POLAND: Morawiecki’s Immunity & more – 30th Jan 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 30th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with updates from the international scene. On Thursday, the 23rd, President Andrzej Duda and Mateusz Morawiecki, the former Prime Minister, attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. They took part in talks about Russia's aggression against Ukraine and Europe’s security.

Radosław Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, also attended the event and talked with Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State. They discussed defense and energy cooperation between Poland and the US to support peace and prosperity in Europe. Sikorski also joined talks about Moldova's EU accession and regional security challenges, including energy shortage due to Russian actions.

Speaking of Mateusz Morawiecki, on Thursday, the 23rd, he waived his parliamentary immunity after the national prosecutor wanted to charge him for abusing his power during the twenty twenty presidential election organized via postal service. The court ruled that his actions violated the country's election laws.

Moreover, some people believe that he held the elections this way to favor Duda, his party candidate, not because he wanted to protect public health during the pandemic.

Morawiecki denied all charges saying that his actions were constitutional and called the accusations politically motivated.

Next up, new laws. On Thursday, the 23rd, Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, supported a proposal to cut benefits for refugees and migrants unless they permanently or temporarily live and work in Poland. This includes the 800-plus benefit for families with children, which the Law and Justice party, the former administration, introduced in twenty fifteen and the current government extended for Ukrainian refugee families with children in twenty twenty-two. However, some people were receiving it without working or residing in Poland.

Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and the Civic Coalition’s presidential candidate, proposed giving the benefit only to those who work, reside and pay taxes in Poland. The Left party opposed Trzaskowski’s proposal saying that some refugees may not yet have stable employment and that limiting benefits goes against Poland’s commitment to helping refugees.

Also on Thursday, the 23rd, the parliament began reviewing four proposals to change rules for hiring foreign workers and granting student visas to non-EU nationals. The ministries of family, labor, internal affairs, and foreign affairs created the draft, which includes stricter requirements for student visas, such as a B2 level of Polish, a diploma verification, and a limit of fifty percent of foreign students at universities. The proposal also includes changes to the Blue Card Program, requiring a minimum salary of 13,000 zloty, which is 3,000 dollars, to attract more skilled workers.

The reform aims to improve immigration control, address visa issues with third-world countries, and meet Poland's labor market needs. Moreover, the government will also create a program to attract the Polish diaspora from abroad to tackle the labor shortages in the country. The special parliamentary committee will review the proposals further.

On that note about the Polish diaspora, on Friday, the 24th, Paweł Kowal, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with the National Radio Broadcaster that mass returns of Poles from the US are unlikely. Kowal explained that the new US policy targets illegal immigrants from other ethnicities, though it could affect undocumented Poles.

Meanwhile, Ewa Brożek, the immigration attorney, said that while most illegal immigrants in the US come from Latin America, many also come from Europe, including Poland. Radosław Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, advised Poles in the US to renew expired passports.

In other news, on Thursday, the 23rd, the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk, a city in northern Poland, started an investigation into Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate supported by the Law and Justice Party and former director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk. The investigation is about him abusing his position when staying in the museum’s Deluxe apartment free of charge from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty-one, staying there for 197 nights.

Nawrocki says that he only lived in the apartment during COVID-19 quarantine periods and never for more than ten days. However, he used a key instead of an ID card, leaving no record in the system. Meanwhile, members of the ruling Civic Coalition have asked Nawrocki to pay 28,000 dollars for his stay.

On Friday, the 24th, Polish security services began investigating the Khatanga, the Russian tanker detained in the Port of Gdynia, a port city in northern Poland. The tanker failed a technical inspection in twenty seventeen, and its owner later declared bankruptcy.

The Khatanga broke free from its moorings twice in December twenty twenty-four and January twenty twenty-five, raising concerns that Russia could use shadow ships like this to bypass sanctions or sabotage, similar to an incident in December last year when another Russian ship damaged communication lines between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic sea with its anchor.

The Polish Navy and the Port of Gdynia authorities worry that the tanker could have accumulated dangerous explosive gases on board, posing a threat to the port. Despite its legal issues and unpaid debts, the Khatanga is currently listed for sale by brokers.

On Tuesday, the 28th, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office charged Jarosław Szymczyk, the former Polish national police chief, with illegal possession of an anti-tank grenade launcher that exploded in the Polish police headquarters in Warsaw on the 14th of December, twenty twenty-two. Szymczyk received the launchers as gifts from Ukrainian officials during his visit to Ukraine, and one of them was operational, despite the assurance it was deactivated. He brought the launchers into Poland without declaring them to customs, which violated Polish firearm law.

Szymczyk could face up to eight years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm and from three months to five years for unintentionally causing the explosion and endangering others. He denied all charges and plans to take legal action, while an investigation into whether other officials were involved continues.

Shifting to the energy sector, on Tuesday, the 28th, Donald Tusk, Poland’s Prime Minister, and Justin Trudeau, his Canadian counterpart, signed an agreement to build the first Polish nuclear plant on the Baltic Sea coast. According to the deal, Westinghouse Electric, a Canadian-owned nuclear technology supplier, will build the plant by twenty thirty.

This agreement will strengthen Poland’s energy security and reduce coal use.

In more energy news, on Friday, the 24th, Orlen, a Polish state-owned energy company, raised over one billion dollars by selling bonds to 206 investors from twenty-eight countries, with sixty percent coming from the US. Orlen’s bonds will be available for trading on the Euronext Dublin stock exchange to attract more international investors.

The company should pay back the money to investors in ten years with a six percent interest rate. Orlen plans to use the funds for projects like gas power plants, wind farms, energy storage, and small nuclear reactors, while expanding its renewable energy, nuclear power and natural gas infrastructures by twenty thirty-five.

Turning with care to the history of the Holocaust, on Monday, the 27th, Holocaust survivors and world leaders went to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, a city in southern Poland, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation. The event also coincided with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Fifty Holocaust survivors, along with leaders like the German Chancellor, the French and Ukrainian presidents, and Britain's King Charles III, attended the ceremony, which focused on the importance of Holocaust education, fighting antisemitism, and preserving memory. King Charles III also visited the Jewish Community Center in Kraków, in southern Poland, and spoke about the importance of education to prevent future atrocities.

Wrapping up this edition, on Thursday, the 23rd, the Chopin Museum in Warsaw displayed a rare manuscript of Chopin's Ballade in F minor after buying it from a private art collector. Chopin was born near Warsaw in eighteen ten and grew up in Poland before moving to France. His music was often inspired by traditional Polish folk music, such as Mazurkas and Polonaises. The manuscript is important because it shows how Chopin’s ideas developed during composing, including making the rhythm faster. This purchase strengthened the Warsaw Museum's role in Chopin research and showed Poland's commitment to protecting its heritage.

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

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