Free Republic

Post-Communist MP mocks historic words of John Paul II 12.06.2006 The League of Polish Families (LPR) is to file a motion with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee for disciplinary action against MP Joanna Senyszyn from the post-Communist Democratic Left Alliance. On Saturday, during the Gay Pride parade in Warsaw Senyszyn stated to the gathered: ‘May this parade change the face of the land, this land’. In the opinion of the LPR leadership this is clear mockery of the historic words of John Paul II in a homily to his compatriots during the late Pope’s first pilgrimage to then Communist ruled Poland...

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's Socialist-led coalition won a general election on Sunday with an increased majority in parliament to become the country's first government to retain power since communism fell in 1989. With 98 percent of the vote counted in the second round of polling, the election commission projected the Socialist Party and its Free Democrat allies would increase their majority from 198 to 210 seats in the 386-member parliament. It was a personal triumph for 44-year-old Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who rescued the Socialists from what looked certain defeat when he became premier in 2004, and provides him with...

Poland's New Gov't Recalls 10 Ambassadors By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer WARSAW, Poland - Poland's new conservative government will recall 10 ambassadors with links to communist-era authorities, the first such sweeping move in 16 years of democracy, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Stefan Meller decided to cut short the ambassadors' missions amid a broader attempt by the new government to purge state offices of ex-communists, ministry spokesman Pawel Dobrowolski told The Associated Press. Dobrowolski refused to identify the ambassadors being recalled, but Polish media identified them as the ambassadors to Algeria, Argentina, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany,...

Polish ex-communists embrace Solidarity legacy 2005-08-18 16:00 By Wojciech Moskwa WARSAW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Poland's ruling leftists, desperate to escape a drubbing at next month's polls, are seeking to shake off their ex-communist stigma by embracing the myth of the Solidarity movement that toppled communism. With domestic media focused on this month's 25th anniversary of Solidarity strikes and the election campaign heating up, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) launched a campaign retrospectively backing demands of protesting shipyard workers in 1980. In the advertisements, the SLD's young leaders say they would have supported Solidarity if they had been old enough....