Valruzia

[Aethan]

INTERVIEW | Szczepan Kozak: "I have never refused a good fight and I don't mind being called 'woke'"

Former world champion and leader of the first regionalist party sits with us for a personal interview

August 5696

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Former five-time world wrestling champion Szczepan Kozak is no stranger to pressure, nor to controversy. Idolized by many in Kampania and Valruzia for his sporting achievements and now closely watched across the whole country for his unexpected political leap, Kozak has become the most recognizable face of the newly founded People's Front of Kampania as its leader and founder.

We met him two weeks after the official launch of the movement, in a modest office in the outskirts of Szary Kamien, still decorated with propaganda posters and framed photographs from his sporting career. Seemingly relaxed and appearing before us with a suit "for the first time ever", according to his own words, Kozak spoke at length about identity, class, accusations of "woke populism" and his relationship with the Communist Party of Valruzia, as well as the aspirations of his new political party and ideology.

Interviewer: Mr Kozak, many people in Valruzia – and beyond our nation – know you well as a star wrestler, not as a politician. When did you first seriously consider entering politics?

Szczepan Kozak: I'd say politics entered me before I entered politics. When you travel, compete internationally, meet workers, athletes, fans, you start seeing patterns. For years I was invited to factories, schools, trade union events, sporting events, motivational speeches, etc, in Valruzia and beyond. People liked talking to me, and I've always felt like they saw me not as a world champion, but as one of them. And I loved that. Since I was young, I have also been closely following politics, and despite what many people think – that we athletes are "dumb" or that we have no interest nor knowledge about politics – I can say for certain that this is far from true. From my own experience, I have had long and fruitful political talks with many athletes along the way.

I: You were a declared supporter and affiliate of the Communist Party of Valruzia. What changed?

S.K: My values haven't changed that much. I still believe in workers' rights, public services, dignity of labour... I'd say that what changed was the political framework. This awful electoral reform erased the territorial voice of regions like Kampania. I know the KPW opposed this change, but instead it went ahead, and the regional branch of the KPW here in my region didn't say a thing. I don’t blame the party base, but I believe we have let go of our voice far too easily. Now, our voices are diluted in general lists of politicians rather than true representatives of our land, despite this so-called "Parliament of the Regions".

I: Critics say your new party directly threatens the KPW's dominance in Kampania. Are you trying to replace them?

S.K: [Laughs] No. I'm trying to wake them up. If that means competition, so be it. Voters and citizens don't belong to any party by default, and they owe nothing to any particular party. It is our mission to earn their vote and support. If the KPW listens again to Kampania, and that means we get no support nor representation, then it's all good – we all win. If not, then people deserve another option that still speaks their language.

I: Since the launch of this new party, you've been labelled everything, from "regionalist populist" to "woke nationalist". Does that bother you?

S.K: [Smiles politely before taking its taking to take a sip of the coffee in front of him] You see, I've been called worse on the wrestling mat. Way worse. Let me tell you, I have never refused a good fight, and I don't mind being called woke if that means I care about injustice. Kampanian workers pay more, produce more, and decide less. If pointing that out is populism, then the word has lost all meaning. Far to often nowadays, caring for respect for every single citizen in our nation is labelled as "woke". Well, let me tell you something that might burn some: if elected to office, my party will try to pass legislation long due, which is protecting the rights of everyone within our Voivodeship. The KPW has a long history of ruling this region and even the nation but still, transgender people are banned from sports and our certificates only recognize two genders. If I am elected, I will make sure to amend this, at least within my powers. There is also much left to do in workers' rights, work-family balance, young benefits...

I: You have touched a risky subject, which is transgender people in sports. What's your opinion?

S.K: Well you know, many people say "that's an unfair advantage!" but isn't it what makes some better than others? Isn't our very own advantages what makes us stand over others? I do agree that transgender people still undergoing hormone treatments might not be able to be in elite competitions just as any other drugs are not allowed, but only on that basis. Once it is over with, what's banning them from the same rights?

I

: You insist that the People's Front of Kampania is not separatist. Where do you draw the line?

S.K: Very clearly. We are sovereignist, not secessionist. Kampania is part of Valruzia, full stop. But Valruzia should be a country of balanced regions, not a funnel where wealth flows one way and decisions another. Independence is not our goal. Respect to our citizens and our beautiful region.

I: Your party already won two deputies in the Kampanian Sejmik. Were you surprised by such an early defection from the KPW?

S.K: Surprised? No. Relieved, maybe. Those deputies felt politically homeless. They didn’t leave the left – the left left them. Their decision shows this isn’t about me personally, but about a deeper discomfort.

I: You have no prior experience in elected office. Is that a weakness?

S.K: It's true that in sports, experience matters – but so does hunger. I know how to prepare, how to listen to coaches, how to learn fast. Politics shouldn’t be a closed profession. If anything, I think my lack of parliamentary routine makes me less cynical.

I: Some observers have also compared you to former Chancellor Iwan Nowik, another elite athlete that afterwards became a politician. Is that a model you follow?

S:K: I respect Nowik's career, especially his discipline, and all that he has brought to us, both in the tatami and in politics. But I don't imitate anyone. I'm not trying to become Chancellor. I'm trying to make Kampania impossible to ignore. What's more, Nowik came from an already known established family, I come from barely nothing.

I: Now that you have touched the subject, would you like to share with us a bit more of your personal life, your sporting career, etc?

S:K: I don't mind at all. See, I was born in an average working-class family in a small town of Kampania, you might have not even heard it, it's called Mlanec, right next to the Kampanian National Park. My father used to work shifts in a metal plant and my mother was a cleaner for many years before she could get a stable job. Nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary, just honest work and many long hours so I didn't have to endure the same penalties they had to, and I've always been thankful to them for that. Wrestling came into my life almost by accident then. There was this small local club, cheap enough for families like mine, and it kept kids like me away from trouble. My father first took me there, and it turned out I was good at it, then very good, and suddenly I was travelling the world, although I never forgot where I came from. Every medal I won, every time I heard the Valruzian anthem, I knew it wasn't just me standing there – it was my parents, my people, my region. That's something that stays with you forever.

I: What can voters expect from the People’s Front of Kampania in the coming months?

S.K: Organisation first. Programme second. We want strong labour protections, fair fiscal redistribution and mechanisms that guarantee regional voices at the national level. Step by step. I won my world titles one bout at a time – this won’t be different. In the coming months, people will also see us listening a lot. We will organise assemblies, meetings with trade unions, neighbourhood associations, youth groups. This party will not be built from a headquarters in the capital, but from the ground up, in Kampania itself. We are not in a rush to promise everything, we are in a rush to do things properly. We have a lot of time ahead of us, and I want things to be done properly. One thing is for sure though: we will not work with the far-right and its allies. That's a promise I can make right here, right now. Kampania is no land for conservative reactionaries, and this party is neither.

I: Your critics – and even some potential voters – say they still don't quite understand what your party actually is. How does the People's Front of Kampania differ ideologically from the Communist Party of Valruzia, beyond the regional question?

S.K: I think that's a fair question, and I'll try to be very clear. The KPW is a party with a long ideological tradition, a clear doctrine and a national project aimed at transforming the state from the top down. We respect that history. But we are something different.

The People's Front of Kampania is not a party born from theory. We don't start by asking what model should the state look like in fifty years, but why workers here feel powerless today. Our focus is not the final destination of the system, but who controls power right now, at the local and regional level.

We believe in a mixed but strongly regulated economy, where strategic sectors must serve the public interest, but also where local industry, cooperatives and small producers are protected instead of being absorbed by distant state bureaucracies or multinational corporations. Not everything has to be nationalized in the capital to be social, sometimes it has to be anchored in the region.

Another key difference is territorial justice. Kampania produces wealth, energy and industrial output, yet decisions are taken elsewhere. We want binding regional participation in economic planning, labour policy and fiscal redistribution. Not symbolic councils, not advisory chambers but real power-sharing between the national government and us, here and now.

Socially, we are unapologetically progressive. But again, from a practical angle. Rights must exist not only in constitutions, but in daily life – in schools, workplaces and elsewhere. If laws exist but discrimination survives, then politics has failed. So if I had to define us, I would say this: we are a left-wing, worker-based, socially progressive regionalist movement that believes democracy doesn't stop at the ballot box, and sovereignty doesn't belong only to the state, but also to its regions and communities. We believe in participation of the citizens in the daily political life, but we also believe that strong leadership to take hard or difficult decisions is needed many times. And I'm here to be that figure.

I: Can you name concrete measures your party would pursue that the KPW, despite its time in power, has not yet implemented?

S.K: Oh, of course. First, we want a regional collective bargaining framework for key industrial sectors in Kampania. National agreements often ignore regional productivity, cost of living and working conditions. Kampanian workers should be able to negotiate regionally binding wage floors and safety standards that cannot be undercut nationally. Second, we will push for a mandatory regional reinvestment quota. A fixed percentage of profits generated in Kampania – especially in energy, heavy industry and transport – must be reinvested locally in infrastructure, housing and vocational training. This is something no government has dared to enforce so far. Third, we propose worker representation with veto power in regional strategic companies. Not advisory boards, real decision-making capacity on layoffs, relocations and outsourcing. Workers should not only be consulted after decisions are made. Fourth, we want to establish a Kampanian Public Housing and Land Trust, managed at the regional level, to prevent speculation and guarantee affordable housing near workplaces. National housing plans exist, but they are slow, uneven and often disconnected from local realities. And finally, we will introduce binding regional referendums on major economic and infrastructure projects affecting Kampania. If a project reshapes our territory, our environment or our labour market, people must have the final word, not ministries hundreds of kilometres away from our region.

In the social field, we will push for full legal recognition of gender self-identification at the regional administrative level, without medical or judicial prerequisites. Even where national law is ambiguous, regions can simplify procedures and remove humiliating barriers in civil registries, schools and healthcare access. We also want a public care guarantee, which means expanding regional public childcare, eldercare and disability services with binding maximum waiting times. We will introduce also regional minimum standards for youth employment, including strict limits on unpaid internships, automatic conversion of long-term temporary contracts and regionally funded first-job programmes tied to public and cooperative sectors. We also want to ensure equal access to sports and cultural life to all of our citizens, and that includes clear anti-discrimination rules in regional sports competitions, public funding tied to inclusion criteria and guaranteed access to facilities regardless of gender identity, disability or socioeconomic background.

I think that pretty much sums up many of our first ideas, but as we have said earlier, we will listen around and see what do we come up with in the end.

I: Final question: do you miss wrestling?

S.K: Every day. But I do believe my time had come, and I wanted to retire at the top of my career. Besides, this is just another arena. Different rules apply, but same principle stands: if you don't fight for your ground, someone will try to push you out of it. Wrestling gave me values like discipline, resilience and humility. Perhaps politics will take some of that away from me, but I’m ready to pay that price if it means I succeed in improving people's lives. I'm not nostalgic of this past { I've never been a nostalgic man, to begin with – but I am grateful of what made me the man I am today. And wrestling made me who I am.

As Kozak stands up to greet us as we leave, one thing is clear: Valruzian politics has gained a figure who is comfortable with confrontation and determined to turn the first regionalist political party of Valruzia into a powerful machine. Stay tuned for polls!