Our reporter Hans von der Brelie travelled to Poland to meet young Poles who will vote for the first time in the parliamentary elections on 15 October. Their political views reflect the deep divisions in Polish society.
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00:00 The elections in Poland are important, not only for Poland, but also for Europe.
00:06 I am on the road for a week with young voters who have very different political convictions.
00:12 I am Alexander Ivanovska, 20 years old.
00:19 The current political landscape in Poland lacks respect and dignity.
00:26 I am Alexander Ivanovska, 20 years old.
00:32 The current political landscape in Poland lacks respect and dignity.
00:40 Alexandra supports the left-wing party Levica.
00:45 The same opportunities for people with little money.
00:48 And women's rights. These are her top topics.
00:52 I don't think that whether you have a uterus or not, it should determine how much rights you actually have.
00:59 First-time voter Alexandra suggests to the National Conservative Party PiS
01:04 to overthrow Poland with smear campaigns against those who think differently.
01:09 From her home town Zidlice in East Poland we drive to Warsaw.
01:14 Alexandra helps her candidate to hang up posters.
01:18 Elections are around the corner.
01:20 Thanks to the European exchange program Erasmus, she studies political science in Poland, Belgium and Spain.
01:27 Alexandra is a member of JES, the Association of Social Democratic Youth Organizations in Europe.
01:34 In Poland she is angry that the two big parties have divided the country.
01:40 Her special interest is Belarus and Russia.
01:45 And when she is not distributing ballot papers, she reads books about Putin and learns Russian.
01:52 I am really curious to learn about your viewpoints.
01:57 First keyword - migration.
01:59 The planet is burning, people are going to migrate and no human is illegal,
02:04 so they should be given asylum and the help they need.
02:07 They are not terrorists.
02:09 Climate crisis.
02:10 Something that is not treated seriously by politicians.
02:14 Energy.
02:15 Sustainable one and a sustainable mix, yeah, for sure.
02:19 European Union.
02:21 Great project that should be expanded.
02:23 Justice and justice system.
02:26 Justice system in the Polish context has been severely politicized
02:32 and made a scapegoat of the ruling party inability to govern.
02:36 Women's rights and abortion.
02:39 Abortion should be legal, free and accessible
02:42 and no one should be given a psychiatric evaluation or denied what is within their rights.
02:50 Oh, hi Robert.
02:52 Hello. Come in.
02:54 Yeah, thanks.
02:56 I'm Robert. I'm 22 years old.
03:00 And I'm engaging in politics because I want to change.
03:03 The law and medicine student supports the ruling party's right and justice, peace,
03:10 and shares the love of cats of the ultra-conservative party leader Kaczynski.
03:15 Robert lives in the rural community of BaranĆ³w.
03:18 For the national populists, the voices of the village population are important.
03:22 Young voter Robert belongs to the youth elite of the party
03:26 and has attended political training programs with ministers and party leaders.
03:30 In his free time, he learns languages
03:33 and in the community council he fights for better bus connections.
03:37 I want to create the best local transport system in my province as possible.
03:44 Robert improves the Internet access of his candidate
03:47 and, like his party, he also demands better protection of EU foreign borders.
03:53 I'm curious to know what you are standing for.
03:57 Just a few keywords. Migration.
03:59 The problem is real. If you look on the Lampedusa, the migrants are there.
04:03 We, as a Poland, have a lot of migrants, but from Ukraine.
04:06 And Europe probably needs to learn from us.
04:11 Climate policy.
04:13 We need to remember about coal,
04:18 because the Polish coal economic sphere is very, very influential in Polish policy.
04:25 Energy.
04:27 We have a Baltic pipe. We have a gas system.
04:30 We have plans for building nuclear power plants.
04:36 Europe.
04:37 We want a powerful Europe, not as a federation.
04:40 It's not the right direction. We want it as confederation.
04:44 Justice.
04:45 Many judges are still judging as they were judging in 40, 50 years ago.
04:54 Women's rights and abortion.
04:56 I don't want to respond, because I am a man and I am a young man.
05:00 I think it's a question for doctors and psychologists, not for me.
05:07 Back in Warsaw, I'm accompanying a first voter who supports the far-right confederation of freedom and independence.
05:16 My name is Sebastian, I'm 23 years old. I'm a Polish citizen because I want to develop and fight for a great Poland.
05:26 In his free time, Sebastian takes care of his hamster, listens to hard rock music and trains martial arts.
05:33 Today, the student helps his confederation of candidates in the election campaign and films his speech.
05:39 In his foreign hostile speech, Alexander Kowalinski constructs an alleged connection between foreign taxi drivers and rapes.
05:48 Sebastian, tell me about your first political action.
05:51 It was in 2020. Together with my colleagues, we stood under one of the Warsaw churches where we defended him against left-wing abortion strikes.
06:01 I'm on my way to the election campaign headquarters.
06:05 The confederation is a collection of small split groups, a wild mix of monarchists, right-wing radicals and anti-Semites.
06:13 On the posters at the entrance, they are asked to buy from Poles. And here, Poland and the Poles come first.
06:21 I'm really curious to learn about your viewpoints. A few keywords. Migration.
06:28 Yes, uncontrollable. What is happening on the Polish-Belarusian border is definitely not good.
06:35 Climate crisis.
06:36 The climate is climate, but we cannot fall into paranoia, as the European Union and the Green Party show.
06:44 We should not drive into cities to limit civil liberties.
06:49 Energy.
06:50 We cannot forget about the black thief we are standing on. We should use him and go into the atom.
06:59 European Union.
07:01 The European Union has a good opinion. They are trying to force left-wing ideology in national states.
07:08 We are against it. As nationalists, we are absolutely against it.
07:12 Women's rights and abortion.
07:14 Abortion is bad. We should not murder the most defenseless and innocent people.
07:21 I'm Jan, I'm 20 years old and I'm in politics because I don't like how the older people rule our country.
07:36 Jan is learning to play the guitar. He is a first-time voter and likes horror movies and books about the history of Europe.
07:44 The psychology student wants to show me something in the basement. A memory of his first political commitment.
07:52 My badge, which I had at the demonstrations.
08:00 I was 17 years old and I took part in the first major strike. It was a strike of women's abortion in my local city.
08:12 Jan's home is the small town of Grujec, the center of the Polish apple cultivation.
08:18 Today, Jan supports the local candidate of the pro-European citizen coalition, a coalition of moderate, conservative, liberal and green forces.
08:28 As a teenager, Jan sympathized with the left, but at some point it was too far to the left,
08:34 which is why he is now distributing glue hearts for the citizen coalition, Poland's largest opposition platform.
08:40 Shortly before the election, Jan takes the bus to Warsaw for a big demonstration against the ultra-conservative PiS government.
08:47 Time for another short interview.
08:55 People who are looking for a better life in Europe.
08:59 A very serious threat, which is very low-key.
09:05 A 100% transition from fossil fuels to environmentally friendly energy sources.
09:15 The European Union is for me a community and progress.
09:23 Women's rights and abortion.
09:25 The importance of what women want to do with their bodies.
09:30 No matter if Poland is governed by the right or the bourgeoisie, the country is facing big challenges.
09:38 In order to get EU money, the independence of the judiciary must be restored.
09:43 There are also problems with freedom of the press and the right to vote.
09:47 And Poland needs social reconciliation, even after deep political graves.
09:54 Poland is ours! Poland is ours!