For Ukraine money is, for Poles in Lithuania not

Another gathering of the Parliamentary Group on the Borders of the Republic took place in the Sejm on 4 June. The squad is chaired by prof. Andrzej Zapałowski from the Confederation, and his deputy is Tadeusz Samborski from the PSL.

The gathering was devoted to the financing of Polish number in Vilnius by the Polish State. At the outset, Dr. Bogusław Rogalski informed the participants that for the first time in the past of the III Polish Republic no of the projects submitted by the Union of Poles in Lithuania (ZPL) received backing from the Senate. I will remind you that for years the legislature has been active in financial support for Poles and Poles abroad. ZPL submitted the following projects (the same as in erstwhile years, as they are cyclical events):

1. The Polish parade in Vilnius is always organized on 2 May, on the Day of the National Flag. all year, on that day, in the parade of the city streets of Vilnius, up to the chapel of Our woman of Ostrobramska, it passes into the white and red flags of about 10,000 of our countrymen. Given that the population of Lithuania is at least 10 times smaller than the population in Poland, it can be assumed that the equivalent of this parade would be a centenary manifestation in the centre of Warsaw. Of course, as all year, the Lithuanian media silenced this celebration.
2. The 81st anniversary celebration of Operation Sharp Gate. Let me remind you that this is about the anniversary of the AK's fighting in July 1944, which was to liberate Vilnius from German hands.
3. Celebration of the anniversary of the conflict of Warsaw, what an anniversary there is no request to remind.
4. Anniversary celebration dedicated to the memory of citizens of the Second Republic murdered during planet War II by Lithuanian nationalists and Germans in Podwileńskie Ponarach. About 100,000 people – Poles and Jews, including the uncle of erstwhile president Bronisław Komorowski, died in mass executions. Among the victims was a flower of Polish intelligence from Vilnius, professors of Stefan Batory University and soldiers of the AK.
5. Annual competition organised for Vilnius compatriots on the anniversary of independence
6. Fee gathering prepared for members of the ZPL.

According to these shocking facts, the manager of the Polish legislature office Artur Kozłowski declared that everything was done according to procedures. It was developed rules and announced a competition for the best projects. Unfortunately, according to him, the projects presented by the ZPL in Lithuania received besides fewer points as a consequence of the competition to be able to apply for backing from the pool of funds available to the Senate. Everything seems to be fine, but as usual the devil is in the details of the rules of the competition. The rules were not presented to the members of the Team, but imagine, for example, a competition for the most beautiful flowering balcony in Warsaw. As set out in the rules, e.g. the balcony in the building on Marszałkowska Street, located on the first level will receive 80 punks, and the balcony located in the building on Al. Jerozolimskie Street on the advanced floors will receive 20 points, it is easy to guess which balcony will win the competition, of course everything will take place according to procedures.

During the gathering of the Group, I proposed to avoid questionable selection criteria in the future, to this end a list of projects that are carried out cyclically, specified as those mentioned above and are strategical for the interests of the Polish State and exclude them from the competition procedure, providing permanent funding. Similarly, public procurement, where any projects are excluded from the rigors of this Act.

The Group president, Prof. A. Zapalowski, stated that he would not leave these scandalous actions to the legislature officials unanswered and make a corresponding message in the plenary session of the Sejm, while demanding urgent backing from the reserve of the president of the Council of Ministers. He will besides check whether projects aimed at assimilation of the Polish population surviving in Vilnius were received by chance, due to the fact that specified projects are reported.

Tasku adds the fact that ZPL applied for the amount of PLN 700,000 and said that the Polish State could not afford specified aid, and on the same day the head of the National safety Office at the president of the Republic of Poland, Dariusz Łukowski, stated that since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian War, Poland has provided Ukraine with support of about EUR 5 billion. I don't think it requires any comment.

I would add that no of the local ZPL troops have received backing either. For example, the ZPL branch in Święciany, taking care of the birthplace of Marshal J. Piłsudski in Zulów, besides does not deserve funding. From this land comes not only Piłsudski, but besides another Polish heroes, specified as Colonel Ignacy Oziewicz commandant NSZ, or airman Franciszek Żwirko. fewer of our people there gotta take care of these memorial sites.

Jacek Marczyński