POLAND: Journalists Protest & more – 11th July 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 11th of July twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Last week, on Thursday the 4th, over 350 Polish journalists staged a protest because the government ignored their demands over copyright violations. According to the Polish media, global digital giants are stealing and publishing their content on their websites to collect advertising profits. After the protest, on Saturday, the 6th, the Left Party, a member of the ruling coalition, encouraged the other coalition parties to adopt new legislation in parliament to prevent content from being stolen. Prime Minister Tusk invited media members for dialogue and further negotiations.

Moving on to the European elections. On Thursday, the 4th, the main opposition, the Law and Justice party, announced that they would not support Ursula von der Leyen, the current European Commissioner, who will stand for reelection in the European Parliament. The party accused her of undermining the sovereignty of Poland and other states in order to empower the EU. She also supported the Green Deal, the set of EU policies to fight climate change. However, the Law and Justice Party opposed it because some new policies included a decrease in the amount of CO2 the country can emit, and a lower pesticide allowance for farmers. In the meantime, other nationalistic groupings from Spain and Romania in the European Parliament also announced that they would not support her. If she fails to gather 361 votes out of 720 MPs in the European Parliament, the member states should put up another candidate. The election will take place within this month or September, depending on the density of the EU’s calendar.

On Monday, the 8th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Warsaw to meet with Tusk. As a result of the meeting, the two countries signed a new security agreement for arms supplies that Poland will send to Ukraine. Most importantly, Poland announced a new program to train Ukrainian volunteers living in the country to fight in the war against Russia. After the training, the Polish army will give them some military weapons and protective body equipment from its arms reserves.

Speaking of Ukraine, on Friday the 5th, the head of the Office for Foreigners announced that they removed Ludmila Kozłowska, a Ukrainian activist, from the country’s undesirable people list. Kozłowska went to Poland in two thousand seven to study and run a human rights foundation with her husband. From twenty fifteen until twenty eighteen under the Law and Justice administration, she raised her voice against human rights violations and criticized the justice system. However, In twenty eighteen, the government's Internal Security Agency expelled her from the country and banned her entry to Poland and EU countries. However, leading EU members such as Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, and Switzerland did not support the decision, saying it was political, and allowed her entry.

In unrelated news, on Wednesday, the 10th, President Andrzej Duda stressed that he will not accept any law that will legalize abortion in the country. On the other hand, the parliament established a Special Parliamentary Committee to discuss three abortion-related bills proposed by the ruling coalition. This situation undermined the efforts of the MPs to agree on a common abortion law. Despite Duda’s statements, the parliament will try to reach an agreement on a new abortion law this week.

Let’s move on to ecology. On Monday the 1st, Warsaw kicked off the project of a clean transport zone, or CTS. According to the project, Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG cars older than twenty-seven years old, LPG vehicles that don’t meet Euro Two standards, diesel cars older than nineteen years old, and diesel vehicles that do not meet Euro Four standards are banned from entering the city center. This is the first CTS in Poland, while throughout the EU there are 320. The country implemented this project to reduce CO2 emissions and encourage people to use more environmentally friendly cars or public transportation. On Saturday, the 6th, the Polish Smog Community also called on the government to expand public transportation.

However, Law and Justice opposed the project and blamed the Warsaw mayor for cooperating with global electric car giants so that they could sell their cars in Poland.

In recent years, the cases of priests molesting small children have increased in Church facilities, such as kindergartens, schools, and parish groups. On Tuesday, the 9th, the Archdiocese of Warsaw launched a prevention team that will monitor Church facilities and protect minors from abuses. The team will check the background of priests and other employees to make sure they have no criminal record and teach them what to do if they detect any abuse.

On that note about church, on Tuesday, the 8th, priest Rafał Główczyński, opened a café without a price list in Warsaw. He said that everyone can visit his café, drink whatever they wish, and pay as much as they can. If they can't afford to pay, no problem —it’s on the house. However, cell phones and alcohol are forbidden. He especially invites people who don’t have many friends so they can meet new people. The café will also host some special events, such as board games and karaoke.

Next up, the country is fighting against illegal drug production. On Tuesday, the 9th, Polskie Radio, an online media outlet, compared the drug situation in Poland to the famous Netflix series Breaking Bad, where a chemistry teacher started making methamphetamine on a caravan in the countryside and quickly became rich. Similarly, the police announced that they had closed down thirty-three illegal mephedrone factories in the countryside across Poland, down from fifty-six in twenty twenty-three and forty-two in twenty twenty-two. Chemists use abandoned farms, barns, or production halls of defunct companies as their production centers. They prefer to produce mephedrone because it is easy to make by hand and is way cheaper for customers compared to other drugs, such as cocaine. Polskie Radio stated that two pounds of mephedrone cost 2,000 dollars, while two pounds of cocaine cost at least 30,000 dollars.

In other news, on Thursday, the 4th, a police officer detained a forty-one-year-old man who was driving a car despite a court ruling prohibiting him from driving. When police checked his license and after realizing that the man had violated the law, they tried to detain him. Despite the man trying to give the police 180 dollars in bribes to the police, they arrested him and confiscated the money as proof of a bribe. The man will now face trial and up to ten years of imprisonment for violating the driving ban and bribing a police officer.

Have you ever been to a beach that is 4,000 feet above sea level? This summer, Gubałówka Point in the Tatra Mountains hosts an artificial beach with a nice mountain view for those who cannot go on vacation in hot seas. There will be Hawaiian days, beach rugby, Zumba dances, and regional games such as limbo. Admission to the beach is free of charge. Moreover, from the 20th to the 28th of July, the Tatra Festival of Minerals and Jewelry will take place on the beach.

However, not all water sources are safe for bathing. On Tuesday, the 9th, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission Experts published a report about water quality in the country. Eighty-five percent of bathing areas are of excellent quality, while one and a half percent of them are in poor condition, meaning that they contain bacteria that lead to several diseases. The report warned people to be careful when selecting natural swimming areas in the country, as Poland ranked the lowest in the EU for bathing water quality. Moreover, the report also indicated coastal sites in the Baltic Sea are safer than inland waters, as only eighty percent of inland waters have excellent water quality.

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

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