euro|topics - Mirosław Czech

Czech, Mirosław

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | 15/05/2008

International witnesses in trial against Jaruzelski

A district court in Warsaw yesterday ruled that Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) must hear the testimony of further witnesses before bringing former head of state and party leader Wojciech Jaruzelski to trial. In compliance with Jaruzelski's request, those witnesses would include the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Mirosław Czech welcomes the decision. "The imposition of martial law ended the peaceful Solidarnosc revolution. It destroyed the hopes of millions of Poles. ... The group led by General Wojciech Jaruzelski was solely responsible for this. The imposition of martial law was a political decision, and therefore the trial will be a political one. The court must examine all the documents, above all those from the Soviet archives. Witnesses must be questioned, including Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher, which may seem superfluous or even ridiculous at first. The IPN thus wants to turn the court into a classroom for recent history and it to judge over matters that should be left to the historians. ... If a public prosecutor is allowed to deal with assessments of the past, history loses and justice gains nothing."

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | 03/11/2007

Poland remains loyal to the Vatican

The strong position of the Catholic Church in Poland is not under threat, writes Miroslaw Czech, adding that the election victory of the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) won't change this. "For the Church, the PO government and its wide support among the country's younger generation holds out the prospect that Poland won't share the fate of other Catholic countries like Spain or Ireland, where the process of secularisation has been particularly rapid. Under the PO government, Poland will remain 'forever loyal' to Christ and the Vatican for a long time to come. Poland is not joining the European trend of secularisation and the renunciation of the fundamentals of Catholic ethics. Over the coming years, there will be no major shake-ups. Life will continue at a comfortable pace with baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals."

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | 25/07/2007

Poland's government in row over required reading at schools

Poland's ruling coalition has been locked in a dispute for months now over required reading at schools. Polish Minister of Education Roman Giertych, leader of the ultra-right League of Polish Families (LPR), removed among others two books by Witold Gombrowicz from the official literary canon. Yesterday the Cabinet revoked the new canon. Giertych immediately announced that he would appeal the decision before the constitutional court. Miroslaw Czech comments. "He wants to show both voters and the Church that as minister he's prepared to do battle to the bitter end against the 'pederasts'. ... Even Witold Gombrowicz wouldn't have come up with this: the fate of his books no longer depends on their readers but on the constitutional court. ... We've stopped being angry about it and are now just smiling and asking ourselves how long this governmental circus in the name of a moral revolution will go on."

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | 14/07/2007

The dispute about the boss of Radio Maryja

Polish intellectuals have appealed to the Catholic Church to take action against director of Radio Maryja Father Tadeusz Rydzyk following an anti-Semitic speech he delivered recently. A number of professors have reacted to this with a letter defending Rydzyk's conduct. Mirosław Czech comments: "The Church can't simply act as if nothing unusual was going on at Radio Maryja. During his pilgrimage to Czestochowa Father Rydzyk once again demonstrated that he's more politician than pastor. He's infecting young people with his hate and anti-Semitic obsession. His conduct regarding the state's leading politicians is despicable and he is arrogant towards the church hierarchy. He is a threat to the democratic order. Radio Maryja has become a political party and part of the government camp... If the Church tolerates this situation, it is declaring its approval of the state power's deep dependence."

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