POLAND: Against US in Greenland & more – 8th Jan 2026

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 8th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s kick off this episode with foreign affairs. On Tuesday, the 6th, Prime Minister Donald Tusk joined leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Denmark to sign a joint statement saying Greenland belongs to its people and Denmark.

This came after President Trump said the US should take control of Greenland because it’s important for the United States’ national security.

The statement also said that Europe won’t accept anyone threatening NATO members and that Arctic security has to be handled together with allies while following international law.

Speaking of the US, on Monday, the 5th, PM Tusk told Europe to toughen up and stay united after the US captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan President.

Twenty-six EU countries, including Poland, responded together, asking everyone to stay calm, respect international law, and handle the situation peacefully.

The EU also said Maduro isn’t democratically elected and that Venezuelans should decide their own future.

They added that it’s crucial to protect human rights, free political prisoners, and cooperate with other countries while respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty.

Switching gears to the economy. On Monday, the 5th, Katarzyna Pełczyńska‑Nałęcz, Poland’s funds minister, announced that the country will get thirty‑eight billion złoty, about ten billion dollars, from EU funds and the National Recovery Plan, the EU’s post-COVID support fund, to develop dual‑use technologies and security innovations.

Poland will receive a record amount of money from the EU in twenty twenty-six, around 180 billion złoty, about fifty billion dollars, with much of it going to innovation, production, and security technologies.

Next up, digital security. On Friday, the 2nd, Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s digital minister, commented on the controversy surrounding Grok, an AI tool developed by Elon Musk’s company and available on Twitter.

He said the tool lets people change someone else’s photos without permission, which quickly led to people creating sexualized images and edits to make fun of public figures and politicians.

Gawkowski added that this clearly shows poor control and no real ethical rules on the platform.

He asked President Nawrocki to sign the Digital Services Act as soon as possible to make the removal of illegal and harmful online content faster and easier.

Still in the digital world, on Saturday, the 3rd, Dariusz Standerski, the Deputy Digital Affairs Minister, said the government is creating a secure age-verification system to limit kids’ access to social media, with experts and public debate deciding the exact age limit.

Users would confirm their age through a digital ID system instead of just ticking a box.

Standerski also said Poland is updating its rules to match the upcoming EU Digital Services Act, making it easier to take down illegal content like threats, hate speech, harmful AI posts, copyright violations, and illegal sales once the EU rules officially take effect.

Different regulators will monitor different platforms, but courts will decide if content is actually illegal before anyone blocks it.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the 6th, PM Tusk said he’s putting the reform of the State Labor Inspectorate on hold.

The plan, approved by the government’s Standing Committee in December, would have let the State Labor Inspectorate turn civil contracts into regular employment contracts without asking employers or workers.

Tusk said that giving officials too much power under the reform could hurt businesses and cost people their jobs.

He decided not to move forward after weighing the risks and said that he considered the matter closed.

Speaking of laws, on Wednesday, the 7th, President Nawrocki signed a change to the Labor Code regarding unused vacation pay. Employers will now pay it together with regular wages instead of on the last day of work. If the salary is paid before the job ends, the employer has up to ten days after the contract ends to pay the vacation money.

The law also requires companies without trade unions to involve at least two employee representatives when managing the workplace social benefits fund, aligning the rules with general labor standards.

Also, employees can now take care of more tasks online, such as requesting unpaid leave or time off for personal matters.

In education, on Wednesday, the 7th, Katarzyna Lubnauer, the Deputy Education Minister, said the ministry is working on new rules to let students pick their own clothes and hairstyles and make sure they don’t face discrimination, especially over how they look.

Kids would still need to follow basic school rules, like wearing safe clothes for physical education classes or labs.

The changes come after problems with strict school rules, like banning students from dyeing their hair or requiring only natural hairstyles.

The ministry says the goal is to modernize student rights and tidy up confusing school rules. Schools can still have uniforms or dress codes, but students will get way more freedom to express themselves.

Poland’s train battle is heating up. On Monday, the 5th, PKP Intercity, Poland’s national long-distance train operator, took over three fast train slots between Warsaw, in central-eastern Poland, and Kraków, in the south.

PKP used slots originally assigned to RegioJet, a private Czech train and bus company, and even offered cheap tickets, with Pendolino trains, Poland's fastest and most comfortable trains, making the trip in about two and a half hours.

RegioJet fired back, saying PKP Intercity is trying to push them out of the market. Radim Jančura, RadioJet’s owner, complained that the company lost four key train slots at the last minute, including services scheduled for the 5th and the 19th of January.

The Czech company is considering legal action, saying the move violates Polish and EU rules. PKP Intercity says it’s simply giving passengers rides on routes the private operator couldn’t run.

More about trains, as on Sunday, the 4th, heavy snow and ice hit Poland and caused serious train delays and cancellations on domestic and international routes. Trains across the country ran more than two or even three hours late, and operators cancelled several regional services. International trains to Germany and Ukraine also ran behind schedule, while railway workers in northern Poland cleared fallen trees from the tracks.

The weather disrupted air travel too, with airports in Rzeszów, in the southeast, and Lublin in the east briefly delaying flights.

The extreme cold proved deadly as well, with two people dying from hypothermia.

Authorities warned that strong winds combined with freezing temperatures sharply increase the risk of hypothermia and other cold-related dangers, and forecasters say harsh winter weather will continue.

In unrelated news. On Monday, the 5th, the Institute of Market and Social Research published the results of their recent poll on a temporary tax to fund the modernization of Poland’s army.

About fifty-eight percent opposed it, with thirty percent of them leaning against it and twenty-seven percent strongly against it. Roughly thirty-two percent supported it and nine percent weren’t sure.

Support was stronger among progressive voters and those supporting the government coalition. Conservative and opposition voters were mostly against it.

People aged from thirty to forty-nine showed the most resistance, and women were slightly more skeptical than men.

And to close this edition, on Monday, the 5th, Konstanty Pilawa, co-creator of the podcast Dedicated Culture, wrote in Polish on Klub Jagielloński, a non-profit platform that publishes commentary and analysis, about the growing loneliness of young adults and the decline of long-term relationships in Poland.

He wrote that this trend is driven not just by personal choices, but by an individualistic, consumer-focused culture that values independence and self-fulfillment over commitment.

Many people under thirty live alone, remain single, and struggle with intimacy. Dating apps reinforce this by turning relationships into a kind of shopping experience and encouraging people to keep searching instead of committing.

Pilawa concluded that today’s loneliness comes from a culture that undermines deep, lasting relationships.

To read the full piece, check out the link in the show notes.

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

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