BRUNCH BRIEFINGS FOR DIPLOMATS
Results of parliamentary elections in Poland
The first of the Brunch Briefings for diplomats series of meetings took place on 18 October. The event was organized by the Institute of Political Science Foundation in cooperation with the Lewiatan Confederation. Diplomats from foreign diplomatic missions in Warsaw were invited to the Warsaw office of the Confederation at ul. Cybulskiego 3.
More than 30 missions had announced their interest in taking part in the event, and representatives of 20 of them attended the meeting. The meeting was moderated by Karolina Kochańczyk-Bonińska, Ph.D. (Institute of Political Science Foundation, University of Warsaw), and the panelists were: Jarosław Szczepański, Ph.D. (Institute of Political Science Foundation; University of Warsaw), Anna Skolimowska, associate professor (University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński), and Iwona Miedzińska, Ph.D.
The briefing was opened by Ms Anna Biernacka-Rygiel, Ph.D. from the Lewiatan Confederation at 12 noon. She briefly outlined the work of the organization and invited the guests to cooperate. Next, the floorwas taken by the Moderator, Ms Karolina Kochańczyk-Bonińska. She described the mission of the INoP Foundation, its projects and other activities, paying special attention to the research work carried out under the Ideological Tringle project. The first person to speak in the panel was Mr Jarosław Szczepański, Ph.D. His paper concerned the effects of the elections on the Polish political system. The speech was aimed to clarify the motivations and effects of the results of the last parliamentary elections. After him, Ms Anna Skolimowska took the floor and presented to the attendees what, in her opinion, would be the shape of the Polish European policy which after elections basing on previous foreign policy assumptions. The last speaker was Ms Iwona Miedzińska. She spoke about the most frequently watched or read Polish media and their influence on the voters. The map of the Polish Media was referenced to the Polish political scene in order to show the main ideological connections.
After 20-minute reports presented by the panelists it was the time for a Q&A session. It was a great opportunity to get a deeper understanding of the processes on the Polish political scene.
When the panel came to an end, the diplomats and our specialists had an opportunity to exchange views during brunch., There were handout materials prepared for the attendees, including a survey on future meetings and books published by the INoP.
The format of meetings proposed by the Foundation, which consists of the presentation of reports on the political, social and economic situation in Poland, was positively assessed by the invited guests.