Boycotting OSCE Meeting & more – 5th Dec 2023

Witam from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 5th of December twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

On Thursday, the 30th, the country boycotted the annual Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, due to the presence of Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine also joined Poland and didn’t attend the meeting. Szynkowski, Poland’s foreign minister, stated that Russia is constantly undermining the organization by abusing veto rights. All countries belonging to OSCE should together agree to adopt any decision but Russia often blocks the resolutions.

Speaking of Russia...

Recall that this year, the ruling Law and Justice party established a Russian influence commission to reveal if opposition politicians had allied with Russia before two thousand seven. Right after the commission published its first findings on Wednesday, the 29th, the opposition-leading parliament dismissed the members of the commission. The opposition said they fired the members because the ruling party created the commission to eliminate the opposition, not to find out if there were any alliances with Russia.

According to the findings of the commission, Poland’s Military Counterintelligence Service had close contact with the Russian Intelligence Service between twenty ten and twenty fourteen, when Donald Tusk, the main opposition leader, was the prime minister.

Also on Wednesday the 29th, the parliament passed a law for the state to fund in vitro fertilization or IVF. The state will spend at least 125 million dollars a year to boost IVF. Unsurprisingly, MPs from Law and Justice and the far-right Confederation Party voted against the proposal because they thought the practice did not align with Christianity.

In other news, the President attended the United Nations climate conference…

On Friday, the 1st, President Duda attended the United Nations climate conference in Dubai along with 198 presidents from other countries. During the event, Duda talked with his counterparts and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about the security of the organization’s borders. Also, the president signed a joint declaration with twenty other states to triple the nuclear energy production by twenty fifty and tackle climate change. Duda stated that nuclear energy is the future of clean energy, and Poland will open its first nuclear plant in twenty thirty-three in cooperation with the US, and South Korea.

In addition to nuclear power plants, the government may also build windmills…

This week, opposition parties wanted to propose a regulation about increasing the number of windmills in the country. The regulation aimed to ease the setup of windmills, locating them as close as 300 meters from buildings without consent from local authorities. This angered citizens in the countryside because they did not want a windmill close to their homes, and their presence would reduce the value of their lands and houses. The ruling party said that the opposition was under the influence of windmill lobbies from Germany that dictated the opposition to pass the bill so that they could make more money in Poland. Amid the reactions, the opposition is now revising their draft proposal before sending it to parliament.

In an update to a story we covered on a previous show…

Last week, the European Parliament accepted amendments to the EU’s treaty, such as the principle of unanimity. If the European Council approves the amendments in the next few months, these new changes will empower the EU as well as Germany and France since they have more population and influence in the EU compared to other member states. On Wednesday, the 29th, the Polish government stated that it would create a coalition of states in the European Council to reject the proposed amendments. Following the plan, this week, Szymon Szynkowski, met with his Lithuanian and Czech counterparts. He said that the Polish, Lithuanian, and Czech positions on these changes are similar, and will try to block them.

Snowy days can be fun, but they can also be extremely dangerous.

Since the beginning of this week, it has snowed across the country. On Wednesday, the 29th, a fourteen-year-old girl died of hypothermia in Kraków. Reportedly, she felt sick when going to school and sat on a bench in front of a supermarket. She was there for hours, and nobody helped her. The public heavily criticized people for being indifferent to those in need. In another incident, a fifty-four-year-old man shared the same fate in Krasnystaw village. Amid the heartbreaking incidents related to the weather, on Wednesday, the 29th, the Institute of Meteorology warned people that the heavy snows and rains will continue in the next few months.

Moving on to scientific progress...

On Friday, the 1st, researchers from the Warsaw University of Technology developed a fully autonomous therapeutic chatbot to help patients with auditory hallucinations, common in conditions such as schizophrenia. The researchers tested the chatbot on thirty-eight patients, who later said that the new invention improved their emotional state and mindfulness. But how does it work? The chatbot and the patient hold a conversation where the bot catches the patient's emotional state and acts accordingly. It can also help patients with anxiety, shame, and anger. Despite all the skills, the chatbot has some disadvantages, such as late understanding and delayed response time,

On a related note, some people want to contribute to science even after they die.

Body donation for scientific purposes is increasing in Poland. On Friday, the 1st, Lublin's Medical University announced that nearly 500 individuals donated their bodies to the university. Prof. Grzegorz Staśkiewicz, head of the university's Department of Anatomy, emphasized the importance of donated bodies in teaching anatomy and fostering development in medicine. Still, donors might be tempted to give their bodies to science because the university will cover funeral expenses.

On cultural updates...

On Friday, the 1st, a UK survey titled Which? named Kraków as the UK’s favorite European city break destination. The participants said the city offered visitors a lot of historic places as well as cheap accommodation and food prices. The Daily Mail newspaper stated that Kraków has the biggest medieval square in Europe, and visitors can enjoy their time in a historic atmosphere.

Moving on to the economy…

The International Ratings Agency, or S&P Global, said that Poland has an A-credit rating, which implies a stable and positive outlook for the overall country’s economy. Another piece of data from S&P Global showed that the downturn trend in the nation’s manufacturing sector has ended, meaning that the country’s production will rise in the next few months. On another positive note, Poland maintained its position as the second country with the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, with Malta ranking first.

And to close this edition…

On Sunday, the 3rd, two thieves tried to blow up an ATM in Wrocław, stealing 200 thousand dollars worth of zloty. The police reported that they used one mining dynamite weighing twelve ounces, or 300 grams. Before using more dynamite, a security guard scared them away, and they escaped. By using fingerprints, the police caught the two thieves, and they found multiple other explosives in their houses. The police suspect that they may also be responsible for other ATM robberies that have been taking place in Greater Poland and Lubusz Voivodeships since August twenty twenty-three.

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Do zobaczenia!