In the latest edition of the programme “Kraków-Warsaw, a common cause” Witold Bereś and Marcin Celiński with surgical precision – and inherent irony – take the first Polish political scene, the kibolian pilgrimages, Hungarian asylums, historical analogies and national obsessions apart from factors. The seemingly light conversation rapidly turns into a bitter diagnosis of a state that besides frequently ignores extremes until these become mainstream.
Witold Bereś starts with a gag about flooded roads and the false transmission, but after a while the conversation turns towards events that, although grotesque, uncover serious cracks in Polish public life.
We are talking about the “sabat of fans” on Jasna Góra, where crowds of club and political sympathizers mixed in a single ritual, and Karol Nawrocki, president of the IPN, received the cheers “Mr President”. The leaders do not hide irony, but besides emphasize that this is no longer an innocent folklore scene – it is simply a signal that extremist environments feel impunityless and increasingly tamed with the political center.
Kraków-Warsaw, a common cause! - Witold Bereś and Marcin Celiński
Celinski recalls that over the years utmost movements have been ignored, treating them as a margin. Meanwhile, as he notes, the “stream after stream” penetrated mainstream until 2015 they became the foundation of power. In the program, this subject returns many times: from kibola, through nationalists, to politicians who utilized to be exotic radicals, and present they form the largest opposition party.
One of the themes that gives emergence to a peculiar stir is the information about possible asylum in Hungary for Zbigniew Ziobra and Patrycja Kotecka. The leaders associate this with the communicative of Bolesław Boldy, who besides found refuge in the Buda after the conflict with the Church. Hungary Orbán appears here as a contemporary version of the same communicative – a place where those who have more and more questions to explain in Poland flee.
Kraków-Warsaw, a common cause! - Witold Bereś and Marcin Celiński
Antoni Macerewicz and his erstwhile Catholic-National Movement besides appear in the conversation. Berez and Celiński remind that it was a political folklore 2 decades ago, and present Macerewicz is 1 of the pillars of the Law and Justice. This is another example of how marginal environments can take control of the state if no 1 stops them in time.
There are besides lighter, though customs observations – like the 1 about access to toilets in the centre of Warsaw, which lead to absurd protests under the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. However, something more serious is reflected in this grotesque: the sense of chaos, the deficiency of the legitimacy of the state and the increasing frustration of citizens.
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The full program is like Poland in a pill: ridiculous and terrible, full of paradoxes, in which past mixes with meme and politics with cabaret. Berez and Celiński – as usual – not only comment, but besides warn: extremes do not vanish alone. If you ignore them, they come back reinforced.
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