Editor's note: Poland divided

Poland is in danger of being divided into first- and second-class citizens, thanks to the latest surprising moves from the Law and Justice government. First-class citizens are those who support the government. The second class are those that dare to criticize it and, what's even worse, have the cheek to do it publicly through the media.

Second-class citizens, according to the government, don't deserve to be treated as equals and are pushed to the margins. That's exactly what happened last Thursday to the media, with the exception of journalists working for the uber-Catholic Father Rydzyk's TV Trwam, Radio Maryja and Nasz Dziennik. Only these media were invited to cover the most important political event in recent weeks, namely the signing of a stability pact between the minority Law and Justice government and two fringe political parties, the League of Polish Families and Self-defense.

This is the biggest blow for the democratic media in Poland since 1989. PiS, a party that wanted to create a state based on the principle of solidarity, wants to bring together a part of Polish society that feels excluded after the transformation with another part that achieved success. But, instead of uniting, PiS is dividing. It is creating opposing groups and deepening social gaps. Not even the fiercest critics of PiS managed to predict such a scenario.

From the point of view of Warsaw Business Journal, a newspaper read by Polish and foreign businessmen and investors, there's another thing that's even more disconcerting. The 140 bills included in the stabilization pact aren't quite what the economy needs. The Office for Financial Supervision (UNF) will be created. It will monopolize control over financial markets. Also endangered is the independence of the National Bank of Poland, which, whatever you think of its decisions concerning interest rates, has been quite successful in blocking the politicians' economic irresponsibility for the last couple of years. The markets and investors will have to deal with uncertainty and that's the worst news for the economy.

Eliza Durka

Editor-in-chief