POLAND: Active and Potential Wildfires & more – 24th April 2025

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

Let’s start off with updates from Saturday, the 19th, when Polish firefighters responded to nearly 700 calls overnight after heavy rain and hailstorms hit the country.

The worst damage was seen in the eastern Lubelskie and Podkarpackie regions, as well as central Mazowieckie. Strong winds caused flooding, ripped off roofs, and knocked down trees. In Pawłosiów, near the Ukrainian border in eastern Poland, the storm flooded around 150 homes, and streets in Jarosław, in the southeast, also went underwater.

The government sent over 100 military troops and vehicles to help clean up, issued millions of text alerts warning people about the storms and potential flooding, and advised them to stay away from open areas and avoid taking shelter under trees during storms. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Speaking of fossil fuel-induced disasters, on Sunday, the 20th, a wildfire burned 450 hectares of protected land in Biebrza National Park, in northeastern Poland. But the fire is still ongoing, and authorities are continuing their efforts to extinguish it.

The Polish military is assisting with 105 soldiers, ten vehicles, and a drone with a thermal camera to spot underground fires. Around 300 firefighters and sixty park staff are also working to control the blaze, which is the biggest one in the area this spring.

Authorities are looking into the cause of the fire, suspecting it was started on purpose.

Still on fires, on Friday, the 18th, the Forest Research Institute released a fire risk map showing that western Poland is at high risk of wildfires due to the dry weather and high temperatures.

More than half of the country is on high or very high fire alert, with the biggest danger in the regions of Lubusz, West Pomeranian, Greater Poland, Silesian, and Lower Silesian in the west. Officials might temporarily close some forest areas because the ground is very dry.

Professor Bogdan Chojnicki, a climatologist, said that climate change is causing more intense fires that are harder to control.

On Tuesday, the 22nd, after visiting firefighters in Podlaskie Province, Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, announced that Poland plans to raise fines and introduce longer jail sentences for anyone who deliberately or negligently starts a fire.

Currently, in Poland, starting a small fire can lead to a fine or up to two years in prison. For bigger fires that cause a lot of damage, the penalty can be anywhere from three to ten years behind bars.

The Interior and Justice Ministries are working on updating the laws for smaller fires, since larger ones, like the one in Biebrza, are already covered by harsh penalties. They want to ensure people face tougher consequences for smaller fires as well, to improve overall fire safety.

Switching gears to foreign affairs, on Wednesday, the 23rd, Poland signed a deal to receive about one billion dollars from Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein as part of a funding program that runs until twenty twenty-eight.

The money will support Polish projects on renewable energy, local development, research, culture, and justice reform, with a large portion going to the National Center for Research and Development, and the National Science Center.

Norway’s Crown Prince praised strong ties with Poland during the signing event in Warsaw, saying they should cooperate more on energy and security. Iceland mentioned that the Polish community in the country is an important part of local society.

The grants are meant to reduce economic differences between countries, and in return, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein get to keep access to the EU single market, even though they’re not EU members.

Also on Wednesday, the 23rd, Radosław Sikorski, Poland's Foreign Minister, had a call with Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State. They talked about the progress of Ukraine peace talks and how to keep pressure on Russia.

Sikorski also brought up political prisoners in Belarus, like journalist Andrzej Poczobut, and called for international pressure to help free them and to raise awareness about human rights violations in Belarus. Rubio praised Poland’s defense spending as a good example for other European countries and said the US is committed to bringing lasting peace to Ukraine.

Since we mentioned Ukraine, on Wednesday, the 23rd, Poland's culture ministry condemned the vandalism of a Ukrainian war memorial in Monastery, a village located in southeastern Poland, calling it a clear provocation to cause trouble between Ukraine and Poland. Someone changed the original plaque on the memorial, which commemorates the grave of sixty-two Ukrainian Insurgent Army or UPA fighters killed in nineteen forty-five, and put up one blaming the UPA for terror and genocide.

The authorities are now investigating what happened, and both Polish and Ukrainian culture ministers said that it's important to keep a strong dialogue between countries. The Polish side ordered the removal of the illegal changes.

The incident is especially sensitive because of the different ways the UPA is remembered in each country—seen as resistance fighters in Ukraine, but responsible for atrocities in Poland.

Next up, on Sunday, the 20th, Poland celebrated Easter. Andrzej Duda, the President, and Agata Kornhauser-Duda, his wife, shared Easter wishes with Poles, hoping for peace and joy during the holiday, especially with all the challenges, like the war in Ukraine.

In a video message on Twitter, the president said that he hoped that good would triumph over evil, while his wife said that Easter was special because it brought all Christians together to celebrate. They both wished people a time of prayer, reflection, and joyful family moments.

PM Tusk also sent out his Easter wishes, telling everyone to enjoy family time and keep things peaceful, avoiding political arguments that often come up in family gatherings during Easter meals.

Before the Easter weekend kicked off, police hit the roads with extra patrols on Friday the 18th, for the Safe Easter twenty twenty-five campaign.

They watched out for speeding, drunk driving, and checking if cars were road-safe. In some places, there were also undercover units in unmarked cars keeping an eye on things. The campaign peaked on Monday when most people headed back home.

Last year’s Easter break had thirty people killed and over 250 injured in road accidents.

On a sad note, on Monday, the 21st, Church bells across Poland rang as the country mourned the death of Pope Francis, who passed away at eighty-eight. The Royal Sigismund Bell in Kraków, in southern Poland, rang at noon, filling the city with its powerful sound. The thirteen-ton bell is one of Poland's national symbols and is only rung on special occasions.

On Tuesday, the 22nd, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared their condolences on Twitter after Pope Francis’s passing, remembering how kind he was and his visit to Poland back in twenty sixteen.

The cardinals will gather to vote for the new pope after the burial of Pope Francis. Only cardinals under eighty can vote, so out of the five Polish cardinals, only four will be eligible. While there isn’t a Polish candidate for the position, Poland will still have a say as these cardinals will cast their votes in the election.

And to wrap up this edition, on Saturday, the 19th, Hasidic Jews from all over the world gathered in Nowy Sącz, in southern Poland, to remember Tzadik Chaim Halberstam, a major figure in the 19th-century Hasidic movement.

Every year, hundreds of Jews from places such as Europe, Israel, and the U.S. visit his grave. Halberstam founded the Sanz Hasidic dynasty, and his family went on to lead Jewish communities in other Polish towns. He also left behind important writings, including Torah commentaries.

The tradition of visiting his grave, which stopped during World War II and the communist era, has since revived and continues to grow.

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

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Do zobaczenia!