came to the Secretariat-General of the European Commission - after the decision of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal challenging the supremacy of EU law in Poland (on the issue of interim measures in the judicial field) and after the unfreezing of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court in defiance of the new Court of Justice of the European Union safeguard decision.

The Disciplinary Chamber has been partially frozen, but Poland has still not fully complied with the CJEU’s decisions.

Additionally, in September the Constitutional Tribunal intends to continue hearing a motion filed by the prime minister seeking to broadly undermine the CJEU’s powers on judicial issues.

Morawiecki has stated that he does not intend to withdraw his request to the Constitutional Tribunal to consider the supremacy of Polish law over EU law.

ECONOMY

person Piotr Muller also expressed his hope for approval of the NRP in September, claiming that the process is dragging on due to red tape.

Representatives of the Polish opposition warn that the United Right’s government is pursuing an extremely risky policy that could result in the temporary loss of colossal funds, without which Poland would inevitably face a serious economic crisis. “[PiS leader] Jarosław Kaczyński’s irresponsible and foolish policy is causing dramatic damage to Poland and all Poles ... Today the European Union is withholding billions of euros in aid that our country needs like oxygen. It is withholding it only because PiS is destroying the Polish rule of law and the European legal order,” assessed Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Platform (PO) and former long-time prime minister.

“Poland once missed out on the Marshall Plan because we were a lawless country ruled authoritatively by communists. Instead of Western aid, the Soviet order was established. Today things are becoming similar,” the former prime minister noted. “This can still be fixed. Stop thinking about how to cover your own helplessness with a state of emergency [on the Polish-Belarusian border], chaos provoked at the border and by sowing fear, but immediately stop ruining the Polish constitutional order and the stupid war with the West,” Tusk said.

According to him, “all Poles are paying for Kaczyński’s obsessions today.” “We must stop this sleepwalking march at all costs. There is still time,” the PO leader underlined.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, former Polish deputy prime minister and later EU commissioner for internal market and services, also spoke about the gravity of the situation. She said that the time for admonishments and warnings from Brussels is finally coming to an end and that serious financial penalties should be expected as Poland violates the rule of law.

“We can’t take risks, play some kind of weird game; this is money that is supposed to enable us to rebuild our economy

Paolo Gentiloni, EU commissioner for economic affairs

The Warsaw Voice

Autumn 2021

21

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD ANALYSES REMOTE WORK ISSUE The office market is now at the epicenter of changes caused by the transition to the remote work model due to the COVID-19 epidemic. However, with the epidemic situation improving, organizations have already commenced planning the return of employees to the workplace.

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he analysis of the findings of a survey of tenants of the office buildings in the portfolio of properties under management of Cushman & Wakefield Poland reveals how companies are preparing for this change.

In their survey conducted using the CAWI method in June 2021 on a sample of 132 decision-makers in office space management (CEOs, Heads of Administration, Chief Operating Officers and Office Managers) experts of Cushman & Wakefield asked the respondents for how many days employees would ultimately return to the office in a post-pandemic environment.

45% of the survey respondents said that they would implement the hybrid model combining in-office work and working from home. The most popular hybrid model involves three days of remote work (38%) and full flexibility (27%). The traditional work model was indicated by close to 25% of the respondents while 63% of all would permit remote working only in exceptional circumstances. Over 30% of all the respondents have not decided which model to embrace for their return to the workplace and have, 22

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therefore, taken no specific action regarding their further use of office space.

“Combining working from home and in-office work is a safe alternative that fosters social bonding in an organization and helps workers enjoy the best of remote work.

Many people cannot imagine themselves going back to the office five days a week. Two or three days of in-office work are optimal, because they allow all the employees to meet the members of their teams at least once a week. The remaining time can be easily utilized to catch up with heads down work or to have virtual meetings,” says Dominika Kowalska, Associate, Workplace Strategy, Office Department, Cushman & Wakefield.

Almost a third of all the respondents have either made changes to the ways office space is used during the pandemic (11%) or are planning to make them in the next 12 months (20%). 30% of all the respondents have not made any decisions regarding adaptation of office space to the new reality. With no end yet in sight for the pandemic, some companies are inclined to adopt a wait & see strategy for office space use. Just under 30% of the respondents The Warsaw Voice

The Warsaw Voice

of people, but in my opinion it is critical that we make employees aware of benefits and create an appropriate space that fosters knowledge sharing and collaboration. It is definitely a lot easier and gives more satisfaction when working in an office,” says Aleksandra Tomaszewska, HR Manager, Cushman & Wakefield.

REAL ESTATE

said that they would not make any changes, which may be due to the phase of their lease term or the lack of fit-out or upgrade contributions routinely provided by landlords.

16% of the respondents said that they had decided to decrease workstation density in their offices and to increase the number of small meeting rooms or pods. New features to be introduced by close to 25% of the respondents upon the return of employees to the workplace include an app for booking rooms, desks and parking spaces.

“The introduction of an office management app is one of the most popular changes planned for workspace management. It clearly shows that the days of sticking a postit-note on a door to book a room are long gone. As apps are to support us, it’s good that more and more companies want to invest in them. I personally think that one of the best features of such an app is the opportunity to co-share parking spaces by employees who normally do not have access to them. Although this appears to be a minor thing, it means to a lot to many,” comments Kowalska.

Close to 75% of the respondents are not interested in hiring meeting spaces from external providers. Events are largely organized on-site in their own offices or continue to be held online. Nevertheless, some tenants still prefer to hire professional meeting spaces for industry meetings, events, workshops or conferences.

“While we are already witnessing an increase in business meetings and events, a return to pre-pandemic activities will be a protracted process. We expect the demand for such spaces to pick up gradually in the coming months,” says Jan Szulborski, Senior Consultant, Consulting & Research, Cushman & Wakefield.

Close to two-thirds of all the respondents cited a restaurant or a canteen as the most important amenity in an office building. Availability of cycling facilities came second.

“A cash dispenser and a grocery store took the next spots in the ranking of useful amenities in office buildings. These choices are evidence of employees’ need for convenience and time optimization. The absence of such amenities in a building is not, however, felt as acutely as in the case of the first two indicated in the survey. Other amenities relevant to tenants include a café, a gym / fitness center and a coworking office. All the above answers indicate the direction in which office landlords should go in order to gain a competitive advantage and create a vibrant and fully-let office building,” says Agnieszka Małysa-Bartos, Key Account Manager, Asset Services, Cushman & Wakefield.

The pandemic has transformed the demand for parking spaces among 40% of office tenants.

28% of the respondents say they need more parking spaces now than before the pandemic. 12% need fewer.

No specific opinion on the return to offices (a total of 77% of answers) and half of employers have not developed back-to-the-office strategies yet.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s survey, more than 50% of the respondents have not developed an employee incentive plan yet and the most common activities include change management and an information campaign (21%), a new office fit-out (19%) and providing access to additional parking spaces (11%).

“There are many ideas to promote in-office work such as hosting a joint breakfast or projects involving a group

WHILE WE ARE ALREADY WITNESSING AN INCREASE IN BUSINESS MEETINGS AND EVENTS, A RETURN TO PRE-PANDEMIC ACTIVITIES WILL BE A PROTRACTED PROCESS Jan Szulborski, Senior Consultant, Consulting & Research, Cushman & Wakefield

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AXI IMMO SUMMARIZES THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF

THE POLISH OFFICE MARKET The condition and sentiment of the office market in Warsaw and eight major regional markets (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Poznań, Łódź, Katowice, Lublin and Szczecin) after the first half of 2021 register a visible slowdown in supply and moderate demand.

T

he market situation has been conducive to a rising level of immediately available space over the last few months, which is already over 1.5m sq m and represents around 13% of its total stock. Nevertheless, developers, as well as tenants, remain active. This allows us to look at the coming months with moderate optimism and expect further signs of the predicted boom associated with workers’ return to offices.

In the first half of 2021, in the Polish office market, developers delivered 21 projects with a total area of approx. 352,500 sqm (Warsaw - 226 000 sqm in 10 projects, regional markets - 126,500 sqm in 11 projects), which increased the total stock to nearly 12.1m sqm. The undisputed leader is Warsaw (almost 6 100 000 sqm), followed

by Kraków (1 599 200 sqm), Wrocław (1 242 600 sqm) and Tricity (924 000 sqm). The most significant projects completed by the end of June 2021 in Warsaw were Warsaw UNIT (57,000 sqm, Ghelamco Poland) and conducted by March - Skyliner (48,500 sqm, Karimpol) and Generation Park Y (44,300 sqm, Skanska).

Those office buildings were developed at the Daszyńskiego Roundabout, which took over the title of the largest office district of the capital after Mokotów-Służewiec. In turn, among the largest office buildings delivered during the same period on regional markets were Nowy Rynek D (35,800 sqm, Skanska) in Poznań Palio Office Park A (16,500 sqm, Cavatina) in Gdańsk and Tertium Business 24

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Park III B (13,400 sqm, Buma) and Equal Business Park D (11,650 sqm, Cavatina) completed in Kraków.

“We expect that in the next few months in both Warsaw and the regions the number of new office buildings will stop for some time. On the other hand, some of the

Jakub Potocki, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO

The Warsaw Voice

REAL ESTATE

Bartosz Oleksak, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO.

projects currently under construction, for which no pre-let agreements have been signed, will extend their occupancy periods as much as possible. The reasons for this can be found, among others, in the high financial costs connected with the maintenance of already built office buildings and the growing vacancy rate. However, reports of a slowdown in supply should be treated very carefully. Once the situation on the market stabilizes, we may observe a swift absorption of space”, says Jakub Potocki, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO. The volume of office space for lease is growing immediately. At the end of June 2021, the vacancy rate for the Polish office market stood at 13%, reflecting more than 1.5m sqm vacant space. In Warsaw, the rate reached 12.5% (+1.1 bps quarter on quarter and +4.6 bps year on year) and represented approx. 760,000 sqm of vacant space. In turn, in the eight main regional markets, a total of 792,500 sqm of office space is available for lease. The vacancy rate stood at 13.4% (+0.8 bps quarter on quarter and 3.2 bps year on year), with the highest rate remaining in Łódź (18.3%) and the lowest in Szczecin (7.8%).

“The growing volume of vacancies may cause owners of slightly older or less attractive office buildings to consider modernizing their space and adjusting it to a higher standard. We expect more individualized solutions, incentives to join the community or pointing to some uniqueness and history of the building itself or its surroundings as a way to refresh their offer”, comments Bartosz Oleksak, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO. Demand in the Polish regional office markets higher than in Warsaw. The total volume of tenant activity in the Polish office market in the first half of 2021 amounted to over 514,200 sqm. Registered demand in regional office markets was higher at the end of June 2021 (264,200 sqm) than in Warsaw (nearly 250,000 sqm). In the leasing structure in Q2 2021, renegotiations (47%) overtook new deals (45%) and expansions (8%).

The Warsaw Voice

“The high percentage of renegotiations and new deals indicates that there is still intense competition for lease signings on the Polish office market, both in Warsaw and the regions. It’s a very good signal for the whole sector.

It allows us to believe that after the appropriate level of immunization of society, the maintenance of proper security measures and a slightly changed work model, the lease market will open up even more strongly”, adds Oleksak.

Poland’s office market’s most interesting and largest transactions were mainly signed between April and June 2021. Warsaw saw on the demand side the renegotiation of a lease for nearly 21,000 sqm by a confidential tenant in the Senator building, as well as, two pre-let agreements, i.e. the Warsaw City Hall will take 11,300 sqm in the Widok Towers building, while the Public Transport Authority (9,800 sqm) chose the PZO Factory on the right side of Warsaw as its following capital location. Regionally, the largest deals recorded were the renegotiation of a lease and expansion of Rockwell Automation (19,500 sqm) at A4 Business Park III in Katowice and two deals by confidential tenants in Kraków.

The first, representing the banking sector, renewed its lease of 15,600 sqm in the Kapelanka 42a building, while the second, from the business services sector, renegotiated 12,800 sqm in the Kazimierz Office Center building.

“We may assume that the resultant changes in the office market will be introducing amendments to the Labor Code regulating remote work. Particularly interesting are the provisions concerning the installation of work tools and their repair, electricity or access to the network and the way of settling these costs. Movements of the largest corporations will also be of great importance for the office market, which will, in a way, show the direction for slightly smaller entities. It may be a test for remote working will again be offered as a privilege or a kind of benefit for many employers, rather than a permanent benefit. Therefore, we should calmly observe the changes and the hitherto castling of tenants”, assesses Potocki.

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WŁOCŁAWEK

PERFECT PLACE FOR YOUR BUSINESS WŁOCŁAWEK, the capital of Kuyavia region, is a hospitable and friendly city. It is worth coming here to develop your company or to invest in innovative products. The city has a centuries-long industrial tradition, built mostly by local factory owners whose legacy is an important element of Włocławek’s image to this day.

Appreciating business people’s role in creating the city’s economic sphere, we have undertaken a number of pro-investment measures. Among other things, companies can take advantage of real estate tax exemptions under a regional assistance program for supporting new investments, and also as part of de minimis aid.

I am very happy that, more and more people are noticing Włocławek on the business map of Poland.

This is certainly because the city has great transport connections, making it easy to travel between here and any corner of Poland and Europe. Also, a growing number of young people are returning to their native region, deciding to open businesses in Włocławek and offer new products and services to residents and tourists. It is a very valuable experience for the local government to be able to support the dreams and hopes of those who value Włocławek as a people-friendly place where they can live well and develop.

Substantial support and friendly help for companies wishing to visit our city is offered by Investor Assistance Centre operating in Włocławek City Hall. Please feel invited!

Mayor of Włocławek Marek Wojtkowski, PhD

T

he best way of developing your business is to invest in the city which boasts a rich industrial tradition and is also the historical capital of Kuyavia: Włocławek. This city offers many opportunities to entrepreneurs and investors.

Where is the perfect place for your business located?

Włocławek lies in the very center of Poland and also on Vistula, the country’s longest river. The third-largest city in Kuyavian-Pomeranian province, it has an area of 84.32 sq. km and a population of around 105,000. It is worth noting Włocławek’s good transport connections. You can get anywhere quickly and efficiently thanks to the A1 freeway’s Włocławek – North (Brzezie) and Włocławek – West (Pikutkowo) junctions as well as highways: No. 91 Gdańsk – Toruń – Włocławek – Łódź – national border, No. 62 Strzelno – Włocławek – Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, and No. 67 Lipno – Włocławek.

Invest next to well-known brands

The sectors of the economy for which the city is famous include chemicals, energy, food products, metals, and building materials. Włocławek has witnessed many major projects related to these sectors in recent years.

Alongside Anwil SA, one of Poland’s biggest companies from the chemical sector, this sector is also represented

by Europe’s most advanced petrochemical complex for paraxylene and terephthalic acid (PX/PTA) production, 26

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Observation deck in Włocławek

built by PKN Orlen SA. This company has also contributed to the energy sector by building the country’s most advanced and biggest gas and steam combined heat and power generation plant. The key project for the metals and building materials sector has been Budizol Sp. z o.o.

S.K.A. company’s construction of a plant manufacturing The Warsaw Voice

SPECIAL SECTION / KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE

construction-sector energy-saving products. The biggest Włocławek-based food businesses include the producer of the Delecta brand, well-known for baking products like cake mixes as well as seasonings and jelly and custard powders. Other famous brands from Włocławek include WIKA Polska, Guala Closures DGS Poland, Salamander Window & Door Systems, Geberit, Indorama Ventures Poland, Renex, and many others.

Włocławek appreciates entrepreneurs

The operations of Włocławek’s entrepreneurs and investors are supported by many institutions in the business environment. Those based in the city include Włocławek Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubator, which fosters the development of businesses. The incubator offers enormous support for launching and conducting business operations, through the training and consulting services it provides and by guaranteeing cheap office, production and warehouse space. The local authorities also appreciate entrepreneurs for their contribution to the city’s economic development, supporting them through tax breaks and substantial outlays on municipal projects. These pro-investment efforts are additionally consolidated by the Investor Assistance Centre in Włocławek City Hall, offering support and comprehensive assistance to investors and entrepreneurs, and Włocławek Business Center located at the Włocławek Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubator.

City of opportunities

If you are looking for a place to invest, you will find it in Włocławek. How is that possible? Włocławek Economic Development Area – Industrial and Technological Park (Pomeranian Special Economic Zone Area) has 33.4762 hectares of land with comprehensive utilities. These include roads, electricity, a gas network as well as a water and sewerage system and telecom and IT infrastructure.

What we do not have yet is you and your business. More information will help you decide to invest in Włocławek.

Włocławek Economic Development Area – Industrial and Technological Park is an area whose function – according to the zoning plan – is industrial. Investors can take advantage of the following forms of acquiring terrain owned by the urban commune of Włocławek: tenancy, leasing or sale. The area has a direct link to highway No. 91 and to exits from the A1 freeway: the Włocławek – North (Brzezie) and Włocławek – West (Pikutkowo) junctions. Many tax breaks are available here as well, e.g. a real estate tax exemption as part of de minimis aid within the urban commune of Włocławek, a real estate tax exemption under regional aid in support of new investment projects or the creation of new jobs in connection with a new project in the urban commune of Włocławek within the boundaries of the Industrial West Włocławek structural unit, and an income tax break within the Włocławek Economic Development Area –

The Warsaw Voice

Browar B., Photo M. Maciejewski

Industrial and Technological Park, which is part of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone.

Contact us

If you want to invest next to well-known brands, in a city of opportunities that appreciates entrepreneurs, be sure to contact Włocławek City Hall Investor Assistance Centre. Feel that chemistry with Włocławek and come to the perfect place for your business!

Włocławek City Hall Investor Assistance Centre phone: +48 54 414 40 44, 414 44 77, 414 47 67 www.wloclawek.pl

Wisła river pier

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A HEALTHY BUSINESS CLIMATE? WE HAVE THAT IN

INOWROCŁAW

Investment-oriented, modern and eco-friendly: that’s INOWROCŁAW It is a dynamically developing city with great potential that has been noticed by entrepreneurs from many industries, who have chosen Inowrocław and its economic zones for investing their capital and running their business. This is certainly due to the large increase in investments in our city and the dynamically developing economy. We have been supporting entrepreneurship in Inowrocław transparently, boldly, and professionally for many years – with excellent results.

A city of business, eco-friendliness and the future. Why? We invest in the city, thanks to which Inowrocław’s attractiveness has strengthened significantly. A beltway, clean air, noticeably growing investment in road projects - we are not standing still. Inowrocław is “future-proof,” i.e. resistant to future challenges. It already meets the requirements that will be in force in Poland in 10 years’ time: as a city, we boast almost 100-percent eco-friendly municipal transport! This all adds up to Inowrocław’s strong brand and great potential.

Be sure to join us; see you in Inowrocław!

Ryszard Brejza Mayor of Inowrocław

N

ot long ago people said that the busy bees of Polish business were big cities like Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and the Silesian conurbations. Meanwhile, there is a place in central Poland where business takes on a completely different meaning.

It is Kujawsko-Pomorskie province, specifically Inowrocław.

Good for investment, modern and ecological - these are the characteristics attributed to this dynamically developing city. This is confirmed by the entrepreneurs who have businesses here, who list many benefits of establishing their companies in this particular city. Economic growth is made possible, among other things, by the professional support offered by the city authorities.

Closer than you think

More than 6,000: this is the number of entrepreneurs who have picked Inowrocław. The city owes its strong position to the printing, food, spa, transport, mining, chemical and plastics industries. Services and trade are also developing well. One extremely important issue for all entrepreneurs is infrastructure, which fosters business development. Entrepreneurs locating their businesses in Inowrocław offer their products and services not only locally; many of them also operate on world markets.

Inowrocław is located in central Poland, at the crossroads of major trade and transport routes (road and rail). It lies on the shortest route from Wielkopolska to Masuria, in close proximity to two freeways: the A1 and A2, thanks to which 28

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it has access to all regions of Poland and the biggest cities in the country. These features enable companies to expand their operations beyond the borders of the province, giving Inowrocław a competitive edge over other parts of Poland in terms of investment.

Pro-business approach

Stacks of papers, applications, files, signatures. Not here!

At Inowrocław City Hall every investor is supported by the Investor Assistance Office, both during the whole administrative procedure and later.

Relationship building, responsibility and cooperation are values that will bring together those who plan to start a business in Inowrocław.

Every investment project can count on support and assistance from the city, and thanks to cooperation with business-related institutions and the attractive terms they offer, more and more investors use them. Among other things, this is due to cooperation with business environment institutions and with regional and national support institutions, to mention the Prince Kazimierz Kujawski Higher School of Entrepreneurship in Inowrocław, the Higher School of Economics, the Polish Agency of Investment and Trade, the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone, the Toruń Regional Development Agency, the Centre for Investor and Exporter Assistance in Toruń, the Bydgoszcz Regional Development Agency, the Polish Foundation for Enterprise Development, the Kujawy Expert Foundation and the County Labor Office.

The Warsaw Voice

Business with a mission

Investment-focused Inowrocław The city beltway is definitely the biggest road investment project in Inowrocław’s history. It is a joy to the locals, who suffered the noise and pollution of trucks crossing their city for decades, but also to many entrepreneurs running businesses in Inowrocław. After many years of efforts from the Inowrocław city authorities and residents, a 19-kilometer section of the beltway with three interchanges was opened in 2017, and as of November 2019 you can also drive along the 5-kilometer section between Sławęcinek and the Latkowo interchange.

“I promised I would finish the battle for the beltway. Our efforts have ended in success,” comments Mayor Ryszard Brejza.

“We have been able to complete a great many projects thanks to EU funds and cooperation with the provincial self-government,” he adds. “We utilize the EU support in full. There is still a lot to be done. I am confident we can fulfill all our plans and ideas to make Inowrocław even more beautiful and more innovative in the coming years, so that we can be as proud of it as I am today.”

In response to the growing expectations of prospective investors, the city of Inowrocław offers land comprehensively prepared for investment, divided into four zones: Northern, Western, Eastern, and the Solanki Investment Area. Each of these zones is designed for a different type of business.

The Northern and Western zones are designated in the local zoning plan as land for services, industry, manufacturing facilities, depots, warehouses, service buildings. Both zones comprise vacant land. The Northern zone is located on the city outskirts near national highway No. 25, while the Western zone lies near provincial road No. 251 between Inowrocław and Żnin, in close proximity to the Inowrocław– Poznań main railway line. The Eastern zone comprises over 6 hectares of land intended for services. The fourth zone – the Solanki Investment Area – is located in the Brine Park, close to the Modrzew Health Spa, the Pump Room / Palm House, and the new part of the Brine Park. The zone is designated as land for services related to the health resort’s

The Warsaw Voice

The times when all that mattered in business was making money are gone. A responsible and sustainable approach to business is expected in an era of increased environmental awareness. This is exactly what is happening in Inowrocław, a city where ecology is the focus of attention. Inowrocław is one of the best-known health resorts in Poland. The Brine Park on almost 85 hectares together with one of the largest graduation towers in Poland influence the rapidly developing spa business and tourism. Spa owners are constantly investing in the development of accommodation infrastructure; more and more spa centers, hotels and guesthouses are being built. As befits an ecological city, Inowrocław also has 100% ecological public transport, which makes it a leader in Poland.

If you are interested to see what investors are offered in a place where you can make your business dreams come true, visit www.inwestuj.inowroclaw.pl and find out more.

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SPECIAL SECTION / KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE

operations, culture, entertainment as well as retail services indicated in the health resort regulations, catering services, hotel and health facilities, and administration buildings.

All necessary information about the land Inowrocław offers for investment is available from the www.inwestuj.inowroclaw.pl website or directly from the Investor Assistance Office.

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THE

Artist against all odds The exhibition entitled, “The Artist. Anna Bilińska 1854-1893,” at the National Museum in Warsaw has gathered Bilińska’s paintings and drawings, including hitherto unknown works, from Polish and foreign museums and private collections.

painting subject, a sketchy treatment of landscape (pochade) or the pastel technique, which she would use just as often as oil painting. Other questions raised by the project are Bilińska’s self-awareness and her thoughts on the artist’s position in the world, which manifested itself in the representation of her own image in self-portraits.

Bilińska’s biography is also quite fascinating, both in terms of how she overcame financial and personal problems along the path to professional success, and of her social and emotional relationships. The presentation of her artistic output would not be complete without outlining the limitations facing women in the 19th century within the framework of art institutions and education, as well as in the context of social norms and expectations.

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue of Bilińska’s existing and lost works, accompanied by a timeline of her life and interpretative essays.

On view through October 10.

A

nna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz was the first Polish female artist to gain international recognition.

Her works were presented at the most important European exhibitions and appreciated by critics from many countries. Even today her paintings and fascinating life raise considerable interest among the public, while many of her works have become part of the canon of Polish art. However the artist’s entire output and life story have yet to be thoroughly analysed and described. The exhibition follows Bilińska’s artistic career, from her first attempts at painting in Warsaw, through her studies at the Académie Julian in Paris, to participation in international art exhibitions. The display approaches artistic topics, such as academicism in Bilińska’s oeuvre, the portrait as her preferred 30

Autumn 2021

The Warsaw Voice

BUZZ Palestinian here and now in artistic focus

The Everyday Forms of Resistance exhibition at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art aims to bring the Polish audience closer to every day pressures faced by the contemporary Palestinians and their survival strategies.

T

he creation of the state of Israel and the displacement of thousands of Palestinians from territories of historic Palestine had obvious negative consequences for its many inhabitants. Having a passport stating their nationality, and thus the right to travel, or owning a piece of land have become a privilege. Access to water is rationed, and movement across the Palestinian territories is problematic.

The exhibition brings together works that explore practices which help to preserve humanity and resist in times of armed conflicts and social turmoil. The artists avoid political rhetoric by showing instead how deep-rooted customs and traditions gain particular significance for those living in the occupied territory.

Political resistance and maintaining Palestinian identity is understood in terms of persistence, hospitality, and cultivating histories, as well as everyday gestures and rituals such as preparing meals together, growing plants, singing, and rebuilding destroyed houses.

“In view of the current political situation both in Europe and in the Middle East, the program strengthens the awareness of the importance of grassroots democratic practices - especially in times of the rise of authoritarianism,” says the curator of the exhibition, Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka.

The exhibition is the result of several years of work by Palestinian artists, as well as the outcome of artistic residences, travels, The Warsaw Voice

research, and work with local communities conducted by artists from Poland. It includes artworks by Jumana Emil Abboud, Noor Abed, Ahmad Alaqra, Mirna Bamieh, Wim Catrysse, the Forensic Architecture collective, Karolina Grzywnowicz, Sandi Hilal and Alessandra Petti from the DAAR collective, Jumana Manna, Joanna Rajkowska, Mahommad Saleh, Marta Wódz, and Jaśmina Wójcik.

On view through Nov. 21.

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Musical about Pągowski female

New exhibition of Andrzej

in Łódź empowerment

One of the most famous Polish artists Andrzej Pągowski will show his new works in Andel’s Art gallery - the author’s gallery of Vienna House Andel’s Lodz hotel. On September 16, the vernissage will take place. The exhibition will be open until October 17th.

T

he solo exhibition of Andrzej Pągowski at the Vienna House Andel’s Lodz will be divided into two parts. In the hotel lobby there will be presented the most famous and awarded works of the artist.

The second part will be located in the hotel suite, the number of which will be a gate to get to know street art in this unusual for it environment. Especially for this exhibition, Pągowski painted a graffiti “Appetite for Cherries”. The artist also prepared three new graphics, inspired by the interiors of this designer hotel.

Pagowski is a Polish illustrator, painter and screenwriter who has created over 1500 posters since 1977. He has won numerous awards, including “The Best of Show” in The Hollywood Reporter competition in Los Angeles. His work can be seen at MoMA in New York and San Francisco and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among others.

Andel’s Art is an artistic project of the Vienna House hotel chain. The project comprises a private collection of over 200 works of contemporary artists in Vienna House Andel’s Lodz and Vienna House Andel’s Cracow. Moreover, Vienna House Andel’s Lodz regularly hosts temporary exhibitions promoting artists, as well as other artistic projects.

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After success on New York’s Broadway and London’s West End, the musical „Waitress”, premiered at Warsaw’s musical theatre Roma on May 30 with Poland reopening entertainment venues in mid-June.

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aitress” celebrates the power of friendship, dreams, the family we choose and the beauty of a well baked pie.

The musical is based on Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 film of the same name, and with its debut in 2016 became the first Broadway musical ever to have an all-female top creative team, with a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, choreography by Lorin Latarro and direction by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.

“Waitress” tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and failed marriage. When a baking contest in a nearby county offers her a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it.

Through the support of her fellow waitresses, and an unexpected romance, Jenna begins to find strength to regain her freedom and ability to decide her own destiny. The musical tale is both touching and moving, yet at the same time full of humor and wit.

The Polish version of the musical was directed by Wojciech Kępczyński with Agnieszka Brańska’s choreography.

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THE BUZZ

The exhibition „Such a Landscape,” at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is Poland’s the first solo show of works by Wilhelm Sasnal, one of the most outstanding contemporary Polish artists who has received wide international acclaim.

Sasnal confronts Holocaust

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round 60 paintings and drawings on display, completed over the course of the past two decades, tackle the subject of the Holocaust and its remembrance. They depict Poland’s physical and mental landscape in the wake of the Shoah and the nation’s difficulty in addressing an unsettled past. The oldest ones were inspired by Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust cartoon stories in his Maus books. The newest ones were created this year especially for the exhibition.

Sasnal is inspired by visual information including the mass media: television, Internet, the press and photography. He also draws inspiration from works by other artists whom he considers important.

His art conveys the ways he, and his generation copes with the surrounding reality, in which wartime and postwar history remain constantly present.

One of the paintings on display depicts an imagined map of Poland bordering Israel to recall the long co-existence of Jews with Poles in Poland. Another evokes a bathing women modeled on the French

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painter Edgar Degas’s work superimposed with a swastika.

Asked why the Jewish topics, and the Holocaust in particular, are so important to him, Sasnal said: “It stems from a subconscious sense of loss which is extremely hard to define.

Perhaps it also stems from the sense of guilt which has been instilled in me - a Pole brought up in the Christian tradition.

Jan Tomasz Gross was right when he said: ‘Poles should deal with this for their own sake, not for anybody else’s.’”

The exhibition is part of an art program exploring the history, culture and legacy of Polish Jews. It features artworks on loan from the artist himself, and those from public and private collections in Poland and internationally.

Sasnal’s works are included in collections at the Museum of Modern Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Modern in London and The Pompidou Centre in Paris, among others.

The exhibition runs until 10 January.

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Compiled by Marzena Robinson

BUTIK

2

1 3

1/ Take your fragrance on a journey Beautifully-crafted, refillable car diffusers from Memo Paris perfume house will transform your journey to unknown destinations or the mundane drive to work into a rejuvenating experience.

The diffuser features a unique and easy-to-use design along with scented inserts to hold a blissful aroma. All you need to do is to attach the diffuser to the dashboard vent and let the air pass through the fragrance cartridge to diffuse the perfume throughout the vehicle.

2/ Leather with a zest Sicilian Leather is a new unisex leathery fragrance launched by the Parisian perfume house Memo in 2021. Warm and invigorating at the same time, the scent 34

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pays tribute to the natural beauty of the southern island of Sicily, nestled in the shadow of Mount Etna.

The fragrance features the top notes of refreshing lime, cedrat and bitter orange that Sicily is famous for producing.

The citrus accords are gently spiced with aromatic bergamot, coriander and cardamom and cooled with the middle notes of balsam fir and violet leaf.

The base notes of guaiac wood, Akigalawood and patchouli support the lively main accord of white leather that contains smoky volcanic warmth.

3/ Refresh your skin and mind The Detox Dry Oil from Natura Bissé’s Diamond Well-Living collection is a must when your body is in need of a daily mois-

turizing, detoxifying and purifying ritual. Great for use in a massage it is also ideal for frequent travelers and those living in cities.

Made with over 90% natural-origin ingredients, this nourishing oil promotes hydrated, supple and soft skin while helping your mind reset. Enriched with seaweed extract, it purifies skin for a balanced appearance. Chia oil, packed with nutrients and minerals, intensely moisturizes the skin. The powerful antioxidant vitamin E increases skin hydration while grape seed and sunflower oils help to defend skin against environmental damage and restore its fresh, healthy look.

All the products are available now on www.missala.pl The Warsaw Voice

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“Recent years have been extremely difficult for us. In 2019, we were closed for several months due to a major renovation, and last year there was a pandemic and protracted lockdowns.

However, we managed to get through this difficult time and as of June we have higher occupancy than in previous years. I am also glad that our friendly guests, who have been coming to Międzyzdroje for several years, are coming back to us. At the same time there are new, young people who like our relaxed atmosphere, renovated interiors and excellent offer for families with children”, adds Kowalska.

Since its opening, Amber Baltic has belonged to the Austrian Vienna House chain. Its investor was the company Warimpex. The hotel celebrated its 30th anniversary on 20 August in the company of business partners, city authorities and long-standing guests.

PREMIERE OF THE NEW LEXUS NX MODEL

Compiled by Bartosz Grzybiński

MIĘDZYZDROJE IS ONE OF THE most recognizable and popular seaside resorts on the Polish Baltic coast. It is often associated not only with summer vacations but also with the famous Festival of Stars. The Festival stars as well as many distinguished guests were hosted by one of the symbols of the resort - Vienna House Amber Baltic Miedzyzdroje, then known as Amber Baltic. The hotel celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Despite the passage of time, it is still besieged and has its loyal fans.

“Amber Baltic was the first chain hotel on the Polish coast, and the second in Poland. From the very beginning famous guests came to us - one of the first was Zbigniew Brzeziński.

For years, the holiday season has been a period for us when the occupancy rate fluctuates between 90 and 95% every day”, emphasizes Monika Kowalska, the hotel’s general manager.

IN BRIEF

30 YEARS OF CHAIN HOTELING IN MIĘDZYZDROJE

IN MID AUGUST THE WARSAW Lexus Puławska showroom hosted the Polish premiere of the new Lexus NX model. This is the second generation of the most popular Lexus SUV. The first one, shown in 2014, enjoyed tremendous success in the Polish automotive market.

The new model is based on the brand’s 15 years of experience in electrification. It will be available in two versions: NX350h - a 4th generation hybrid with a total power of 242hp, and NX450h - a Plug-in hybrid with a total power of 306hp. The new, avant-garde styled NX is bigger, more powerful and even better equipped than its predecessor.

“We anticipate that models of the new NX will hit customers in the first quarter of next year”, says Antoni Chodzeń, of the Warsaw Lexus Puławska dealership. “Strong interest allows us to expect a definite increase in sales compared to the previous version. After two weeks of collecting orders, we see an upward trend twice as large as assumed.

The sales plan for our showroom was a 42 percent increase over the previous year. We have already exceeded that figure twice”, Chodzeń adds.

The Warsaw Lexus Puławska showroom is one of the five showrooms of the Chodzeń Group. The sales plan for the entire group, which includes Toyota, Lexus and Maserati, is to sell 5,000 new cars. Antoni Chodzeń believes that without unexpected market situations this plan will be achieved.

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RECORD-BREAKING HALF-YEAR FOR PORSCHE IN THE FIRST HALF-YEAR: FROM January to June 2021. Porsche delivered 153,656 cars worldwide, a jump of 31% over the previous year.

The significant increase in demand spanned all model series and sales markets. The Cayenne model was the most popular, delivered 44,050 units - a 12 percent increase over the same period last year. In second place was the Macan, which ended up in the hands of 43,618 customers (up 27 percent). The all-electric Taycan celebrated particular success: the result of 19,822 cars handed over is just below that recorded in the first half of 2020. Thus, the newest member of the model range matched the icon among sports cars, the 911, which found 20,611 buyers (+22%). In addition, customers took delivery of 11,922 units of the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman (+3%) and 13,633 units of the Porsche Panamera (+6%).

The brand achieved even better percentage results on the Polish car market. In the first half of the year 1064 cars found buyers, which is 39% more than in the same period last year when 765 Porsches were sold. The Panamera (up 127.6%), Taycan (up 87.3%0) and Macan (up 34.5%) were the clear sales leaders in our market.

“We are extremely pleased with the high demand for our sports cars - the increase in deliveries in the first half of the year is higher than for the overall market”, Detlev von Platen, Member of the Board of Management of Porsche AG for Sales and Marketing, said.

“The pace of electrification is increasing in all regions. This development confirms the path we have taken with our powertrain strategy.

In Europe, around 40 percent of the cars currently delivered have an electric motor”, he added.

GOLDEN JUBILEE EMIRATES AIRLINES IS CELEBRATING THE 50TH anniversary of the United Arab Emirates with a special paint job on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to mark the Golden Jubilee. The aircraft will be decorated with the ‘United Arab Emirates 50’ design, commemorating the golden anniversary of the Emirates airline’s headquarters and hub, the United Arab Emirates. The new decorations will be on both sides of the aircraft’s fuselage in Arabic and English.

The design uses the name “Emirates” in the original paint job, which has been supplemented with United Arab to form the entire name of the country.

“The Golden Jubilee painted aircraft are inspired by the vision, determination and passion of the founding fathers of

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the United Arab Emirates and the incredible 50-year journey shaping a nation that has captured the world’s imagination - from its rapid progress to become one of the countries in the world with the best connectivity, to being one of only a handful of nations to launch a space mission. The next 50 years will continue to be driven by the same ambitious spirit of building a better and sustainable future for humanity, and the UAE will lead this by developing its national assets, promoting innovation and strengthening its position as a progressive global leader across the spectrum of areas”, said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Director of Emirates commenting on the colors to mark the country’s 50th anniversary.

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ALSTOM IS THE BIGGEST MANUFACTURER AND exporter of the railroad industry in Poland. The company employs over 4,000 people on 12 sites. Alstom is also a world leader in sustainable and intelligent mobility. At this year’s TRAKO 2021, it will present the world’s first commercially operated hydrogen passenger train, the Coradia iLint. The train is quiet, reaches speeds of 140 kph - just like a diesel train, carries 300 passengers, and travels 1,000 kilometres on a single refuelling, while being environmentally friendly

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IN BRIEF

PREMIERE OF A TRAIN POWERED BY HYDROGEN because it emits only steam and condensed water.

“Coradia iLint trains are a great opportunity for Poland to reduce CO2 emissions and even decarbonize rail transport. Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, have already tested and are implementing or planning to implement such trains. Most importantly, they can be produced in Alstom’s Chorzów site,” says Sławomir Nalewajka, Managing Director of Alstom in Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States.

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SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE Attractive design, rich equipment, functional interior and above-average driving qualities - these are the main advantages of SUVs. Thanks to these qualities, SUVs have been a real sales hit for many years.

Story and photos by realme 8 Pro by Bartosz Grzybiński

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ne of the fastest growing segments, not only on the Polish market, is the SUV segment (Sport Utility Vehicle). These multifunctional vehicles have been a real sales hit for many years. No other segment records such dynamics! What makes these vehicles so popular? There are many reasons. Starting with the appearance and driving properties (often including four-wheel drive), through spacious and multifunctional, yet well-equipped interiors, to the huge variety when it comes to...dimensions. Suffice it to say that two-wheel-drive SUVs can be found in the city car segment (B) as well as in the compact class (C), the mid-size class (D), the executive class (E) and even among luxury cars! Because of the large number of models offered, they even began to distinguish among them cars with smaller dimensions and single-axle drive by creating their own sub-segment - crossover.

The choice of cars is very large because virtually every car company offers several models with SUV body. Each brand is trying to take a piece of the sweet automotive pie. When trying to answer the question about the attractiveness of this type of car, it’s best to take a closer look at a few of them. In the first part of this report, I selected a few crossovers and compact SUVs from the dozens of models available on the market. In the second part of the report, in the next issue of the magazine, I will present models belonging to higher classes.

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The Warsaw Voice

MOTO

RENAULT CAPTURE E-TECH PHEV T

he Renault Capture is classified as a B-segment urban crossover. The model debuted in 2013. The second generation was launched in 2019. The car with a body length of 4.23 m. accommodates 5 passengers who have at their disposal a trunk with a capacity of 422l. Thanks to the sliding rear bench seat by 16 cm, its capacity can be increased to 536l.

The Capture is stylistically similar to other Renault models. This applies both to the front belt with a large brand logo and distinctive headlights, as well as the rear lamps.

The silhouette is dynamic and visually appealing. The interior is spacious and functional. The Capture has many storage compartments in the cabin with a total capacity of 27 liters. The driver’s cockpit is ergonomically laid out,

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and the Easy Link system with a 9.3-inch screen makes it easy to use multimedia.

It is powered by a range of turbocharged 3- and 4-row petrol engines with outputs ranging from 90 to 160 hp, a 100-horsepower LPG model and an E-Tech PHEV hybrid with a combined output of 160 hp. Drive is transmitted to the front axle via a 6-speed manual transmission, a 7-speed EDC automatic or a continuously variable Multimode in the hybrid. The cheapest, 3-cylinder Tce engine version with 90 hp in the basic Zen equipment version costs less than 74 thousand zloty. Capture E-Tech PHEV with plug - in hybrid drive, with a total power of 160HP, in RS Line equipment version, is an expense of about 140 thousand zloty.

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MAZDA CX-3

SKYACTIV G SKYJOY M

azda CX-3 is a Japanese B-segment crossover, present on the market since 2015.

It was designed according to the KODO philosophy meaning “soul of motion”. The philosophy involves capturing movement and channeling its energy into the soft lines of the exterior and interior.

It is also important to emphasize the emotional unity between the driver and the car. The result is one of the most stylistically appealing cars not only among crossovers. The flowing lines of the 4.27-metre long body form a unified whole with the minimalist interior of the passenger compartment. The interior can comfortably accommodate five adult passengers, who have access to a trunk with a capacity of 350 liters (1260 max.).

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Only one 2-litre, 121bhp petrol engine is used for propulsion. Mazda has been “going against the grain” for years when it comes to the fashion for “downsizing”, i.e. the use of drive units with small capacities - usually three-cylinder turbocharged engines. Instead, it uses four-cylinder naturally aspirated engines with two cylinders deactivated during quiet driving. The result is not only lower fuel consumption, but also preservation of the operating culture, sometimes alien to three-cylinder units. Drive to the front wheels is transmitted by a 6-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic. Mazda 2.0 SKYACTV- G with SkyJOY basic equipment and manual transmission costs about 90 thousand zloty. The most expensive model with automatic transmission and SkyPRESTIGE equipment over 111 thousand zloty.

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MOTO

NISSAN JUKE 7 DCT N-DESIGN N

issan Juke is a crossover coupe belonging to the segment of urban cars (B), as the manufacturer describes it. It is available on the market since 2010. The second generation of the car came out in 2019. The car has a body length of 4.21 meters. Passengers have at their disposal a trunk with a capacity of 422l. If necessary, after folding the rear backrests, its total capacity can increase to 925l. The sporty silhouette of the car is emphasized by the drooping roof and the well-defined wheel arches, which further enhance the impression of massiveness of this actually small car.

The interior, including the cockpit, is decorated in a sporty style. Standard equipment ensures a basic level of comfort and safety, while a wide range of personalization and

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optional equipment provides virtually all available items from higher classes.

Propulsion in the ‘21 model year is limited to a single, three-cylinder (!) turbocharged, direct-injection DIG-T combustion engine with a capacity of 1l. and 117 hp.

This unit handles surprisingly well in a car weighing just over 1.2 tons. Front-wheel drive can be transmitted via a 6-speed manual or 7-DTC automatic transmission. The base version of the Juke with manual transmission and Visia equipment costs less than 77 thousand zloty. The model with automatic transmission and N-Design equipment costs about 106 thousand zloty. The most expensive model is the limited edition Tekna which costs less than 109 thousand zloty.

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OPEL CROSSLAND 1.2 TURBO ELEGANCE O

pel Crossland belongs to the B-segment urban crossovers. Its market debut in 2018 was linked to the alliance between General Motors and PSA signed two years earlier. The deal was to collaborate on the development of new crossover/SUV vehicles, and the Crossland was the result. The car is 4.21 m long and seats 5 adult passengers. Trunk capacity (410l.) can be easily expanded - folding the independent rear row seats to obtain a maximum capacity of 1255l.

Stylistically, the Crossland continues Opel’s recent design language. It is characterized by minimalism and attention to detail. This applies both to the exterior of the car and the interior of the passenger compartment and cockpit. The option of a two-tone paint scheme is an original touch. From a visual point of view, the front part stands out with a narrow black

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stripe between the headlights, as well as a larger air intake in the lower part of the bumper. The rear section features a black stripe to optically lengthen the window line, as well as widely spaced lettering with the model name.

A naturally aspirated 1.2-litre petrol engine producing 83 hp was used for the drive. The turbocharged (1.2 Turbo) offers two power ranges, 110 hp or 130 hp. There is also a 1.5 Diesel engine with 110 hp or 120 hp. Front-wheel drive is carried by a 5 or 6-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic. The cheapest version of this model for about 76 thousand PLN is a car with 1.2l/83 hp engine in the basic version of Crossland equipment. The most expensive is the model 1.5 Diesel/120 hp in the Ultimate version of equipment, with automatic transmission - costs less than 124 thousand zloty.

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MOTO

SUZUKI VITARA

HYBRID ELEGANCE SUN S

uzuki Vitara I generation was originally an off-road car. The model was produced from 1988 until 1997. Subsequent generations of the car already belonged to the SUV segment. In 2015, the fourth generation of Vitara appeared on the market, which this time falls into the segment of urban crossovers (B), although if you take into account the off-road properties, the ability to drive two axles, or the ground clearance of the car can be classified as a “real” SUV. The styling of the 4.17 m. long body is elegant and rather conservative. So is the tidy and well laid out interior. The cabin accommodates 5 passengers who have a 375l double-deck luggage compartment at their disposal. The driver’s cockpit is clear and ergonomically laid out.

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In 2020, only hybrid powertrain is introduced in the model. The Vitara hybrid has a mild hybrid system including: a turbocharged 1.4l./129hp. petrol engine, an integrated 48-volt ISG 10 kW starter/generator to assist the engine with torque (50 Nm), a lithium-ion battery (48V) and an inverter (48V to 12V). The basic front-wheel drive (2WD) configuration can be replaced by the advanced ALLGRIP SELECT (4WD) 4-wheel drive offering 4 modes: Auto, Sport, Snow, Lock. Drive is transmitted to one or both axles via a 6-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic transmission. The cheapest hybrid Vitara with 2WD, 6-speed manual transmission and Comfort Plus equipment costs just over 82 thousand zloty. The 4WD version with a 6-speed automatic transmission and Elegance Sun equipment is an expense of about 118 thousand zloty.

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MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS PHEV INSTYLE

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itsubishi Eclipse Cross, is a C-segment SUV, present on the market since 2018. Part of its name comes from the coupe the company once offered, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and alludes to the avant-garde styling of today’s Cross. Last year’s facelift gave the car, which measures 4.40 meters, an even more distinctive look. This applies to the aggressive front end as well as to the completely redesigned rear end, which does away with the split glass in the tailgate and changes the shape of the lamps. It may come as a surprise that the dashboard is already very classic in its form. The interior accommodates five passengers and 341l. of luggage.

Two petrol engines are used to power the Eclipse Cross: the 163 hp 1.5 MIVEC used in the Eclipse Cross and the 98 hp 2.4 MIVEC used in the PHEV Hybrid. In

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this version, the total power of the hybrid drive - a gasoline engine and two electric motors - one at the engine and the other on the rear axle (with powers of 82 and 95 HP) is 188 HP. In the Eclipse Cross, drive is transmitted to the front axle or both axles (S-AWC) via a six-speed manual transmission or a CVT automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is standard on the Eclipse Cross PHEV. The car starts and is accelerated only by electric motors, while the combustion engine is used to charge the batteries. Only at speeds above 60km/h does it start supporting the electric drive and transferring torque to the wheels. The cheapest petrol version 1.5l./163 hp with manual gearbox and front-wheel drive costs less than 98 thousand PLN, The most expensive hybrid PHEV version with Instyle equipment - about 190 thousand PLN.

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MOTO

MERCEDES GLA 250E M

ercedes GLA is a C-segment crossover that had its debut in 2013. The second generation appeared on the market in 2019. The styling of the GLA refers to the other models of the brand which proudly display the Mercedes star on the grills.

The compact, massive silhouette with a body length of 4.41 m. accommodates 5 passengers and 437l. of luggage. The passenger cabin is spacious thanks to a wheelbase of 2.73 m. and the possibility of sliding the rear seat. The driver’s cockpit uses, as in other models, a large dual screen IC and Multimedia display and has characteristic round air vents.

The powertrain uses a range of petrol, diesel and hybrid engines. Single-axle or twin-axle drive in models marked 4 MATIC, is transmitted via automatic transmissions. The range of gasoline engines opens with the GLA180/136hp mod-

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el, through the GLA 200/163hp, GLA 200 4 MATIC/163hp, GLA 250/224hp, its hybrid version GLA 250e/218hp, GLA 250 4 MATIC/224hp, up to the factory tuned models: GLA AMG: 35 4 MATIC/306HP, GLA AMG 45 4 MATIC/387HP and GLA AMG 45 S 4 MATIC +/421HP. Mercedes also offers diesel models: the GLA 180d/116hp, GLA 200d/150hp, GLA 200d 4MATIC/ 150hp, GLA 220d/190hp and GLA220d 4 MATIC/190hp.

The cheapest petrol version of the model - GLA/180KM costs over 144 thousand zloty. Prices of the diesel GLA/180d start at 153 thousand. The hybrid version GLA 250e costs from 180 thousand upwards. The most expensive are the most powerful AMG models. The top-of-theline GLA AMG 45 S 4 MATIC +, is an expense of at least 290 thousand.

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PORSCHE MACAN GTS P

orsche Macan, is the second SUV of the brand next to the Cayenne model, classified in the segment of medium cars (D). It debuted on the market in 2013. The name was taken from the Indonesian language. It means - tiger. Stylistically, the Macan is very similar to the Cayenne, it is shorter than the Cayenne (4.69m long) but has the same expressive lines and a slightly more pronounced roofline. After the 2018 facelift, it gained remodeled headlights and front bumper, but bigger changes were made at the rear and in the cabin. The rear lamps, similar to other cars of the brand, were joined by a belt with the word ‘Porsche’. The cockpit, on the other hand, features differently positioned air vents as well as a larger touchscreen for controlling the multimedia system and a steering wheel from the 911. The passengers have at their disposal a trunk

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with a capacity of 500l/1500l.

The Macan is powered by two turbocharged petrol engines: a 265bhp 2.0 four-cylinder in the Macan and a 380bhp 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 in the Macan S. The same engine, but with 440 hp (!) is available in the GTS version. All units are available with a 7-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission and Porsche Traction Management (PTM) four-wheel drive. The basic version of the Porsche Macan costs over 266 thousand PLN. Macan S prices start at 340 thousand and the most expensive and powerful Macan GTS version costs from 417 thousand upwards. Up, because the list of optional equipment is so long that the cars of this brand are rarely bought according to the official price list. Usually they are so highly personalized that in practice it does not happen that there are two cars on the market exactly the same.

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MOTO

SAFETY AND ECOLOGY

FOR EVERYDAY DRIVING Nokian Tyres’ premium winter tires are appreciated by generations of drivers who want to feel safe driving in all conditions.

Complited by Bartosz Grzybiński

N

ot everyone knows that Nokian Tyres invented the world’s first winter tyre.... in 1934!

The winter tire was developed in response to a real need for safety on the roads. Since then, Nokian tires have ensured safe travel in snow and rain, on ice and in the sun all over the world.

“We develop winter tires using decades of knowledge of winter conditions. Each new generation builds on the previous one, as we are constantly learning and developing new ways to adapt to a changing world”, says Anu Moisio, brand manager of Nokian Tyres.

Today, however, safety is not only limited to everyday driving on the road. Through its actions, the company can contribute to improving the condition of the planet and all that lives on it.

“We want drivers who choose Nokian Tyres products to know that they can not only make their family journeys safer, but also respect the world we all live in”, says Moisio.

Care for the planet is evident in all aspects of Nokian

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WE DEVELOP WINTER TIRES USING DECADES OF KNOWLEDGE OF WINTER CONDITIONS Tyres’ operations, from research and development to production. The manufacturer selects raw materials from environmentally sustainable sources, reduces emissions and production waste, and carefully considers logistics and sales channels. Nokian Tyres develops tires with maximum fuel efficiency in mind and makes them from durable, environmentally friendly materials. Its commitment to making the world safer also means that it creates a safe environment for its employees and builds thriving communities around it.

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WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP Renata Bem, deputy director general of UNICEF Poland, talks to the Voice.

U

NICEF has been active in Poland since 1962, but its origins date back to 1946; please tell us about the history of the organization in Poland.

Still not many people know that the originator of UNICEF was a Pole, Dr. Ludwik Rajchman, a physician-bacteriologist, who in 1946 at the UN General Assembly proposed the creation of a completely apolitical organization that would help children around the world. UNICEF has been active in Poland since 1962, when the first UNICEF National Committee in Eastern Europe was established. For the next 40 years UNICEF financed programs to help children in Poland, bought equipment for health centers and imported raw materials to produce items for children.

During martial law [1981] UNICEF National Committees from Western European countries provided Polish children with medicines, clothing and food, which were in short supply at the time.

In 2002 Poland was recognized as a highly developed country and thus UNICEF’s role changed. Since then we have been collecting money to help children in the poorest countries, including those affected by armed conflicts or natural disasters. I think it’s very fair: those who are better off should help those who can’t or don’t know how to help themselves. Of course, this help must be prudent, well thought-out and systemic. In its more than 75 years of working for children around the world, UNICEF has developed extremely effective and repeatedly tested aid mechanisms that do no harm, but give a chance and hope for the future.

What are the most important directions of UNICEF Poland’s activities today and the most important plans for the coming years?

Although our organization’s main task is to raise funds to help the most needy children in the world, we do not forget about the youngest in Poland. We have been consistently implementing educational and social-educational projects in Polish schools for many years. We try to show the young generation of Poles the situation of their peers in the world, and thus sensitize them to harm in the broad sense of the word and shape pro-social attitudes. By inviting children and young people to our projects, we encourage them to 48

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get actively involved in activities that enable them to make real changes in their local communities and at the same time teach them respect and tolerance for excluded or less privileged groups.

In the coming years we want to focus on engaging the business world in our relief efforts. Companies can already get involved in helping children around the world through programs such as “Friend of UNICEF” or “Company with a Heart.” These are proposals for small and medium-sized enterprises. We invite large corporations to jointly build partnerships that allow a company to engage employees, carry out activities in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, but also focus on areas of assistance that the company can identify with, e.g. due to the profile of its business. Funds obtained in cooperation with business partners allow us to plan and implement assistance activities on a much larger scale.

Developed countries are facing another wave of the migration crisis, associated with events in the Middle East countries, Afghanistan and many other points of our globe; obviously, the victims of this crisis are mainly the most vulnerable people: women and children. How does UNICEF intend to respond to this situation?

It is true that the biggest victims of the migration crisis are the youngest and weakest, which are most often women and children. Every day, tens of thousands of families are exposed to danger, and hundreds of thousands more are ready to risk everything they have in search of a semblance of safety. We must protect these children from all kinds of abuse by those who want to take advantage of their dire situation. Today UNICEF operates in more than 190 countries. Our staff are on the ground in times of peace and relative stability, as well as in times of civil unrest, armed conflict, crisis or natural disasters. No matter how difficult the situation or how dangerous the conditions, we do not give up and we never will. This is also the case now in Afghanistan, where our employees have been present for more than 65 years and are doing their best to stay there and bring help to Afghan women and children at this difficult time.

We do our best to provide them with safe shelter, food, clean water, but also psychological support, so important The Warsaw Voice

The activities of organizations such as UNICEF Poland largely depend on the ability to attract sponsors to finance charity campaigns; what kind of partners are the most important in Poland, which ones are being approached with the hope of attracting them?

Contrary to a rather common belief, UNICEF is not funded by the UN. This means that all our aid activities are carried out thanks to the support of individual and corporate donors. In recent years Polish donors have contributed several dozen million zlotys to projects run by UNICEF to help children in such places as the Horn of Africa, Sierra Leone, Angola, Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan and Nepal. Thanks to their support, thousands of children could be saved.

As I have already mentioned, apart from numerous activities and appeals for support addressed to individual donors, we are currently focusing on engaging business partners in our campaigns. We talk to representatives of many industries and companies in Poland, encouraging them to provide assistance together with UNICEF. We show that business has enormous power to initiate change, according to the principle that “big means more effective.”

It is worth emphasizing that an NGO is a natural ally of companies undertaking activities benefiting the community. On the other hand, with capital at its disposal, business can contribute to a real fight against social problems in the world and support positive systemic changes. Partnership with UNICEF gives companies the opportunity to save the youngest while achieving their own business objectives.

The global reach of our organization, its recognizability and credibility allow companies to move to a new level of external communication, i.e. reach thousands of our individual donors with their message, improve business results, build their brand and improve its image, and also unite and engage employees. Together we bring real help.

Every charity organization tries to recruit its “ambassadors” from among famous public figures in a given country: artists, athletes, even celebrities; who are the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in Poland?

UNICEF is the originator of the idea of celebrities from the worlds of culture, entertainment or sports supporting charitable activities. We were the first organization in the world to invite celebrities to support children’s causes, back in the 1950s. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors use their talent and fame to fight for the rights of the youngest and support UNICEF’s mission. Everyone knows that opinions and appeals coming from famous and well-liked people reach public awareness more easily.

So far, Goodwill Ambassadors have included such famous personalities as Sir Roger Moore, Audrey Hepburn, Orlando Bloom and David Beckham.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in Poland include actors Małgorzata Foremniak, Artur Żmijewski and Magdalena Różczka, singer Majka Jeżowska, athletes Robert Lewandowski, Robert Korzeniowski and Agnieszka Radwańska, and presenter Łukasz Nowicki. It is worth emphasizing that the Ambassadors always work pro bono, which means that they are never paid for the support they give us; none of our Ambassadors nor any of the recognizable The Warsaw Voice

people who are great friends of UNICEF Poland have ever received a single zloty for the time and effort they put into promoting our mission. I am extremely grateful to these very busy and overworked people for always answering our calls and, never hesitating for a second, doing everything, bending their busy schedules, shifting professional and private commitments in order to help us reach as many donors as possible.

SOCIETY

when the sense of security and stability is extremely fragile and the vision of the near future very dark and uncertain.

Renata Bem, deputy director general of UNICEF Poland

What difficulties, organizational, political or other, does UNICEF Poland face?

I think that like other NGOs in Poland, we struggle mainly with vague and often unclear legal and tax regulations that apply to our activities here. Unfortunately the current legal and tax system raises many doubts as to how particular areas of associations’ or foundations’ activities are treated. For us, as an organization operating internationally, it is particularly difficult: we have double reporting systems, i.e. in Poland and to our headquarters in New York. Often reconciling the data between these reports is a real ordeal.

Like many other aid organizations in Poland, we also struggle with high staff turnover. Among other things, this is due to our inability to pay employees what business in a broad sense can offer. We do our best to appreciate our employees’ commitment, knowledge and experience, but at the same time we are obliged to watch every single zloty we spend. However, we do everything to make sure that our employees receive decent salaries for the difficult work they do. In this context, I am very pleased that we at UNICEF Poland have managed to build a committed and efficient team which successfully implements increasingly complex and wide-ranging projects. There is still a lot of work ahead of us, but I am convinced that we are heading in the right direction: we are strengthening the management team by hiring experienced professionals and recruiting new team members with experience in the sector.

Autumn 2021

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GREAT

Compiled by Bartosz Grzybiński

3

2

1 1/ Iskra means Spark

2/ Grill without smoke

Xicorr is a well-known Polish watch brand.

Notable for making striking watches with unique and individual styles. Furthermore, their affordable and reasonable prices are found appealing by many. Consequently, attracting not just watch enthusiasts but also a wider clientele. Xicorr watches, with their styling and naming choices, aim to bring some facts from Polish history to wider audiences. This exact model is referring to a plane named “ZLTS 11 Iskra”, which was used for schooling and training purposes. The Plane was produced in Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze, with its prototype made in 1960 and the official production starting in 1962. Moreover, the model had been used actively up until 2020. The socalled 60 years of “great love and appreciation for the Plane by the pilots”. www.odczasudoczasu.pl

LotusGrill brand is thinking about people who don’t want or just cannot use traditional barbecue and proposes innovative solution. It’s multifunctional device for healthy food from the barbecue.

Ecological grill is powered by coal and there is no smoke. You can use this device on your balcony or terrace, camping or even on boat. You don’t need unusual fuel like charcoal or briquette to run the barbecue. It’s very easy to fire up and keep it clean for most of time. It is equipped with function of temperature adjustment and air blowing. Barbecue doesn’t release carcinogenic substances. The main advantage of this device is that you can easily put it in the middle of table with no consequences. There’s nothing more satisfying than preparing dishes with your friends. The customer

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receives a 5 year guarantee so it’s investment for a long time. LotusGrill is available in many colors, sizes and with a lots of accessories. www.domowesanatorium.pl

3/ Juicer Kuvings Evo820 Plus Evo820 Plus is cutting-edge and the most durable low-speed juicer on the Polish market. Practical casing allows to reduce the time of preparation healthy juice. Beyond functionality it has elegant appearance and it will be a stylish addition for every kitchen. Enclosure is available with four colors - white, “champagne”, grafit and red. Kuvings brand received many designers rewards for this model of juicer. Juicer Evo820 Plus gained recognition of Polish customers. Kuvings won Golden Consumer Laurel in category of juicers five times in a row. www.domowesanatorium.pl The Warsaw Voice

GEAR 5

4 6 4/ realmee narzo 5G

5/ Mio MiVue 818

The new realmee narzo 5G smartphone, designed mainly for gamers, is one of the thinnest and most compact 5G devices on the Polish market. It weighs 185 g, and with a case thickness of 8.5 mm, it gives a comfortable grip. The smartphone offers 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. Memory for data can be expanded with a micro SD card up to 1 TB, without losing the fukcjonalności dual SIM. The memory card has a dedicated, third slot on the sliding tray. The smartphone offers a fast, side-mounted fingerprint scanner in the power button. It works with realme UI 2.0, based on Android 11.

The design of the new realme phone is inspired by racing games, so both the blue and silver color variants have a characteristic light beam motif on the back. www.realme.com/pl/narzo

The Mio MiVeu 818, is a car camera with a wide viewing angle of 140°, which records perfectly both day and night thanks to the Mio Night Vision technology. The MiVeu 818 features a wide 140° angle of view and is ideal for recording during the day and at night thanks to Mio Night Vision technology. The “Find My Vehicle” option allows you to locate your car without any problems. The device also allows you to keep a record of every route you have taken. www.mio.com/pl

The Warsaw Voice

6/ Blender Blendtec Blendtec Designer 725 is a perfect combination of power, precision and classy style. Unique touch control panel, not unlike that of high-end smartphones, will immediately catch your eye. There

are no physical buttons or dials - just beautiful, smooth and functional surface. Blendtec has 2 significant features that distinguish it from other blenders available on the market. Instead of traditional, sharp blades - thick, hammer-like propeller, that smashes ingredients instead of cutting them. The practical advantages of this is it won’t dull (since it’s blunt already) and loose it’s effectiveness, plus you don’t have to be afraid of cutting yourself while cleaning. Instead of traditional, rounded jar - rectangular type, that provides more accurate blending without noticeable particles. Ingredients don’t circulate around the jar, but are bouncing off the walls and get back to the blending vortex. Thanks to this, Blendtec makes the most delicious, velvety smoothie possible. www.domowesanatorium.pl Autumn 2021

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Świat nie czeka.

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Dostępne od 2109 zł netto/mies.

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Pięciodrzwiowy, z pięcioma miejscami, a jednak jest w nim coś, czego nie można porównać z innym SUV-em. To DNA Porsche. Natychmiast daje się rozpoznać po pochyłej linii dachu i ikonicznych konturach legendarnego sportowego samochodu, który sprawi, że odważysz się na więcej.

Parametry przyjęte do kalkulacji raty: opłata wstępna 20%, okres leasingu 36 miesięcy, przebieg 20 tys. km rocznie. Wartość wykupu określona w umowie. Produkt dla przedsiębiorców na wybrane modele Porsche przygotowany przez Volkswagen Financial Services Polska Sp. z o.o.

Pod nazwą Volkswagen Financial Services oferowane są usługi bankowe (przez Volkswagen Bank GmbH Sp. z o.o. Oddział w Polsce), usługi leasingowe i mobilność (przez Volkswagen Financial Services Polska Sp. z o.o.) oraz usługi ubezpieczeniowe (przez Volkswagen Serwis Ubezpieczeniowy Sp. z o.o. jako agenta ubezpieczeniowego). Niniejsza informacja nie stanowi oferty w rozumieniu kodeksu cywilnego.

Dostępność i warunki produktu mogą ulec zmianie.

Porsche Macan S. W zależności od wariantu i wersji zużycie paliwa w cyklu mieszanym 11,1-11,7 l/100 km, emisja CO2 251-265 g/km (dane na podstawie świadectw homologacji typu). Zużycie paliwa i emisja CO2 zostały określone zgodnie z procedurą WLTP. O szczegóły zapytaj autoryzowanego Dealera Marki Porsche lub sprawdź na stronie www.porsche.pl/porsche-wltp.