Thursday, February 23, 2023

McCarthyism, Polish Style

 

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As Joe Biden visits Poland, Michal Krupa reports on the firing of a Polish academic for questioning the Polish government’s position on the war in Ukraine.

In Poland these days it is becoming dangerous to one’s career to publicly voice opposition to the government’s policy vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine.

Leszek Sykulski, a well-known and popular expert in geopolitics, is a case in point. A few days ago, Sykulski spearheaded the launch of the Polish Anti-War Movement, which aims to become a grassroots platform uniting Poles opposed to the overtly anti-Russian, pro-war and pro-interventionist agenda of the political elites and mainstream media.

A few days later it was revealed that Sykulski was fired from his teaching position at the Józef Goluchowski Academy of Applied Sciences in Ostrowiec Switokrzyski. The rector of the academy, Pawel Gotowiecki, was not shy in justifying his decision on purely political grounds. Here’s what Gotowiecki said in an interview with Radio Ostrowiec on Feb. 16:

“I regret that Dr. Leszek Sykulski, undoubtedly a gifted didactician, highly regarded by students, has decided to de facto abandon scientific and didactic activity in favor of  socio-political activity, and to such an extent. I regret that the views that Dr. Sykulski is proclaiming at the moment, the people he surrounds himself with, are so socially controversial, while the theses that he puts forward are contrary not only to my personal views, the values that our university adheres to, because we are involved in helping Ukraine and Ukrainians, which is questioned by the Polish Anti-War Movement, but also harm the Polish raison d’etat.”  (more...)

McCarthyism, Polish Style



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