Residents of our county had several opportunities on Wednesday, May 7, to meet with Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg, a Member of the European Parliament from the Democratic Left Alliance. One of the meetings took place at the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Center.
“Elections to the European Parliament are very important,” Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg emphasized during the meeting. “Unfortunately, in our country they are disregarded by 80% of society. In 2009, in terms of turnout, we had the second-worst result in Europe. Only Slovaks were less interested in these elections than we were. It is thought-provoking that Poles fought for free elections for many years, and when they finally won them, they completely stopped being interested in them. I hope that after May 25 it will turn out that we are a responsible society that wants to consciously choose its future.”
The MEP spoke about her 10 years of work in the European Parliament. She said that many Europeans do not know their rights. She recounted the story of a Spanish woman who bought a ticket from a so-called low-cost airline. She arrived at the airport on time, but was not allowed to board. They tried to convince her that she was late. The truth, however, was that the carrier had sold more tickets than there were seats on the plane. The woman was turned away, but she did not give up. She filed a complaint with the European Parliament. The case took a long time, but EU officials ruled in her favor. The Spanish woman had paid 50 euros for the ticket; the compensation amounted to... several thousand. “Every complaint is treated very seriously,” Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg stressed.
The SLD activist also mentioned the difference between election campaigns in Poland and Belgium: “The latter is a country that is very mobilized in this respect. Turnout there is 95–98%, and the campaign is difficult—there are no billboards, press advertisements or television spots. What is more, voting is compulsory. If someone does not vote, they pay a fine. And if they do so repeatedly, they will not get a job in any public institution. In the case of entrepreneurs, the penalty is even more severe—they cannot participate in public tenders.”
The MEP also addressed the growing strength of Eurosceptics. “People say that there may be as many as 200 of them in the new European Parliament. These are people who will want to fight the Union, seek its dissolution, restore borders, abolish the common currency, and even expel foreigners from their countries,” she said. “Such a number of Eurosceptics could paralyze the EU for good.”
“I constantly hear statements in the country that I do not understand. For example: during the last Easter holidays, we ate smoked ham or sausage for the last time because the Union will soon ban us from smoking meat,” Geringer de Oedenberg continued. “That is complete nonsense. But no one corrected it. The rumor has already spread. The truth is that there are no foolish regulations in the European Union. They all serve a purpose.”
The MEP also stressed that she is not “uncritically enamored of the Union”: “I see how many things could be improved. The point is that we are talking about 28 sovereign countries, each of which pursues its own policy. I constantly hear Americans say: we do not know whom to call because there is no single phone number for the head of Europe. That is true, but it is because there is no single leader of the Old Continent; there are 28 of them. Europe is not the United States. We would like decisions, for example concerning Ukraine, to be made quickly, but compromise takes time.”
About 100 people attended the meeting, during which Alicja Janiec from Lipiany, chairwoman of the Association of Active Women and the Forum for Equal Opportunities and Women's Rights in Bolesławiec County, also presented her candidacy for the European Parliament. It was led by Stanisław Chwojnicki, deputy head of Bolesławiec County.
(information: ii)