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From the perspective of over 20 years into the transformation process in post-communist countries, it seems important to be able to pose questions about the future of democracy, and, in particular, its social foundations. These questions become all the more significant, when we come to realize that it is the attitudes of 'the young of today' that will be shaping 'the democracy of tomorrow'. The authors of the article aim to determine what young citizens (especially Polish students) in selected Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) think of contemporary democracy and to diagnose the extent to which the democratic principles and values are reflected in the beliefs of the younger generation, especially amongst Polish students. Their attitudes towards democracy and values are the main part of the article and they were compared with values of the other CEEC young citizens. The article also highlights their distrust towards Polish political parties and political elites and belief, that existing Polish political parties do not have any proper programs or ideas for young people, which may be a chance for a new political movement in Poland.

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Previous studies have shown that ragweed pollen arrives in Poland from sources in the south, in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria. It is likely that ragweed pollen also arrives from sources in the southeast (e.g. Ukraine). This hypothesis was investigated using 13 years of pollen data and back-trajectory analysis. Ambrosia pollen data were collected at three sites in Poland, Rzeszów, Kraków and Poznań. The amount of ragweed pollen recorded at Rzeszów was significantly higher than in Poznań and Kraków. This can be related to either a higher abundance of local populations of Ambrosia in south-east Poland or the proximity of Rzeszów to foreign sources of ragweed pollen. The combined results of pollen measurements and air mass trajectory calculations identified plumes of Ambrosia pollen that were recorded at Rzeszów, Kraków and Poznań on 4 and 5 September 1999 and 3 September 2002. These plumes arrived at the pollen-monitoring sites from an easterly direction, indicating sources of Ambrosia pollen in eastern Poland or Ukraine. This identifies Ukraine as a possible new source of ragweed pollen for Poland and therefore an important source area of Ambrosia pollen on the European Continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]