social values, Christian solidarism and nationalism. Adam Michnik has characterized the groups that formed the party as the heirs of the chauvinist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic organizations of the pre-war Poland. Some of the policies the LPR opposes include: the selling of land to foreigners (especially German expellees), abolishing the draft, legalization of "soft drugs", legalization of abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage. It supports capital punishment, maintaining universal health care and public education, and supports the withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq. The LPR also supports the publication of the complete archives of the Polish communist secret police—in other words, full "de-Communization". The party particularly appealed to voters sympathetic towards traditional social values, the Catholic faith, and the concept of Polish national sovereignty. Its policies also attract some who feel lost in the post-1989 political transformation of the country, although the populist Andrzej Lepper's Samoobrona ("Self Defense"), also speaking out for the 'simple man', menaced by the post 1989 changes thus appeal more directly to so-called marginalized voters. The press close to the party has published anti-semitic articles; some of the Polish politicians like Adam Michnik have been characterized as pink hyenas representing non-Polish interests, assisted by Mossad and “godless, satanical masons propagating nihilism and demoralisation.” Those “dark forces” are said to be fiercely opposed to a Catholic state of the Polish nation. The party was considered staunchly homophobic, and its opposition to same-sex marriage and several other demands of Polish gays and lesbians has led to condemnation of the party by the European Commission. It was also labelled as antisemitic by some authors. In the 2010s LPR ceased to arouse controversy and began gradually moving to the centre. The party is no longer nationalist and Eurosceptic. Its views on religion have also become more moderate. Stance towards the European Union The party was anti-EU. The Economist reported in 2002 that the LPR spreads the word that the EU is a communist conspiracy. Although it was the only significant political force in Poland that unconditionally opposed Polish membership in the European Union (believing that a union controlled by social liberals could never be reformed), after Polish accession to the EU the party participated in European Parliament elections, in order to have actual influence over decisions made regarding Poland. During the 2004 controversy surrounding Rocco Buttiglione (the conservative Italian nominee as European Commissioner for "Justice, Freedom, and Security"), the LPR deputies demanded