122 quotes found
"We, the Poles, do not understand war as a symbol but as a real fight."
"There is no happiness without patriotism."
"One experienced minute sometimes teaches us more than a lifetime."
"Today it is time for strong and courageous people because only they can achieve victory and rid the world of tyranny."
"We learned yesterday that the cause of the United Nations had suffered a most grievous loss. (Hear, hear.) It is my duty to express the feelings of this House, and to pay my tribute to the memory of a great Polish patriot and staunch ally General Sikorski. (Sympathetic cheers.) His death in the air crash at Gibraltar was one of the heaviest strokes we have sustained. From the first dark days of the Polish catastrophe and the brutal triumph of the German war machine until the moment of his death on Sunday night he was the symbol and the embodiment of that spirit which has borne the Polish nation through centuries of sorrow and is unquenchable by agony. When the organized resistance of the Polish Army in Poland was beaten down, General Sikorski's first thought was to organize all Polish elements in France to carry on the struggle, and a Polish army of over 80,000 men presently took its station on the French fronts. This army fought with the utmost resolution in the disastrous battles of 1940. Part fought its way out in good order into Switzerland, and is today interned there. Part marched resolutely to the sea, and reached this island. Here General Sikorski had to begin his work again. He persevered, unwearied and undaunted. The powerful Polish forces which have now been accumulated and equipped in this country and in the Middle East, to the latter of whom his last visit was paid, now await with confidence and ardor the tasks which lie ahead. General Sikorski commanded the devoted loyalty of the Polish people now tortured and struggling in Poland itself. He personally directed that movement of resistance which has maintained a ceaseless warfare against German oppression in spite of sufferings as terrible as any nation has ever endured. (Hear, hear.) This resistance will grow in power until, at the approach of liberating armies, It will exterminate the German ravagers of the homeland. I was often brought into contact with General Sikorski in those years of war. I had a high regard for him, and admired his poise and calm dignity amid so many trials and baffling problems. He was a man of remarkable pre-eminence, both as a statesman and a soldier, His agreement with Marshal Stalin of July 30th, 1941, was an outstanding example of his political wisdom. Until the moment of his death he lived in the conviction needs of the common struggle and in the faith that a better Europe will arise in which a great and independent Poland will play an honorable part. (Cheers.) We British here and throughout the Commonwealth and Empire, who declared war on Germany because of Hitler's invasion of Poland and in fulfillment of our guarantee, feel deeply for our Polish allies in their new loss. We express our sympathy to them, we express our confidence in their immortal qualities, and we proclaim our resolve that General Sikorski's work as Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief shall not have been done in vain. (Cheers.) The House would, I am sure, wish also that its sympathy should be conveyed to Madame Sikorski, who dwells here in England, and whose husband and daughter have both been simultaneously killed on duty."
"Sikorski was a statesman, outstanding among the leaders of the Second World War. This position he owed to his character, his faith in ultimate victory, his clearness of decision and his energy in all actions. ... Wladyslaw Sikorski bequeathed much to those he left behind, and the fact that Polands name became famous during the war was largely due to him. Great Britain lost in him a great friend and one of the champions of a just and wise world policy."
"They [i.e. the Christian National Union] don't emphasize procapitalist thinking. Basing themselves on the social teachings of the church, they will advocate the model of the denominational state. That is why two strong rightist parties will arise. The Liberal party will resolutely distance itself from the nationalist orientation. It will occupy the Center-Right niche and enter into a coalition with democratic and procapitalist forces, e.g., with the Movement for Polish Politics."
"I can confirm that Poland will join the euro zone, and not just because all the treaties are signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the European Union. But only a fool would believe that the euro could provide a guarantee that a financial crisis would never happen again."
"I'm incapable of getting angry with Angela Merkel."
"We want to understand democracy as an endless discussion, or a constant debate when we choose a path. (...) But when the consensus comes, (...) we work as one body."
"Europe is not old, haggard or barren. Europe is young, dynamic and vital. Our continent remains the best place in the world to live."
"To defend [my vision of Europe] does not mean to lecture anyone. The British citizens will make this decision themselves and they do not need any whisperers, especially from Brussels. I understand this very well. But when I hear the EU being compared to the plans and projects of Adolf Hitler I cannot remain silent. Such absurd arguments should be completely ignored if they hadn't been formulated by one of the most influential politicians of the ruling party."
"As a historian I fear Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also Western political civilisation in its entirety."
"Every family knows that a divorce is traumatic for everyone. Everyone in the EU, but especially the Brits themselves, would lose out economically [if Britain left the EU]."
"Tragic paradox that the subject of #NiceAttack was the people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity."
"The claims, increasingly taking the form of threats that no agreement will be good for the UK, and bad for the EU, need to be addressed. I want to be clear that a 'no deal scenario' would be bad for everyone, but above all for the UK, because it would leave a number of issues unresolved."
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
"I still have dreams. Politics without dreams – it would be a nightmare."
"No-one will ever tell me that Brexit is a good thing because as I have always said, in fact, Brexit is only about damage control."
"The EU will be able to rise to every scenario as long as we are not divided."
"EU27 is not working on 'no-deal' scenario."
"If the UK government sticks to its decision to leave, Brexit will become a reality - with all its negative consequences - in March next year. Unless there is a change of heart among our British friends. Wasn't it David Davis himself who said 'if a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy'. We, here on the continent, haven't had a change of heart. Our hearts are still open to you."
"There can be no frictionless trade outside of the customs union and the single market. Friction is an inevitable side-effect of Brexit by nature."
"Brexit means drifting apart but we don't want to build a wall."
"It will make it more complicated and costly than today for all of us. This is the essence of Brexit."
"I may be from the east but I am not a beast."
"The UK's decision on Brexit has caused the problem and the UK will have to solve it. Without a solution there will be no withdrawal agreement and no transition."
"Europe should be grateful by President Trump, because thanks to him we have got rid of old illusions. He has made us realise that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm."
"If a deal is impossible, and no-one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?"
"[David Cameron told me] he felt really safe, because he thought at the same time that there’s no risk of a referendum, because his coalition partner, the Liberals, would block this idea of a referendum. But then, surprisingly, he won and there was no coalition partner. So paradoxically David Cameron became the real victim of his own victory."
"There is a special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to carry it out safely."
"It means that until 12 April, anything is possible: a deal, a long extension if the United Kingdom decided to rethink its strategy, or revoking Article 50, which is a prerogative of the UK government. The fate of Brexit is in the hands of our British friends. As the EU, we are prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. As you know, hope dies last."
"The fate of Brexit is in the hands of our British friends. As the EU, we are prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. As you know, hope dies last."
"[I will] not co-operate on [a] no-deal."
"Tomorrow I meet PM Boris Johnson. I hope that he will not like to go down in history as “Mr. No Deal”."
"But if we restore the normal role of public television. Not that they say 'Tusk is a genius and Kaczyński is a Jew'. Just saying... Only that there would be normal public television again, people with different views, debates and so on."
"Bad politicians are elected by good citizens who stay at home."
"Now, all that matters is help for people threatened by flooding and state action. Those who can, let them help, those who can't, let them not hinder. Politics must give way to solidarity."
"The paradox is that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians. We must rely on ourselves, fully aware of our potential and with confidence that we are a global power."
"If we told our story even half as well as we actually governed, we would be winning election after election."
"I know the taste of victory, I know the bitterness of defeat, but I don't know the word surrender."
"More and more leads, more and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by Russian intelligence services. I don't need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organised this operation is for the security of the Polish state. This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today."
"Mr Tusk, who has been given to using the analogies of the divorce and divorce petition, is behaving like a cuckolded husband who is taking it out on the children."
"Mister Speaker, Members of the House! I want to form a government that is able to act for the good of the people, for the good of the nation, and for the good of the state. It will be a coalition government focused on delivering thorough reform of the state. Today, such a task can only be undertaken by a government that embraces cooperation between all the forces represented in this Parliament and by a government that is formed on new political principles."
"The government I will form is not responsible for the legacy it inherits. However, this legacy shapes the circumstances in which we must act. We must draw a thick line in the sand and separate ourselves from the past. We will be responsible only for what we will now do to get Poland out of its current state of collapse. I am aware that for my compatriots today, the most important question is whether things can ever be better. I assure you that, together, all of us will respond to that question."
"The government alone will not heal any-thing. We must do this together, for Poland will only be different, if we all truly want it to be so."
"We all desire to live with dignity in a sovereign, democratic, and law-abiding state, one that everybody - regardless of their worldviews and ideological and political diversity - can consider their own."
"We want to live in a country with a sound economy, one where it is profitable to work and to save money, and where meeting our basic material needs entails no anguish or humiliation. We want a Poland that is open to Europe and to the world; a Poland which, with no inferiority complex, contributes to the creation of material and cultural goods; a Poland whose citizens will feel they are welcome guests in the other countries of Europe and the world, and are not deemed troublemaking intruders."
"We reject a political philosophy asserting that economic reforms can be launched over and against society, above people's heads - one that pushes democratic change aside."
"We, as a people, must surmount the sense of hopelessness and confront the challenge of the moment - namely, the tasks of extricating ourselves from economic disaster and reconstructing our state."
"The Polish people are acutely aware of belonging to Europe and the European heritage. They are as conscious of this as are the other European peoples situated at the cultural crossroads adjacent to the superpowers, experiencing alternating phases of political existence and non-existence and hence feeling the need to strengthen their identity. In all these situations, Europe has always remained a beacon, an object of affection which the Poles felt ready to defend."
"If we have managed to survive as an entity, we owe this partly to our deep attachment to certain institutions and certain values regarded as the norm in Europe. We owe it to religion and the Church, our attachment to democracy and pluralism, human rights and civil liberties and to the ideal of solidarity."
"Our country is confronted with the enormous task of reconstituting the rights and the institutions that characterise modern democracies and rebuilding a market economy, after an interruption of several decades. Added to this, there is the need to overcome enormous economic problems. We not only have to re-create rights and institutions but, in cases where they were non-existent, we have to start from scratch. Otherwise, our two European worlds will never manage to live in harmony."
"The 1988 strikes discouraged the Party leadership and demonstrated its failure to find a solution to Poland’s problems. Combined with Gorbachev’s renunciation of intervention on behalf of Communism, this failure encouraged the leadership to move toward yielding its monopoly of power. On 30 November 1988, there was a televised debate between Lech Walesa and Alfred Miodowicz, the head of the official trade union federation and a member of the Politburo. This was a highly significant step as the television served as a means of controlling the dissemination of opinion. On 6 February 1989, Round Table talks between government and the technically illegal opposition began, with the Church, an institution of great prestige in Poland, playing an important mediatory role. Under an agreement, signed on 5 April 1989, reached against a background of widespread strikes, elections were held in Poland on 4 June. Only 35 per cent of the seats in the lower house, the Sejm, were awarded on the basis of the free vote, the remainder going to the Communists and their allies, but all of these seats were won by Solidarity. This expression of the public will was a dramatic blow to the old order. Communist cohesion collapsed, not least with the Communist Party being abandoned by its hitherto pliant allies. Strikes and other protests meanwhile continued. The new government was headed by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a member of Solidarity and a Catholic intellectual. He became the first non-Communist Prime Minister behind the Iron Curtain. There was, however, to be a major division between those who endorsed the ‘Round Table’ political settlement of 1989 as a way to avoid bloodshed, and those who criticised it as, allegedly, a compromise providing subsequent cover for ex-Communists to pillage the state."
"The French writer, Albert Camus, once lamented that "man eventually becomes accustomed to everything". I have always believed that this is an unjustly pessimistic view of our human condition; and in recent weeks I have seen enough to convince me that Camus, on this point at least, was wrong: 30,000 East Germans abandoning home, friends, jobs, everything, to escape to a new life of opportunity but also uncertainty in the West; thousands of Soviet miners striking not for more pay, but for better supplies; the joy of Poles as they greet their first non-Communist Prime Minister in 40 years; over a million inhabitants of the Baltic states forming a human chain to protest against the forced annexation of their nations; demonstrators in Prague braving the security forces to mark the 21st anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion; or in Leipzig calling for freedom of speech. Clearly the peoples of the East have not become accustomed to their lot. Totalitarian rule has not made people less attracted by freedom, democracy and self-determination. The opposite is true. Nor has it made them incapable of exercising these values through political organization and self-expression: look at the debates in the new Congress of the People's Deputies, the activities of the popular fronts, Solidarity in Poland or the opposition parties in Hungary. The demand for pluralism and reform can now be heard in every Eastern nation."
"All the atrocities and all the victims, everything that happened during the Second World War on Polish soil, has to be attributed to Germany. We will never be accused of complicity in the Holocaust. This is our 'to be or not to be.'"
"We cannot accept turning perpetrators and those responsible for committing cruel crimes against both innocent people and invaded countries into victims. Together - in the name of those who perished and for the good of our common future - we must preserve the truth."
"An EU in which there is a European oligarchy that punishes the weakest (of the member states) is not the EU we have entered and it is not the EU that has a future. We say 'yes' to the European Union, but 'no' to being punished like children. 'No' to mechanisms which mean that Poland and other countries are treated unfairly."
"We are fighting to make sure that no country, neither today nor tomorrow, is denied funding based on an arbitrary and non-transparent mechanism. This is a matter of fundamental trust on which the European law is based."
"Algorithms or the owners of corporate giants should not decide which views are right and which are not. There is no and can be no consent to censorship. Freedom of speech is the salt of democracy, for that reason we must defend it. The owners of social platforms cannot act above the law. We will suggest that similar regulations are also put in place in all of the European Union."
"We have to be consistent and patient with regard to our Russia policy because the stability of Russian strategic policy is a challenge to us and to the European Union, where governments change much more often than in Russia and where there are different views on Russia. The further from the east, the lesser Russia is perceived as a threat."
"So today, platforms and communication networks and intellectual property are even more important than the land and the buildings and the technology assembly lines and all the materials that go into creating these digital realms. And these dynamics do not make it easier to grasp the elements of the moving parts of the complicated interdependent economic jigsaw puzzle that is our modern age."
"At such breakthrough times for the world, it is our duty to be where history is forged; because it is not about us, but about the future of our children who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny."
"It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance. EU supports UA, which can count on the help of its friends — we brought this message to Kyiv today."
"Poland is not situated in a territorial vacuum on some uninhabited island. Indeed, the opposite is true. It lies in the most geostrategically sensitive part of Europe. In those recent years, Europe and the world were divided into two opposing political and military blocks. That meant that all internal conflicts inevitably led to external repercussions, reflecting on the climate of relations and the pattern of international forces."
"The introduction of martial law was the most dramatic decision I had ever taken. And life had treated me harshly. I experienced my country's tragedy in 1939."
"I had to face up to many a dangers, often looking death in the face. Later, in the decades which ensued, I often had to resolve complex dilemmas. But that dilemma of 1981 was of a quite different dimension and of the very greatest specific weight since I bore the responsibility for the fate of the nation and country."
"The most important thing is to hit the bull's-eye at the historically most appropriate moment. Which is why all opportunist dilatory foot-dragging is intolerable. But any historical false starts and voluntaristic acceleration are also dangerous. Grain and fruit and also society must have time to ripen, especially the home politicus."
"I am saying this to avoid any suspicion that I want to defend, at no matter what price, the decisions I took. Martial law was an evil which resulted in various human vexations and sufferings which I very much regret. But even so, they were a lesser evil than the multidimensional catastrophe which faced us as a very real danger."
"Were it not for the declaration of martial law, the substantiation of that announcement in mid-winter would have signified not only economic but also biological catastrophe. No grand issues and dilemmas may be studied without their historical backgrounds in separation from the realities of a given moment. A historian seated in the tranquility of archives and libraries can allow his thoughts to wander in various directions. Basing on continually supplemented sources, he knows today what took place in the past. But a politician active at that time knew only what was happening at a given moment. And he also had to take into account that which could take place. A historian enjoys the comfort of delivering evaluations which have no practical effects."
"A politician has to bear the weight of decisions whose effects are often enormous. And those decisions have to be taken. A controversial decision is better than no decision or waiving it, since it permits a situation to be brought under control while allowing it to be reined in with the possibility of correction."
"The absence of a decision could result in an impetuous, dangerous development of a situation which has got out of any control. There is no ideal solution in such circumstances. The only thing is to find the optimal solution, "a lesser evil.""
"Citizens of the Polish People’s Republic. I turn to you today as a soldier and as the head of the Polish Government. I turn to you in matters of supreme importance. Our country has found itself at the edge of an abyss. The achievements of many generations, the house erected from Polish ashes, is being ruined. The structures of the state are ceasing to function. New blows are being struck every day at the dying economy."
"The nation has come to the end of its psychological endurance. Many people are beginning to despair. Now it is not days but hours that separate us from a national catastrophe. Honesty compels one to ask the question: Did things have to come to this?"
"The self-preservation instinct of the nation must be heard. Adventurists must have their hands tied before they push the homeland into the abyss of fratricide."
"Citizens. Great is the burden of responsibility that falls on me at this dramatic moment in Polish history. It is my duty to take this responsibility. Poland’s future is at stake-the future for which my generation fought and for which it gave the best years of its life."
"It cannot be said that we didn't show good will, moderation, patience, sometimes there probably was too much of it ... the initiative of the great national understanding was backed by millions of Poles."
"Citizens of Poland, very heavy is the burden of responsibility which lies upon me at the very dramatic moment in Polish history. But it is my duty to take it, accept it, because it concerns the future of Poland, for which we of my generation fought on all the fronts of World War II and gave the best years of our lives. I declare that today, the army council of national salvation, has been constituted. The council of state, obeying the constitution, declared a state of war (at midnight) on the territory of Poland."
"Our soldier's hands are clean; he knows his hard service ... and has no other aim but the good of the nation."
"We wish a great Poland, great with its achievements, culture, forms of social life, its position in Europe. The only way to gain this is by socialism accepted by society, constantly enriched by the everyday life experience."
"The steps taken today serve to preserve the basic features of socialist renewal. All the reforms will be continued in an atmosphere of order, businesslike discussion and discipline, also economic reform."
"To make tomorrow better we must realize tough realities today, to understand the necessity for renunciation."
"We are a sovereign country so we must get out from this crisis by ourselves. We must draw away danger with our own hands. History would never forgive the present generation for wasting this chance."
"Citizens of the Polish People's Republic, Difficult years are behind us. Hard times had rolled over the Polish lands. They had produced internal splits and dangerously weakened that bond that throughout centuries was uniting Poles in the face of the greatest dangers. I will not recall those pre-December days. We all remember them. Nothing can conceal the merciless meaning of the then facts. It is only facts that truly count in politics, in the life of nations."
"Exactly one year ago martial law was introduced. The year that has passed was a great test. We have passed it. It has been passed by the party, by the people's authority and all the citizens. But there is the only winner: the Polish nation. This is the shortest-put truth about the past year."
"The rigors of martial law were applied by us sparingly. We started easing and lifting them almost right away, from the very start. Observance of law and order is getting ever stronger. That allows to positively answer the appeal of the patriotic movement of national rebirth, as well as the other social initiatives aiming at a similar direction."
"The suspension of martial law means that its basic rigors will cease to function before the end of this year. Only such regulations should be binding either in full or limited dimension, which directly protect the basic interests of the state, create the shield for the economy and strengthen the personal security of citizens."
"I do not make any promises. But I do promise one thing - anarchy will not be allowed into Poland. Let no one in Poland or outside cherish any illusions that the present decisions will allow for another round."
"We have survived the boycott, restrictions and the barrage of instigatory propaganda. The Government of the United States and some of its customers can see for themselves the bankruptcy of attempts to interfere in Polish internal affairs."
"I think, however, that it is better when we solve the Polish matters realistically, with prudence, when we discuss them calmly, normally."
"General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Minister of Defence since 1968 and thus a major Warsaw Pact figure, became Prime Minister in February 1981 and First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party in October 1981. Jaruzelski had taken part in operations against anti-Communist resistance fighters in the late 1940s, had led Poland’s contribution to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and had been in command when Polish troops shot striking shipyard workers in 1970. Jaruzelski claimed he had opposed the last operation and he sought a peaceful settlement with Solidarity, but serious economic problems continued to create discontent in Poland and to lead to criticism of the government. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union pressed Jaruzelski to come out in defence of Communism. This pressure indicated that any meaningful change in the Soviet bloc would have to come from Moscow, and thus underlined the subsequent importance of Gorbachev’s stance."
"In 1996, Jaruzelski was to comment ‘I always considered myself a Polish soldier and a Polish patriot first’. He possibly thought of himself as another Józef Piłsudski, who had taken over the Polish government in 1926 and instituted a benign, quasi-military dictatorship. As Prime Minister, Jaruzelski downgraded the role of the highly unpopular Polish Communist Party and sought to play off Solidarity against the Soviet Union in order to gain concessions from each – stability and aid respectively. However, temperamentally, Jaruzelski found uncertainty difficult. In an effort to end political unrest and strikes, he declared martial law on 13 December 1981, arresting Solidarity’s leaders and thousands of others without trial (scores were killed), and appointing a military council to govern Poland. On that day, with American attention riveted on Poland, Menachem Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister, annexed the occupied Golan Heights. Martial law remained in place in Poland until July 1983 and indicated the strength and weakness of the Communist system: it could maintain order, but could not provide the economic growth or popular support that made order much more than a matter of coercion and indoctrination. Opposition in Poland remained at a far greater scale and was far more popular than the left-wing terrorist movements in the West such as November 17 in Greece, FP-25 in Portugal, and the Cellules Communistes Combattantes in Belgium."
"Brezhnev and the Politburo demanded a change in personnel in the Polish United Workers’ Party and the stabilisation of the communist order. They turned to a military man, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who became Prime Minister in February 1981 and then Party First Secretary in October. Jaruzelski introduced martial law in December 1981. He did this as much to pre-empt a Warsaw Pact invasion as to reimpose order in Poland. In fact the Soviet Politburo had decided not to intervene militarily even if Solidarity were to edge its way to power; but Jaruzelski was not privy to this information. Solidarity was outlawed and more of its militants were taken into custody. Yet the strikes and demonstrations were not abated. The network of Solidarity groups and agencies survived the police onslaught; its presses produced pamphlets, postcards and audiocassettes. Graffiti-artists sprayed slogans on walls such as ‘The winter is yours but the spring will be ours’. The Catholic priesthood gave uncompromising sermons on the need for religious faith and patriotism."
"Jaruzelski himself was reluctant to use any more force than was absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the state order. He had an impossible task. The communist party and the institutions it sponsored – trade unions, youth associations and cultural clubs – attracted popular contempt. The result was chronic stalemate: although Jaruzelski succeeded in restoring a degree of calm, he could not liquidate Solidarity and Solidarity could not supplant his military administration. Poland was like an insect trapped in amber. No fundamental political and economic development was possible for the country. No end to martial law appeared in sight."
"In Russia, the media feeds people with messages that have nothing to do with reality – even being a brutal and crude denial of it – and we also have media [in Poland] that work at least similarly. The media is a major constraint on our public debate."
"In the West, the fight [against inflation] is waged by limiting the purchasing power of people, and this will probably bring about an effect quite quickly. Wage growth there is much lower than inflation. We cannot follow this path, because it would be felt much more by Poles. We will not limit social benefits; we will lower taxes. We have to explain this to voters."
"The program of deep changes in our country will not slow down, on the contrary — there cannot be any talk about reaching an agreement with powers that for years treated Poland as their own private loot."
"I understand people curse. I do it myself in stores, although of course I am aware that my situation is very different and I do not even try to compare myself and my financial situation to those who earn an average or little income."
"We are a serious player and therefore more and more heavy guns are being brought against us. When it was decided to expand the European Union, it was probably assumed that our part of Europe would be in the situation of weaker, non-subject countries, used as cheap labor for a very long time. This has started to change, which many in the West do not like. We received the first such signals in the 1990s, when we were poor. It was thought that we would remain like the countries of the South, and today it turned out that in this sense Poland is a country of the North."
"People have to vaccinate, this is the basic issue. Considering the realities and reluctance of a large part of society, we need to consider what we can do here. I am returning to the efficiency of the state: the courts are the last instance here - without reforming them, persuading them to obey the law, because that is what it is all about, it is difficult to change. This affects the functioning of the entire state, at various levels, and this must be taken into account."
"Today the rejection of evil is something extremely important, because evil is attacking our country, our fatherland, our nation, it is attacking the institution that is at the heart of our identity, the Catholic church."
"In the EU there is a rule: who is stronger is better. And because Germany is strongest, the old German concept – a concept that can be called neo-imperial – holds sway. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, wants to build a superstate of world importance under German leadership."
"There will be no Polexit, it is a propaganda invention that has been used many times against us. We unequivocally see the future of Poland in the European Union."
"I had said we would face an uphill battle and that stones would be thrown. We are being attacked internally and from the outside ... in ways that discount the reality and aim to demean ... Poland. It's easy to serve the interests of the most powerful. If you want to serve the society, the nation, it's much more difficult."
"The white-and-red banner is the symbol of our country, the symbol prescribed in our Constitution. Symbols build unity, create unity, but at the same time symbols are there to remind us and realize that between the public domain, i.e. the national domain and the value domain, there is a direct relationship. This is the fundamental truth."
"A country is not only an organization covering a given territory. The state is and should be a moral quality. We have addressed this for a long time, for over twenty years. Now, I will repeat it again. This moral quality, expressed by other means, determines the legitimacy of the state."
"One can talk about two movements legitimizing Poland’s identity – aside from the one, which is very important in a democracy, and which in any case we do not undermine, and that is the formal, legal formation. So, the formal one arises from election procedures, law-making procedures, i.e. everything in a democracy which is very, very important and which in no way we would question. But there are also movements that go deeper than state building. You can talk about two such movements."
"The first is of a historical and moral nature. It has roots in the history, tradition, language, culture, cultural codes, a common understanding and understanding of meaning. This legitimacy is immensely important, relating to public awareness, but if you look at Poland, Polish tradition, it also refers to some very specific demands, translating into concrete demands. It is the demand for freedom, equality and justice."
"The legitimacy of the second kind, which can be called pragmatic, refers to everything that the state has to provide to the citizens. You can say what the state does to fulfil the needs of citizens, and how it serves the community."
"Today, when it comes to modern states, this legitimacy breaks down to at least five types. These include external security, internal security, in the modern state, especially social security, as well as commercial and economic security. Finally, the security that every state must provide to its citizens as it guarantees to itself. The state is also a dispenser of goods. And all of these processes, which are associated with the use of coercion and distribution of goods may deviate to a form of pathology and can lead to various kinds of abuse. That is why we have to treat the fifth type of security very seriously. I think we can say that what Poles expect today from the state is security, freedom, equality and justice, which in Poland is always linked with solidarity. These are particularly important expectations."
"We must also strengthen our special services. Especially in one case, which is today very important. This is the war on terrorism. We need to be protected. The danger can come from various sides. And we have to remember that. Each responsible authority must keep this in mind and not create a legal situation of helplessness."
"Dear all, the rule of law is not something you can declare, decree even in the Constitution. It is an attribute of some form of social organization. The fundamental element in this type of organization is with the balance of power. If a certain social force enjoys a great superiority, it will always instrumentally dominate the law. It will always bring it under its own control. There is no other way. It is the balance that is needed."
"I will return to freedom, equality, justice and solidarity. Let us ask, what is the inverse to those terms. They are the reverse to one principle, which unfortunately in today Poland, still has not been eliminated. This is the principle of who the stronger, the better."
"There is something in Poland, that puts emphasis on what also in the West of Europe, in many countries, wiped out freedom, and especially freedom of expression. This thing is political correctness. I want to say one thing, of course, we do not accept any laws on hate speech and similar inventions aimed to ensure that freedom is eliminated. I will say even more. Poland should be an island of freedom, even if everywhere else it will be limited. We were once an island of tolerance in Europe, and now we should become an island of freedom. And we need not be ashamed. This is our banner and great asset. This is our moral strength. This is not always so with equality and justice."
"But we can ask the public what it wants. What kind of Poland? Is it the one which we had, or the one which is ahead of us. Poland – let me repeat again – of security, freedom, equality, justice and solidarity."
"The road ahead is clear and its destination is more than just a mandate. We aim higher; we want to change Poland. We want to improve Poland to enable our entire nation to make use of its full potential, so that we can move forward and eliminate the divisions between us and our western neighbors. Our ultimate goal is strong and successful Poland!"
"We must succeed in order to take the first step to reform Poland, so that we seize opportunities waiting for us beyond the Polish borders. The first step is to establish a government, strong in its foundation and strong in its constitution. Government that will be strengthened by its cooperation with the President, but that will also remain open to others."
"We will struggle without the trust, because the change is a difficult process that will meet opposition. We need this social support, so we can make those changes for the sake of our country, and so that we can fulfil our great plans for the sake of our community. These plans involve boosting our economy, which develops, according to some claims. However, ladies and gentlemen, it develops at a pace too slow and below our capabilities."
"We must unite as a nation. Unity is a state of awareness, but it also needs to reflect on the real aspects of life, such as fair distribution of goods and the equality of rights. Such equality does not exist in today’s Poland, and there is no justified distribution of goods. We know that the distribution of goods cannot be equal at all times, but it must be justified by appropriate norms. We must remember that unity exists when everyone can rely on support in good times as well as in the times of hardship. We must build this unity."
"Unity means also a strong identity with the nation, as well as confidence and pride in being Polish. Our pride has been degraded for over 20 years; we were taught to be ashamed; our image was discredited outside our borders; we fell victim to slanders. We can and we will stand up against this phenomenon in Poland, by changing our education programs and introducing new cultural values, but we will also stand up on the international and global scene. We must want to defend our pride and dignity in order to be what we ought to be – a great European nation!"
"Unity is also our health service. (...) We can make it better if we change the way of thinking. The health service must be about treating patients, not just providing a paid service. Doctors have a duty to treat patients. Although money is a part of such treatment, it must remain a secondary factor, because the health service must put patients’ interests first."
"Major changes are required in the education – we need to raise our behavioral standards; we need to instill the essential sense of identity. We cannot succeed without our identity and we learnt that from other countries’ experience. Those that succeeded have built strong unity, whereas our unity has been consistently destroyed over the last 20 years."