POLAND: Local Elections & more – 23rd Apr 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 23rd of April twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s kick off with some updates on local elections. Recall that the country held local elections on the 7th of April; however, some cities, such as Wrocław and Rzeszów, went to run-offs as no candidate received more than fifty percent of all votes. On Sunday, the 21st, the ruling coalition consisting of Civic Platform, Third Way and The Left parties won in the second round. In Wrocław, Jacek Sutryk, the ruling coalition's candidate, received nearly seventy percent, while in Rzeszów, Konrad Fijołek managed to defeat the main opposition's Law and Justice candidate with fifty-six percent.

Similarly, Kraków residents elected the ruling coalition's candidate as the next mayor, who won over the Law and Justice party only with a small margin of two percent. The country will also hold a European Parliamentary election on the 6th of June to choose MPs for Poland's representation in the EU. Donald Tusk urged Poles to increase turnout in the EU election to empower Poland's position in the European Union. Given that the turnout was only fifty percent in the local elections and runoffs.

Moving on to farmers' protests. On Saturday, the 20th, the government announced that it would pay half a billion dollars to farmers to compensate for the losses they suffered from the influx of cheap Ukrainian agricultural products into the country and the EU. Previously, the EU removed restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products to help Ukrainian farmers survive in the midst of the Russian invasion. However, farmers across the EU started protesting against the EU policy as they were being forced to compete with cheaper Ukrainian products. Now, the Polish government is trying to please their farmers before they start another wave of protests,

Speaking of Ukraine, Polish leaders have long sought to convince the US Congress to approve a sixty billion aid package to Ukraine. President Duda and Prime Minister Tusk visited the US a couple of times in the past months to convince the US House of Representatives speaker to release the funds. Their efforts had a result, and on Saturday, the 20th, the US House of Representatives approved the aid package.

Duda thanked the speaker in a tweet. Tusk also expressed his gratitude thought a tweet, however, he added the decision was a bit late.

On Tuesday, the 17th, President Andrzej Duda also went to the US and met with former US President Donald Trump, whom he called 'a great friend'. The meeting took place in the Trump Tower in Manhattan. The Polish President's Office stated that the meeting marked President Duda's preparation for the possible return of Donald Trump as the next president of the US. Trump said that he is a great fan of Poland and the Polish people.

Let’s move on to security issues. Last month in Lithuania, a man attempted to kill a top aide to Alexei Navalny, the former Russian opposition leader who died in prison in February after suffering years of torture by the Putin regime. Poland and Lithuania joined forces to break down the Russian spy group responsible for the attempted murder and on Friday, the 19th, Polish authorities detained two spies who had hired two Poles to kill Navalny. Authorities also detained other spies who were planning to target Ukrainian President Zelenskyj during his visits to Poland.

Israel's success in its air defense against Iran's previous attack motivated prime minister Donald Tusk to work more on the country's air security. On Tuesday, the 16th, Tusk said that the government is considering joining the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative, which aims to collectively protect European countries' airspace against military threats. Tusk also criticized the previous government, saying that it did not come up with a good strategy to integrate the military equipment it bought into existing Polish army organizations.

Similarly, On Monday, the 22nd, President Andzrej Duda announced that Poland is ready to deploy NATO nuclear weapons. During his interview with Fakt, a Polish journal, Duda mentioned that Russia and Belarus had already brought their nuclear weapons to the NATO border. The US Nuclear Sharing Program can give nuclear weapons to Poland, and the country can use them only with NATO's approval.

After the president's statement, Radosław Sikorski, the foreign minister, said that only the government can make a decision about nuclear weapons in the council of ministers, not the president. In the next few days, Prime Minister Tusk will meet with the president to discuss this subject.

The government is not only concerned about the country's security, but also the environment. On Sunday, the 21st, the World Bank announced that it will give 250 million dollars to Poland as support for its Clean Air Program. This program will also receive some funds from the European Funds for Climate and Environment Infrastructure in the coming months. The program will help households replace their environmentally unsustainable heat sources and enhance building energy efficiency through measures such as insulation.

Climate activists have become more active in Poland in recent months. On Saturday, the 20th, two young men entered the racetrack during the opening ceremony of the race season in the Warsaw Hippodrome and sprinkled the track with orange powder to raise awareness about climate change.

They were detained by the police and will face a fine for disturbing the course of the event.

In the upcoming months, the government will discuss the possibility of accepting foreign nationals who don't have Polish citizenship to work in the police force. Currently, the police department is struggling with finding new officers because fewer and fewer Poles want to work in the police. Additionally, the number of young people is decreasing due to the low birth rate.

Krzysztof Bosak, the leader of the far-right Confederation Party, heavily criticized the initiative and said this will cause Poles to wish even less to work in police. Also, he is against any idea that will attract more immigrants to the country who will want to easily get Polish citizenship.

While the government tries to help police with low employment rates, volunteer organizations are tackling violence against women. On Wednesday, the 17th, Feminoteka, a Polish nonprofit women's support organization, introduced Viktoria, an Whatsapp AI chatbot that will help women that are victims of violence. The AI will provide immediate information on how to get help, including legal advice, medical assistance, and safe spaces for women. The organization said the bot will fill the gap left by the insufficient legal instruments, especially since Poland has not implemented the requirements of the Istanbul Convention, an agreement between 45 countries to protect women against violence.

In unrelated news, On Saturday, the 20th, the Polish Association of Pieniny Rafters kicked off the 192nd rafting season in the Dunajec River, which runs through the southern-east of Poland. The first rafting event on this river took place in fifteen eighty-nine, and the tradition has continued since then. People have to undergo three years of training with the Polish Association of Pieniny Rafters to be able to raft in this river. Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski blessed the boats in the opening ceremony, before they took off.

Polish cafe owners started to ban iPads and laptops, saying that customers use their cafes as work offices. They order just one coffee and charge their devices all day long, leaving the cafe owners with high electricity bills. Cafe owners might also increase coffee prices due to these huge electrical bills.

And, that’s it for this week! Hey listeners, we have an unusual question for you. Have you ever had to choose a resdurant to go to or a movie or something with a group of friends or family? And it was not so easy to choose? Took a long time, and was just difficult and maybe a bit unpleasant? Rorshok is working on a way to make that much easier. If you are interested we could use your help. If you want to help out or try it out, let us know at info@rorshok.com and thanks!

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