On Friday evening (March 1), Jacek Protasiewicz arrived in Bolesławiec. The meeting with the Civic Platform politician took place at the headquarters of the County Starosty Office. It was chaired by Karol Stasik, head of the district Civic Platform organization. County head Cezary Przybylski sat beside the MEP.
Protasiewicz began the meeting by presenting Civic Platform’s main achievements. He emphasized those related to Poland’s accession to the European Union. At this point, he paid tribute to Stanisław Chojnicki, the deputy county head from the Democratic Left Alliance, adding that Chojnicki’s party had contributed significantly to Poland’s integration with the Union. Protasiewicz spoke about the subsidies obtained for Poland and what the money was to be allocated to during the crisis.
“Infrastructure is important,” the MEP said. “But people are the best investment. That is why the money will also be allocated to supporting innovation and eliminating unemployment.”
The politician spoke about employment offices. “It would be good to decentralize and privatize job placement offices,” he stated. “We must not allow young people to be unemployed after graduating from university. If they do become unemployed, they should not remain on benefits for more than four months; after that, they must receive an offer of work or meaningful training,” Protasiewicz added.
Later in the meeting, responding to a question from a student at one of the city’s technical schools, Protasiewicz returned to the issue of youth unemployment. “In my view, going abroad in search of work is not a lack of patriotism,” he said. “It is better to work washing dishes in England than to be unemployed in Poland.”
Jacek Protasiewicz also answered other questions from the audience. One of the more interesting questions was asked by Krzysztof Górecki, a retired teacher. “There are no women and no young people in our Bolesławiec Civic Platform organization,” the 66-year-old said. “Darek Kwaśniewski, the head of Civic Platform in Bolesławiec, jokes that he is the youngest because he is 50. Please discuss this with us substantively,” Górecki asked the politician.
Protasiewicz mentioned quotas, which he supported, and touched very cautiously on the lack of opportunities for young people to advance quickly within the party. In his twenties, Arkadiusz Krzemiński, one of the youngest party members in Bolesławiec, did not comment on Protasiewicz’s remarks. He asked him about legalizing soft drugs in Poland. Protasiewicz replied that in this case he represented Civic Platform’s conservative wing, and that Poland had liberal laws in this respect.
The issue of civil partnerships and the resulting split within Civic Platform was also raised.
“It turned out that marriage is the foundation of Poland’s political system,” Protasiewicz explained. “It is not a right of citizens. This is a legal dispute. The media turned it into a sensation and presented the dispute as a split in the party. In the media, it appeared as though some Civic Platform MPs had supported MP Pawłowicz,” he added.
Protasiewicz himself admitted to being friends with two homosexual couples (gay men).
“One couple lives in Belgium and does not hide it; the other lives in Poland and remains hidden,” the politician said. “I believe that homosexual people in Poland should have the same rights as every citizen and must not be pushed to the margins of society.”
(information: GH)