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WORLD

economy almost doubled, and development of social Mateusz Kijowski – founder of the Committee for defense of democracy, DOSSIER
and civilizational values was observed. The media, leader of the anti-governmental protests.
although they were aggressive and sometimes rude, “They destroy all security mechanisms, they control systems which
still they were considered free media and they have normally function in a democratic system. Now we have a central point
a role of corrector of the government, including the of power, which is Jaroslaw Kaczyński.”
most powerful state televisions and radio channels.
After all, this was a period when the populist right- photo: (http://cdn22.se.smcloud.net)
wing nationalism entered the Polish society, some-
thing that didn’t leave immune Tusk himself, who Viktor Orban – current Prime Minister of Hungary
was flirting with populism and on several occasions “The decision of Brussels against Poland is unfair. They (the administra-
he expressed support of the autocratic behavior of tion in Brussels) should show more respect for the Poles. Brussels will
Viktor Orban, and in this regard he was supported by never win this battle with the citizens of Poland.”
the opposition, the party “Law and Justice” of Jaro-
slaw Kaczyński. On the wave of political Euroscep- photo: (http://www.renegadetribune.com/)
ticism, which affected a large part of the European
continent, in 2015 the presidential candidate of “Law Grzegorz Schetyna – President of the Party Civic Platform from January
and Justice”, Andrzej Duda won the presidential elec- 2016.
tions in May. In October this same year, the party “The decision of the European Parliament, wherewith the declaration
“Law and Justice” once again won the parliamentary for violation of the democratic values by the government is adopted, is
elections, whereby after 8 years the complete ex- an important conformation that the infringement of the constitution
ecutive power once again returned in the hands of and the law will not be without a response of the European Union. With
this party whose president is Jaroslaw Kaczyński. All the rule of Law and Justice, Poland is on the way to leave the European
previous electoral cycles show a political continuity Union.”
in the support they get from the two leading right-
wing parties. The party “Civic Platform” tradition- photo: (http://cdn14.se.smcloud.net)
ally pulls its votes from the Western regions of the
country where mostly established citizens live, with
liberal, Pro-European and modern attitudes, and the
analyses about them show that they are a segment
which was successfully adjusted to the Polish tran-
sition and modernization. On the other hand, the
main support of the Party “Law and Justice” comes
from the eastern part of Poland where mostly agri-
cultural poor population lives, which is considered
that it cannot catch up with the modern trends, and
its preferences originate from traditionalism, from
strong conservatism, and from the religious para-
digms. This division will sharply divide the Polish so-
ciety, not only on political basis, but also according to
the promotion and articulation of the overall social
and civilizational values.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
AND THE EUROPEAN RESPONSE

After the defeat in the presidential elections in
May, the governing “Civil Platform”, being aware of
the inevitable defeat that followed at the end of the
year, prior the elections, appointed five judges of the
Constitutional Court, and although the mandate of
only three of them had expired, the mandate of the
remaining two judges was to expire after the elec-
tions. This attempt for an institutional incursion
would be one of the main bases for the existing politi-

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