POLAND: Military Agreements & more – 5th Dec 2024

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 5th of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s kick off with an update on security. On Thursday, the 28th of November, during the summit of the Baltic and Nordic countries, Poland and Nordic European countries signed a new military agreement to empower security in the Baltic Sea and its land surroundings. Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Finland, and Baltic countries such as Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia attended the summit and agreed to conduct drills together in the sea to fight against possible criminal activities, like drug smuggling.

By reaching this agreement, participant countries warned Russia, which has a Baltic Sea border, that the Baltic Sea is theirs. Some Nordic countries, such as Norway, will also send F-35 fighter jets and air defense systems to Poland.

Poland is receiving more military equipment. On the same day, Germany offered the deployment of its Patriot missile systems to Poland to prepare for a possible war scenario with Russia. Władysław Kosiniak, the Polish defense minister, thanked Germany and accepted the offer. The German government said that the deployment of the missiles would start in January, twenty twenty-five.

On Wednesday, the 4th of December, the Armament Agency, the government agency responsible for providing military equipment to the Polish army, signed an agreement with the Celtech military manufacturer to deliver the fuel trucks to the Polish Army. Different military units will receive trunks worth 248 million dollars in total to transport K2 tanks, K9 howitzers, and Homar-K rocket launchers between twenty twenty-six and twenty twenty-eight. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the defense minister, said the equipment would improve the transportation of fuel for different military vehicles.

Still on security, on Monday, the 2nd of December, the government raised the alert for potential terrorist events throughout the country, and from now on, officers from various services should carry long guns and wear bulletproof vests. The alert will last for the next three months until the end of February, twenty twenty-five. Moreover, the authorities will not allow unauthorized people to enter sensitive places such as schools, kindergartens, and universities.

Donald Tusk, the prime minister, also told cybersecurity officers to raise awareness of the dangers of cyberattacks so that people would stay alert in the upcoming days.

Since we mentioned schools, on Sunday, the 1st of December, crowds of people rallied in Warsaw to protest the government's plan for a new sex education course in Polish schools starting from the next academic year. The course will provide children with reliable and necessary information about sex and contraception.

However, religious institutions and individuals, such as Polish Catholic bishops, said sex education was the parents' responsibility and that the new course would diminish the family's influence in child-rearing. Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate from the main opposition Law and Justice party, also attended the protest. This was quite an important development, as politicians don’t usually attend demonstrations.

Another protest broke out this week. On Wednesday, the 4th of December, Greenpeace activists protested in front of the Ministry of Industry and demanded the government close mines and shift from coal energy to renewable energy sources. The protesters said that the government spent five billion dollars of taxpayers' money in twenty twenty-four and twenty twenty-five to sustain coal mines. They added that it would be more reasonable to close the mines and allocate the money to miners to help them find alternative jobs.

Take into account that on the same day, the country celebrated the professional holiday Barbórka to honor everyone working in the mining industry. The name Barbórka derives from Saint Barbara, the protector of all miners.

More on demonstrations as on Tuesday, the 3rd of December, people with disabilities, their caregivers, and activists protested in front of the Prime Minister's Office and demanded the government implement the Personal Assistance Law. The government said they will start working on the law next week and plan to implement it by the middle of twenty twenty-six. The Personal Assistance Law will give financial support and personal assistants to people with disabilities.

On sad news, on Friday, the 29th of November, police, border guards, and firefighters simultaneously activated sirens and lights on their vehicles at 12 pm to honor Marcin Biernacki, a policeman who was accidentally shot on duty in Warsaw’s Praga district.

On Saturday, the 23rd, a patrol police responded to a call on armed men with machetes, and while struggling to arrest the men, one of the police officers shot a firearm, which fatally injured Biernacki in the chest.

The prosecutor's office charged the policeman with unjustified use of firearms and suspended him from duty. He is currently under investigation and is waiting for the court’s final decision.

Speaking of the police, on Wednesday the 4th of December, they started an investigation on illegal cryptocurrency mining equipment they discovered recently in the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Wrocław, a city in the west of Poland.

Cryptocurrency miners are people who use advanced software that consumes a lot of power to validate cryptocurrency transactions, and they usually hide their equipment in environments like universities or data centers to steal large amounts of power.

The police are currently interviewing university staff and estimating the financial losses the illegal hardware has caused.

On Wednesday, the 27th of November, Paulina Henning-Kloska, the Minister of Environment, announced that the government approved a program to establish fifty-three new nature reserves that would be protected from logging. The previous Law and Justice government prioritized timber sales over protecting forest areas. However, the current Civic platform government plans to make protected areas available for public and recreational use. The forest protection program, which introduces a total logging ban for the areas with the oldest trees, will come into force on the 1st of January, twenty twenty-five.

On the same day, the lower house of parliament, or Sejm, passed a bill to make the 24th of December a public holiday. Currently, Christmas Eve is a working day until two pm, even though most people all over the country celebrate the holiday. Despite the Left Party proposing the bill to implement the change this year, The new law will come into force on the 1st of February, twenty twenty-five.

However, the Sejm rejected the proposal to reduce the three trading Sundays before Christmas to two so that workers from the retail sector would have a good rest. Recall that businesses are usually not allowed to sell products on Sundays except when the Sunday clashes with holidays.

Speaking of Christmas, on Thursday, the 28th, the Christmas market in Gdansk, a city on the northern coast of Poland, became the best Christmas market in Europe. According to the European Best Destinations travel organization, Gdansk received 93,000 votes from people worldwide. Gdansk is a unique destination with delicious food, great Christmas music, and charming handicrafts. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the mayor of Gdańsk, thanked all the people who participated in the voting and supported the city.

But don’t let the holiday spirit distract you when you are in a mountainous region in winter, since that can be very dangerous. On Saturday, the 30th of November, rescuers from the Tatra Mountains in the southern part of Poland issued avalanche and weather warnings to prevent any incidents. Those who want to enjoy winter in Poland generally go to the Tatra Mountains. However, each year several people, especially people without proper equipment, die in different incidents. Additionally, the Tatra Volunteer Rescue Service warned hikers that the mountain range's trails were dangerous due to the fresh snow, requiring climbing equipment and appropriate winter clothing.

The Tatra Mountains are known for ineffective rescue operations due to their rough terrain, and this summer, some people complained that there were not enough rescue and medical personnel on the scene.

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

Do you know that besides the Rorshok Poland Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water, and the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates for the full list, the link is in the show notes.

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