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 BaranĂłw.
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!
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