In Poland, public funding is given to those threatening liberal democracy – Open Democracy

Public financing is contributing to the rise of the far Right in Poland. In May 2021 the countrys Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports announced the results of a competition for funding cultural and scientific periodicals. More magazines with a right-wing, conservative, nationalist or Catholic stance receiving funds than left-wing or liberal-oriented ones. One of the beneficiaries is Polands National Social Institute, which publishes National Politics (Polityka Narodowa), described by Press magazine as a quarterly journal of nationalists associated with the National Movement and All-Polish Youth.

The National Social Institute also received funds from the Civic Organization Development Program, organized by another public institution, the National Freedom Institute Centre for Civil Society Development. The latter presents itself as the first executive agency in the history of Poland responsible for supporting civil society, public benefit activities, and volunteering, and is dedicated to supporting NGOs, civic media, think thanks, and watchdog organizations in the realization of their aims and development strategies.

Catholics and nationalists were among the beneficiaries of the program, with financial support provided to various institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church, foundations focusing on patriotic education, promoting Polish values, or a right-wing narrative of Polish history.

In the framework of the program, two organizations connected with the annual Independence Day Marches, a nationalist event organized every year on 11 November, also received public funds: Youths of the Independence Day March received almost 700,000PLN (152,000) for institutional and missionary development, while Independence Day March received almost 200,000PLN for the development of a Warsaw branch of the nationalist portal, National Media (Media Narodowe).

Organizations connected with the Independence Day Marches received additional funds from another program, the Patriotic Fund, coordinated by another public institution established by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Institute for Legacy of Polish National Thought, announced in June 2021. The March of Independence and the National Guard, as well as All-Polish Youth, collectively received more than three million Polish zoty from the Patriotic Fund.

The relatively new foundation, Education for Values (Edukacja do Wartoci), established by the presidents of the ultraconservative legal group Ordo Iuris, also received public funding. Ordo Iuris is an important, professionalized and influential actor within the illiberal segments of Polish civil society. It is known for its involvement in a campaign against the Istanbul Convention, and according to the European Humanist Federation opposes abortion in all cases, same-sex marriage and civil partnerships and sexual education.

In 2016, Ordo Iuris drafted the anti-abortion bill that was submitted by the Stop Abortion coalition as a citizens initiative and considered by the Polish parliament to be scrutinized. As a result, massive mobilization against the bill started in Poland and temporarily stopped the legislation until October 2020, when the Constitutional Tribunal decided to ban abortion in the country. The decision was noted by Ordo Iuris as their success and, on the day before the verdict, it announced that it had sent a friend of the court opinion to the tribunal.

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In Poland, public funding is given to those threatening liberal democracy - Open Democracy