POLAND: A Suspicious Death & more – 20th Mar 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 20th of March twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with internal affairs. On Saturday, the 15th, Barbara Skrzypek, the director of the Law and Justice party Presidium Office, passed away from a heart attack. She was a witness in the Srebrna Tower case and died just three days after questioning. In twenty fifteen, the Srebrna real estate company, which has ties to Law and Justice, started a project to build two towers in Warsaw. They hired an Austrian businessman who spent €1.3 million on preparations but never received payment for his work. The developers stopped the project due to financial and contract problems.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Law and Justice, believed that her death was connected to the questioning, saying her health issues and the lack of a lawyer during questioning caused her stress. Accusing the prosecutor of improper questioning might delay the investigation of the Srebrna Tower case and therefore justice. This would be convenient for the party, since if something illegal was done, they would have to face consequences. If the party accepted that she died naturally, the investigation would just continue.

However, Ewa Wrzosek, the Prosecutor, said that the questioning was done properly and that the law didn’t require a lawyer to be present.

Next up, policy changes. On Tuesday, the 18th, the Ministry of Education announced a five percent salary increase for teachers, starting from the 1st of January, twenty twenty-five. The government will back pay the missed months once the budget is approved.

The salary table includes different rates for teachers at different levels: a beginner teacher with a master's degree and teaching qualifications will earn nearly 5,200 zloty, which is 1,300 dollars, instead of 4,900 zloty, around 1,270 dollars. An appointed teacher will receive 5,300 zloty, almost 1,300 dollars, up from 5,000 zloty, about 1,300 dollars, and a certified teacher will earn 6,200 zloty, around 1,600 dollars instead of 5,900 zloty, 1,500 dollars.

Teachers without teaching qualifications or with other degrees will also get raises, ranging from 239 zloty, which is sixty dollars, to 257 zloty, almost seventy dollars. This change will also affect other bonuses teachers receive, like seniority or extra responsibilities.

Shifting to another bill, on Wednesday, the 19th, the progressive Left party, which focuses on social justice, equality, and human rights, proposed a bill in parliament to pay 50,000 zloty, which is 11,500 dollars to the descendants of victims who suffered crimes from cursed soldiers between nineteen forty-five and nineteen forty-six.

Cursed soldiers were Polish resistance fighters who fought against the Soviet communist government after WWII. While some see them as heroes, they’re also known for committing violent acts, including attacks on civilians, especially minorities.

The bill will provide compensation to the descendants of victims still waiting for justice, after the Institute of National Remembrance confirms their cases through investigations.

On to foreign affairs, On Saturday, the 15th, Radosław Sikorski, the Foreign Minister, signed a nearly 180 million-dollar deal on behalf of the EU with sixteen African countries at a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. The deal is part of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, which aims to improve digital infrastructure, transportation, advanced technologies, and sustainable management of natural resources in Africa.

Speaking for the EU, since Poland is the president of the Council of the EU, Sikorski talked about global security issues like Russia’s war against Ukraine and stressed the importance of economic cooperation between Poland and Africa.

On Monday, the 17th, Poland and ten other EU countries backed the idea of funding Radio Free Europe during discussions among EU members. This came after US President Trump cut its funding as part of his plan to reduce US spending abroad and focus on internal issues.

Adam Szłapka, Poland’s Minister for European Affairs, said that one of Poland’s main goals during its EU presidency is to protect people from disinformation and propaganda, and supporting Radio Free Europe could help achieve that.

In other news, on Sunday, the 16th, Gazeta Wyborcza, a private daily newspaper in Poland, revealed that Torgervis PL, a Polish company with ties to Sergey Schneider, a Russian oligarch who is under EU sanctions, owns the Moja Cena or My Price discount store in the capital. The store, which looks like a warehouse, sells products from Belarus, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and China, and opened in early March in the Stara Miłosna area of Warsaw.

Consequently, Polish authorities have begun investigating the business because of its connection to Schneider and concerns that it may violate EU policies that prohibit doing business with people and companies tied to the Russian regime.

Switching gears to health, on Tuesday, the 18th, Paweł Grzesiowski, the Chief Sanitary Inspector, confirmed that a six-year-old child from Wrocław, in the south-west was diagnosed with diphtheria after returning from a trip to Africa. The child, who wasn’t vaccinated, is in serious but stable condition. Health authorities are tracking passengers who sat near the child, with around 500 people under investigation.

Diphtheria is a very contagious disease that causes swelling in the throat and larynx, and Poland had mostly eliminated it thanks to widespread vaccination.

However, some Poles choose not to vaccinate because of misinformation, concerns about vaccine safety, or not fully understanding the risks of preventable diseases such as severe throat and breathing problems, heart damage, and nerve issues.

On another illness, on Tuesday, the 18th of March, Paweł Grzesiowski announced in a press conference that Poland is dealing with two hepatitis A outbreaks, with about ten cases reported in the Podlaskie region in the east of the country, and around twenty in the Lubuskie region in the west. He said the number of infections has doubled from fifty cases in twenty twenty-four to 100 this year.

Hepatitis A spreads through dirty food or water, causing tiredness, stomach pain, and jaundice. It usually goes away but can last for weeks, spread easily, and sometimes hurt the liver.

Health officials have vaccinated about 500 people in Lubuskie to stop the spread, but some people refused the vaccine or didn't show up. Grzesiowski urged everyone to get the shot to help control the spread, but experts say the outbreak won’t be fully under control for at least two months after the last case.

On the same day, Grzegorz Braun, a presidential candidate and Member of the European Parliament, spray-painted anti-LGBT slogans on an LGBT+ exhibition in Opole's main square, in the southwest. The exhibition displayed photos from Opole’s pride marches and stories from local LGBT+ individuals.

Tęczowe Opole or Rainbow Opole, a local association that advocates for LGBT+ rights and the organizer of the exhibition, filed a police complaint against Braun for vandalizing their display. He could face legal consequences, including fines.

This highlights the ongoing conflict between the LGBT+ community and some government figures in Poland.

On cultural updates, on Tuesday, the 18th, the Ministry of Culture awarded a grant of 150,000 zloty, about 40,000 dollars, to Stanisław Trzciński, a cultural expert and music industry professional, for a six-episode podcast. Each episode received 25,000 zloty, about 6,000 dollars.

Some people criticized Hanna Wróblewska, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, for favoritism because Trzciński has ties to Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.

Journalist Michał Janczura, who first reported the issue, said that the grant is too high for a six-episode podcast, and the company receiving it has little experience in podcast production. He added that the decision shows poor judgment and that the ministry ignored its own funding rules not to favor politically connected projects.

Still in entertainment, on Sunday, the 16th, TVP1, Poland’s public TV channel, broadcasted a fifty-minute documentary called Artists on the Blacklist about how political pressure and censorship affected well-known Polish artists from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty-three under the Law and Justice party government.

The party, with its conservative policies and control over public media, used state TV to exclude artists, blacklisting them for a single controversial comment or social media post. The documentary shows how the government removed many artists from TV programs, censored their work, or targeted them with smear campaigns, which hurt their careers, personal lives, and mental health.

The documentary is now available on YouTube in Polish, and you can check it out with the link in the show notes.

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

Did you know that you can send an episode as an MP3 file? You can download it directly from our website: www.rorshok.com/poland. The link’s also in the show notes.

Do zobaczenia!