Poland

[Stewart Meadows]

22 May, 2022 21:25 Home Russia & FSU

Ukraine to grant special legal status to Polish nationals


Kiev is set to facilitate cross-border travel and grant other perks to the Poles



Ukraine will grant a special legal status to Poland’s citizens, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Sunday as he hosted his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Kiev.

“There should be no borders or barriers between us. Mentally, the Ukrainian and Polish peoples have been inseparable for a long time. Therefore, we have agreed to translate this into an appropriate bilateral agreement in the near future,” Zelensky said during a speech in the country’s parliament.

Earlier this month, Duda expressed hope that there would be no border between Poland and Ukraine in the future. The two nations would live “together on this land, building and rebuilding our common happiness and common strength that will allow us to resist every danger,” the Polish president said in Warsaw on May 3.

https://www.rt.com/russia/555932-ukr...pecial-status/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland says it will help Sweden, Finland if they're attacked before NATO accession


Reuters
May 19, 2022

WARSAW, May 19 (Reuters) - Poland will assist Sweden and Finland, should they be attacked before obtaining NATO membership, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.

"I consider the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO as an important signal of strengthening security in Europe," he said during a conference.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...on-2022-05-19/

[Stewart Meadows]

25 May, 2022 16:24 Home World News

Germany ‘perplexed’ by Poland’s accusations


Berlin has indicated it might not have the tanks Warsaw wants at the ready



The German government has rejected criticism by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who accused Berlin of failing to substitute tanks Warsaw had delivered to Ukraine. It might take Germany a long time to produce the heavy equipment Poland seeks to receive from Berlin, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told journalists on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Duda told the German news outlet Die Welt that Berlin had failed to replenish the Polish stocks in a timely fashion after Warsaw “weakened” its own military potential by sending “a large number” of tanks to Ukraine. Most Polish tanks are German-made and Warsaw expected Berlin to step in, the Polish leader added.

“The federal government is perplexed,” Hebestreit said, responding to the Polish president’s comments. Berlin has “taken note” of Duda’s criticism “but that does not make it right,” he added.

https://www.rt.com/news/556083-germa...tanks-ukraine/

[Stewart Meadows]

27 May, 2022 15:18 Home Business News

Poland is running out of coal


The country is facing shortages due to the Russian supply ban

Polish companies have limited the sale of coal in the country after blocking imports from Russia, Deputy Minister of State Assets Piotr Pyzik said during his speech in Parliament on Friday.

He explained that the demand for raw materials in the country is far exceeding domestic output. “Companies... have decided to introduce sales restrictions in order to provide fuel for the next heating season to as many customers as possible,” Pyzik explained.

He acknowledged that the situation in the country is difficult, and that consumers are facing difficulties with coal purchases.

https://www.rt.com/business/556199-p...g-out-of-coal/

[Stewart Meadows]

28 May, 2022 18:42 Home World News

Poland wants more refugee money from EU


Brussels has offered only €144.6 million to help Warsaw shoulder the costs of hosting 3 million Ukrainians, and the money hasn’t arrived

Poland reportedly hasn’t received any of the money promised from the EU to help cope with the costs of hosting more than 3 million Ukrainian refugees, and even the funds that have been pledged are paltry relative to the massive influx of people fleeing the former Soviet republic.

None of the €144.6 million that the European Commission offered to help Warsaw get through the Russia-Ukraine crisis has been transferred, Polish Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told the Polish Press Agency in an article posted on Saturday. Given that Poland will incur billions of euros in costs as by far the top destination for Ukrainian refugees, the EU support that has been promised so far is far from enough, he said.

https://www.rt.com/news/556263-polan...refugee-money/

[Stewart Meadows]

29 May, 2022 19:04 Home World News

Another country sends howitzers to Ukraine – report


Poland has donated 18 ‘Krab’ self-propelled guns to Kiev forces, according to local Radio

Poland has donated 18 AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, state-run radio reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified government source.

In addition to donating the heavy artillery pieces, Polish military forces trained about 100 Ukrainian artillerymen to operate them, Polish Radio explained. The 155mm guns will provide the firepower for three artillery squadrons.

“Thanks to the Polish aid, the Ukrainians now have at least 24 Western self-propelled howitzers,” the broadcaster outlined.

https://www.rt.com/news/556304-polan...tzers-ukraine/

[Stewart Meadows]

Israel, Poland to Restore Relations Strained by Holocaust Restitution Row


By Reuters
July 4, 2022, at 7:08 a.m.



FILE PHOTO: Poland's President Andrzej Duda attends a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Susana VeraREUTERS

JERUSALEM/WARSAW (Reuters) -Israel and Poland have agreed to improve relations that had deteriorated after Warsaw introduced a law last year limiting the ability of Jews to recover World War Two properties, saying on Monday they would mutually restore ambassadors.

The move marked a shift for new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who as foreign minister had denounced as "anti-Semitic and immoral" the bill affecting property seized by Nazi German occupiers and retained by Poland's post-war communist rulers.

"It was agreed that relations would be restored to their proper course," said a statement issued by Israeli President Isaac Herzog after he spoke to his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...-proper-course

[Stewart Meadows]

10 Jul, 2022 20:30 Home World News

Former Polish president demands break up of Russia


The West should either change the Russian “political system” or instigate a massive uprising, Lech Walesa believes

The world will never be safe as long as modern-day Russia exists, former Polish president Lech Walesa told French broadcaster LCI on Friday, claiming that Russia is “imperial” in nature and will “keep annexing peoples.”

Even if Western nations would help Ukraine to win its ongoing conflict with Moscow, they would still fail to make the world a safer place, Walesa argued, adding the international community would potentially see another conflict involving Russia “in five years.” “In ten years, we will see another Putin arise,” he added, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is increasingly portrayed as an autocratic strongman by Western officials and the media.

https://www.rt.com/news/558739-wales...ce-population/

[Stewart Meadows]

July 18, 2022 1:26 PM UTC

Poland to boost coal imports, subsidies amid Russia sanctions


Reuters

WARSAW, July 18 (Reuters) - Poland will develop new types of coal subsidies for consumers and boost imports to make sure it has enough fuel for the heating season amid shortages and surging prices.

The European Union's largest coal producer, dependent on the fuel for some 80% of its electricity generation, in April banned imports of coal from Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

It introduced subsidies designed to keep prices for smaller buyers at last year's level earlier this month, but retailers are reluctant to participate in the system as payments aren't compensating for the surge in market prices.

https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ns-2022-07-18/

[Stewart Meadows]

July 22, 2022 9:39 AM GMT+2

Poland to buy jets, tanks and howitzers from South Korea, says minister


Reuters

WARSAW, July 22 (Reuters) - Poland will buy 48 FA-50 fighter jets, a first instalment of 180 K2 Black Panther tanks and howitzers from South Korea, Warsaw's defence minister was quoted as saying on Friday, as the country strengthens its army because of the war in Ukraine.

The Feb. 24 invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation" has raised security fears among many former eastern bloc countries, and NATO member Poland has vowed to boost defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than double the size of its army to deter any attacks.

https://www.reuters.com/business/pol...er-2022-07-22/

[Stewart Meadows]

August 9, 2022 8:00 PM GMT+2

Poland warns of repercussions if Brussels keeps blocking funds


Reuters

WARSAW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Poland could hit back at the European Union if Warsaw does not get its share of pandemic recovery funds, ruling party politicians said, after Brussels signalled it was not satisfied with the country's latest judicial reforms.

More than 35 billion euros ($36 billion) of COVID-19 recovery grants and loans were put on hold due to a dispute over the reforms to the judiciary in Poland, which the EU executive says subvert democratic standards.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ds-2022-08-09/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland deploys troops as dead fish pile up on river bank in toxic disaster


By Marina Lopes
August 13, 2022 at 4:05 a.m. EDT



Vast amounts of chemical waste were probably dumped into a river on the Polish-German border, Poland’s prime minister said Friday, killing tons of fish and creating an ecological disaster that could take years to clean up.

Authorities said 150 Polish troops have been deployed to the 522-mile-long Oder River, which flows through Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, to launch a cleanup operation. The chemical spill was likely intentional, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on a podcast Friday.

“It is likely that enormous amounts of chemical waste have been dumped into the Oder River, and this was done with full awareness of the risks and consequences,” Morawiecki said. “We will not let this matter go, we will not rest until the guilty are severely punished.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...-mercury-fish/

[Stewart Meadows]

16 Aug, 2022 17:54 Home World News

Poland wants Ukraine to admit genocide


A deputy culture minister says the 1943 Volhyn massacres fit the definition of genocide and Kiev will have to recognize that

he mass murder of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War meets the definition of genocide and the government in Kiev will have to recognize this sooner or later, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Jaroslaw Sellin said on Tuesday.

“They have to acknowledge it because it’s a fact. It’s simply a fact. A political decision was made and implemented for ethnic cleansing, the extermination of the entire national minority that has lived there for centuries,” Sellin told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) during a TV interview.

“This is genocide, it fits all the parameters of the definition of genocide, so there is no discussion here. This is a historical fact. Sooner or later, the Ukrainians will have to recognize it,” he added.

Polish historians say between 100,000-130,000 ethnic Poles were massacred by Stepan Bandera’s Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

https://www.rt.com/news/560961-polan...ocide-bandera/

[Stewart Meadows]

August 27, 2022 3:16 PM GMT+2 Last Updated 3 hours ago

In Poland, where coal is king, homeowners queue for days to buy fuel


By Marek Strzelecki and Kuba Stezycki

WARSAW/BOGDANKA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - In Poland's late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as householders fearful of winter shortages wait for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times.

Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 km (18 miles) from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tonnes of coal for himself and his family.

"Toilets were put up today, but there's no running water," he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars.

"This is beyond imagination, people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times but it didn't cross my mind that we could return to something even worse."

Artur's household is one of the 3.8 million in Poland that rely on coal for heating and now face shortages and price hikes, after Poland and the European Union imposed an embargo on Russian coal following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...el-2022-08-27/

[Stewart Meadows]

September 1, 2022 4:50 PM GMT+2

Poland puts its WW2 losses at $1.3 trillion, demands German reparations


By Marek Strzelecki

WARSAW, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Poland estimates its World War Two losses caused by Germany at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.32 trillion), the leader of the country's ruling nationalists said on Thursday, and he said Warsaw would officially demand reparations.

Poland's biggest trade partner and a fellow member of the European Union and NATO, Germany has previously said all financial claims linked to World War Two have been settled.

Poland's new estimate tops the $850 billion estimate by a ruling party lawmaker from 2019. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has repeated calls for compensation several times since it took power in 2015, but Poland hasn't officially demanded reparations.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ss-2022-09-01/

[Stewart Meadows]

13 Sep, 2022 16:53 Home World News

Poland receives US nuclear offer


A joint agreement would see Washington help Warsaw build nuclear power plants

The US has sent Poland a proposal to help build six nuclear reactors in the country in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and gradually phase out coal, the Polish Climate ministry announced on Monday.

Delivered to Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa by US ambassador Mark Brzezinski, the proposal suggested that Washington and Warsaw create a detailed bilateral roadmap for the construction project, which is set to be finished by 2040.

“It's more than a commercial offer, it reflects 18 months of work and millions of dollars spent on analysis and evaluations,” said a spokesperson for the Westinghouse Electric Company, a US firm bidding to take on the project.

https://www.rt.com/news/562728-polan...-power-plants/

[Stewart Meadows]

September 19, 2022 3:26 PM GMT+2

Baltic states and Poland close doors to Russian tourists


By Andrius Sytas



NARVA, Estonia, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Four of the five European Union countries bordering Russia began turning away Russian tourists at midnight on Monday, saying they should not travel while their country is at war with Ukraine.

Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed new restrictions as Finland decided to remain open, though it has cut back the number of consular appointments available to Russian travellers seeking visas.

The move was the latest in a series of sanctions and other steps taken by the European Union or its member states since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a "special military operation".

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ts-2022-09-19/

[Stewart Meadows]

September 22, 2022 6:57 PM GMT+2

EXCLUSIVE Poland will only supply Germany's Schwedt refinery if Rosneft removed as shareholder


By Markus Wacket and Marek Strzelecki



WARSAW/BERLIN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Poland will only help supply oil to Germany's PCK Schwedt refinery if Russia's Rosneft (ROSN.MM) is completely removed as a shareholder, Poland's climate ministry said, raising pressure on Germany to completely nationalise the refiner.

Germany took control of the Schwedt refinery, which was majority owned by Rosneft Deutschland, last Friday as Berlin strives to shore up energy supplies. It put Rosneft Deutschland under a trusteeship of the German industry regulator but Rosneft still holds 54% of the company's shares.

https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ed-2022-09-22/

[alex revision]

When a Polish Lawyer is told to put on a mask…

When a Polish Lawyer is told to put on a mask…

When a Polish Lawyer is told to put on a mask…

[Stewart Meadows]

22 Sep, 2022 12:44 Home World News

Poland wants more NATO troops


Russia’s partial mobilization should spur the West to deploy more troops near its border, Poland’s security chief has said

Russia’s announcement of a partial military mobilization is a sign of defeat and poses no threat to Poland, but should be responded to with the deployment of more NATO troops in Eastern Europe, according to Pawel Soloch, a top Polish security official.

“In connection with this mobilization, we must press on for an increased allied presence on the eastern flank. This is an additional argument for having additional NATO troops in the east,” Soloch said in an interview with the Graffiti program on Polsat News on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that some military reservists would be called up to active service to help with the country's military offensive in Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/news/563325-polan...ty-nato-putin/