The poll that opens Sunday, May 26 in Poland is exceptional. If the stake remains the 52 seats of deputies in the European Parliament reserved for Poles, the lines of division between the different parties are quite different: the conservatives of Law and Justice (PiS) in power and the European Coalition of several opposition parties get down to social issues and especially the place of Catholic values ​​in Polish society.

"The leader of the conservatives, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, announced, these Europeans are for the PiS the first round of parliamentary elections in November," says Valentin Behr, professor of political science at Cevipol (Center for Studies of Political Life ) at the Free University of Brussels, interviewed by France 24. "The campaign revolves around Polish and cultural issues: immigration, women's rights and homosexuals, religion ..."

An explosive documentary

On the latter subject, the documentary "Do not tell anyone" brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, posted on May 11 on YouTube, was a detonator. It is two hours long and includes sequences shot in a hidden camera where victims, now adults, confront older priests with the abuses they suffered decades ago. Some of these priests admit the facts and apologize for their past actions. The documentary explains that Polish priests accused of pedophilia, or even convicted, were transferred from their parish to another and were able to continue to practice and work with children.

For the PiS, there is danger when the party is in an almost symbiotic relationship with the Catholic Church and its conservative view of society.

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"This case may tip the scales on the side of the opposition," said the political scientist of the Polish Academy of Sciences Stanislaw Mocek, interviewed by AFP. In the European elections, the movement of the votes of 1 or 2 points under the effect of the outcry provoked by the doicumentaire can be decisive, analyzes the academic.

The Conservative Party immediately responded. Its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced on May 19 a considerable tightening of convictions for pedophilia. The new provisions provide for up to 30 years' imprisonment and life imprisonment for the most dangerous pedophiles. The new legislation also removes the prescription for the most serious cases of pedophilia.

"Imported" progressivism threatening "Polish identity"

Conservative positions on social issues are the business of the PiS. Jaroslaw Kaczynski's speech at a conference entitled "Being Polish - Honor and Duty" organized by Catholic Action in late April summarizes the party line.

The PiS leader identifies a series of phenomena that he believes threaten Poland, including "an attack on the family and children, their sexualization, and WHO recommendations (which, according to conservatives, call for sexualisation of young children), the LGBT movement and gender theory ".

"These ideologies, these philosophies, all this is imported, they are not internal Polish mechanisms, they create the threat for the Polish identity, for our nation, for its existence, and therefore for the Polish state," he said. Jaroslaw Kaczynski during a speech of nearly one hour where he clearly aims at Western influence on the former Soviet bloc country.

A speech that pushes far-right parties to further radicalize their position, says the Guardian. On Monday, May 20, Kaja Godek, a figure in the anti-abortion campaign and a candidate for the far right in Europe, said that homosexuals wanted to be allowed to adopt "to beat children and rape them".

"To fight against pedophilia in the Church and everywhere, we must at all costs limit the influence of the homosexual lobby (sic)," he said.

Wiosna and his speech on the separation of Church and State

Opposite the PiS and the extreme right are several opponents: the European Coalition, an alliance of opposition parties and, on their left, the new party Wiosna ("Spring") who is an outsider.

"Wiosna has a resolutely left-wing position, especially on environmental and societal issues," explains Valentin Behr. The party multiplies the radical proposals for Poland: abortion until 12 weeks of pregnancy, marriage for all, reimbursement of in vitro fertilization (recently suppressed by the conservatives) and right of adoption for couples of the same people sex. Its leader, Robert Biedron detonates. He is the first Polish politician to be openly gay.

"He presents himself as an anticlericalist," says Valentin Behr. "He is openly calling for the total separation of church and state, a position that can make a difference in the pedophilia scandal."