March 24th was a special day for our fellow volunteer Borja—it marked our long-awaited visit to the Polish Parliament, the Sejm. We had been planning it for months, and the day had finally arrived.
Getting six people ready and out the door from Bemowo to the city center was no small feat, but we managed to arrive ahead of schedule—beating even the group from Kabaty. After a brief struggle to find the right entrance and some routine passport checks, our Sejm experience officially began.
Our visit started with a guided tour filled with interesting historical facts about the Sejm complex. One surprising detail was the existence of an actual hotel on-site, used by MPs or special guests from outside Warsaw. Even more fascinating was the network of underground passages connecting all the buildings.
We then made our way to the main parliamentary hall, where we had the chance to observe part of a live session. A German representative spoke about the European Union’s structure, followed by a Polish candidate discussing the (then) upcoming national elections. Thankfully, our coordinators helped by translating the key points so we could follow along.
Borja seated in the front line
The hall itself was impressive—dark green tones dominated the space, with the flags of all EU member states displayed at the back in recognition of Poland’s six-month presidency of the European Council. The MPs’ seats were arranged amphitheater-style in dark brown wood. We sat in the balcony, right next to a kind and cheerful cameraman.
The main hall in Sejm
Later, our guide shared more insights into Poland’s political system, including statistics like the percentage of women in parliament. We had a chance to ask questions and even visited a smaller conference room where we happily posed for pictures with our national flags.
James with his beloved Estonian flag
As our visit wrapped up, we explored a bit more of the Sejm and snapped some final photos for the @schumanvolunteers Instagram account. That’s when the funniest moment of the day happened: a well-meaning security guard offered to take a group picture for us but accidentally dropped the phone! Luckily, no harm was done, and we all had a good laugh.
Our Schuman Thursday ended with a delicious brunch and plenty of great memories (especially for Borja)!
Our group photo moments before the “disaster”
Kostia, volunteer 2024/25