Polish television suspends Olympic commentator for “communist” comments at opening ceremony

The Polish state broadcaster TVP has suspended its main commentator for the Olympic Games in Paris after he said in a broadcast during the opening ceremony that John Lennon’s song Introducewhich was played at the event, presented a “communist vision”.

The decision was criticised by leading politicians from the right-wing opposition – who praised veteran commentator Przemysław Babiarz for his comments – but also by some left-wing politicians from the ruling coalition. Even President Andrzej Duda commented on the decision.

During the opening ceremony on Friday, which took place on the Seine, Introduce was played while the words “We stand and call for peace” appeared on the screen.

At that moment, TVP commentator Babiarz said: “Introducethis is (a call) for a world without heaven, nations, religions, and this is a vision of this peace that everyone should accept, unfortunately this is a vision of communism.”

In his song, Lennon asked people to imagine that there was no heaven, no countries and no religion. The former Beatle himself once admitted that the song was “practically The Communist Manifestoalthough I am not a particularly communist person.”

Conservative politicians in Poland have long been critical of the song. Introduce “The 40 Years of Music” was played at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo; a Polish bishop described it as a “toxic utopia”.

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After yesterday’s ceremony, Babiarz received praise from the national conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Poland’s main opposition party. “I would like to thank Babiarz for his voice of reason and honesty in this politically correct madness,” wrote former PiS Prime Minister Beata Szydło.

However, on Saturday afternoon, TVP announced that Babiarz had been suspended for the remainder of the Olympic Games.

“Mutual understanding, tolerance, reconciliation: these are not only the fundamental Olympic ideas, they also form the basis of the standards that the new TVP follows,” wrote the broadcaster, which was removed from the influence of the PiS when the current government took office in December last year.

“We would like to inform you that following yesterday’s scandalous words, Przemysław Babiarz has been suspended from his duties and will not comment on the competitions during the Olympic Games,” TVP added.

TVP’s decision was met with fierce criticism from PiS figures – former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke of “censorship” – but also from the Left (Lewica), which is part of the current governing coalition.

“Have you gone crazy, TVP?” asks Anna-Maria Żukowska, chairwoman of the Left’s parliamentary group.

She was one of those who mocked Babiarz on social media on Friday for his comments. IntroduceBut after his suspension, she wrote: “We can argue about meanings on Twitter, but to suspend a journalist for that? That’s a scandal.”

Even President Duda commented on the issue, telling the website Sportowe Fakty that “artistic creation can be interpreted in different ways and no one should prohibit it.” It seems that “in this country you are not allowed to express your own point of view,” he added.

For decades, Poland lived under an authoritarian communist regime installed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II that remained in power until 1989.

Another element of Friday’s opening ceremony that caused controversy in Poland was the replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s The last supper of drag queens, which was criticized by many personalities from the PiS and the far-right Konfederacja party.

Patryk Jaki, a PiS MEP, condemned the actions of the “gender circus artists” who are “corrupt to the core, evil people who knowingly hurt the feelings of so many believers around the world”.

Image credit main image: Dunk/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from PolandHe has written on Polish affairs for a variety of publications, including Foreign policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver And Chinese Newspaper Pravna.