On a cold spring morning, European Parliament candidate Krzysztof Śmiszek, a lawyer and activist for human and minority rights, and Robert Biedroń’s partner in private life, arrived in Bolesławiec. He was accompanied by Natalia Zatka from Jelenia Góra, ninth on the list, a doctor of humanities and entrepreneur.
The Wiosna programme, briefly presented by Śmiszek, has one main goal: every EU citizen should have the same rights.
– We believe the time has come to talk about ordinary people’s concerns at the European level – explains Krzysztof Śmiszek. – The EU is associated by Polish women and men with abstract matters such as the European Commission, proceedings against Poland for violating the rule of law, or major investments: motorways, bridges, public buildings and water parks. Wiosna says that after 15 years of participation in the EU, the time has come to invest in people, so that the Union is close to the normal, everyday matters of each of us. We talk about specific issues. Why should a Polish woman have different standards of perinatal care than a Czech or Swedish woman? The time has come to harmonise healthcare standards in all EU countries. Why should the Union not be associated with a uniform visa policy? We should have one European passport. Why does someone from Bolesławiec have to travel to Kraków or Warsaw to obtain a US visa, while the French and Germans have long not known what a visa to the United States looks like? Every European, including every Pole, under the age of 26 should have free rail travel throughout Europe during the holiday period. This is the easiest way for young people to learn about other cultures, religions and customs in EU countries, and the best way to overcome the virus of nationalism – adds the European Parliament candidate.
Natalia Zatka spoke about equal EU standards concerning clean air.Natalia Zatka. – Jelenia Góra and Cieplice are at risk of losing their spa status because the air here is so polluted – said the European Parliament candidate. – Dust-monitoring sensors have been moved to the highest point in the city, which makes the measurements inadequate and fails to reveal the true scale of the pollution problem – Zatka warned.
Equal rights for women are also important to Wiosna. – We are talking about specific matters of everyday life – said Śmiszek. – We want the Union to take the problem of violence against women very seriously. And we want regulations introduced that protect women uniformly throughout the Union. We know that the problem is growing and has remained unresolved for many years. What we offer is humane, concrete solutions. Not every Pole knows what the rule of law or judicial independence means, but everyone knows what it means to wait several months for a specialist or to be misdiagnosed by an oncologist. We say: Europe will not survive if we do not show Europeans that Europe is for them, that it is not the great glass skyscrapers in Brussels, but money and actions that level the playing field and ensure that integration has a social, not merely political, dimension – the candidate adds.
Who supports Wiosna?
Studies show that Wiosna is supported most by highly educated and wealthy people from large cities, as well as by people with little education and the poorest, often over 60. – The poorest are attracted by what we have the courage to talk about: the separation of church and state – explains Krzysztof Śmiszek. – Polish women and men are anticlerical, although they are believers. No liberal party is able to articulate such strong demands. We say clearly: politicians in Poland slept through the revolution of state secularism. Politicians from Wiejska Street did not realise that Poles want the separation of church and state, women’s rights and more rights for minorities, and Wiosna lays these arguments out clearly. We are a socially liberal party, but also a social party when it comes to social solutions: a PLN 1,600 pension for everyone, an increase in the minimum wage and a 30-day maximum wait for a medical specialist. We talk about very specific social solutions that other political parties have been unable to articulate.
Wiosna candidates in Lower Silesia
On Wednesday, 10 April, Robert Biedroń’s Wiosna Electoral Committee submitted its list of candidates for registration for the European Parliament from the Lower Silesian–Opole constituency. Thanks to broad support from female and male voters, Wiosna collected nearly 15,000 signatures in constituency no. 12 from people supporting candidates from the grouping.
Wiosna is proud of its female and male candidates. They are competent and trustworthy people, known and respected in their communities, among other things for their work for others, knowledge, experience and social commitment; they are energetic and determined to implement the programme of their grouping. They are substantively prepared to represent our country in the European Parliament and to perform the honourable function of MEPs.
As announced by our leader Robert Biedroń, gender parity has been maintained on Wiosna’s list, meaning that it contains equal numbers of women and men. It includes representatives of all the largest cities in the Lower Silesian and Opole voivodeships. They represent various communities and professional groups.
The list of female and male candidates for the European Parliament from constituency no. 12 (the Lower Silesian and Opole voivodeships) of Robert Biedroń’s Wiosna Electoral Committee:
- Krzysztof Śmiszek
- Katarzyna Lubiniecka-Różyło
- Szymon Chojnowski
- Izabela Migocz
- Michał Syska
- Marta Lempart
- Jarosław Pilc
- Katarzyna Odrowska
- Natalia Zatka
- Mariusz Kotarba