Michał Tomasz Kamiński (born 28 March 1972) is a Polish politician and a member of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
with the
Union of European Democrats. He was chairman of the
European Conservatives and Reformists in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
from July 2009 until March 2011.
Kamiński was a founder member of the
Christian National Union (ZChN) in 1989, and served on its board from 1995 to 2001. Kamiński was elected to the
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
in 1997 for
Solidarity Electoral Action
Solidarity Electoral Action (, AWS) was a coalition of political parties in Poland, active from 1996 to 2001. AWS was the political arm of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union, whose leader Lech Wałęsa (also an AWS member ...
, which included ZChN. In 2001, he joined the
Right Alliance (PP), which merged with
Law and Justice
Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...
(PiS) the following year, having been reelected on the PP-PiS
joint ticket in 2001. He was elected to the
European Parliament in 2004, representing Warsaw. He stepped down to become Secretary of State for Media Relations in
Chancellery of the President. He was returned as an MEP in the
2009 election, and was elected chairman of the new
European Conservatives and Reformists group. In November 2010, he left PiS to form the more liberal
Poland Comes First (PJN); while remaining in the ECR, he stepped down as chairman in March 2011.
Biography
Early life
Kamiński attended XLIX
Liceum Ogólnokształcące in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, and then studied International Relations and Diplomacy at the
University of Warsaw. He first entered politics as a teenager, joining the
National Revival of Poland () when he was 15. The present day NOP is considered to be
anti-Semitic, though Kamiński has defended his membership of the organisation, arguing that it was a symbol of his opposition to communism and that the party was not anti-Semitic when he was a member.
In 1989 he was one of the founding members of the
Christian National Union, the youngest founder at 17 years of age. He was a radio and newspaper journalist and radio producer in
Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
and
Łomża. He frequently published in Catholic journals and newspapers and before 1989 his work appeared in the underground press. During the
1995 Polish presidential election, he was press spokesman for
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. Kamiński says he taught himself English by listening to illegal
BBC World Service broadcasts.
Domestic career
He was elected to the Third
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
on 21 September 1997 as part of the
Solidarity Electoral Action
Solidarity Electoral Action (, AWS) was a coalition of political parties in Poland, active from 1996 to 2001. AWS was the political arm of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union, whose leader Lech Wałęsa (also an AWS member ...
(''Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność'') grouping of parties for the
Łomża Voivodeship, and later
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...
.
In 1999, he visited London to present a
gorget embossed with an image of the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
to former
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an dictator General
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
along with
Marek Jurek and the journalist
Tomasz Wołek. "This was the most important meeting of my whole life. Gen Pinochet was clearly moved and extremely happy with our visit," Kamiński told the BBC's Polish service. In the same year, Kamiński won a journalists' award for being the best speaker in the Sejm. However, he later defended his visit to see General Pinochet, saying "we lived in this country subject to communist propaganda. We had little access to the real information, so for many Poles – not just me – this defence of Pinochet was across centre-right political parties in Poland and other eastern European countries at that time. It was my mistake, I admit it. I think every politician has the right to some mistakes. I made this mistake by just reversing the communist propaganda. It was a mistake that decent people of the left made when they were living under right-wing dictatorships – the kind of mistake where you just reverse the black and white propaganda. Today I know much more about Pinochet and I will never call him a hero again. It’s a question of context".
In July 2000, Kamiński used the word "pedał" (a derogatory Polish word for homosexual, usually translated into English as "fag" or "queer") in a TV interview to refer to gay rights campaigners. When asked by the reporter if such a term is offensive, his reply translates as: "That's how people speak, what should I say? They are fags." In a 2009 interview with Iain Dale he admitted the word was offensive and that he would never use it again. He confirmed he has homosexual friends and stated that he respects "the right
f gay peopleto be treated with civility". In the same interview he expressed his pride that Poland was one of the
first countries in Europe to decriminalize homosexuality and said that he has nothing against civil partnership legislation and "would consider voting yes" if he was still a member of the Polish Parliament.
Also in 2000, he visited his first
Conservative Party Conference, with Czech MEP
Jan Zahradil.
He became a member of the
Right Alliance (''Przymierze Prawicy'') in 2001, and then joined the new conservative party
Law and Justice
Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...
(''Prawo i Sprawiedliwość'') in 2002. Kamiński was re-elected to the Sejm, for its Fourth Term, on 23 September 2001, representing the constituency of
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Biał ...
. Law and Justice increased its Parliamentary number from 18 to 45.
He was a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
In 2001 he was alleged by the
Anti-Defamation League of organising to prevent a commemoration of the World War II murder of Polish Jews by Polish gentiles in the town of
Jedwabne
Jedwabne (; , ''Yedvabna'') is a town in northeastern Poland, in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, with 1,942 inhabitants (2002).
History
First mentioned in 1455 records, on 17 July 1736 Jedwabne received town rights from King Augustus III ...
. He has been quoted as saying that no apology should be forthcoming to the Jews of Jedwabne – until Jews had themselves apologised for their part in Soviet atrocities during the Soviet occupation, an idea not uncommon in parts of central and eastern Europe which had been part of the Soviet empire. He said "My position is that there were acts of collaboration of the Jewish people with the Soviet army when the Soviet army came to Poland. It’s a fact. It’s a historical fact… If you are asking the Polish nation to apologise for the crime made in Jedwabne, you would require from the whole Jewish nation to apologise for what some Jewish Communists did in Eastern Poland".
Then-Polish President
Aleksander Kwaśniewski issued an apology for the atrocity, but the issue was hugely divisive, especially as dozens of witness statements made by Jews after the war stated it was the Germans that committed the atrocity and Hermann Schaper was convicted on sample counts of crimes against humanity immediately before and after the Jedwabne atrocity; moreover spent German ammunition was found at the crime scene, underneath a statue of Lenin known to have been buried on July 10, 1941. As the deputy in the Sejm responsible for the area, Kamiński expressed his opposition to a generalised apology, arguing that the individuals responsible should instead be singled out as criminals. In an interview with
Martin Bright, political editor of the UK's
Jewish Chronicle in 2009, he said "From the very beginning I was saying as a human being, as a Pole, that Jedwabne was a terrible crime, unfortunately committed by the Polish people. My point was from the very start: we are ashamed of these people, we have to condemn them, we have to judge them if they are still alive. But I don’t want to take the whole responsibility for this crime for the whole Polish nation".
In an interview with political blogger
Iain Dale, he said "if there were any doubts about my past I will give you the ultimate argument. When I became Secretary of State of Poland, I received a top NATO clearance, so it’s not about Polish politics now – it’s about a NATO clearance. I don’t think there can be any doubts about my political views and my past if I can receive a top NATO clearance."
Stephen Pollard has said "As Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, and founding chairman of the ''European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism'', I am more alive than most to the dangers of the newly resurgent antisemitism. But there is simply no evidence that Mr Kaminski is an antisemite, only a series of politically motivated assertions. It is not Kaminski who is odious; it is those using antisemitism as a tool for their own political ends who deserve contempt".
European career
Kamiński was first elected to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
on 16 June 2004. During his first term in the Parliament, he was a Vice-Chairman of the (now defunct)
Union for a Europe of Nations group and sat on the European Parliament's
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a substitute for the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, a vice-chair of the Delegation to the
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America. He was one of the most active Polish MEPs, and wrote a report examining possible Ukrainian membership of the EU.
Kamiński is considered a key ally of President
Lech Kaczyński, as well as being a modernising, moderating influence on Law and Justice in contrast to other Law and Justice politicians such as leader
Jarosław Kaczyński.
The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
described him as "a '
spin doctor' – media-savvy, smartly dressed with fashionable spectacles, one of the masterminds of conservative President Lech Kaczynski's
successful election campaign in 2005". On 13 July 2007 Kamiński was appointed Secretary of State in the
Office of the President of the Republic of Poland, responsible for media policy. He vacated his European Parliament seat on 6 August, and was replaced by
Ewa Tomaszewska. In his
maiden speech, Kamiński demonstrated his admiration for
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
and
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
:
He was re-elected as an MEP for Warsaw in 2009, now sitting in the new
European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). In the inaugural session of the 2009–2014 European Parliament session, he was the official ECR candidate for one the
Vice-President of the European Parliament
There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President of the European Parliament, president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.
Role
Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau (European P ...
positions. However, he was not elected, largely due to the intervention of the British
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Edward McMillan-Scott who ran as an independent candidate from the ECR group. McMillan-Scott ran, as he was "unhappy with a lack of debate about Kamiński's candidacy and the controversial new alliance".
Kamiński then became the first permanent chairman of the ECR group as a compromise measure, with Timothy Kirkhope stepping aside, in order for him to take up the position. He is the first person from Central Europe to lead one of the
political groups of the European Parliament. As chairman of the ECR, he is a member of the exclusive
Conference of Presidents.
Due to their close links with the ECR, being founding partners, the British Conservative Party have been associated with Kamiński in his role as chair. Left-wing magazine The
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
reported that the
US administration consequently had "concerns about
Cameron among top members of the team", according to quotes from an unnamed
Democratic Party source. The article further quoted
David Rothkopf in saying that the issue "makes
ameronan even more dubious choice to be Britain's next prime minister than he was before and, should he attain that post, someone about whom the Obama administration ought to be very cautious." The
Jewish Chronicle and the Guardian later also reported statements from an unnamed UK government official that
US State Department officials had raised questions of the relationship in a meeting with the
Home Office
The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
, a matter that US officials at the State Department denied, saying "No. It was not raised."
The British Conservative Party was also accused of attempting to alter pages on Wikipedia "to airbrush the embarrassing past" by
Edward McMillan-Scott, who also stated that his own article had been edited in this way. An article published in
The Observer newspaper reports edits to the articles made on 25 June 2009 from an IP address originating in the
United Kingdom House of Commons.
On 27 January 2011, Kamiński announced that he would resign as chairman of the ECR, citing "aggression" and "hatred" from his former colleagues in Poland's Law and Justice party. His resignation took effect on 8 March, and he was replaced by
Jan Zahradil.
Political views
History
His views are described as "
Euro-sceptic,
free-market and
Atlanticist" by
Daniel Hannan MEP, who also described Kamiński as "the closest thing to a
British Tory outside the
Carlton Club."
Kamiński has spoken of his support for the
Treaty of Lisbon which he believes "guarantees Poland's sovereignty". He has also spoken in favour of the
Common Agricultural Policy. Nevertheless, in his debut speech in the European Parliament as ECR chairman he called on the EU political leaders to respect the
Irish "no" vote to the Lisbon Treaty.
Holocaust
In February 2018, the Polish Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "there were Jewish perpetrators" of the
Holocaust, "not only German perpetrators." Kamiński said he hopes Morawiecki "is being stupid and not ruthless." Prime Minister Morawiecki also paid respect to the
Holy Cross Mountains Brigade, a right-wing Polish militia that, according to some historians, collaborated with
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. Kamiński told ''The Jerusalem Post'' that the Holy Cross Mountains Brigade is "the only possible part of Polish resistance who actively collaborated with Germans...and he is visiting their graves and I cannot understand it."
In March 2019, the low-circulation right-wing weekly ''
Tylko Polska'' ran a headline "How to spot a Jew" on its front page alongside a picture of
Jan Gross. When he saw the newspaper being sold in the Sejm, Kamiński said that it was an "absolute scandal" that "filthy texts, as if taken from Nazi newspapers" were sold at the parliament.
In November 2024, following the
Lithuanian parliamentary election, Kamiński criticized the decision of the
Lithuanian Social Democratic Party to invite the nationalist
Dawn of Nemunas party to join the ruling coalition. The founder of the latter party,
Remigijus Žemaitaitis, is known for his antisemitic statements. In a
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
post, Kamiński wrote that "in days when in Europe we again see
pogroms, when
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
openly supports the enemies of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, there can be no place for antisemitism".
Personal life
In his private life, Kamiński's passions include books, foreign languages as well as football. He lives in the Warsaw neighbourhood of
Wawer
Wawer () is one of the dzielnica, districts of Warsaw, located in the south-eastern part of the city. The Vistula river runs along its western border. Wawer became a district of Warsaw on 27 October 2002 (previously it was a part of Praga Południ ...
.
Honours
*The President of Lithuania's
Order of Merit of the Republic of Lithuania
*Order of Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine)
*Order of Infant Henry with Grand Ribbon (Portugal)
See also
*
2009 European Parliament election in Poland
References
External links
Michał Kamiński official website*
*
"Is Michal Kaminski fit to lead the Tories in Europe?" by Toby Helm, "The Observer", Sunday, 11 October 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminski, Michal
1972 births
Living people
Politicians from Warsaw
Members of the Polish Sejm 1997–2001
Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005
Polish Roman Catholics
Poland Comes First politicians
Law and Justice MEPs
MEPs for Poland 2004
MEPs for Poland 2004–2009
MEPs for Poland 2009–2014
Members of the Senate of Poland 2019–2023
Members of the Senate of Poland 2023–2027
Recipients of the Order for Merits to Lithuania
Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Malta)