POLAND: Komorowski Reveals Bruised Feelings After Obama Visit.

G.POST/
    After this week's visit with President Obama, President Bronislaw Komorowski's has aired his bruised feelings.
   “We never gave the impression that we have had some sort of great breakthrough and America thinks of nothing but how to defend Poland,” Komorowski said.
    This after WikiLeaks revealed Poland's disappointment over a Patriot anti-missile battery that was not armed and that the Americans had no intention of sending of arming.
“We don't need garden planters,” said a deputy defense minister.
       Komorowski's also complained about Poles requirement to obtain visas. Poland is one of the few in the EU whose nationals must get visas from the United States. “Polish public opinion completely does not understand why all the neighbors of Poland can use that visa waiver program and we can’t.”
     According to CNN,  Komorowski said on his U.S. visa form, he was asked "whether I am involved in prostitution or if perhaps I was involved in genocide or whether I was a terrorist." "Well, I don't take it as an insult,"  he said. "I'm not a prostitute. But I have to tell you when I had to answer the question whether I was a terrorist my hand shook a little. Because I do not want to lie. I do not want to lie to the United States.

      "But I had some doubt. At the time of the Communist regime I was considered to be a terrorist. It was the language of some of the charges formulated by the prosecutor in the Communist state. So I did not know: Should I write the truth or lie in that form? So my suggestion is to skip that form. ... It's not understandable for us. It's nonsense. It spoils a lot in Polish-American relations."

POLAND: Kaczynski Supporters Clash With Police Over Cross In Warsaw.

AP/       Protesters, shouting "Defend the cross," fought with police and prevented officials from moving a cross erected outside Warsaw's presidential palace in memory of the late President Lech Kaczynski. The cross has become a shrine for  Kaczynski supporters after his tragic 10 April death in a plane crash in Russia. The government of President-elect Bronislaw Komorowski says the makeshift symbol should not remain in front of a state building and wants to move it to the nearby St. Anne's Church.

POLAND: Electoral Map Shows Divided Party Loyalties: West Vs East.

BEATROOT BLOG/
"Uncle Bronek slaughters Kaczynski with…slim majority"/
    An outstanding graphic from Poland's recent presidential results shows the clearcut geographical divide between the winner, acting president Bronislaw Komorowski (in yellow), and the loser, the dead president's identical twin Jarosaw Kaczynski( blue).
  "At 53 % of the vote, however, Bronislaw ‘personality by-pass’ Komorowski doesn’t really have a massive mandate to allow his mates in the government an open door policy for any legislation it wants to shove through parliament."

POLAND: Komorowski Declared Winner.

BBC/     Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski has been officially declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election.  Officials announced that he won 53.01% of the vote while Jaroslaw Kaczynski got 46.99%. Kaczynski admitted defeat and called the elections a "great rehearsal" for regional polls later this year and parliamentary elections in 2011.

POLAND: New Polls Say Sunday's Presidential Election Too Close To Call.

REUTERS/       New polls show Sunday's presidential election is too close to call between Bronislaw Komorowski and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Opinion polls in Poland are often criticized for misleading forecasts and they have tended to underestimate support for Kaczynski. Komorowski secured a lead of just 5%, less than forecast, over Kaczynski in the June first round.

POLAND: Poll Declares Komorowski Debate Winner.

REUTERS/    Polls say front runner Bronislaw Komorowski won Sunday's first TV presidential debate with his right-wing rival Jarosaw Kaczynski but failed to increase his constituency. A GfK Polonia survey said 52% believed Komorowski had triumphed versus 28% for Kaczynski. About 15% feel the debate ended in a tie. "Komorowski was more active, attacked Kaczynski more sharply," the Gazeta Wyborcza daily wrote in an editorial on Monday. "Kaczynski was more withdrawn, he spoke more slowly. It could be seen that he was trying above all to stay calm."

POLAND: Presidential Run-off Set For 4 July.

BBC/     In an election that was much closer than  polls predicted, with 94% of votes counted, Bronislaw Komorowski won 41.22% of the vote, compared to 36.74% for conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynski. A run-off will be held on 4 July. Many experts credit Kaczynski's recent growing support to sympathy for his twin brother Lech, the president who died in the Smolensk plane crash. Investors generally favor Komorowski, who is expected to continue privatization and will effectively control the government with PM Donald Tusk.

POLAND: Court Rules Candidate Kaczynski Must Retract False Statement.

REUTERS/    Judge Agnieszka Matlak ruled that Jaroslaw Kaczynski must publicly retract a comment he made suggesting that his opponent Bronislaw Komorowski wanted to privatize the public health system. Komorowski had filed a legal complaint. Some analysts say Kaczynski can now be portrayed as a liar. Recent polls show Komorowski winning Sunday's vote by a margin of up to 14% points but short of the 50% plus level required to win outright. A second, decisive round would then have to be held on July 4.

POLAND: Sketches Of Presidential Candidates.

POLANDIAN/    Tongue-in-cheek thumbnail sketches of all 17 candidates running for Poland's presidency in the 20 June election...by a long shot candidate's campaign manager. (Foto: Bronislaw Komorowski )

POLAND: Former PM Belka Nominated For Chief Banker.

AP/GOOGLE/      Former prime minister Marek Belka, 58, was nominated to head the central bank by acting President Komorowski. Belka is an economist currently working for the IMF and a former finance minister. "Everyone is happy," said economist Mateusz Szczurek. "If you look at his professional activity in the past 13 years, it's hard to find anyone more qualified."  But Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak dissented and said he doesn’t want the central bank to be run by “a monetarist” such as  Belka because the country needs “someone interested in supporting economic growth.” The previous central banker Slawomir Skrzypek died in the 10 April plane crash in Russia.

POLAND: Russia Is The Focus In Presidential Campaign.

TELEGRAPH.UK/      Ignoring the usual arguments about the Russian threat, the nation's liberal and conservative parties are now praising it. "Russia is filling the space left by other issues that would have appeared within the context of a normal election campaign," said political analyst Stanislaw Mocek.

POLAND: Polls Predict Komorowski First Round Win.

REUTERS/ WASH. POST/      A new poll predicts acting President Bronislaw Komorowski, would win by 52% in the first round of the June 20th presidential election, beating Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of deceased President Lech Kacyznski.

POLAND: Crash Assures Dominance Of Tusk/ Komorowski's Party.

BLOOMBERG/  Because of the deaths in Smolensk of President Lech Kacyznski and Left Democratic Alliance party candidate Jerzy Smajdzinski, Bronislaw Komorowski is the sole surviving contender of the nation's three major parties. “This changes the whole political dynamic,” said anaylst Marek Matraszek. “Does it cement Civic Platform’s dominance? That’s a very strong possibility.”

POLAND: No Rush To Name Permanent Central Banker Says Acting President.

BLOOMBERG/    Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski says the nation has no need to rush a permanent replacement for central bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek, who died in the tragic plane crash. But “the best thing would be to find someone right away to preserve the stability and credibility of the central bank," said potential candidate Jan Krzysztof Bielecki. Others speculate that “the most likely candidate is Bielecki, because he has political experience and support. Right behind is Andrzej Bratkowski, who has the know-how to step right into the job without missing a beat.” For now, Deputy Governor Piotr Wiesiolek, 46, is handing the duties.

POLAND: Komorowski Wins Party Nomination For President.

AP/    Parliamentary Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski won 68.5% of the Civic Platform Party's vote, defeating Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski for a presidential run. The vote followed a decision by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the party’s chairman, not to enter the race. The turnout was 47.5%, more than 21,000 of the total  Civic Platofrm party members.

POLAND: The Two Fighting To Become The Next President.

TIMESONLINE/ Brief profiles/     Two candidates from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's center-right Civic Platform are fighting to be Poland's next president since the incumbent Lech Kaczynski — the opposition leader's twin brother — seems to be out of the running. They are Radek Sikorski, 47, and Bronislaw Komorowski, 57. Sikorski studied at Oxford,  palled-around with Margaret Thatcher and has a glamorous political background. Komorowski ran anti-communist groups and was locked up in internment camps.