POLAND: 1st Interest Rate Raise Since 2008; Jaroslaw K. Blames Russian Controllers For Smolensk Crash.

BLOOMBERG/

    To keep inflation in check and the zloty strong, the central bank led by Marek Belka (pictured left) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points -- to 3.75 percent-- the first increase since June 2008.
   Consumer prices are escalating in Eastern Europe. Hungary has raised rates twice in two months, increasing its benchmark to 5.75 percent. Inflation is much worse in Serbia which at 12% has one of the highest benchmarks in the world.
FOR MORE:
http://thehypervigilantobserver.blogspot.com/2011/01/serbia-at-12-now-europes-highest.html

 ALSO:  Opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is still harping about Russia's report re the cause of the 2010 Smolensk plane crash that killed his twin brother and 95 others. He continues to blame Russia for the tragedy, rejecting the report and calling it one-sided against the Polish pilots. He also accused P.M. Donald Tusk of "political gambling" and said "some people" just don't want the truth.
   This back and forth blame game between Jaroslaw and Russia and Jaroslaw and Tusk reminds me of when I would point to my older brother for everything that went wrong, to ward off scoldings and punishment, even when it was my fault. Of course, I was 6-years-old!
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110119/162211594.html

POLAND/ RUSSIA: 13 Jan. UPDATE: Moscow Blames Incompetent/Pressured Polish Pilots For Tragic Smolensk Crash; Jaroslaw Kaczynski Calls Report A "Joke."

LINK CHANGE/ MORE DETAILS, CONTEXT/
NYTIMES/ Ellen Barry/

    So much for the recent thaw and new good feelings between Moscow and Warsaw.
     Russian officials (pictured left) have blamed the April Smolensk air crash which killed Poland's president and 95 others solely on Polish pilot error.
    The Russians say that the Polish crew refused to heed bad weather warnings to avoid displeasing President Lech Kaczynski and the pressure of hovering Air Force chief Gen Andrzej Blasik, whom they claim had a concentration of 0.6 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood - just above the drink-driving limit for most EU states.
                                       The report states flatly that the pilots  took "unjustified risk."
          As expected, the dead president's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski  called the report a " joke against Poland."

FOR  ENGLISH EURONEWS REPORT ON POLISH REACTION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GONMEEJ8stQ&feature=player_embedded#!

POLAND: A Defeated Jaroslaw Kaczynski Returns To Old Form-- As Barking Junk Yard Dog.

G.POST/ JAN CIENSKI /
    Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the recently defeated presidential candidate, admits his campaign was a dismal failure. So he has fired his staff and shifted blame for the defeat to his use of "powerful, calming drugs" after the tragic death of his brother in a plane crash.
   “I was in a terrible state of shock after my brother's death — nothing worse could have ever happened to me in my life. I had to take very powerful calming drugs — which had its effects,” Kaczynski told Polish Newsweek. “I was in such a state that, honestly, the election campaign was thought up for me.”
    He has also returned to his old behavior-- attacking like a vicious junk-yard dog.
   Kaczynski again is calling Poland nothing but "a German-Russian condominium."
    He also calls President Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk “evil people,” saying that he will never shake Komorowski's hand, and accusing the government of being responsible for the air crash that killed his twin brother.

POLAND: Attacker Kills 1, Wounds Another In Lodz Political Party Assault.

AP/      A man fatally shot one person and seriously wounded another in the offices of the Law and Justice opposition party in the city of Lodz.
      PM Donald Tusk called for calm, urging all political parties to make sure "violence does not become a method in the political struggle." "Everything suggests that the motivation was of a political nature," Tusk said, called it a "tragic, senseless assassination" and an "attack of a madman."
    Opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski (pictured) kept the vitriol flowing by declaring that: "The events that took place are the result of a huge hate campaign that has been waged against Law and Justice for a long time."
     TV footage of the arrest shows the attacker saying he "wanted to kill Kaczynski." "I am against (Law and Justice) and wanted to murder him," the attacker said.

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: 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: 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.

Popular Polish Prime Minister gains Strength

At last, some good news in Poland.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's party gained strength in recent elections and sent the opposition into disarray, especially Tusk's arch-enemy, President Kaczynski and his brother Jaroslaw, a former prime minister.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/poland/090615/eu-elections-tusk