Poland

[alex revision]

Poland's far right demands strong borders in Belarus crisis

November 11, 2021

WARSAW, Poland — Thousands marched in Warsaw on Thursday to mark Poland's Independence Day, led by far-right groups calling for strong borders, while its troops blocked hundreds of new attempts by migrants to enter the country illegally from neighboring Belarus in a tense standoff.

Security forces patrolled the capital for the parade, which was peaceful, unlike those in recent years that have seen violence by some extremists.

"Today there are not only internal disputes. Today there are also external disputes. Today there is an attack on the Polish border," march leader Robert Bakiewicz said in a speech, adding that all Poles should support those who are protecting the eastern frontier.

The march was overshadowed by events unfolding along Poland's border with Belarus, where thousands of riot police, troops and border guards are turning back migrants, many from the Middle East, who are trying to enter the European Union. Makeshift camps have sprung up in forests on the Belarusian side near a crossing at the Polish town of Kuznica, and with temperatures falling and access to the frontier restricted, there are fears of a humanitarian crisis.

https://www.startribune.com/polands-...sis/600115402/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland's PM to announce anti-inflationary measures Tuesday, gov't spokesperson says


Reuters
January 8, 2022

WARSAW, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is expected to announce more additions to the country's anti-inflationary package on Tuesday, government spokesperson Piotr Muller said on Saturday.

The measures in the whole package could be extended if inflation continues to surge, Muller told private radio RMF FM.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ys-2022-01-08/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland defiant as EU fines loom over disciplining judges


By Gabriela Baczynska and Joanna Plucinska
January 7, 2022

BRUSSELS/WARSAW, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A Polish minister has accused the European Union of making "illegal demands" on his country ahead of a Jan.11 deadline by which Warsaw is meant to inform Brussels of how and when exactly it plans to dismantle a disciplinary system for judges.

Failure to act would mean Poland having to pay at least 70 million euros in fines, further delay in accessing billions of euros to support its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the possible loss of additional development funds.

The case is among many bitter rows between the EU and Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in 2015 and has since faced accusations of eroding the freedom of courts, the media, women, gays and migrants, among others.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...es-2022-01-07/

[alex revision]

Prosecutors reject applications to ban Polish radical nationalist group ONR

Jan 19, 2022

Prosecutors have, after a four-year investigation, rejected requests to ban National Radical Camp (ONR), one of Poland’s leading far-right groups. They found that there was no evidence of gross or persistent violations of the law by the organisation.

Since 2017, four applications for the group to be delegalised have been submitted, including by the former mayors of Warsaw and Gdańsk, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz and Paweł Adamowicz. The annual nationalist Independence March, co-organised by ONR, takes place in the capital each year, despite city authorities wanting it banned.

Gronkiewicz-Waltz submitted examples of court cases in which members of ONR had been convicted for inciting racial hatred and xenophobia, as well as promoting fascism, which are not only crimes but also violate Poland’s constitution.

https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/01/...ist-group-onr/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland gets formal EU demand to pay fines over judicial regime


By Gabriela Baczynska
January 20, 2022

BRUSSELS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission has sent Poland notice to pay some 70 million euros in fines for failing to reverse an illegal disciplinary regime for judges, a spokesman said, an escalation in a row between Warsaw and the European Union.

The case is one of many disputes between the EU and Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in 2015 and has since faced accusations of eroding democratic freedoms.

Last October the top EU court fined Warsaw for failing to immediately halt the work of the Polish Supreme Court's Disciplinary Chamber pending a final verdict on the scheme.

Poland has said it will not pay the fine and has criticised the Commission's actions.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller told state-run news agency PAP on Thursday the European Commission was interfering in matters that should be reserved for member states and that it had no legal basis for doing so.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...me-2022-01-20/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland Has Blocked 600 Migrants From Crossing Border Illegally so Far This Year




CHRIS TOMLINSON23 Jan 202272
2:30
Polish authorities say they have blocked around 600 migrants from crossing into their country illegally from Belarus so far this year as the number of attempts has decreased since last year.

Polish border guards state that since the start of the year they have stopped around 600 attempts by illegal immigrants to enter their country from Belarus.

The number of migrants attempting to cross into Poland illegally this year is a large reduction from the height of the crisis in October when an estimated 17,300 crossing attempts were recorded.

On Tuesday, the border guard released a statement on social media, revealing that they had arrested 32 migrants who had cut through the razor wire border barrier, stating that Belarusian forces helped the migrants tear down the fencing.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/202...far-this-year/

[Stewart Meadows]

2 Feb, 2022 15:27 Home Russia & FSU

Poland spills beans on new US troop deployment


Washington to deploy 2,000 troops to Poland as more soldiers placed on high alert



The US will deploy around 2,000 troops to Poland as part of measures to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank in response to potential Russian military moves toward Ukraine, the head of Warsaw's National Security Bureau revealed on Wednesday.

Speaking to Polskie Radio 24, the country’s national public-service broadcaster, Paweł Soloch announced that the American troops arriving in his country would be part of a more significant deployment of 8,500 soldiers being sent to Europe.

https://www.rt.com/russia/548103-us-send-troops-europe/

[Stewart Meadows]

Some 100,000 Ukrainians have entered Poland since war began-interior minister


Reuters
February 26, 2022

MEDYKA, Poland, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Around 100,000 people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine since Russia launched an invasion on Thursday, including 9,000 who have entered since 7 a.m. on Saturday, Poland's Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told a news conference.
(...)
European Union member Poland, which has the region's largest Ukrainian community of about 1 million people, has seen a throng of refugees at its borders since the Russian invasion began.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...er-2022-02-26/

[Stewart Meadows]

6 Mar, 2022 07:42 Home Russia & FSU

US ‘works’ with Poland to send jets to Ukraine – media


Kiev pleaded with the West to help it fend off the ongoing Russian attack

The White House has told a number of US media outlets that Washington does not mind if Poland supplies Ukraine with some of its old Soviet-era warplanes to help repel the ongoing Russian invasion. “We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine,” the spokesperson said on Saturday.

Politico quoted four unnamed US officials as saying that Washington may fill the gap in Poland’s Air Force if it decides to give its used MiG-29s to Kiev. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US was considering giving Poland F-16 jet fighters if it transfers some of its old aircraft to Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/russia/551344-us-...oland-ukraine/

[Stewart Meadows]

U.S. rejects Poland's offer to give it Russian-made fighter jets for Ukraine


By Phil Stewart, Humeyra Pamuk and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The United States rejected a surprise offer by NATO ally Poland on Tuesday to transfer its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. base in Germany as a way to replenish Ukraine's air force in its defense against invading Russian forces.

The United States has sought to speed weapons deliveries to Ukraine. But the prospect of flying combat aircraft from NATO territory into the war zone "raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance," the Pentagon said.

NATO has said it does not want direct conflict with Russia, a fellow nuclear-armed power, and President Joe Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops into Ukraine to fight, something the Pentagon has said would apply to troops on the ground or in the air, flying missions.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...ne-2022-03-08/

[Stewart Meadows]

15 Mar, 2022 11:27 Home Russia & FSU

3 Eastern European prime ministers heading for Kiev


The Polish, Czech, and Slovenian prime ministers have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa arrived in Ukraine and are headed to Kiev, the Polish PM’s office announced on Tuesday.

“About an hour ago, the train of the prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister for Security Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovenia crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border,” the office tweeted.

The leaders are set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Kiev. The purpose of the meeting is to express the unequivocal support of the European Union towards Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, and discuss a broad package of support measures.

https://www.rt.com/russia/551961-pri...-heading-kiev/

[Stewart Meadows]

Poland Seeks NATO Force In Ukraine On "Peacekeeping Mission"


Kaczynski, along with the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and PM Denys Shmygal.

World Agence France-Presse Updated: March 16, 2022 6:04 am IST



Warsaw: Poland on Tuesday called for a NATO peace mission "protected by armed forces" to help Ukraine.

"This cannot be an unarmed mission," Vice Premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski was quoted as saying by the Polish news agency PAP during a visit to Kyiv.

"It must seek to provide humanitarian and peaceful aid to Ukraine."

Kaczynski, along with the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.

It is the first visit to Kyiv by foreign leaders since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

"I think that we need a peacekeeping mission from NATO, or even possibly from a larger international structure, but a mission that will be able to defend itself and that will operate on Ukrainian territory, which will be in this country with the agreement of the president and the government of Ukraine and it will not be a defenceless mission," Kaczynski said.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pola...ission-2825363

[Dawn Cannon]

Fuck you, Poland.

EVERYTHING we do and have ever done is in the name of your incessant whining.

All you do is take, take, take off others.

[Stewart Meadows]

GREEN NEWS

Poland to rethink role of Russian gas in green energy transition, as nuclear plans go ahead




Warsaw - Copyright Canva

By Maeve Campbell with Reuters • Updated: 18/03/2022

Poland is rethinking the role of natural gas in its transition away from coal-fired energy, as it seeks to avoid dependence on Russian fuels.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has compelled the European Union to attempt to reduce dependence on fossil fuels from Russia, which supplies 40 per cent of the EU's gas, 27 per cent of its oil imports and 46 per cent of coal imports.

"If we want to do that in the short term, we're going to have to reconsider the plans we forged in the past. Looking at Poland's current legislative situation, it's pushing us very clearly towards more consumption of gas," said Adam Guibourge-Czetwertynski, the country's undersecretary of state for climate, at an EU meeting on Thursday.

"We're looking at that again to see how we can reduce our dependence on gas during this transitional period."

Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, generates around 70 per cent of Polish electricity. That would need to drop under the EU's target to cut emissions 55 per cent by 2030, from 1990 levels.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/...ear-plans-go-a

[Stewart Meadows]

23 Mar, 2022 09:20 Home World News

Poland to expel 45 Russian diplomats


The country’s domestic security agency accused them of being spies

Poland will expel 45 Russian diplomats who are suspected of working as spies, the Internal Security Agency announced on Wednesday.

The suspected individuals were described as “officers of the Russian special services and persons associated with them” enjoying diplomatic status in Poland. Agency head Krzysztof Waclawek has requested the Foreign Ministry to declare them persona non grata, the statement said.

The ISA said it had collected evidence of the suspects’ clandestine activities. One of them is associated with a Polish citizen arrested on March 17 on suspicion of espionage for Russia.

https://www.rt.com/news/552525-polan...ian-diplomats/

[alex revision]

Polish county launches legal action to be “free from LGBT ideology” again

Apr 5, 2022

A local authority in Poland has launched a legal action to make itself “free from LGBT ideology” again, after a resolution to that effect was invalided earlier this year by a court, which found the measure to be discriminatory.

“We do not want a minority telling us how to live,” says the head of the local administration, who hails from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, he also argues that the resolution does not discriminate against anyone.

Tarnów county, a district in southern Poland with a population of almost 200,000, was among dozens of local authorities that adopted anti-LGBT resolutions in 2019 amid a campaign by the national-conservative PiS and parts of the Catholic church against what they call “LGBT ideology”.

https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/04/...deology-again/

[alex revision]

Polish state-funded nationalist media outlet promotes antisemitic book

Apr 25, 2022

A nationalist media group that receives state funding has promoted an antisemitic book that describes Jews as a “parasitic tribe”. The government has previously faced criticism over the funding given to the outlet, which is published by the group behind Warsaw’s annual Independence March.

The book in question is called Poznaj Żyda, meaning “Meet the Jew”. Its cover features a common antisemitic caricature of a Jew in a variety of guises, suggesting that Jews are behind communism, the LGBT movement, the media, and various protest groups in Poland.

Despite the modern cover, it is a reprint of a 1912 book by conservative writer Teodor Jeske-Choiński. Its first chapter begins by describing Jews as a “parasitic tribe [that] has nested on our skin, sucks our sweat, our blood, for six centuries”.

https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/04/...isemitic-book/

[Tomasz Winnicki]

Oh, those naughty Polacks.

They should have used Brutus' jewy toonz on the cover.

[Stewart Meadows]

Russia demands formal Polish apology for Warsaw anti-war protest


Reuters
May 11, 2022

WARSAW, May 11 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday demanded a formal apology from Poland and threatened possible future reprisals for a protest in which Moscow's ambassador to Warsaw was doused with red paint.

The ambassador, Sergey Andreev, was accosted by people protesting against Russia's intervention in Ukraine as he went to lay flowers at the Soviet Military Cemetery in Warsaw on Monday, drawing a furious reaction from Moscow.

The Russian foreign ministry summoned Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski to receive its protest.

"Russia expects an official apology from the Polish leadership in connection with the incident and demands the safety of the Russian ambassador and all employees of Russian foreign institutions in Poland are ensured," it said in a statement.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...er-2022-05-11/

[Stewart Meadows]

Polish lawmakers reach compromise on judicial reforms


Warsaw says a bill proposing changes to Poland’s legal system will unblock billions of euros of European Union funding.



More than 35 billion euros ($37bn) of COVID recovery grants and loans have been put on hold due to a dispute with Brussels over the rule of law [File: Kacper Pempel/Reuters]

20 May 2022

Lawmakers from Poland’s ruling coalition have agreed to judicial reforms the government says will unblock billions of euros of European Union funding, helping the country’s economy as it grapples with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

More than 35 billion euros ($37bn) of COVID recovery grants and loans have been put on hold due to a dispute with Brussels over the rule of law, but Warsaw has said it had reached an agreement on terms to unblock the funds and expects approval from the EU in the coming days.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/...dicial-reforms