Month: January 2024

In the German chancellery in Berlin, Olaf Scholz‘s aides must be despairing when they look at the latest polls. The approval ratings for Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and his left-wing coalition government are abysmally bad and reflect the car-crash course of the Ampelkoalition (‘traffic light’ coalition). The SPD has fallen to a new low of only 13% according to the most recent survey by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen (the research group on elections for the public broadcaster ZDF) published on January 12th. The Greens are at 14%, but the liberal FDP has crashed to 4%, below the 5% threshold, which could endanger the party’s presence in the Bundestag at the next federal election in the fall of 2025. Up to four out of five voters have lost confidence in Scholz’s government.

All together, the three ruling parties have fallen to not much more than 30% voter support. The headwinds for the government are enormous. Among internal fights and disputes, the government has displayed a level of incompetence, ignorance, and arrogance for voters’ concerns, which is truly amazing. Last week, they faced angry farmers who blocked roads across the country and protested cuts in subsidies and higher taxes. Among the general electorate, there is widespread radical discontent, mainly fueled by the economic recession, the surge in energy prices, and controversial costly ‘green’ policies, and, above all, the failure of the government to contain the out-of-control mass immigration of asylum seekers. Germany is, as in 2015-16, again the epicenter of the new European migration crisis.

The main beneficiary of voters’ discontent is the right-wing challenger party Alternative for Germany (AfD). AfD is remarkably on the rise and has soared to well above 20% voter support (22% according to Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, even 24% in a recent YouGov poll). Therefore, they are now the second-strongest political party in the national polls. Number one has consistently been the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Together, the CDU/CSU stand at 31%. While the CDU, under its leader Friedrich Merz, has tentatively tried to distance itself from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s legacy of welcoming mass immigration, the AfD calls for tough measures to halt the influx of immigrants.

This week, a report about a meeting where ideas for ‘remigration’ or ‘repatriation’ of large numbers of unassimilated foreigners were allegedly discussed has made headlines. The media establishment is trying to corner the AfD with claims that they are a threat to the constitution. However, the polls show that the voters don’t care any more about such defamations, even about official warnings from the Verfassungsschutz, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (which is in reality an internal spy organization that can easily be abused to discredit political opponents and critics).

Interestingly, and amazingly, in the three East German states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg, where there are elections due this fall, the right-wing protest movement is particularly strong, and AfD is polling in first place, at 34% (Saxony) and even 36% (Thuringia). The ‘firewall,’ erected by the established parties to exclude AfD from any participation in power, might well crack this year. The establishment is in a kind of panic mode about this prospect. Several mainstream journalists were lamenting about the ‘Ernstfall,’ which is usually translated as ‘case of emergency’ but also signifies a situation when the survival of the state is at stake. Well, at least the hegemony of the left-green mainstream is seriously challenged and about to fall.

However, there has also been talk recently about the fragmentation of German politics and possibly the fragmentation of the opposition forces. One new party has been founded, and another one is set to be founded. Sahra Wagenknecht, a popular former left-winger, has broken away from Die Linke party and launched her Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) last week. The new party wants to siphon votes from Left and Right, and many mainstream observers have high hopes that she might snatch a large share of the AfD vote. At the same time, former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen has announced that he will transform the WerteUnion (Values Union), originally a conservative CDU pressure group, into a party. Furthermore, there is a small conservative party called Alliance Germany (Bündnis Deutschland).

Could this fragmentation make a dent in AfD’s success and stop the party? The EU elections in June are comparatively simple for newcomer parties and, due to the lack of a 5% hurdle, a tempting test run. The Values Union is probably eyeing these elections too. However, there are massive doubts about its organizational capacity and the pool of politically skilled personnel. Apparently, it consists mainly of frustrated dropouts from AfD and a few CDU retirees who want to sit at the back of the bus when it gets going. But the question remains: who will build a functioning engine for the bus, who will get enough fuel, who will control the nutters and cranks that are always drawn to new parties, and how many drivers will be fighting for the steering wheel?

With a view to the extensive graveyard of failed small parties in Germany in the last decades, a large amount of skepticism about the prospects of these newcomers is well founded. The most recent survey indicates that Wagenkecht’s party is polling at only 4%, well below the threshold needed to enter parliament in Germany.

Thus, AfD remains the most important focal point for any opposition on the Right. It is there where the main battle will be fought. The decisive question this year will be whether the ‘firewall,’ an unfair exclusion of millions of protest voters on the Right, can be overcome.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/german-politics-in-troubled-waters/

There is a camp of those who are clever and cosmopolitan, who to a certain extent embody the higher moral consciousness of society and formulate a socially palatable view on immigration. For example, it claims that only immigration will secure the prosperity of our nation, increase its benefits, ward off harm, and so on. All sorts of magical figures are used to prove all this clearly and objectively.

On the other side is the camp of the ignorant people who do not want to see this. Those who do not have this higher moral consciousness and who are therefore not so insightful in the eyes of the sanctimonious elite. Instead, they ignore the “facts”, oppose progress with hatred and agitation, and are therefore quite rightly politically excluded and marginalized. No one needs to deal with their arguments because they have none.

The nonsense of profitable migration

Beyond the dream world of the former camp, everyone knows what to make of their collective view. The medical assistant in the doctor’s surgery who settles the horrendous sums with the health insurance companies; the employee in the social welfare office who lets his gaze wander over the waiting area; the policeman on the street who tackles the devastation caused by immigration — they all know about the grotesque nonsense that Germany is profiting from immigration.

Pro-immigration advocates dismiss their anecdotal evidence as subjective impressions that are not corroborated by statistics. However, with the new study “Honorable State? Focus migration on the fiscal balance of immigration” by Bernd Raffelhüschen, this is now changing.

Raffelhüschen, who teaches finance at the University of Freiburg, is one of the most renowned pensions and social affairs experts. What he has to say to his numerous colleagues, who propagate immigration as a remedy, is quite something.

Solving the “sustainability gap” with immigrants?

In his view, demographic “change” — more likely a tangible catastrophe — will strike mercilessly in the coming years, which will be particularly noticeable in our pension system. Fewer and fewer people paying into the system and more and more people relying on it cannot go on for long. The report rebukes entirely the grotesque nonsense that Germany benefits from mass immigration.

However, reports do not solve the problem. Those who join us today will not stabilize the pension system but will later be dependent on more benefits than they will have paid in by then. Projected into the future, Raffelhüschen arrives at “a significant increase in the sustainability gap from 447.8 to 497.1 percent of GDP,” compared to if there was no immigration at all.

With an incredible €5.8 trillion in the red

In concrete figures, immigration would be a loss-making business of an incredible €5.8 trillion. Mind you, this is a projection based on the current composition of the immigration structure. “If we carry on as before, we’ll be as dumb as a brick!” commented Raffelhüschen on migration policy to date. But even if the proportion of qualified immigrants increases, the financial scientist calculates we still come to a negative conclusion. Whichever way you look at it, nothing beats German children.

The cosmopolitan citizen has been deceived. His illusory world of magic numbers never really existed. Immigration is not a solution, but merely an expression of not wanting to deal with problems. It remains the same as it has been for thousands of years: The only future-proof pension insurance is the family. Happy are those who have found one despite all social resistance.

https://rmx.news/economy/migration-does-not-create-prosperity-quite-the-opposite/

by Giulio Meotti

The Welfare State, the great pride of Western civilization, the latest achievement of democracy of a civilized, democratic and well-fed West, has ended. The Toronto Sun reports that Canadian government websites no longer talk about “women”, but about “menstruating employees.”

People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier thunders against Trudeau’s “gender-obsessed” government which is waging a systematic attack on masculinity and turning men “into non-binary, trans, gender-fluid, weak and effeminate sissies.”

They can’t really believe themselves. Instead, it’s another sign of what I called a “cultural apocalypse”. The West is seduced by it, attracted, we build it, we long for it, we are its disciples.

It would be easy to dismiss the story. But Canada has become a great theme park for woke ideology.

“This ideology shapes the elite and the future elite,” says the French Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. “Woke is the installation of hatred for the West in the heart of the West. Octavio Paz described how we have perverted the great critical tradition that has kept our societies in constant dialogue with themselves. We have perverted it by putting it at the service of hatred towards ourselves and our world. Catastrophe occurs when things follow their course, said Walter Benjamin.”

With the Menstrual Equity for All Act (2021), California placed tampon machines in men’s bathrooms. Now in Canada, they are installed in all bathrooms of public buildings, including Parliament. The English Lib Dems have just decided that “it is not a matter for biological women only”.

Women become men, then “pregnant men.” Abracadabra!. In recent weeks, a kit on “men menstruate too” has arrived in English schools and pads are now also found in the restrooms of the Welsh Parliament and in British government departments.

In Western universities it is called “equity”. A Finnish company has produced a “tampon for men only”. You can find them at the University of Sydney, and also at the University of Stuttgart, in Germany, where once taught Robert Spaemann, a great thinker who was a long-time research and study companion of Pope Ratzinger.

Also at Brown University, in America. Who knows if those Brown professors who praised Hamas’ October 7th brought them in. Also at the University of Birmingham, the second English city with 30 percent Muslim population.

A atrange West, where the word “fisherman” is now offensive. Writer Patricia Cornwell revealed that she is using the word “fisherfolk” instead of “fisherman” to avoid offending her readers. The queen of crime thrillers reveals to the Telegraph that she is constantly grappling with the question of what words are considered acceptable or not.

We make a lot of noise about this and other similar stories because our Western moment is so damned stupid.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, in the last few hours the Taliban have launched the first crackdown on women who do not wear the Islamic veil correctly. And then I thought about the head of the British Armed Forces, Nick Carter, who in the days of the escape from Kabul (already forgotten by the entire Western establishment) said that we should not call the Taliban “enemies”.

“Take back your freedom from terrorist dogs.” Thus stated the American leaflet once dropped in the province of Parwan, a few kilometers north of Kabul. Accompanying it is an image: a lion chasing a dog. A white dog, like the Taliban flag. On his body, as on the flag of black turbans, an inscription, the shahada, the testimony of Islamic faith.

The lion is dead, replaced by a fluid rabbit. So, after we handed Afghanistan back to the Taliban two years ago, I wrote: “America returns to the serious stuff, transgender bathrooms.” Maybe this is how we will win: by throwing Woke and transgender leaflets from the sky at Hamas, the ayatollahs, ISIS and the Taliban.

How can a Woke West defeat radical Islam? | Israel National News – Arutz Sheva

In the aftermath of a closed-door session of the CDU executive board held in Heidelberg, party leader Friedrich Merz announced a significant decision regarding the party’s relationship with the Values Union (WU). Merz revealed that the matter would be subjected to a party conference vote scheduled for April.

Emphasizing the CDU’s renewed commitment to conservatism, Merz categorically ruled out any potential collaboration with the AfD. Additionally, he made it clear that the Values Union, led by CDU member and former President for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen, is also excluded from future alliances, the German press reported.

Maaßen plans to transform the party-affiliated organization into a political party, with the initial steps to be taken next Saturday. If successful, Merz expressed his intention to seek an incompatibility resolution with the Union of Values at the upcoming party conference.

The recent developments stem from the involvement of two CDU members associated with the Values Union, Simone Baum and Michaela Schneider, who were invited to a meeting in Potsdam. This gathering, attended by entrepreneurs, AfD politicians, CDU members, and right-wing conservative intellectuals in November, addressed topics such as the “remigration” of foreigners. The event has since been controversially labeled as “right-wing extremist” by the media and some politicians.

According to investigative journalism outlet “Correctiv,” the presence of Baum and Schneider at the Potsdam meeting has fueled concerns about the Values Union’s role as a mediator between the CDU and AfD. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann expressed dismay at the revelations from the meeting, asserting that discussions allegedly included “deportations of German citizens,” a claim vehemently denied by participants.

While uncertainties linger regarding the actual attendance of the two women in Potsdam, Linnemann unequivocally declared, “There is no place for such ideas in our party,” promising a thorough examination of the consequences and decisive actions.

Already, the left-wing faction of the party, organized within the workers’ organization CDA, has declared incompatibility with the Values Union. CDA deputy chairman and CDU MEP Dennis Radtke called on the CDU to follow suit, citing the critical state of liberal democracy in various European regions. Radtke urged political and societal elites to make clear differentiations, emphasizing the need for such distinctions in both economic and social spheres.

https://www.voiceofeurope.com/cdu-chief-merz-announces-firewall-against-maasens-union-of-values-party/

Monday is to be the biggest day yet for German anti-government protesters as thousands of tractors and now truckers are expected in Berlin as the workers who keep society fed and clothed push back against the green agenda.

German Police attempted to limit the impact of a huge protest against the coalition government’s anti-agriculture policies on Monday, saying they had set a hard limit on the number of vehicles permitted to attend. Officers on the outskirts of the city have been stopping muckspreaders and turning them around, preventing tractors towing loads of manure from entering Berlin, reports the Berliner Morgenpost.

Muck-spreaders have been used to great effect at farmer protests in European countries in the past, with then-viral footage showing streams of effluence being flung onto, and into, government buildings as a signal of dissatisfaction with ruling parties. Berlin Police said in a statement that “our colleagues have detected a load of feces… [these] vehicles will be excluded from the journey.”

While police work to control the demo, the fire brigade welcomed the convoy of tractors in the early hours with an act of solidarity, B.Z. reports, with fire engines showing lights and sirens, and firemen applauding as the vehicles rolled past.

At least 3,200 tractors are already in Berlin and thousands more are on their way, reports state. But police say they will only permit 5,000 to take part, and have set up parking areas for the thousands of vehicles in the city, Morgenpost states. Roads across the city are already closed, as are many bus routes.

Speakers today include the president of the German Farmer’s Association and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner. As Lindner attempted to address the rally on Monday morning, he had to pause his speech as he was drowned down by shouts.

“Significantly more than” the 10,000 authorised participants are expected and the tractor areas were already full by the early hours of Monday morning. Boosting the protest’s size is the fact that the farmers, which have been shutting down major roads for the past week as part of a long-lasting protest against the governing coalition, have now been joined in solidarity by truckers. German media notes truck drivers and logistics professionals come with their own concerns against the government, but it is clear those issues are closely aligned with those faced by farmers.

For truckers, issues pushing them to protest today and to launch other protests of their own later in the week include rising ‘C02 pricing’ — a further tax upon operating an engine-driven vehicle on top of the rest, meant to punish producers of emissions — and rising toll road prices. A 2023 summary notes these costs to truckers are rising 83 per cent and the “increase in freight prices passed on by the hauliers to their customers… if transiting through Germany from the Netherlands border to Poland, a distance of circa 700 kms using the Toll roads, this is an increase of circa €110.00 per trip.”

Tractor protesters themselves are also at odds with government policies that seek to raise more cash for the state by punishing those who use machines. In agriculture’s case, this means increased fuel costs by the government withdrawing a diesel subsidy, and ending the taxation exemption for agricultural vehicles. Farmers say agriculture is dying in Germany by a ‘thousand cuts’ and these nakedly anti-farmer policies by the left-green-centrist coalition government are the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.

Beyond the truckers, the farmers also have a friend in the German people, with B.Z. reporting “70 per cent of Germans support the farmer’s protests”. The government on the other hand derides the protesters as “extremists” who show “contempt” for compromise and who deliberately “foment anger”.

The alarming language from the government accusing farmers and their supporters of extremism has triggered some derision, however, with a leader in Die Welt, Germany’s top establishment-broadsheet newspaper calling out the present ruling coalition’s constant accusation of its opponents killing democracy to silence dissent.

The chief reporter of Welt Anna Schneider wrote this weekend that: “You’ve probably noticed: Democracy is dying, again. At least if you believe Robert Habeck and other Greens who see the farmers’ protests as a threat to our country. What nonsense.”

The co-ruling Green party are incredibly worried, Schnieder notes, stating warnings of extreme farmers wishing to “destroy our democratic state” while comparing protesters to Nazis had now passed into the state of being considered infamous. In all, it was noted: “A democracy that cannot tolerate government criticism and non-violent protests can certainly be considered pitiful… [because] farmers are taking to the streets against the traffic light government’s policies, it is assumed that they are against the system, against democracy as such. What nonsense. Criticism of the government is not the same as criticism of democracy.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/01/15/10000-expected-at-tractor-protest-against-german-government-as-truckers-join-rebels/

The Smiths frontman Morrissey has taken to his website to unleash a blistering take on today’s current media landscape.

The singer has claimed outlets are trying to “delete” him from “being the central essence of The Smiths”.

Morrissey’s furious blog, published on January 11, comes amid reports that questioned his role in getting the band off its feet.

Clearly feeling the mixed reports have downplayed his part in the band’s spot in music history, Morrissey shared a blog with the title: “Cancel culture begins at home.”

In it, the 64-year-old fumed: “There is an obvious media shift to delete me from being the central essence of The Smiths…

“But this cannot work because I invented the group name, the song titles, the album titles, the artwork, the vocal melodies, and all of the lyrical sentiments came from my heart.”

Morrissey then compared the reports as similar to suggesting Mick Jagger had “nothing to do with the Stones”.

Delving into the details, Morrissey hit back at reports that have suggested he wasn’t involved in the “initial meeting at Rough Trade Records”.

Dismissing the suggestion that Andy Rourke was there in his place, Morrissey penned: “The meeting, of course, was Morrissey and [Johnny] Marr.

“Even Geoff Travis has now suddenly decided that he ‘can’t remember who was with Johnny,’ even though Geoff looked me squarely in the eye on that very day and said, ‘We’d like to release Hand In Glove immediately’.

“And he then more importantly said to me that his name was Geoff with a G, not Jeff with a J.”

Morrissey brought his latest post to a close with the warning: “The hounds are snapping!”

Before he defiantly put: “Hand in glove, I stake my claim! I’ll fight to the last breath!”

The comments were made by Morrissey in conversation in Japan in 2023.

This isn’t the first time Morrissey has taken aim at cancel culture in today’s media landscape.

In early 2023, Morrissey slapped back at the suggestion singer Miley Cyrus dropped out of a collaboration due to his political views.

He said that Cyrus asked to leave the project for “reasons unconnected to me, having had a major clash with a key figure in ‘the circle'” and not to do with his views.

And referring to cancel culture, he expressed: “My friends are fully aware of a certain aim to put me out of circulation, which has inexplicably become relentless even though the entire point of Cancel Culture is to never again acknowledge whomever has been cancelled.”

https://www.gbnews.com/celebrity/morrissey-cancel-culture-the-smiths

In a surprising turn of events, an Israeli soccer player competing in Turkey’s league has been arrested after dedicating a goal to Israeli hostages and victims of a recent Hamas attack. The player in question, Sagiv Jehezkel, who is a member of Antalyaspor, displayed a wristband with the words “100 days. 7.10.” to commemorate the tragic event.

However, Jehezkel’s actions did not sit well with the team’s board of directors, who promptly suspended him. In a statement, they expressed that his actions were contrary to the nation’s values, leading to doubts about his future with the team. The team’s president, while announcing their intention to support Jehezkel, also hinted at the possibility of terminating his contract.

Subsequently, Jehezkel was taken into custody by the police. The Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated a judicial inquiry against him, alleging that he incited hatred and hostility among the public. The charges stem from Jehezkel’s dedication, which the authorities perceive as potentially divisive actions.

This incident has ignited a debate on the freedom of expression and the consequences of political statements in the world of sports. As both sides argue their perspectives, the situation has heightened tensions between Antalyaspor and their Israeli player, exposing the complex intersections of sports and politics.

The arrest of Sagiv Jehezkel serves as a reminder of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the challenges faced by athletes who choose to make political statements or show solidarity with victims of tragic events. It remains to be seen how this case will develop and what implications it may have on the relationship between sports, politics, and freedom of expression.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2024/01/15/israeli-soccer-player-arrested-for-dedication-to-israeli-hostages-and-hamas-attack-victims-in-turkeys-league/

In the Kodarma region of Jharkhand, the police have filed an FIR against an individual named Suleman for allegedly murdering a Hindu man identified as Ghanashyam Das. The accused Suleman is said to have murdered the victim for marrying his niece, Sultana. The FIR in the case was registered on 14th December but it is reported that to date, the police have taken no action in the case.

According to the report by Aaj Tak, Sultana and victim Das were in love. The woman married the latter 3 years after the death of her earlier husband. Sultana was worried about the future of her two kids so she decided to marry Das after falling in love with him.

While the family of the woman had no problem with her second marriage to a Hindu, her maternal uncle, Suleman, had warned her regarding the marriage. He had threatened that he would do something unfavourable to stop the marriage. While the two married without any incident, the accused murdered Das 10 months after he tied the knot with Sultana.

Suleman is said to have spiked drinks offered to Das with poison, after which he immediately passed away. The accused believed that the woman had sinned by marrying a man belonging to the Hindu religion.

The woman has appealed to the police to take strict action against the accused. She said that she expects justice to be delivered to her second husband who was brutally murdered by the accused. The murder is said to be executed on 13th December, and the police filed an FIR in the case on 14th December.

Further investigations into the case are underway.

https://www.opindia.com/2024/01/jharkhand-suleman-murders-hindu-husband-of-his-niece-sultana-booked/

By Jack Hellner

Pope Francis says many things that, in my opinion, just regurgitate leftist talking points, so I have many questions for this supposedly religious man who is supposed to look out for the best interest of the people, especially the poor.

The pope frequently denounces capitalism as some kind of enemy of the poor, but capitalism is the best system to lift poor people up through opportunity instead of making them dependent on the government, so I would ask him:

Isn’t it better to give people economic opportunities than to have them depend on a master, a powerful government, for their needs and wants?

The pope denounces border walls, or severe restrictions on those who illegally enter a country, so he should be asked: Why does the Vatican City have walls? Why don’t they just let everyone in?

He also is a frequent regurgitator of how capitalism, humans, and our use of natural resources are destroying the Earth which brings up many more questions:

Does he believe that God blessed the Earth with many natural resources and natural elements in the atmosphere?

Does he believe that God created our only heat source, the Sun? Does he believe humans can control the distance the Earth is from the sun or the temperature on the Sun?

Does he believe that humans were blessed with a brain that allowed them to figure out how to greatly improve our quality and length of life by utilizing the natural resources the Earth has been blessed with?

Why doesn’t he want poor people in underdeveloped countries to enjoy the great benefits of our natural resources? Why doesn’t he care that they die so much younger than those of us who have benefitted?

Did God create the system where humans breathe out CO2 that allows plants to thrive and where plants emit oxygen which allows humans to live?

Does the Pope think that the atmosphere can’t handle CO2, a clear innocuous, non-pollutant gas at 420 parts per million, a very minor component of the vast atmosphere?

Does he believe that CO2, which allows the poor to be fed, should be buried?

Does he think that politicians and bureaucrats can override all the natural variables in the atmosphere and control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity forever if we just keep several natural resources in the ground? 

The pope should be asked how he determined what the right temperature to be since the Earth has gone through many warming and cooling periods. 

Finally, the pope should be asked for his scientific data that shows that humans, CO2, gas, cars, cows, and other things cause global warming since there is none. 

The pope should work on helping poor people instead of working so hard to destroy countries that have greatly helped their people prosper and thrive with freedom from powerful governments and with the great benefits of using coal, oil, and natural gas. 

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/as_a_catholic_i_have_some_questions_for_the_pope.html

A leading Polish newspaper has alleged a senior Warsaw police officer was asked to instigate electronic surveillance of the Presidential Palace in the hours leading up to the recent arrest and incarceration of two previously pardoned MPs.

Rzeczpospolita reported on January 13 that the police and the State Security Service (SOP), responsible for protecting State officials, wanted to monitor the Palace ahead of the arrest of Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik.

Both MPs were being hosted by President Andrzej Duda and, according to the Polish news group, pressure was put on the deputy chief of Warsaw police Krzysztof Smela to allow the surveillance to be carried out.

Smela apparently refused to fold and, as a result, was taken off the case, subsequently “choosing” to take early retirement.

Police officials deny his retirement is linked to the alleged Palace events, stating Smela had filed to step down in November last year.

Duda was reported by Polish media to be “shocked at the behaviour” of the SOP, a body which is responsible for his personal protection, in that it apparently co-operated with a police action seemingly directed at him.

Prominent political scientist Andrzej Anusz has advised the President to request that his security in future be handled by the military police rather than the SOP, the country’s media also claimed.

The two MPs were seized after the police entered the Presidential Palace on January 10 and arrested them, placing them in prison to serve a two-year prison sentence over an alleged abuse of power regarding an “anti-corruption sting” several years ago.

The latest move came despite the fact that Duda had pardoned Kamiński and Wąsik for these alleged offences, in 2015.

A chamber of the Polish Supreme Court ruled recently that the pardon procedure was invalid as the two MPs’ appeals had not yet been heard by the courts. The case was returned to the appeals court, which upheld the original sentences and a warrant was issued for their arrest.

The two MPs have, as a result of their incarceration, had their parliamentary mandates revoked by the Speaker of Parliament Szymon Hołownia and have gone on hunger strike.

Their conservative PiS party colleagues have called them the “first political prisoners” since the end of Russian-implemented Communism in 1989.

Duda has now repeated his pardon of the pair, requesting justice minister Adam Bodnar to suspend their sentences pending completion of the pardon procedure. Thus far, Bodnar has not officially responded.

Relations between the President and the Government had deteriorated further after Bodnar dismissed the National Prosecutor Dariusz Barski on January 12, thereby contravening legislation that obliges a justice minister to consult with the Head of State, ie Duda, before making any such move.

Barski was “no longer the head of the National Prosecutor’s Office”, Bodnar announced, alleging that the previous minister of justice Zbigniew Ziobro had made a procedural “error” in appointing Barski in the first place.

Bodnar then installed Jacek Bilewicz as “acting National Prosecutor”, a post not recognised under Polish law, without consulting Duda – as is required.

Duda, who said such actions represented a “violation of law”, accused newly-installed Prime Minister Donald Tusk of plunging the country into “crisis” and ruling by “revenge”.

Former prime minister Beata Szydło took to X to slam the justice minister’s actions.

She wrote: “Bodnar during his attempt to take over the National Prosecutor’s Office was instructed about the illegal nature of his actions. He also admitted that the decision had been taken by Donald Tusk who, when asked about it by journalists, said that the action was Bodnar’s responsibility.

“They are both cowards who refuse to be accountable for their actions.”

In her X post, Szydło included what she described as something important regarding the situation, saying: “Every Pole should see this recording.”

„Minister sprawiedliwości” Adam Bodnar podczas próby przejęcia Prokuratury Krajowej został poinformowany o nielegalnym charakterze swoich działań. Przy okazji Bodnar otwarcie przyznał, że decyzję o zmianie prokuratora krajowego podjął Donald Tusk. Wczoraj Tusk pytany o wydarzenia… pic.twitter.com/lq2dtbQYSb

— Beata Szydło (@BeataSzydlo) January 13, 2024

At the time of writing, Public prosecutors in the National Prosecutor’s office previously headed by Barski are reportedly protesting Bodnar’s move and have refused entry to the building of those not authorised to be there by their deposed chief.

Officials have also apparently written to the European Commission asking for intervention to protect what they call the “independence” of prosecutors in Poland.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/01/was-polish-presidents-office-bugged-ahead-of-mps-arrest/