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How would you describe the Polish political scene today?
I think it is even more difficult to define than it might seem. Seemingly, there is a strong polarization; we have two opposing camps, but the nature of this conflict is no longer easy to read. This is because the division is already far wider than pure politics, it goes deeper. In my view, it has turned into a civilizational, or at least a systemic, dispute. It boils down to a debate and argument over whether Poland should move even further toward the West or, with all its anti-Russianism that is fully justified and understandable, it should move a bit more toward Eastern solutions. I think of what German sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf once aptly observed, that in Western democracies there are clear procedures, while the outcome is unclear. A lack of democracy, on the other hand, is when it is the other way around: the result is clear, but the procedures are not. These are Eastern solutions. This happens when democratic institutions are treated only as a constraint and not as a means of stabilizing the social order, when political will is placed above the law.
This is the essential nature of the dispute in Poland today, regardless of how the various parties would like to define it. They call the two civilizations in different ways: politicians close to the [opposition] Civic Platform (PO) talk about their Western liberalism, the parties associated with the ruling United Right by no means claim that they want to push the country to the East in a mental and institutional sense, but only that they want to build a civilization grounded in values, tradition and history, based on what is particularly good for Poland and strengthens its sovereignty.
I do not believe that the group affiliated with the ruling camp centered around Law and Justice (PiS) today is acting against the Polish national interest. I assume that the vast majority of these politicians, especially the PiS leadership, think in terms of this interest, but they completely misdefine it. The steps that PiS is supposedly taking to increase Poland’s sovereignty are in fact weakening it. After all, Polish sovereignty is linked to being in the center of Europe, not to European peripherality.
Will this civilizational dispute become an essential axis of the election campaign in the current election year? It certainly will, regardless of how the participants in the pre-election struggle portray it. The essence of this dispute comes down to a civilizational choice precisely.
THE OPPOSITION IS STILL UNABLE TO SPEAK WITH A REASONABLY UNIFIED VOICE, THE RULING SIDE IS BEING TORN APART BY INTERNAL CONFLICTS THAT ARE CAUSING THE SO-CALLED UNITED RIGHT TO INCREASINGLY ERODE
It is important for the other participants in the electoral process - voters - to be aware of the choice they are making, to be able to read the nature of the political struggle. PiS would certainly completely disagree that we are faced with a choice between East and West, because it believes that it, too, wants to go West, but a West that it has defined itself.
An additional feature of the current debate is that both sides are unable to fully manage their own political camps. The opposition is still unable to speak with a reasonably unified voice, the ruling side is being torn apart by internal conflicts that are causing the so-called United Right to increasingly erode.
What will be the other crucial points of the election campaign?
The main focus of the upcoming, or, rather, already ongoing campaign lies both inside and outside the political field. First of all, it is difficult not to take into account the extremely important non-political context of inflation, still at very high levels and causing extreme anxiety in society. Until recently, the ruling team was very effective in reducing such public fears, which, by the way, it sometimes generated itself. But it has severely lost this ability in recent months.
Second, there are still smoldering fears about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Third and last, one cannot overlook the impact of the war in Ukraine on the elections, since it is unfolding directly across the Polish border. But this particular issue should not antagonize politicians or voters. I have to say that, for all my criticism - which I do not hide - of issues such as the way the ruling group has been diminishing the role of liberal democracy’s institutions, I have practically no remarks to make about the policy toward the Ukrainian crisis. It is a very good policy. And, there is also a certain, if only tacit, level of agreement across political divides. While Ukraine will certainly be an element of the election campaign in Poland, it does not look like it will be a source of any major dispute; all the significant groupings seem to agree on government policy on the matter.
SURELY ZIOBRO CAN SEE THAT HE HAS NO CHANCE TO EXIST IN THE POLISH PARLIAMENT AS AN INDEPENDENT POLITICAL FORCE, AS THE RESULTS OF POLLS CLEARLY PROVESolidarna Polska - partner or adversary?
On the other hand, political rivals will certainly argue about the methods of fighting inflation or the state’s preparedness for earlier and potential epidemic threats.
You spoke of a split in the United Right, visible for all to see, for instance in the way some votes go in the Sejm; will the ruling camp therefore be able to function as a monolith in the election campaign?
[Junior coalitionist] Solidarna Polska (United Poland) politicians led by Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro will certainly make some noticeable attempts to take a jab at PiS and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki himself. But when the time comes, the self-preservation instinct of politicians will turn out to be stronger than the desire of groups like Ziobro’s people to break away into political independence. I therefore predict that there is a greater likelihood that the entire ruling side will go forth together. Surely Ziobro can see that he has no chance to exist in the Polish parliament as an independent political force, as the results of polls [Solidarna Polska gets about 1-percent support in them] clearly prove.
opposition politicians. If this does not succeed, it will not be because of a lack of intellectual capacity, but a lack of political will. And this, in turn, will be interpreted by voters as an embarrassment, resulting in a demobilizing effect on the opposition’s potential electorate. To sum up: it will increase the likelihood of the ruling camp winning again.
PiS is pushing through a draft of amendments to the electoral law; do these stand a chance of gaining parliamentary support, and if so, what impact might they have on the outcome of the fall vote?
I think that, contrary to the prevailing critical opinion, these changes may come into effect. PiS is trying to convince people that the amendments are needed to increase electoral participation and ensure transparency in the election process; its opponents argue that the right wing wants
The opposition has so far given no signal that it is capable of going together to the fall elections, which weakens its political position immeasurably. This “together” might, of course, take various forms, starting with the strongest option of a single, joint electoral list. According to various analyses, which in my opinion are reliable, such an arrangement offers the best chance of gaining the largest representation in the parliament. The more lists, the fewer parliamentary seats will be won. Weaker variants of running together are also possible. By this I mean demonstrating that in practice, a vote for individual opposition parties will be a vote for a common program, not just a vote to remove the current rulers from power. If such a message sent continuously reached the voters effectively, then even regardless whether a single common list is put forward, this alone would already show that a vote cast for the opposition would not be a wasted vote. But this is not happening either, as the opposition is not sending such a message. This is its biggest problem today.
Given the low likelihood of an agreement being reached on a single joint list, the opposition must now find an intelligent way out to show that even without a single formal list, the opposition parties are somehow together. This is not an insurmountable task; after all, there are people with a lot of political experience and a lot of class among
to reach a larger portion of the electorate in this way. However, sociological analyses show that these changes are not particularly productive for the ruling party’s interests. The Batory Foundation’s experts even believe that they could harm PiS, and if they have any positive effects, these will be minimal. Meanwhile, the costs, both financial and organizational, would be very high. Besides, if the aim is to increase voter participation by encouraging more elderly people to go to the polls, the interpretation that PiS wants to increase its holdings inevitably comes to mind, since all analyses show that the older electorate votes for the ruling group. One might ask why the ruling camp is not turning to young people. This is a group with a low voter turnout; it has been a little better recently, but it is still low. The answer is obvious: there is growing dissatisfaction among young Poles with the direction in which those in power are steering the country. PiS therefore wants election commissions to be located closer to churches, rather than, for example, closer to universities. This clearly shows the intentions behind the draft amendments to the election law.
Will the current fierce conflict, including within the ruling camp, over the European Union funds due to Poland under the National Recovery Plan (KPO) also be visible in the election campaign?
Of course it will. The opposition must not let itself fall into the trap of saying that if the legislative changes neces-
THERE IS GROWING DISSATISFACTION AMONG YOUNG POLES WITH THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THOSE IN POWER ARE STEERING THE COUNTRYJustice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro (left)
sary for KPO implementation are adopted and the money flows in, this will be a great success. I would say, although I know it sounds a bit utopian, that what is needed is to reduce the level of the opposition’s emotionality and involvement regarding this problem. Opposition politicians should treat money from EU programs as a normal thing, and a situation in which this money does not reach Polish recipients as a pathology. Therefore, there should not be any debate on whether the opposition should support the government’s proposed legal changes necessary for Poland to meet the EU “milestones” that condition the disbursement of money from the KPO. Of course it should support them, and in supporting them constantly point out that if the fate of the money for Poland depends on the opposi-
tion’s position, it shows the weakness of a government that is unable to obtain for Poland what the country is absolutely entitled to. This would be a blow to the fundamental element of the image PiS builds for itself, that of a party that is effective in defending Poland’s interests.
At the same time, I am not at all convinced that there is a 100-percent guarantee that the changes to the Supreme Court [passed by the Sejm in January] will eventually be adopted in Poland, and that the money will start flowing immediately. This is only the first step, the first milestone. There is still a long road ahead.
Another thing is that once the EU money reaches Poland, those in power will use it, first and foremost, to patch holes in the budget and rescue the state’s crisis-ridden finances. The funds will therefore make political life easier for the current ruling camp. The opposition must be prepared for this.
But is the issue of relations with the EU at all important to the PiS electorate?
Of course, there is a certain “core electorate” that will vote for their party whatever happens. This PiS core is actually more committed than the opposing side’s supporter group. But we never fully know how numerous this group is and how strong their political beliefs are. Undoubtedly, Poland’s attitude toward Europe will be an important element in the electoral struggle. However, I think that the messages sent out by those in power to appeal to their most faithful electorate, persuading them that the EU is
OPPOSITION POLITICIANS SHOULD TREAT MONEY FROM EU PROGRAMS AS A NORMAL THING, AND A SITUATION IN WHICH THIS MONEY DOES NOT REACH POLISH RECIPIENTS AS A PATHOLOGYPrime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki with EC head Ursula von der Leyen
dominated by Germany and that historical Polish-German relations make us fear and distrust it, that Europe wants to limit Polish sovereignty, do not really convince even right-wing voters. I have the impression that PiS politicians have a rather outdated image of their electorate, which in reality is somewhat different by now. After all, this electorate also derives unquestionable and tangible benefits from Poland’s EU membership, and anti-European rhetoric does not quite convince it.
Some polls show that the PiS electorate is visibly eroding; in 2019, 45 percent of PiS voters believed that their party would win the parliamentary elections but would not be able to govern on its own; by 2022, that percentage had risen to 80 percent. This is a clear sign of a lack of PiS supporters’ confidence in the party’s fitness. I would therefore be cautious about claiming that the dependability of the PiS electorate is unquestionable. We thus don’t know what might happen in a few months. Above all, we have to take into account that the current number of supporters is not enough for PiS to continue its independent rule. Some added value is needed, and that is what is at stake. And, a policy of attacking sexual minorities or the EU’s alleged Germanness is not a message that those who are hesitant about how to vote will buy. Rather, let’s face it, this electorate can effectively be bought literally - with a sizable sum of money, and not with ideological messages about German domination in Brussels or homosexuals lurking to destroy our sovereignty.
Where can PiS look for the “added value” you mentioned, i.e. new votes to support it?
It can delve even deeper into its traditional circles: the elderly, the less educated, residents of small towns or rural areas, but these are groups with significant voter participation. I don’t think the ruling party will be able to radically increase its hold in big cities or among the better educated. The opposition groups would have to make some kind of huge mistake. I therefore believe that PiS will continue to try to activate the residents of its traditional bastions.
Speaking of the opposition, is its electoral strategy clear to the Poles?
No, it is not. Voters are receiving signals from which one thing can be deduced: the most important thing to the opposition parties is their interests, position and future, rather than any desire to assume power in Poland and take responsibility for the country’s further development. This can be maliciously explained: after all, it is better to be a strong opposition group, receive funds from the state coffers and not be responsible for anything, than to have to deal with a whole host of problems left by the previous ruling team, for example, with regaining the development momentum of the Polish economy. A recent analysis by a Swiss research institute showed how dramatically Poland’s standing in the competitiveness ranking list has deteriorated. Among the 60 countries studied, we fell from 38th place to 50th. Without a competitive edge, Poland is doomed to development problems, that’s the most important thing. Meanwhile, there is no clear message from the opposition about what needs to be done to change this dire situation. Nor do we hear anything about problems that cannot be solved during one [four-year] parliamentary term. The opposition would lose nothing if it started talking to those in power about
precisely such issues, concerning climate change, energy policy, and environmental, military, epidemic or educational challenges - tasks that need to be solved together, regardless of who happens to be at the helm of state power today. Debates on issues to be solved in the perspective of 10, 15 or 20 years are consistently lacking in Polish political life. And it is precisely such discussions that could attract new supporters to individual parties, as well as motivating those who are inactive voters. Instead, we only see thinking about terms in office on both sides of the political stage, and thinking about one’s own party.
PiS can be accused of having chosen the wrong direction for Poland, but it cannot be accused of not having defined that direction. In the case of the opposition, on the other hand, this direction is still vague. Besides being “anti-PiS,” something positive needs to be presented. The opposition is not offering any clear picture of what the future Poland should be like.
Polls unanimously indicate that PiS might win the fall elections but has little chance of gaining the parliamentary majority needed to govern alone; will we be doomed to a minority government and permanent chaos? After a possible electoral success, PiS will do everything to prevent a minority government scenario. It will enter into some strange alliance with, for example, the radical-nationalist Confederation, which there is every indication will enter parliament again. Or, it will skillfully - and it has already done this effectively in the current term - pluck some small number of deputies from other groups. Again, much depends on the opposition’s unified attitude. Consistently acting together is not only in its own interest, but is needed above all to get Poland on the appropriate side in that civilizational choice of which I have spoken.
Eleven months ago the security system in Europe, laboriously built after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, fell apart...
The war in Ukraine, which began back in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of fighting in Donbas, was initially treated marginally, as a peripheral conflict happening on the fringes of Europe. Now everything has changed; Russia has emerged as the aggressor, the United States has returned to the European continent both politically and militarily, and Europe itself has been forced to reintroduce armed forces and weapons into its foreign policy. These changes are not over yet, and we do not know their full effects, for it is not clear how the war will end: whether Ukraine will win or there will be some kind of stalemate in which neither side will step down, but neither will be strong enough to gain a military advantage, either.
That will determine what will arise from this change in security architecture, how Europe thinks about a future possible war with Russia, whether such a war is possible, how soon it will happen, and how Russia’s aggression potential will be assessed as a new threat to the continent. The likely differences will be that Eastern Europe will be sure to think that Russia - if it survives the current war in a state resembling victory - is an immediate threat, while Western Europe, more removed from Russian borders, is likely to think that the threat is not so great. This could become a source of future political friction.
Looking at the course of hostilities, what predictions could you try to make about how the Russian aggression might end? I have recently been telling my students to compare current events to World War II, and to think that we are in 1942 today, as Europeans wondering where this war is going and how soon it will end. As we remember, World War II continued for a long time and brought various surprises and major breakthroughs, including in the postwar years. The conflict in Ukraine is very similar, being conducted today on a full, one might say industrial scale. Both warring states have committed their entire potentials to the fight, and the same can increasingly be said of Ukraine’s Western allies. At the moment it is difficult to guess when the war will end and what it will end in. A great deal depends on purely military issues, especially on the Ukrainian side, and on the Russian side on political issues, which seem far more important to the Kremlin, to Vladimir Putin’s team, than the success of the military campaign itself. Whether the Russian dictator retains power, and arguably his life, depends on the political situation, on the West maintaining its unity, on its support for Ukraine, on the effects of the Russia-induced energy crisis. All this poses a threat to Putin, plus there is the domestic situation in Russia, a possible rebellion both by the public and, more importantly, by some group
WHETHER THE RUSSIAN DICTATOR RETAINS POWER, AND ARGUABLY HIS LIFE, DEPENDS ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION, ON THE WEST MAINTAINING ITS UNITY, ON ITS SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE, ON THE EFFECTS OF THE RUSSIA-INDUCED ENERGY CRISIS
of generals or politicians. For the Kremlin, this is a political war. For Kiev, it is primarily an armed struggle; politically, Ukraine is in a favorable position, it is united, it is successful on the battlefield and receives enormous support from the free world. So it’s hard to predict which of these potentials will prove more important as things develop. There will probably be significant changes on the front in the spring; there is unlikely to be some great offensive, as neither side seems to have the strength for such operations, but a series of single victories on one side or the other is possible, which could have a decisive role for the course of this year’s campaign.
You have said that the Russian president is up against the wall; but in such a situation are any concessions possible, any withdrawal from territories gained through the annexation (after rigged referendums) of four regions of Ukraine, which, according to Russian propaganda, are supposed to “remain in Russia for eternity”?
I believe Putin is capable of taking a step back, as he demonstrated in the case of Kherson, the only major city seized after the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. When he was talked out of continuing to defend the city, he surrendered it to the advancing Ukrainians. The question is how much longer the Moscow elite and the Russian public (though I don’t know if it has any influence on the dictator’s decisions at all) will accept the narrative of which Putin is a master: portraying failures as successes with the help of a gigantic propaganda apparatus. For the Russian president, the most important thing is to maintain domestic calm, to control the tensions that have emerged in Russia after the outbreak of a full-scale war, still officially described as a “special operation.” How long these “survivalist” skills of his will last him is hard to say. If Russia cedes more territory, loses illegally occupied territories, he may indeed find himself in a situation he has never faced in
his more than two decades of rule. I can imagine that the Ukrainians will at least take back the territories that the Russian army seized after Feb. 24 - this must surely cause a reaction domestically. The Russians will ask, “here we are a year and a half after the start of the special operation, we have lost about 150,000 dead and wounded, and what has come of it?”
The Russian government’s propaganda system is doing quite well so far; support for the “special operation” is very high, Putin’s approval rating as a leader is continually enthusiastic. How long can the public of a country of 150 million people be kept in such a state?
A new term was coined recently for leaders of countries that practice authoritarian policies: “spin dictators.” It’s an apt
term, showing how the power of propaganda extinguishes real social tensions and allows these leaders to continue riding high. Historical experience shows that one can govern foolishly, erroneously, ruin one’s country economically and still remain in power. We can also feel this way in Poland sometimes. It seems that in the case of Russia, this public attitude, this declarative support for Putin’s war is indeed significant. And even if it is not so in reality, it has little effect on Putin’s position. The Russians simply went to war and that’s it.
In terms of its possible repercussions for Russian society, can the war in Ukraine be compared with the Soviet Union’s failed but nearly decade-long intervention in Afghanistan? Such comparisons obviously spring to mind. Some 15,00020,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, roughly as many as are killed per quarter on the Ukrainian fronts today. It is often recalled that the social movement of mothers of soldiers killed in Afghanistan led to the end of that war. But first there was Mikhail Gorbachev and his perestroika
and glasnost’ [openness]. It wasn’t until later that the mothers of soldiers became socially popular and were allowed to ask military commanders where their sons were. This only came after five or six years of armed involvement in the Afghan conflict, not in 1981 or 1982, when the Soviet Union undertook a full-scale intervention, calling its troops a “limited contingent” anyway. Comparisons are therefore moot; Putin is not Gorbachev, Russia is not the Soviet Union, and Ukraine is not Afghanistan.
In your opinion, do Russian-Ukrainian relations after the war have any chance of normalization? Or are we dealing with hatred that will last for generations?
This is a criminal and cruel war, so the simplest, most obvious answer is that there will be no chance for normal neighborly relations. On the other hand, I am more interested in whether there will be any renaissance of the Ukrainian state and what it will be like. Assuming, of course, that the war ends in a Ukrainian victory, that the West helps Ukraine stay alive and win. Without going any further into what that victory might mean, first and foremost it is about preserving independence, ensuring that the state lasts, not allowing Ukrainians to impose some pro-Russian puppet government, some new Viktor Yanukovych, on themselves.
I think this victory will be visible, there will be no situation of a frozen conflict in which Ukraine wins a little and loses a little, plunges into crisis and bankruptcy. It might be said in jest, although this is no subject for jokes, that this war like no other in the past few decades must end with a great victory parade and an important peace treaty. Not a single war we have experienced in the last 30-40 years has ended with such a treaty. And today I feel that this war should end with such symbolic acts. Of course, such an ending will re-
IT WAS A GOOD THING THAT WHEN THE WAR BROKE OUT, THERE WAS A POLITICIAN SITTING IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHO STILL HAS EXPERIENCE FROM THE COLD WAR
quire the upheaval and collapse of the current Russian government; some people even speculate about the possibility of a breakup of the Russian Federation.
Such a symbolic victory is followed by a social renaissance. I believe that the Ukrainian state will become a symbol of the good it represents today: heroic defense against a criminal invader. I expect this and heartily wish it.
What, then, might the West’s postwar relations with Moscow look like? Could there again be a thaw such as we know from history after the end of the Cold War, or after the violent but short-lived crises that threatened to end in a world war - the Berlin and Cuban crises?
The aforementioned crises ended with changes of power in the Kremlin. The Cuban crisis led to the downfall of Nikita Khrushchev; the Berlin crisis, which led to the construction of the Wall, was the time of the end of the Stalin cult and Khrushchev’s rise to full power. The end of the Cold War, in turn, brought the collapse of the Soviet Union. Always the Russian authorities, the Kremlin, were the losing side. So if there is to be any renegotiation of the West’s relations with Russia, history should repeat itself. I don’t expect the West to back down, I don’t expect the United States to back down from supporting Ukraine. Nor do I think Europe will suddenly run for Russian gas again. The process of economic disconnection from Russian raw material resources is not just related to the war in Ukraine; it was initiated by climate warming and its consequences, namely a shift away from fossil fuels. Russia has found itself in trouble in its economic relations with the West not only because of the war unleashed by Putin. The war has only reinforced other processes that were already evident. Russia is therefore in a state of crisis, while the West is not.
Russia will not become a black hole, it will not disappear, it will have to live somehow with the defeat it will suffer, somehow find its way back into the international community. What I don’t expect is a scenario in which the Russian Federation goes the way of Hitler’s Germany or imperial Japan, performing some kind of catharsis lasting a couple of decades and settling accounts with its imperial past. Such a change of the two aforementioned countries - the aggressors in World War II - resulted from the occupation by the Allies, above all the Americans, and from the efforts of the victorious coalition to change these countries and absorb them into the free, democratic world of the West. Today the Russian imperial spirit will not meet with any external or internal challenge.
How do you assess the West’s attitude toward Kiev today? Isn’t it the case that the Americans are again playing the dominant role while Western Europe is dithering? Besides Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy of course, President Joe Biden is, without a doubt, the personality of this war. It was a good thing that when the war broke out, there was a politician sitting in the White House who still has experience from the Cold War, who said in Rzeszów during a visit to Poland, visiting American soldiers at the Polish airport through which aid to Ukraine is transported, that he still remembers the talks he held with Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin in the 1970s. Biden is certainly a pivotal figure in the game of Ukraine’s survival, effectively securing U.S. aid and organizing the Western coalition to support Kiev. An important test of its unity came late last fall, when the issue of whether Europe could withstand an energy embargo on Russian oil, coal and gas arose. The crisis is there, of course, and so is the high price tag, but this is not something that could destroy European support for Ukraine. There are no major elections in Europe or the United States this year in which any pro-Kremlin forces that might upset the Western coalition could surface. So, economically it’s tough but not tragic, and politically it’s also tough, but not bad.
I DON’T EXPECT THE WEST TO BACK DOWN, I DON’T EXPECT THE UNITED STATES TO BACK DOWN FROM SUPPORTING UKRAINEUkrainian Leader in US Congress
There are even some very positive and somewhat unexpected developments; I note with appreciation Germany’s gradual breakthrough on the issue of aid to Ukraine, another threshold Berlin is crossing. President Biden faces an election in two years; it seems that Ukraine’s heroism is appreciated and accepted by the American political world, so I don’t think anything can threaten the Western coalition for Kiev.
In all of this, what is the role and situation of Poland, which has inevitably become a frontline state over the past 11 months?
Poland’s role, both in terms of the symbolic, declarative layer, as well as in terms of real actions, is very large. Po-
land is seen as one of Ukraine’s most active and dedicated allies. In recent weeks top government officials have announced that Poland is ready to transfer state-of-the-art Western weapons to the fighting Ukraine (previously, the Ukrainian army received modernized post-Soviet equipment, including tanks). Warsaw, of course, is acting - quite rightly - as part of a broad Western coalition, not taking any steps on its own.
My doubt relates to another issue: can one build one’s military power on credit, in addition credit that is hard to get? This seems to me to be what the Polish United Right government is doing today. According to a recent analysis published by the Bloomberg economic website, Polish arms spending from off-budget funds raises numerous “red flags,” it is burdened with serious risks, and its maintenance in the future is strongly questioned. I am not an economist, but it seems to me that high-credit purchases are not the best solution in the long run. And armaments are purchases in the long run. Contrary to what various sources, including Russian ones, write, Poland is not a military power yet; all that equipment ordered from all over the world (including the United States and South Korea) has yet to be bought and put into use. Contracts have been signed, but it’s unclear whether it will all hold up.
Added to this are the well-known problems with the rule of law, Polish-German relations, and relations with the European Union. All of this suggests that we may not fully take advantage of this historic opportunity presented by the war in Ukraine and Poland’s role in this international crisis. I would not like us to return to the traditional division
between “old” and “new” Europe, Eastern and Western Europe. The current war could, in my opinion, help everyone forget this unfortunate division, which has existed since Poland’s EU accession and, before that, its NATO accession. In military matters this division has already been overcome to some extent, but in political and economic matters it has not. Poland has a chance to become an important player on the map of Europe, and I would very much like to see it take advantage of this. However, so far it is doing nothing to make this happen.
Finally introduce the rule of law, reform its diplomatic service, be a constructive builder and integral participant in European integration; these are obvious things that should be changed at the very beginning. Of course the EU is a game of interests, but you have to understand what interests you have and what they are. If Poland does not do so, if it vacillates between anti-Americanism and pro-Americanism, between an anti-European stance and a pro-European one, we will never have a stable foreign policy. Speaking of anti-Americanism, I recall the reactions of the Polish authorities to Biden’s election in 2021. A lack of consistency in policy is a very wrong way to go. You can make major adjustments to policies when you are a large, wealthy, militarily secure country. But when you’re still a country on the rise, you can’t afford to make such significant changes.
Are there even minimal chances today for even a partial normalization of Polish-Russian relations?
Absolutely not, there is no question of this. The conflict is ongoing, there is not a single politician in Russia with any chance of assuming real power in the next decade and even a trace of willingness to talk with Warsaw. The situation is the same in Poland; there is no significant politician who wants to improve Polish-Russian relations. We have neither the people, nor the material, nor the ability to normalize them. Russia is an aggressor, it threatens Europe, above all Poland and the Baltic states. It is, excuse the expression, a perverted, criminal superpower that has disrupted security in Central Europe and in fact the whole of Europe in the worst way since 1945. Who are we to reconcile with? Who will be Putin’s successor? [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu? [Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army Sergei] Gerasimov? [The founder of the mercenary criminal group Wagner Group, Yevgeny] Prigozhin? [Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai] Patrushev? Or [imprisoned oppositionist Alexei] Navalny? With whom could we hold talks? Today such a situation is completely unimaginable.
Polish-Ukrainian relations today are really flourishing. However, one cannot overlook the fact that the political elite of Kiev or Lviv is showing visible tendencies, painful to Poles, to glorify Ukrainian nationalism, which exploded in a tragic and bloody way during World War II. Isn’t there a danger that slogans like the prewar “Lachy za San” [roughly: “Poles, go back across the San River”] will reappear in the new Ukrainian state that is born after the war is hopefully won?
I am a proponent of the idea that history should be left to historians, and politicians who want to use history for
current politics should do so in moderation and, above all, think about the future. This applies to both sides. I think many people find it heartening to see how Poles react to Ukrainians and Ukrainians to Poles today, what an amazing date in our common history 2022 has become, how great Poland’s and Polish people’s aid to Ukrainian refugees has been, how great the military aid is now. I don’t believe in an unambiguous picture of history in which there are only criminals and heroes. I don’t want to justify Ukrainians who worship one politician or another, just as I wouldn’t want to justify Poles doing the same. Poland also has its historical figures who have cast a shadow over the history of Lithuanians, Belarusians, Ukrainians or Jews. Of course, the Volhynia Massacres (1943-1944), crimes bearing the hallmarks of genocide, when 50,00060,000 Poles died at the hands of Ukrainian armed nationalist formations, weigh on Polish-Ukrainian relations. But, as the poet Adam Asnyk wrote, “one must go forward with the living.” I would therefore prefer politicians to behave like President Zelenskiy and President Andrzej Duda are doing today, and also the majority of the political class in both countries.
You became an ambassador two days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is definitely a huge burden because you did not even have time to unpack your suitcases ...
I presented my credentials two days before the invasion. I actually arrived in Poland about a month before that, but that’s still not a lot of time. So really, yes, I did have to jump right in.
Poles are impressed with the enormous help of the United States for Ukraine. Many older people who remember the Second World War look at this help with disbelief. However, bearing in mind the loneliness that Poland experienced in the September 1939 campaign, these people fear that in the event of Russia’s aggression against Poland, we may be left alone again. How can you assure these people that it will never happen? That’s a very important observation - that in many ways for Poles, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is like 1939. The difference is that this time Poland is part of the NATO alliance. I lived in Poland for two years in the 1990s - on a Fulbright Scholarship. So, I can see the difference now that Poland is a NATO member. There are thousands of American troops here in Poland. President Biden declared
during the Madrid Summit that the Fifth Corps Forward Headquarters in Poznań is now permanent. Poles can feel more secure. That’s why, in my opinion, Poles have been so willing to open their homes and their hearts to those who are fleeing Ukraine.
When I say repeatedly that Poland is safe and secure, I’m not just speaking for myself. I’m also speaking on behalf of President Biden, who came here to Poland to declare that we will defend every inch of NATO territory.
You were an advisor to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on Eastern Europe. You also mobilized the American Polish community to vote for the Democratic party. You are well prepared to run an embassy in Warsaw, and yet you had a problem in taking over it. The Polish government did not agree because of ... your Polish citizenship. How was this resolved?
It’s a long process to become an ambassador. You have to be thoroughly vetted first. I’d been through that process before when I was Ambassador to Sweden, so that made it a little easier. The U.S. Embassy here shared my name before I was nominated to make sure that the Polish government agreed that I could be Ambassador here. And the Poles do their own vetting – just like we do on our side, and, as you suggested, one of the issues that they looked at was this question of citizenship. I’m proud of my Polish heritage, but I’ve never claimed to be a Polish citizen. I was born and grew up in the United States. When I came to Poland as a Fulbright scholar, I came here as an American.
But whether I consider myself a Polish citizen and whether Polish law considers me a Polish citizen are different issues. This isn’t the first time this issue has come up. Nicholas Rey, who was U.S. Ambassador in the 1990s was born in Warsaw. So, there is a process to resolve that sort of issue. It
I’M PROUD OF MY POLISH HERITAGE, BUT I’VE NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A POLISH CITIZEN. I WAS BORN AND GREW UP IN THE UNITED STATES
turned out that according to Polish law, based on my mother’s heritage, I am a citizen of Czechoslovakia – which isn’t even a country anymore! So, I’m an American citizen, but we did have to sort that issue out.
Your mother, Emilie Benes Brzeziński, a relative of Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia in 1935-1938 and 19401948, died last year. What she was like?
My mother was an artist, and she was an artist in Washington, DC – which is not an artist’s city; it’s more focused on government and politics. So, she was on her own as an artist, but she had the support of my dad who was proud of her work. She would make these big rubber molds of trees and cast them into resin sculptures. Later she started working with wood and carved huge sculptures that have a strong ecological message. What I learned from her is the strength of personality that an artist must have to stand alone, to challenge convention, to do something that others may not understand – but they realize that it’s beautiful. When I was growing up, there was true gender equality in the Brzezinski home. My father was an important guy, but her work was just as important. When we kids came home from school, if my mom was working with her chainsaw on a huge sculpture, we did not interrupt her until she finished her work. Looking back as an adult, I respect my dad’s support of her in everything she did.
Did your grandfather, Tadeusz, a participant in the Polish-Bolshevik war, the Polish consul in Kharkiv until 1937, tell you about his work in pre-war Polish diplomacy?
My grandfather was one of many who chose to stand up, who did what he knew was right despite the risks his actions
caused. In 2008, I wrote of his incredible story in the New York Times, how he went beyond the call of duty in his role as a Polish diplomat.
Serving as Poland’s consul general in Leipzig, Germany, during Hitler’s rise to power in the early 1930s, he saw the unjust evil brew and grow. At that time, Jews were already being moved to concentration camps and losing their legal status.
My grandfather provided Polish passports to Jews, both Polish and German, so they could be freed from internment or be able to escape Nazi Germany. When indifference was the easy choice, he made the hard choice. He made the right choice. He chose not to be indifferent in the face of atrocity. He chose to take action to protect lives.
I WAS RAISED IN A HOUSEHOLD THAT REALLY VALUED AND, I FEEL, UNDERSTOOD THE UNIQUE ROLE FOR AMERICA IN THE WORLD, IN TERMS OF ADVANCING VALUES, AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES
MarkBrzezinski with Andrzej Duda
The United States, thanks to your father’s prompts, supported the election of Karol Wojtyła as Pope. What was the relationship between the Holy Father and Zbigniew Brzeziński? My father met with John Paul II shortly after he became Pope. The Pope started the conversation saying, “Today we are speaking as two Poles.” So, they were both Poles who found themselves abroad in the late 1970s. One happened to be the Pope and the other happened to be the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States at the height of the Cold War. They collaborated for the global good, but their roots were in Poland. Poland remained their North Star that informed their worldview. For the Pope, it
informed the advice that he gave to his flock, to the whole world of Catholics, and to my father, to people involved in foreign policy in America.
When John Paul II came to America, my whole family had dinner with the Pope. My father spent the whole morning teaching me to kiss the Pope’s ring, but when I met the Pope and went to kiss his ring he asked me, “Why are you doing that? You’re an American; we can shake hands.”
President Carter was at your Sacrament of confirmation because of your father’s business trip. Did these youthful contacts with politicians decide about your later life?
Mark Brzezinski was sworn in as the Ambassador of the United States to Poland on December 22, 2021.
Ambassador Brzezinski previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015, spearheading innovative new approaches to advance U.S.-European trade and landing key Swedish investments, including Volvo’s decision to build a USD 1 billion factory in South Carolina. He also arranged the first-ever U.S. Presidential visit to Stockholm, which brought together all five heads of governments of the Nordic countries for a summit that galvanized a U.S.-Nordic strategic approach on energy, innovation, and sustainability. In 2015,
he was asked by the White House to lead a strategic effort on the Arctic as the first Executive Director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee.
Most recently, Ambassador Brzezinski was founder and principal of Brzezinski Strategies LLC. He was a Managing Director at Makena Capital Management, where he led the firm’s sustainable and ESG investing efforts. For a decade, he was a partner at the law firm McGuireWoods LLP, where he helped build the law firm’s international compliance practice. From 1999 to 2001, he served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff, first as a Director
for Russia and Eurasia, and then as a Director for the Balkans.
Ambassador Brzezinski is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 1991-93, during which he researched and wrote a book entitled “The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland.” In 2010, he was named to the State Department’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. He received a BA from Dartmouth College, a JD from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in Political Science from Oxford University.
He is the proud father of a teenage daughter, Aurora Brzezinski.
I was raised in a household that really valued and, I feel, understood the unique role for America in the world, in terms of advancing values, and making a difference in improving people’s lives. And I was able to watch my father through his diplomacy, his work with President Carter and many others, using the alignment between countries to advance peace and humanity. The example that comes most immediately to mind is the Israel-Egypt peace treaty between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. As a young person, I had the great fortune to be taken by my father to the signing ceremony between Begin and Sadat, and both said, at the ceremony, “but for the President being willing to risk his presidency to advance peace, this wouldn’t have happened.” This is the longest lasting peace treaty in the history of the Middle East. My brother, sister, and I were all able to sit at the elbow of my dad, to see what works in world politics.
Your brother Ian is also a diplomat and Republican. He was Assistant Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and worked
closely with the presidential candidate John McCain. Does involvement in the opposite poles of politics negatively affect family relations, as is often the case in Poland?
I love my brother – just as I love my sister – so family relations are wonderful. We have an expression in America that politics stops at the water’s edge. Which means that we have very vibrant debates about domestic politics, but when it comes to foreign policy there is a broad consensus on many issues. So, if you look at the policies of different administrations, Democratic and Republican, towards Poland you will find a lot of continuity. We support strong security cooperation based on shared democratic values. We’ve had over a hundred members of Congress come to Poland since February 24th, and there has been a strong bipartisan consensus in support of Ukraine and a deep appreciation of Poland’s role in that support. Right now, my brother is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and if you look at what he has been saying about the intense allied collaboration in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, you will see that we agree on a lot.
Zbigniew Brzeziński (March 28, 1928 - May 26, 2017), was a Polish American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981.
Major foreign policy events during his time in office included the normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China; the signing of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), with the Soviet Union; the brokering of the Camp
David Accords between Egypt and Israel; the overthrow of the US-friendly Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the start of the Iranian Revolution; the United States’ encouragement of dissidents in Eastern Europe and championing of human rights in order to undermine the influence of the Soviet Union; supporting the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and, ultimately, Soviet occupation troops during the Soviet-Afghan War; and the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties relinquishing U.S. control of
the Panama Canal after 1999.
Brzeziński’s personal views have been described as “progressive”, “international”, political liberal, and “strong anti-communist”. Critics described him as hawkish or “foreign policy hardliner” on some issues such as Poland-Russia relations.
His eldest son, Ian is a foreign policy expert, his youngest son, Mark, is the current United States Ambassador to Poland, his daughter, Mika is a television news presenter and co-host of MSNBC’s weekday morning program.
The third quarter of 2022 completes the dynamic new supply period observed on the Polish office market in recent years. Between January and September 2022, developers delivered 39 new investments, which increased the sector’s total stock by 560,100 sqm to over 12.7 million sqm. The period under review also registered intense activity on the demand side. At the end of Q3 2022, more than one million sqm was leased across Poland. However, the office market, like other sectors of the commercial real estate market, faces many challenges, including rising energy costs or the expected supply gap and rising rents.
The total stock of the Polish office market at the end of September 2022 reached 12.7 million sqm, with Warsaw leading the list with more than 6,343,000 sqm, ahead of Kraków (1,651,700 sqm), Wrocław (1,320,600 sqm) and Tricity (1,011,000 sqm). In the capital, three developments with a total of 99,100 sqm were completed in Q3, led by the largest and most spectacular project Varso Tower (HB
Reavis, 63,800 sqm) and office buildings P180 (Skanska, 32,000 sqm) and Poleczki 32 (PID Polska Sp. z o.o., 3,300 sqm). By the end of September 2022, 11 buildings with a total area of more than 228,100 sqm had received occupancy permits in Warsaw. On the other hand, in the same period, 28 investments were delivered in the eight largest regional office markets (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Pozna ń, Katowice, Łódź, Szczecin, and Lublin), including two projects in Q3 2022, i.e., Quorum Office Park D (Cavatina, 16,200 sqm) and L’Uni (Luni Sp. z o.o., 4,000 sqm) both located in Wrocław. Thus, from January to September 2022, developers completed 332,000 sqm, which increased the region’s total stock to around 6,357,400 sqm of modern office space.
“The completion of the last this year two office towers, i.e., Varso Tower and P180, in Q3 2022, will begin the long-announced supply gap in the Warsaw office market. According to developers’ announcements, new projects that will change the capital’s skyline should appear at the turn of 2023-24. Our observations show that fit-out costs have stabilized after the wave of increases while remaining high. This situation affects the decisions of office building owners and a reduction in the package of so-called incentives, for example, in the form of additional lease exemptions or participation in the cost of arranging office space,” says Bartosz Oleksak, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO.
New supply in both Warsaw and the eight largest regional office markets has slightly affected vacancy growth. Currently, more than 1.73 million sqm is available for im -
AXI IMMO presented data summarizing Q3 2022 in the Polish office market.mediate lease in Poland, equivalent to 13.7% of the sector’s total stock. In the capital city, at the end of September 2022, the rate stopped at 12.1% (+0.2 sqm), with about 770,200 sqm available for lease. As expected, it was more difficult to find vacant space in Warsaw’s central zones (11.1%) than outside the center (13%). In regional markets, on the other hand, at the end of Q3 2022, the vacancy rate indicated 15.2% (+0.05 pp. q/q), which translated into about 967,200 sqm available for immediate lease. Lodz (22%) and Szczecin (3.9%) remain unchanged in the markets with the highest and lowest vacancy rates.
“The third quarter of 2022 marks a continuation of the good run in the Polish office market take-up. Tenant activity remains high, with vacant space in Warsaw’s central zones and Wola, as well as in serviced offices or coworking spaces, becoming increasingly difficult to find. We expect that with the current dynamics and reported demand for offices in the fourth quarter of this year, the vacancy rate in CBD should approach about 10%. Companies relocating their operations from Ukraine remain a significant group in demand. Nevertheless, these clients require much education on leasing procedures in Poland. Invariably, well-located offices near subway stations or other means of public transportation and comfortable and attractively arranged space remain in the tenants’ zone of interest,” explains Jakub Potocki, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO.
The total volume of lease transactions on the Polish office market at the end of Q3 2022 amounted to just over 1.06 million sqm. From January to September 2022, tenants in Warsaw signed contracts for more than 608,000 sqm, while in the regional office markets for about 456,400 sqm. In turn, in the third quarter of this year, demand in the capital amounted to 128,700 sqm, with 106,300 sqm leased in the regions. The most active office centers after Warsaw in July-September 2022 were Krakow (24,800 sqm), Wroclaw (23,300 sqm), and Gdansk (22,900 sqm). In both the capital and the eight largest regional office markets, new deals (48% Warsaw; 68% regions) accounted for the highest share of demand in the period under review, ahead of renegotiations (45.5% Warsaw; 25% regions) and expansions (5% Warsaw; 7% regions). The top five deals
from July to September 2022 included two renegotiations. The first was signed by a confidential client from the financial sector for 11,300 sqm at Konstruktorska Business Center (Warsaw), and the second for 6,500 sqm also by a confidential tenant at Warsaw Spier C (Warsaw). The podium closes with Panattoni’s contract renewal and expansion at Warsaw Spire Tower (Warsaw) for 4,500 sqm. In places, four and five were a 4,700 sqm prelease agreement by a confidential IT tenant at Ocean Office Park D (Krakow) and an expansion to 3,800 sqm by Keywords Studios at Global Office Park A1 (Katowice).
“Certainly, in the context of the coming months and the entire Polish office market, upward pressure on rents should be indicated in response to persistent inflation, fitout costs, high demand, the supply gap, and an anticipated decline in the vacancy rate,” assesses Oleksak.
“Due to the uncertain economic situation and rising energy prices, clients are also looking at increases in service charges and utilities in addition to rental rates. We expect that in the current market realities, the decision to lease an office will be determined by choice among newer, greener, and more energy-efficient office buildings,” adds Potocki.
THE TOTAL VOLUME OF LEASE TRANSACTIONS ON THE POLISH OFFICE MARKET AT THE END OF Q3 2022 AMOUNTED TO JUST OVER 1.06 MILLION SQM
TENANT ACTIVITY REMAINS HIGH, WITH VACANT SPACE IN WARSAW’S CENTRAL ZONES AND WOLA, AS WELL AS IN SERVICED OFFICES OR COWORKING SPACES, BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND
According to the “Occupier Insight – Industrial and Warehouse Market Q1-Q3 2022”, a report prepared by real estate advisory firm
Newmark Polska, at the end of the third quarter, Poland’s total warehouse and industrial stock reached almost 27.4 million sqm, representing a 19.3% increase year-on-year. New supply in the year to date exceeded 3.58 million sqm, up by 15.6% compared to 2021’s total.
The Polish warehouse and industrial market continue its strong growth momentum, but macroeconomic headwinds and the restricted availability of finance for new projects have slowed development activity and speculative construction in particular,” said Jakub Kurek, Head of Industrial and Warehouse, Newmark Polska. “In addition, tenants - in their quest for cost-cutting - are being increasingly driven to consider the option of staying on in their current locations. Meanwhile, Poland’s overall vacancy rate edged up throughout the third quarter of 2022”, added the expert.
At the end of September 2022, the volume of warehouse and industrial space under construction amounted to over 3.98 million sqm, down by 8.5% over the quarter but up by close to 7% on the third quarter of 2021. The past quarter was another in a row with a slowdown in development activity and speculative construction in particular – this was due to macroeconomic headwinds and fairly high costs of financing for new warehouse and industrial projects.
“Occupier demand for warehouse space continues to hold firm. Total leasing activity for the first nine months of 2022 surpassed 5.3 million sqm, up by 8.7% year-on-year. The third quarter of 2022 saw over 1.5 million sqm transacted, which represented a decrease of close to 33% over the quarter. Net warehouse and industrial take-up came to 3.75 million sqm, accounting for 70% of gross take-
up”, said Agnieszka Giermakowska, Research & Advisory Director, Newmark Polska.
New lease agreements accounted for 63% of the total warehouse take-up in the first three quarters of 2022, followed by renewals and expansions which made up 29.6% and 7.4%, respectively. Renewals saw their share of the total takeup rise from 26.6% in Q1 to 38.3% in Q3, indicating a growing occupier focus on cost-cutting in current locations. It is also worth noting that 293,300 sqm was transacted in January-September 2022 under shorter leases of up to one year.
The largest transactions of the first three quarters of 2022 included VidaXL’s renewal of its lease for 123,000 sqm in VidaXL BTS Września, Panattoni’s BTS project with an area of 103,000 sqm in Tricity for a confidential e-retailer, Exeter’s BTS facility comprising 100,000 sqm for a confidential retailer in Świebodzin and BestSecret’s 90,000 sqm lease in Panattoni Park Sulechów III.
At the end of September 2022, Poland’s overall vacancy rate stood at 4.1%, up by 1.0 pp over the quarter but down by 0.7 pp year-on-year. Vacant stock comprised 1.12 million sqm in existing buildings and 1,945,000 sqm in projects underway. The strongest quarterly growth in vacancies was in Lower Silesia - of 3.7 pp, or close to 142,500 sqm.
Warehouse rental levels which rose by around 15%-20% in the year to date and varied by location are beginning to plateau but are likely to edge up in the most sought-after locations. At the end of the third quarter of 2022, the highest warehouse rents were in Warsaw (zone 1).
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The Centre for Contemporary Art (CSW) in Warsaw is presenting over 200 works by 32 Ukrainian artists. The works gathered at the exhibition “Ukraine. Under a different sky” were created in recent months as a response to Russian aggression.
The current war turned out to be a moment of artistic liberation –ever since 24 February 2022, artists using different media are facing the necessity to give a testimony of the tragic events. Works presented at the exhibition document the brutality of Russian invaders and appeal to global conscience.
“The whole concept of the exhibition was forced by the terrible situation beyond our eastern border, the attack of Putin’s Russia on Ukraine,” said the curator, Marcel Skierski. The first works shown at CSW were created already in March this year. “Through social media, we began to receive paintings, photographs and other works of art that documented
the situation in Ukraine,” he added. Yuriy Bolsa, an artist from Kyiv, is the author of a sculpture-installation: airplanes cut out of sharp metal, similar to paper airplanes, surround the figure of a man holding a child by the hand- these people are trapped, they have no way out.
Roman Bordun, an artist-photographer from Lviv, presents a work made in July 2022. His “Irpin, an apartment after artillery fire” shows a ruined room from which you can see the blue sky with clouds through shattered windows.
The story of wartime Kharkov is documented by the city’s native Pavlo Itkin. A series of his photos shows Kharkov which freezes in darkness. Under the terrible conditions of blackouts and curfews due to the Russian invasion, he found solace in photographing the night sky without light pollution.
The artists whose works are displayed at CSW are people from different generations, of various artistic sensitivity, using various creative tools. They are united above all by Ukrainian nationality and “disagreement with what happened to them,” said Skierski. On view through March 12, 2023.
Warsaw’s History Meeting House (DSH) is staging an exhibition to mark fifty years of an acclaimed Polish photojournalist Chris Niedenthal’s career. On display are more than 200 works from the author’s massive collection of hundreds of thousands of photographs.
“Choosing only 200 pictures from such a vast archive was a big challenge, we wanted to surprise him, come up with something that had not been done before,” said the exhibition curators Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Puchalska. “He was mostly interested in everyday life and ordinary people and such photos are a great and fascinating part of his archive. He travelled around Poland with his camera and captured ordinary situations – yet he saw something unusual in them,” they added.
The foreign correspondent’s press card opened many doors for him and allowed him to take photos that few could take at that time. Cooperation with Newsweek and then with the Time magazine was a huge step in his career, one that gave him unlimited access to high-quality western colour films (practically unavailable to Polish photographers at that time) and allowed him to travel. Thanks to this, his archive contains a unique photojournalistic record of Poland and Eastern European countries of the 1970s and 1980s.
The exhibition shows both less known photographs and some iconic shots essential to tell Niedenthal’s story. Among many artefacts are original covers of the Time magazine, photos accompanying press articles, envelopes addressed to foreign editors, and cameras used by the photojournalist.
Chris Niedenthal was born in 1950 in London, to a family of Polish emigrants. While studying at the London College of Printing, he found a style of taking pictures on which he would later focus. He wanted to document reality, not create a new one. “I was interested in the press and photojournalism. It was hard to get it out of my head. In college, we were taught advertising and portrait photography, but I always did everything from a reporter’s perspective,” said Niedenthal.
At the age of 23 he came to Poland and worked as a freelancer press photojournalist documenting Poland in the communist times. His works were published in the German weekly Stern and monthly Geo and the Swedish newspaper Expressen. In 1978, he began a five-year cooperation with Newsweek. His first reportage depicted “illegal”, makeshift churches, built in the People’s Republic of Poland despite the ban imposed by the state authorities.
In 1978, shortly after the election of Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyła as pope, Niedenthal was the first photojournalist to report from the pontiff’s hometown of Wadowice. A year later, during the pope’s pilgrimage to Poland, he took a photo that made it to the cover of Newsweek magazine. Niedenthal, together with an English journalist Michael Dobbs, was also the first foreign photojournalist allowed to enter Gdańsk Shipyard during the
1980 strike. On December 14, 1981, one day after the imposition of martial law in Poland, he took one of his most iconic shots: a photo of an armoured personnel carrier against the background of Warsaw’s Moskwa (Moscow) cinema and a banner advertising the movie Apocalypse Now.
In 1984 Newsweek sent Niedenthal on his first assignment outside Poland: to Budapest, Prague, and Moscow. In January 1985, he became Time’s photojournalist for Eastern Europe. In 1986 he received a World Press Photo award for his Time magazine cover photo of János Kádár. In 1993, after spending six years in Vienna, at Time’s office for Eastern Europe, Niedenthal returned to Poland. He authored several socially involved projects, including those about children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities and Polish-Jewish relations and tolerance towards the “other”. In recent years, he returned to photojournalism. The exhibition at DSH runs until April 7, 2023.
Visitors to Botanical Garden in Powsin in the southern part of Warsaw can admire illuminated structures inspired by the Fairytale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
After passing through the gate of the Garden of Lights, they find themselves in a magical forest and scenery straight from the best-selling story by the Grimm brothers. During the journey through the garden, they can follow the light trails and walk in the footsteps of Snow White, the Evil Stepmother, the Dwarfs, and the Prince.
This fairy-tale illuminated garden was built with almost half a million LED lights. It features a 12-metre light tunnel, a magic mirror, a crystal mine, a dwarf’s house, and many other leitmotifs known from the story. There are 30 light installations in total as well as multimedia attractions including a Christmas tree made of 42,000 LED lights, laser shows with sound and mapping.
Visitors can not only just walk through the magical forest to admire all these attractions, but also take part in mobile games and challenges. They can upload a map of the fairy-tale world on their phones, solve puzzles, learn a secret password, and win a prize.
The Garden of Lights is open till February 26, 2023.
Prologis has once again come up with an unusual initiative. He decided to enliven one of the facilities located at Prologis Park Łódź. On the walls of the huge water reservoir, Alex Maksiov created a mural of his own design with an image of a mermaid emerging from a sea wave. The mural, which measures 8 meters by 10 meters, welcomes everyone arriving at Prologis Park Łódź.
”When I saw the large tank of water, I immediately knew that it should feature an image of a mermaid. In my opinion, this is the perfect combination of the water that fills the tank and the location where it is located, the city of Łódź. The mermaid evokes surprise, but also sympathy. And this is the effect I wanted to achieve,” says the artist.
Maksiov is an established artist who specializes in creating 3D graphics. His credits include the largest 3D street painting in Ukraine at 457 sq.m. and the largest mural in Kyiv (16 stories). He has won many international awards. Since the war broke out, he has been creating in Poland under the auspices of the Łódźbased Urban Forms Foundation.
The Łódź mural is an initiative that is part of the PARKlife™ concept implemented by Prologis in all its logistics parks. It includes activities aimed at creating user-friendly space. Hence, among others, green areas located in the parks, open-air mini-libraries with a wide range of bestsellers, and the use of solutions supporting low-emission transportation, such as bike repair stations and electric car charging stations.
La Forza del Destino (The Force of Destiny), one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most unusual works, had its Polish premiere on 13 January 2023 at the Polish National Opera, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. The work opened in Saint Petersburg in the autumn of 1862 but the revised version, which is the one largely performed these days, had its premiere on Feb. 27, 1869, in Milan.
As material for his opera in four acts Verdi chose 1835’s family drama Don Alvaro penned by Angel de Saavedra. The composer was captivated by the tragic conflict of two reasons: honour and heart. As his librettist he chose Francesco Maria Piave.
La Forza del Destino tells the story of three people bound together by the power of fate. In order to retain his good family name, the Marchese di Calatrava forbids his daughter Leonora to marry the Latin American Don Alvaro. When the young lovers are attempting to elope, a bullet discharges from Alvaro’s pistol killing the Marchese. Leonora’s brother immediately seeks to avenge his father and ends up killing his sister. The opera culminates in a dramatic trio for soprano, tenor and baritone, and the work ends with the fulfilment of the destiny
foretold by the wonderful overture.
This Verdi’s opera is considered to be a bit too elaborate, inhabited by an abundance of episodic characters and overflowing with events that were beyond the bounds of possibility. Despite all that, it has not disappeared from the world’s opera stages, never losing its appeal.
The Warsaw staging is directed by Mariusz Trelinski and coproduced with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the original Italian with Polish surtitles. The Warsaw team includes Patrick Fournillier as the conductor, Boris Kudlička as set designer and Macko Prusak who created the choreography.
The monographic exhibition Kulisiewicz. Succinct Beauty at Zacheta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw brings together over 500 works of the outstanding contemporary graphic artist Tadeusz Kulisiewicz.
The ‘Master of the Line’ from Kalisz, a sensitive humanist, a careful observer of his native land or a participant in distant artistic journeys — the figure of Tadeusz Kulisiewicz is undoubtedly linked to a multitude of contexts and stages of creative evolution. The exhibition shows how individual chapters of the artist’s life shaped his original and outstanding expressive language over the years.
The course of this multi-layered story takes the viewers into the world of woodcuts from the Szlembark series and pre-war drypoint prints, to then show the wealth of drawings created through many technical, stylistic, and thematic explorations, transformations or experiments. All this to reveal to us the essence of the artist’s artistry — the iconic ‘Kulisiewicz line’.
This broad framing of the subject provides a unique selection of works, not previously shown in a single space. The exhibition features an extensive selection of prints, drawings, and sketches created throughout the artist’s life, including during his numerous travels to China, India, South America, and Cuba. The works shown come from a number of galleries, museums, and private collections.
A kind of documentation, but also a form of emotional record, are the graphics devoted to the ruined Warsaw. “For Kulisiewicz, the experience of war and the memory of it were vivid. Until the end of his life, he returned to the subject of war and the ruined, wounded capital. He took up this motif once again, at the end of his creative work in the black-and-white abstract series Burnt landscapes,” says curator Janusz Janowski.
The exhibition is complemented by a comprehensive historical and cultural context: extensive archival documentation, press, books, theatre, and film stills and documentaries. On View till March 5, 2023.
he exhibition “Tutankhamun. Tomb and Treasures” is shown at Warsaw’s Praga Museum a hundred years after a British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor.
The exhibition has been travelling all over the world since 2008. So far, six and a half million visitors have seen it in Europe alone.
Vistors to the display staged at Praga Museum on 3,000 square meters can see faithful replicas of sacred objects found by Carter, statues, jewels, and above all, the famous golden death mask of the pharaoh and his gilded sarcophagus.
Exhibition spokeswoman Anna Czerniejewska emphasizes not only the precision of the replicas made on the basis of the originals kept in the Cairo Museum, but also the unique way of designing the exhibition. The interior of the tomb was recreated with every detail and all the treasures can be seen in exactly the same arrangement as they were discovered in 1922. The intention of the organizers is to make the viewer feel almost like Howard Carter during his epochal discovery. “The items that the archaeologist found were not stored in a tomb, vestibule, or treasury. They were dropped in one place. We show it in such a way as to give the viewer at least a semblance of the atmosphere that accompanied the discovery,” says Czerniejewska.
As part of the project, films are screened about the time and life of Tutankhamun, as well as archaeological work carried out at the beginning of the last century and Carter’s road to his sensational discovery.
On view till April 30.
040 years separate the work of the ancient Ovid and modern VR technology. Today they meet in the cyberspace of the VR video, in which Małgorzata Walewska sings the song Ariadne from Jakub Ciupiński’s album Heroides. The premiere took place on January 19 during the opening at the Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz. The VR video can be viewed in the hotel lobby until February 10. Admission is free.
Walewska’s warm mezzo-soprano, Ovid’s ancient poetry, Ciupiński’s electrifying music, Kaya Kołodziejczyk’s dreamy dance and the modern special effects of the VR 360° production. In this way, the artists decided to go beyond the classical perception of classical music and present one of Ciupiński’s pieces from the Heroides album in the form of a VR video.
The viewer, with the help of goggles, follows Ariadne, abandoned on an island by Theseus. He travels through a metaphysical, lunar landscape full of magic and ambient sounds. It features Ariadne, or (Kołodziejczyk), who expresses the emotions of the terrified heroine with dance. With a voice devoid of operatic emphases, Walewska interprets the dilemmas of the mythical heroine and takes on the role of the pre-woman. She sings about love, eternal longing and the pursuit of dreams. The spacious, multidimensional musical arrangement by Ciupiński and the excellent effects created by world-renowned specialists make these confessions even more magical. The viewer experiences emotions that are hard to forget.
“Working on VR in no way resembled shooting an ordinary music video. I couldn’t even imagine what it would look like when I put on the glasses,” admits Walewska.
“When I learned about Ariadne’s project I immediately knew that it had to be presented in the spaces of Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz,” said Anna Olszyńska, general manager of the hotel. “As part of the Andel’s Art project, we
have been going beyond the traditional experience of art for years. We promote contemporary artists. In art, we combine the familiar with the new and innovative. Just as the hotel itself combines tradition with modernity,” she added.
Ariadne is one of the heroines of Ciupiński’s album Heroides. The composer created music for selected letters from Ovid’s poems and invited Walewska to record the vocal parts.
Ciupiński is an award-winning Polish composer living in New York. He has created concert music for the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Metropolis Ensemble, Silicon Valley Ballet, Sybarite5, Anne Akiko-Meyers and Philippe Quint, among others. As an 8-year-old, he debuted at Sony Music Poland under the pseudonym Jakub Żak.
Walewska is one of Poland’s most acclaimed opera singers. She has performed on more than 30 stages of famous theaters in Europe and the USA. Her showcase roles include Carmen, Amneris, Azucena, Dalila, Eboli, Ulrica, Kundry or Santuzza.
Marek Titow has been involved in film and advertising production for fourteen years, specializing in Cinematic VR. He has collaborated on such productions as Deep Dive, Whispers, Bies VR and the documentary Wish You Were Here. Five years ago, he created Altereye, a VR production company. In post-production, Ariadne has worked with Halo Productions and Coloroffon studio, whose films include Cameraman, The Balcony Film, The Eccler or Furioza.
Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz is a hotel-gallery, known for its role as a patron of the arts. It is one of the most recognizable hotel buildings in Lodz. It has won multiple awards for the architecture of its revitalized building, and has been recognized as the best unique event venue in Poland. The hotel is home to the Delight restaurant, offering Polish products in a new guise.
There are brands for which passenger safety is an absolute priority. Volvo is one of those. In the V90 model to the highest level of safety is added an attractive exterior design, a functional and richly equipped interior, and a powerful hybrid drive. What more could you want?
The premiere of Volvo’s largest station wagon, the V90, took place at the 2016 Geneva Spring Salon. The station wagon body model was a complement to the sedan already offered in the executive segment - the Volvo S90. The car was built on the SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) chassis, which was used to create the second-generation XC90. Two years ago, the V90 underwent a subtle facelift of the exterior and interior.
Styling is the car’s strong point. Despite its large exterior dimensions (4936 mm long, 1879 mm wide, 1475 mm high) and wheelbase (2941 mm), the silhouette is very sleek and elegant. Minor facelift changes from two years ago involved the bumper or radiator air intake, as well as the shape of the headlights and rear lamps, which have already become a trademark of the brand. Thanks to them, the V90’s body has become sleeker and more dynamic. This is especially noticeable when you look at the car’s side lines. This Volvo looks as if it is already on the move. In my opinion, this is one of the most attractive estate-body models, and not only in its segment. The attractive body of the car is set on 245/40 low-profile tires and 20-inch aluminum wheels, which further emphasize the dynamics of the body and further attract the eye. The black chrome trim framing the passenger compartment windows serves to emphasize the elegant lines of the body rather than add prestige. This, in the case of the V90 T8 Recharge model, everyone already has.
The bright interior has an atmosphere of luxury. The finishing materials are of the highest quality, and their fit is not the least bit objectionable. The shape of the dashboard, especially the center panel with a large display, has already become a new Volvo trademark. I don’t think any car is as comfortable to sit in as a Volvo. The large, superbly contoured seats have a very wide range of adjustment in all planes, and thanks to the axial and horizontal adjustment of the steering column, everyone can find the most optimal position.
One of the interesting gadgets are the electronic handbrake or the engine ignition key. The Swedes prove that even a key can look interesting. At the disposal of passengers is a spacious trunk with a capacity of 560 liters. If necessary - after folding the rear backrests its capacity can increase to 1,650 liters. Thanks to the electrically lifting trunk lid and low loading threshold, access to the cargo area is very easy.
The equipment is very rich. Standard already in the basic version of the V90 Kinetic is, among others, 7 air -
ONE OF THE INTERESTING GADGETS ARE THE ELECTRONIC HANDBRAKE OR THE ENGINE IGNITION KEY. THE SWEDES PROVE THAT EVEN A KEY CAN LOOK INTERESTING
bags, side airbags and curtain airbags, as well as many elements and systems that increase the comfort of travel or assist the driver during driving, such as Underrun Warning System, Steering Assist at speeds above 130 km/h, Driver Distraction Warning System, Lane Departure Warning System, Traffic Sign Recognition System (TSR), seat belt pretensioners, rain sensor, central locking, electronic parking brake, Auto Hold function, power window control, heated and power mirror control, 6-speaker 80W audio system with 6.5-inch display, AUX and USB connectivity and Bluetooth, 2-zone electronic cli -
mate control, multifunction steering wheel, trip computer. The Momentum version additionally features, among other things, leather upholstery and steering wheel, LED high-beam and daytime running lights, 18-inch alloy wheels, reversing sensors, recirculation, air quality control and improvement system, electrically folding exterior mirrors and 4-way power-adjustable front seats. The Inscription version additionally features, among other things, an electrically adjustable driver’s seat with memory settings, Drive Mode adjustment system once fog lights, while the R-Design version can also be addition -
ally equipped with, among other things, sport seats and sport suspension.
Depending on the equipment version, the car can be optionally retrofitted with, among other things, BLIS, the Cross Traffic Alert system that warns of approaching objects (pedestrians, large animals, etc.), active Full LED high beam headlamps, the Cross Traffic Alert system, Full LED active high-beam headlights with headlamp intensity control technology and automatic cornering illumination, four-zone electronic air conditioning, paddle shifters, air suspension, parking assistant, rear park assist camera, seat massage function, electrically folding rear seats, heated front and rear seats, heated windshield, heated windshield washer nozzles and steering wheel, parking heater, electric tailgate, HUD display, Bowers & Wilkins 19-speaker 1,400-watt audio system, satellite navigation system, DAB digital radio tuner, satellite TV, panoramic roof and Volvo On Call system with Wi-Fi, as well as 19- or 20-inch alloy wheels. Of course, these are other elements that contribute to exceptional travel comfort and safety. Comfort and safety for which you have to pay dearly. In the case of the presented V90 T8 Recharge model, more than PLN 400,000.
One of the powertrains used in the V90 model is a plugin hybrid drive, i.e., one that can be recharged from an outlet. It is a combination of a two-liter, four-cylinder, twin-turbocharged gasoline engine with 310 hp. with a 145 hp electric motor supporting it. According to the manufacturer, a distance of eighty-eight kilometers can be driven at a top speed of 120km/h on the electric motor alone. The entire hybrid system offers a total power output of 455hp. Maximum torque provides impressive performance. Acceleration to one hundred takes just 4.8 seconds and top speed is 180km/h. Yes, that’s no mistake. The car has a speed limiter installed, which is one of the safety features used by Volvo.
Drive is transmitted to all wheels (AWD) via an 8-speed automatic transmission - with the driver able to select the
driving mode. An air suspension has been matched to the sporty exterior design and engine performance. Regardless of the load, its springy settings encourage dynamic driving, especially since the car, set on 20-inch aluminum wheels and low-profile tires, grips the road well.
In popular opinion, Volvo is the car brand most associated with safety. In this area for years Volvo cars have been at the forefront of the world. All models meet the highest requirements, confirmed by the results of Euro NCAP crash tests. The V90 model, despite the fact that the tests were conducted several years ago, can boast great results: 95% passenger protection, 80% child protection, 76% pedestrian protection or 93% use of driving assistants. The brand has been using all available safety features and systems since its inception. It only changes and continues to raise its level.
Only one thing counts in the Dakar Rally – arriving. To achieve this, engi neers and drivers push themselves to their limits and conquer new terrain in every respect. Just like the specialists at Porsche’s own watchmaking workshop in Solothurn, Switzerland. Over years of development work, they have created the world’s first chronograph case made of titanium carbide: for the new Chronograph 1 – 911 Dakar and 911 Dakar Rallye Design Edition. The revolutionary material is even lighter than titanium and has a level of resilience that would make many Dakar Rally starters envious.
Dakar Rallye Design. Each unit bears the same limited edition number as the vehicle it is paired with. These chronographs are guaranteed to accompany you on all paths you traverse – and beyond. www.porsche.pl
shape, expressive lines and elegant yet sporty proportions. The roof box’s material is characterized by resistance to UV radiation, color loss and stone impact. The new roof box comes in two sizes: the M version weighs 24 kilograms and has a capacity of 430 liters, and the XL version weighs 28 kilograms and 590 liters, respectively. The maximum load
capacity is 75 kilograms. Both variants are compatible with all Mercedes roof rails and are available exclusively from Mercedes-Benz.
www.mercedes-benz.pl
3/ Mio MiVue C588T Dual
Mio MiVue C 588T Dual is a set of a front and a rear camera. It has a Sony STARVIS sensor and it allows you to record video in Full HD 1080p resolution. The high-quality lens in combination with the CMOS sensor allows you to record the full details of the image in motion, recording up to 30 frames per second. MiVue C588T Dual is
great for night recordings thanks to Mio Night Vision Pro technology. The 140-degree viewing angle of the camera guarantees that it will not miss any event. Instead of a battery, the manufacturer decided to install a capacitor in this set, which can maintain the operation of the device for a long time, despite the lack of power from the installation.
www.mio.com/pl
4/ Sonos Arc Sonos Arc is a premium smart soundbar for TV, music, gaming and more. It is equipped with eleven high-perfor -
mance drivers for crisp highs, dynamic mids and surprising bass. Its slim profile measuring 87 mm high, 1141.7 mm wide and 115.7 mm deep allows it to be mounted discreetly on a wall or placed on furniture. The soundbar offers realistic sound with Dolby Atmos technology that will add a new dimension to your entertainment. The device can be controlled via TV remote control, app, voice or Apple AirPlay 2. In addition, thanks to Dolby Atmos techmnology, the system maps sounds in space for a 3D effect, and you can experience it all almost physically.
www.salonydenon.pl
Volkswagen is continuing to electrify its vehicle fleet. A year earlier than planned, the company has achieved another goal as part of its ACCELERATE strategy to become a zero-emission, software-based mobility provider. Since handing over the first ID.3s to customers in October 2020, Volkswagen has delivered 500,000 ID family vehicles worldwide. - and this despite the continuing difficult supply situation.
“The delivery of half a million units of ID. confirms that electric Volkswagens are well received by our customers around the world. Our electromobility campaign has been a success,” said Imelda Labbe, board member for sales, marketing, and after-sales at Volkswagen. “Our goal remains the same - we want Volkswagen to become the most desirable brand for sustainable mobility and have the broadest portfolio of electric vehicles in the automotive industry,” she added.
In October, the number of registrations of ID family models exceeded 1,000 units in Poland. The most popular model in our automotive market is the ID.5.
“We are pleased that the number of customers of Volkswagen electric
cars is constantly growing. High levels of comfort, excellent performance and low operating costs are just some of the advantages of electric cars,” said Dawid Kwaśniak, E-mobility Coordinator of Volkswagen Group Polska Sp. z o.o. “Our customers appreciate modern solutions such as the ability to download upgrades without visiting the showroom, as well as the advanced technologies offered by the brand - half of the customers opting
for all-electric models chose a variant equipped with IQ.LIGHT matrix LED headlights,” he added.
Volkswagen will produce only electric vehicles in Europe from 2033. By 2030, vehicles with such propulsion are expected to account for at least 70% of Volkswagen’s sales in Europe. In the U.S. and China, the company aims to increase the share of electric vehicles in sales to more than 50% in the same perspective.
The building on Gottlieb Daimler Street in Warsaw, which houses the Headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Polska, has been awarded the prestigious BREEAM certificate with a rating of very good in terms of both building performance and management. This means that it is aligned with green building standards using modern solutions with high energy efficiency - to the benefit of the environment and users. Green technologies have a practical dimension here: from the elimination of plastic packaging to the reduction
of water consumption to greenery and a bee apiary on the roof.
The BREEAM certificate confirms the technological and environmental sophistication of Mercedes-Benz Poland’s headquarters. Its opening took place on the night of April 30-May 1, 2004, coinciding with the day Poland joined the European Union.
The headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Poland occupies an area of about 17,000 sqm on ten floors above ground. The showroom has about 2,000 sqm. An underground parking lot accommodates
60 cars, and above-ground parking lots have a total of as many as 410 spaces. The operation of the Mercedes-Benz facility is carried out with an eye on the environment, from small things like energy-efficient LED lighting and the elimination of plastic packaging (tap filters and reusable glass packaging are used instead of bottled water) to wide-ranging solutions such as the use of efficient refrigeration units. That’s not all: since 2020, the building has been using so-called green energy, derived from renewable sources. This electricity is
also used to charge electric cars on the premises. What’s more, the vehicles in the company’s fleet of cars are gradually being replaced with just electrics.
“We are guided by a broad environmental focus in all areas of our
business, both globally and locally,” said Tomasz Mucha, Corporate and Product Communication Manager, Mercedes-Benz Cars, at Mercedes-Benz Polska sp. z o.o. “This ranges from the use of green energy and recycled materials for car production to the use of energy-efficient lighting and tap water in offices and showrooms. Mercedes-Benz regards sustainability as its key responsibility - corporate, to the environment and to society - and is a pioneer in this field, ensuring the sustainability of its products, increasing the use of recycled materials, and reducing the carbon footprint of production,” he added.
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) is a multi-criteria system
for evaluating buildings for their environmental impact. It was introduced in 1990 in the UK. Today it is the most widely used system for analyzing the environmental performance of architecture in Poland. As part of BREEAM certification, independent auditors evaluate, among other things, the degree to which ecological materials are used, water and energy consumption, indoor air quality, waste management or transportation accessibility of a given building. At the same time, factors affecting the well-being of employees are assessed (including the amount of daylight in the rooms and acoustics). The certificate is awarded for a specified period (3 years), after which the building is audited again.
Prologis will build a 17,000-square-meter factory for Ziehl-Abegg at Prologis Park Łódź. During a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony, the ribbon on the new development was cut by Joachim Ley, COO of Ziehl-Abegg, Pawel Sapek, head of Prologis for Central Europe, Piotr Lenczewski, Leasing & Customer Experience Manager of Prologis, and Adam Pustelnik, First Vice Mayor of Łódź.
“Megatrends such as digitization, climate change and urbanization are increasing demand and require a significant increase in our capacity. That’s why we have decided to invest around EUR 50 million in a new production facility in central Poland. We assume the creation of 300 to 400 new jobs within five years,” Ley said.
The DC1 building, with a clear height of 12 meters, will be energy efficient and oriented toward the use of renewable energy sources. It will undergo BREEAM certification and will seek an “Excellent” rating, confirming that the building exemplarily meets international requirements for sustainable construction.
“I am pleased to see another investment in Łódź. It’s a further development of the land that we set aside for industrial activities many years ago. The new fan manufacturing plant will employ several
hundred people - this is good news for Lodz. Every investment and every new job in our city make us happy. And for that I thank you,” Pustelnik said.
The new warehouse will be equipped with the latest solutions offered by Ziehl-Abegg. The entire roof area will be prepared for the installation of a photovoltaic system. In addition, the building will be equipped with destratification units, which will enable heat recovery by pulling heated air from the ceiling level to the lower parts of the premises. There is also the possibility of installing heat pumps. Up to 12.5% of the lighting will be natural daylight - both in the office and in the hall. The building will feature increased thermal insulation of the walls and roof, thus significantly reducing the energy required to heat and cool the premises. The PARKlife™ initiative also plans to develop green areas, including the construction of a field for team games.
“Locating a factory in a logistics park is a decision that requires three things - a stable cooperation partner,
favorable utility prices and the creation of an attractive workplace for future employees. We have delivered all this at Prologis Park Łódź. Transparency of costs, a straightforward Clear Lease® agreement, the use of RES or, finally, the new glass facade of the office part made it possible for the company to start operations in our park as early as mid-2023,” Lenczewski concluded.
Ziehl-Abegg is one of the leading companies in ventilation, control and drive technology. The facility is scheduled for completion on June 1, 2023, and CBRE brokered the deal.
A luxury British niche perfume house Clive Chris tian has launched the 150th Anniversary collection, with two new limited-edition fragrances, Timeless and Contemporary, to celebrate the brand’s unique heritage in perfumery spanning throughout the decades into Victorian England. The brand’s predecessor, the Crown Perfumery Company established in 1872, is the only house ever to have been granted permission to use Queen Victoria’s crown on its bottles. An image that defines every bottle of Clive Christian perfume to this day.
The new releases express not only the brand’s heritage but also celebrate its prestigious status as a leading perfume house, loved for creating the world’s finest perfumes. The bottles come in the signature green of the Crown Perfumery with silver writing that is an homage to the brand’s most infamous product, lavender salts.
Timeless is a refreshing, citrus woody perfume that is a modern take on a classic Victorian era cologne. It comes alive with spicy ginger, lime and English lavender, while musk, leather, and amber complete the classic base the scent is built upon. The perfume is concentrated at 25% and contains 187 different ingredients.
Contemporary is a stylish fougère that contrasts violet with crisp geranium in the top, soon after a heart of black pepper, cedar, hedgerow berries, and warm nutmeg rest on a base of single malt and earthy moss. It is concentrated at 25% and is made of 203 different ingredients.
No.1. This was followed in 2010 by the Private Collection. The Noble Collection, whose first pair launched in 2016, celebrates eras of architectural and horticultural prominence and style. The perfume house launched Addictive Arts in 2017; inspired by mood enhancing ingredients. In 2020 history was reimagined in the Crown Collection. The pinnacle of luxury perfume, the brand has a range of Absolutes, 100% pure perfumes created for connoisseurs on a made to order basis.
No Christmas is complete without a warming, sweet festive fragrance at the home. Three gorgeous Christmassy scented candles from Maison Francis Kurkdijan will fill the air with magical scents, relive the coziness of winter settings and help you get set for the festivities.
Imagine taking a winter stroll in a snowy forest thanks to the iconic Mon beau Sapin candle. Its delightful, lacquered decor embodies the spirit of the holidays, while its woody and slightly resinous fragrance evokes the traditional Christmas tree.
At the edge of the forest a charming gingerbread house awaits, promising sweet treats and childhood delights. The gourmand fragrance, with notes of orange, honey, cin -
namon, and anise of Pain d’épices candle in -
The Pomme d’amour candle recalls childhood memories across funfairs and Christmas markets: it features a delicious, juicy, and generously caramelized scent of toffee apples. It’s housed in the label’s signature glass vessel, gilded with a swirling firework.
Menard one of Japan’s leaders in innovative research in the field of cosmetology has developed Saranari - a skin care series of rich, pleasant-to-use products that endow the skin with a lustrous firmness. Built on cutting-edge Amino Packing Emulsification technology aimed at improved moisturizing effects of the most stringently selected ingredients: Peony and GLII Extracts, soluble collagen, hydrolyzed elastin, and hyaluronic acid it promises to rejuvenate the dermis so that a woman’s true beauty can shine from within.
The ultra-rich, anti-aging eye cream from the Saranari family combats photoaging of the skin, helps replenish essential moisture and elasticity to the eye contour area and promotes the look of smoothness and resilience while reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Eyes become more vibrant and glowing with youthful radiance. It also features the elegant and subtle fragrance of freshly bloomed Casa Blanca lilies which it is said to bring about the feeling of relaxation.
