POLAND: A Russian Drone & more – 29th Aug 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 29th of August twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

On Monday, the 26th, Polish armed forces warned that there could be more noise in the southeastern part of the country due to Polish and NATO fighter jets intercepting Russian jets and drones.

On Monday, Russia started another comprehensive air attack on Ukraine, especially on the Western part of the country, where Ukraine and Poland share a border. The army reported that Poland and NATO secured the space so that no Russian plane would penetrate into Polish airspace. However, a Russian drone entered Polish airspace and traveled up to thirty-five kilometers from the Polish-Ukrainian border before it disappeared from the radar.

While the army said that searches are underway in the Tyszowce area where the drone might have hit the ground, social media users say that it might be a Russian kamikaze drone. The army did not have a visual identification of the drone so they couldn’t shoot it down. Polish law requires the army to have a visual identification of the drone in peacetime since, without it, they may shoot down a civilian aircraft by mistake.

Speaking of jets, on Wednesday, the 28th, the U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin officially released the first F-35 fighter jet destined for the Polish military with a video show. Previously, Poland ordered thirty F-35 fighter jets from the US. The first pack of fighter jets will arrive in twenty twenty-six, and the others will be delivered by twenty thirty. The country named its first F-35 Husarz, a name chosen through a public competition. It pays homage to the historic Polish hussars, an elite cavalry force renowned for their winged armor and military prowess during the 16th to 18th centuries. Paweł Bejda, the Deputy Minister of National Defense, said it was a milestone in the transformation of the Polish military into a modern, well-equipped, and well-trained force.

More about the military as on Friday, the 23rd, a live-fire military exercise involving Polish and Romanian soldiers in the military area of Bemowo Piskie caused damage in the village overnight.

Bemowo Piskie is a town in northeastern Poland that hosts a military training center that organizes exercises, and it is also the base for a NATO battlegroup with troops from Romania, Croatia, the UK, and the US.

Several bullets landed on the town and broke the windows of some houses. Some residents woke up from their sleep and thought they were under attack. Luckily, during the incident, no one was injured. The mayor of the city demanded explanations from the army, and the army announced that they had launched an investigation into the incident, and they would quickly compensate the residents for the damage in the town.

In other news, on Thursday, the 29th, the country’s statistics office announced that the number of foreign workers in Poland had passed one million. This number makes up seven percent of all the workforce in the country. The majority of foreign workers are Ukranian, with sixty-eight percent, while Belarusians are at twelve percent. Other nationalities that occupy high numbers in the workforce are Georgians, Indians, Moldovans, and Filipinos. According to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, the country needs even more foreign workers to compensate for the aging population in Poland. However, many Polish entrepreneurs are worried that stricter immigration policies from the government will make it more difficult to hire workers.

Recall that last week the Ministry of Education decided to cut the number of religion classes in schools due to the lower interest of students. As a result, religion teachers were concerned that they would lose their jobs. However, on Thursday, the 22nd, the Ministry of Education announced that religion teachers across the country will receive government support to gain additional qualifications to teach other subjects.

On the issue, Malgorzata Manowska, the head of the Supreme Court, the second-highest court after the Constitutional Tribunal, appealed to the Constitutional Tribunal to cancel the government’s decision. Manowska said that the Ministry of Education did not include the opinion of the Church and top religious instructions when making the decision. Polish law requires the education ministry to consult any decision about religion with the church.

Moving on, on Thursday, the 22nd, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, arrived in Warsaw to meet with President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk. It was the first Indian leader’s visit in forty-five years, when the communist rule ended in Poland. During the meetings, the politicians signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, which stated that Poland would help India modernize its army, and the Polish state airline, LOT, would organize direct flights to India. On the other hand, Modi promised to make efforts to end the war in Ukraine. After his visit to Poland, Modi visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Two days later, on Saturday, the 24th, President Duda also went to Kyiv, and attended the celebrations of the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence. First, he laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance of Those Fallen for Ukraine, a monument to commemorate Ukrainian losses in the war. He later met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. After the meeting, during a press conference, Duda mentioned his country’s unwavering support for Ukraine.

Next, in May, the Viva Foundation started a campaign titled Stop the Chains to increase animal rights in the country. The foundation started to collect signatures and got support from some celebrities and authors. On Monday, the 26th, Polish Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk said she also supported the bill. The campaign aims to enact a new regulation to increase penalties for animal abuse and killings, mandatory and universal microchipping of pets, and a ban on the use of chains and tethers. The organizers must collect at least 100,000 signatures for the parliament to review the proposal.

If you are a Polish citizen and want to support the initiative, follow the link in the show notes.

s. Authorities said an explosion in the basement caused the fire, and they were investigating what caused the explosion. After arriving at the scene, firefighters put out the fire and started a rescue operation to save some people who got stuck in the apartments. Unfortunately, two firefighters died, and eleven suffered burns in the operation. Prime Minister Tusk promised the families of the victims that they would receive full state support. After the incident, Poznań's residents started a campaign to mobilize support for people who lost their flats. People collected hundreds of clothes, shoes, cleaning products, and school supplies. Moreover, the Poznań branch of the Caritas Catholic charity raised more than 30,000 dollars for the victims.

And to close this edition, on Tuesday, the 27th, the American Police arrested Pawel Bielecki, a Polish priest also known as Father Paul, for scamming people. The police reported that he received 650,000 dollars from donors who thought that they were supporting his medical clinics in Lebanon. These facilities were supposed to treat war victims. However, the clinics didn’t exist.

Father Paul also exploited people over the twenty twenty Beirut massive explosion that killed 218. He raised money, saying that he was helping the victims of the explosion. However, the police reported that he used this money for personal luxuries such as high-end meals and plastic surgeries. Now he might receive a sentence of up to forty years in prison.

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

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Do zobaczenia!