POLAND: A New Civil Protection Law & more – 24th Dec 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 24th of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with updates on defense. On Thursday, the 19th, the Polish Armaments Agency, responsible for supplying military equipment to the Polish army, and the Łucznik Weapons Factory in Radom, located in a city in central Poland near Warsaw, signed a 230 million dollar contract to supply the Polish Armed Forces with new rifles, grenade launchers, and pistols. The army would receive the new equipment between twenty twenty-six and twenty twenty-nine as a part of the TYTAN program, a Polish defense initiative focused on slowly incorporating new military equipment into the army.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defense attended the signing ceremony. Later in the day, President Duda and his wife met with soldiers in Warsaw to express the government's support and appreciation for the Polish military.

Speaking of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, on Friday, the 20th, they signed a deal to invest 140 million dollars in four microsatellites as part of the Mikroglob program, an initiative focused on developing the country’s space and defense capabilities. The first Polish satellite will launch next year.

On the same day, the government signed another important deal with Creotech, a Polish company producing advanced space, defense, and industrial products, to provide four observation satellites for the military. These satellites will capture high-resolution images, monitor areas, track movements, and gather important information for the Polish Armed Forces. The first observation satellite will launch next year, with the others following by twenty twenty-six.

Still on security, on Thursday, the 19th, President Duda signed a new civil protection law that will come into force on the 1st of January. The new regulation establishes a system to protect citizens against natural disasters and emergencies during peacetime. However, in case of war, the system will shift to civil defense, focusing on protecting civilians against military actions like airstrikes or attacks. The government will also spend zero point three percent of Poland's GDP each year on both military and non-military threats.

Even though the law prioritizes the defense and security of the country, it will not interfere with people’s civil rights, such as freedom of speech and privacy.

Last week, we reported that Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister in Poland, received an arrest warrant for corruption charges related to his misuse of public funds under the previous Law and Justice government. On Thursday, the 19th, Hungary granted Romanowski asylum, saying the charges were politically motivated and that he would not get a fair trial in Poland.

While the Law and Justice party also called the case political, Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign Minister, said the Hungarian decision was a hostile act towards Poland and EU principles.

Relations with Belarus are also tense. On Thursday, the 19th, Poland's foreign ministry met with Aleksei Ponkratenko, the Belarusian chargé d'affaires in Poland, to confront him about the Belarusian Committee for State Security, or KGB, actions against Polish diplomats in Belarus, like harassment and surveillance. Belarus previously accused Poland of trying to bribe a Belarusian diplomat in Moldova for secret information. Poland denied all accusations and warned that if they continued, it would also investigate Belarussian diplomats in Poland.

In contrast, another meeting went well. On Thursday, the 19th, Sikorski met with David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, in London. The two politicians talked about plans for Poland’s upcoming presidency of the EU council, such as improving post-Brexit cooperation between the EU and the UK. The meeting also covered the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war and future sanctions against Russia on metals, and energy aimed at limiting Russian sources of income.

Sikorski additionally talked about the importance of teaching the Polish language in UK schools, given the large Polish community in the country. Sikorski also gave an interview on The News Agents, a British daily news podcast, where he discussed the importance of independent media in stopping third parties from interfering with elections.

On Saturday, the 21st, Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s Minister of Internal Affairs, and Serhiy Derkach, Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Territorial Communities, opened a new Malhowice-Niżankowice border crossing between southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. The day also marked the seventeenth anniversary of Poland joining the Schengen Area.

Siemoniak said the new crossing would strengthen Polish-Ukrainian relations and that he hopes Ukraine will join the EU in the future, making border crossings unnecessary.

Since we mentioned Ukraine, on Monday, the 23rd, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Ukraine will open two new consulates. One in Rzeszów, in southeastern Poland, and the other one in Poznań, in the west, to help the growing number of Ukrainians living there. The Polish Foreign Minister said that both sides would choose the date of opening later and that Ukraine could also consider taking over the building of the Russian consulate in Poznań, which is now empty after Poland expelled Russian diplomats in November.

Next up, internal affairs. On Thursday, the 19th, the Polish government passed a resolution about the problems with the rule of law in key judicial institutions, like the Constitutional Tribunal and National Council of the Judiciary. The resolution says that the judges appointed in twenty fifteen and twenty seventeen were politically involved with the previous Law and Justice party government, which passed laws to gain control over the juridical system. These judges are still working despite the controversy.

The resolution advises that the future rulings of these judges should not be published due to issues with their appointment. It also mentions past rulings of the European Court that questioned the rule of law in Poland.

This government’s move could create more debate about judicial independence and lead to further investigations into the illegitimacy of appointed judges.

On Monday, the 23rd, a new law requiring smoke detectors in every room of all new homes and carbon monoxide detectors in rooms with fuel sources like gas stoves and heaters took effect. Hotels and rental apartments must have both types of detectors by the 30th of June, twenty twenty-six. Additionally, all homes and apartments should have them by the 1st of January, twenty thirty. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that this law will help to reduce fire-related deaths, which currently are approximately 450 per year.

There were also adjustments in the education system. On Sunday, the 22nd, Barbara Nowacka, Poland's education minister, said that there wouldn’t be a total ban on electronic devices in schools, despite nationwide concerns that children become addicted to smartphones and social media. However, the ministry will introduce a new health education course on digital hygiene in schools in next year.

On a positive note, on Thursday, the 19th, Piotr Książek, a Polish police officer and deputy commander of an anti-terrorism unit in Olsztyn, a city in northeastern Poland, became the first Polish citizen to complete Special Weapons and Tactics training, or SWAT, in the US. SWAT is a special police unit in the US that deals with high-risk situations like hostage rescues and counter-terrorism.

Książek took a two-week course in Georgia, where he learned shooting, assault tactics, battlefield medicine, and high-altitude techniques.

Also on Thursday, the 19th, the Starak Family Foundation, an organization focused on preserving cultural heritage, chose Renzo Piano, a famous Italian architect, to design a museum at the Obory estate, a historical manor near Warsaw. The estate, with a rich history dating back to the sixteen hundreds, belonged to the Polish Writers' Union after World War II, but the Communist government confiscated it from the Starak family in the late nineteen forties.

The Starak family is best known for their Polpharma pharmaceutical company and Starak Family Foundation, which focuses on preserving Polish culture. In twenty twenty, the government returned the manor to the Starak family, who decided to turn it into a cultural hub where people could host cultural and educational events.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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