POLAND: Nawrocki’s Vetoes & more – 28th Aug 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 28th of August twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s kick off with internal policies. On Monday, the 25th, President Nawrocki vetoed a law that extended benefits for Ukrainian refugees until the 4th of March, twenty twenty-six, saying child support should go only to those working in Poland.

Deputy PM Gawkowski warned the veto could cut funding for key aid programs like Starlink internet for Ukraine. Experts also added that overriding the veto needs a three-fifths majority, which PM Tusk’s team doesn’t have, so it’s unclear what will happen with the aid and Starlink.

He also introduced a stricter migration plan, stretching the path to Polish citizenship from three to ten years, tightening border controls, and raising penalties for illegal crossings to five years in prison.

Also on Monday, President Nawrocki proposed treating Banderite symbols, associated in Poland with the Ukrainian nationalists linked to the WWII Volyn massacre of Poles, like Nazi or Soviet symbols. The Ukrainian government opposed the proposal. Ukrainian officials are analyzing the impact that Poland’s potential law could have on Ukrainians living in Poland, saying that they will probably be very upset.

Volodymyr Viatrovych, former head of Ukraine’s Institute of National Remembrance, slammed the plan, saying it echoes Putin’s denazification narrative, and that Bandera’s ideas were about fighting for Ukrainian independence, not Nazism.

Bandera is a controversial figure in Poland since many Ukrainians see him as a hero, but Poles remember him for atrocities like the Volhynia Massacre.

On Thursday, the 21st, President Nawrocki vetoed another law — this one was supposed to make it easier to build wind farms and extend the freeze on household electricity prices until the end of twenty twenty-five.

Nawrocki said the bill was basically blackmail because it tried to make him accept looser wind farm rules just to keep electricity prices frozen. He promised to make his own plan to keep the current prices, which run until September and cap electricity at 500 zloty, about 130 dollars per megawatt-hour.

He added that people don’t want turbines too close to their homes and blamed high costs on the EU’s Green Deal, the European Union’s plan to make energy and industry more climate-friendly. The bill was meant to boost wind energy and PM Tusk warned the veto would mean pricier electricity for families.

In our previous show we mentioned an explosion of a Russian drone in the village of Osiny in the eastern part of the country. This week, on Thursday, the 21st, Poland sent a protest note to the Russian Embassy saying it was a deliberate provocation and part of Russia’s hybrid warfare.

The drone, which came from Belarus’ territory, hit a power line and fell into a cornfield. No one got hurt, but windows in nearby buildings were smashed.

Poland wants Russia to explain how the drone ended up in Polish airspace and what they’ll do to prevent it from happening again.

The ministry also said Russia is fully responsible for the incident and called for an end to hostile actions, linking it to Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Next up, some updates on national security. On Thursday, the 21st, Polish and German Air Force inspectors met at the 23rd Tactical Air Base in Mińsk Mazowiecki, in east-central Poland.

About 150 German soldiers have been at the base since early August for a multi-week operation. Germany also sent five Eurofighter Typhoon jets to support Poland’s air defence as part of NATO’s plan to protect its eastern flank. Officials said the move shows NATO sticking together and strengthening airspace protection.

They also discussed ongoing cooperation under NATO’s command for coordinating military aid and training for Ukraine.

General Ireneusz Nowak, Poland’s Air Force Inspector, announced that Poznań, in western Poland, will start hosting a German air force unit in twenty twenty-six.

In another meeting, on Monday, the 25th, Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, met with PM Tusk and President Nawrocki in Warsaw.

They talked about deepening cooperation between Poland and Canada in areas such as security, defense, intelligence, and energy, and confirmed they’ll keep supporting Ukraine during and after the war.

Tusk said that Poland will handle logistical aid and help secure Europe’s eastern borders but won’t send troops to Ukraine, explaining Poland will focus on protecting its own borders. Carney said Canada plans to quadruple its defense spending to match Poland’s level of involvement.

They also agreed to start annual talks and create a High-Level Steering Group to make sure projects move forward, with possible future agreements down the road.

Speaking of PM Tusk, on Wednesday, the 27th, he announced before heading to Moldova for its independence celebrations that the government will approve the twenty twenty-five budget on Thursday at 2 p.m.

He said it’s really important to support Maia Sandu, Moldova’s President, and her pro-European, pro-Western efforts, especially with the parliamentary elections scheduled for the 28th of September and Russian interference growing.

Tusk also talked about a recent Cabinet Council meeting with President Nawrocki, saying they’re getting along well and he’s helping the new president settle into his role.

On foreign policy, Tusk said he’s working closely with Nawrocki, especially before the president’s first US trip on the 3rd of September, and that they’re on the same page about strengthening ties with the Baltic states.

Meanwhile, on the investment front, on Monday, the 25th, Poland’s state bank BGK announced that its Vinci fund will invest over forty million złoty, about ten million dollars, in ICEYE, a Polish-Finnish satellite company, to boost production.

ICEYE runs the world’s biggest network of microsatellites, giving almost real-time Earth monitoring for defense and disaster response. Countries like the US, Brazil, Japan, and Ukraine use it.

The company will expand its Warsaw facilities, and BGK plans to use the investment to help Poland enter the satellite market and support dual-use tech for defense, agriculture, and crisis management.

ICEYE already has contracts with Poland, the Netherlands, and Portugal, expects Finland to join soon, and Poland’s first military satellite is set to launch in twenty twenty-five.

On another investment, on Friday, the 22nd, Poland announced it’s putting almost 130 million dollars from its environmental fund toward cleaning up illegal hazardous waste dumps.

This year, twenty-five local governments will get about twenty-seven million dollars, which will double over the next two years, targeting the fourteen most dangerous sites across twenty-five regions.

One of the first places to get help is Chodów, a rural district in central Poland, where a resident found over 200 cubic meters of hazardous waste six years ago.

Officials say the funds will focus on the riskiest dumps, helping stop leaks and fires at sites.

Also on Friday, the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management reported that the Vistula River at the Warsaw-Bulwary station in the center of the capital hit a record low with a depth of just ten cm, approximately four inches.

The station has tracked water levels since nineteen fifty-one, with safe levels ranging from 150 to 600 cm, about sixty to 240 inches, and an average of 230 cm, around ninety inches, making this reading extremely alarming.

Previous lows were thirteen cm, about five inches, in July twenty twenty-five, and twenty cm, about eight inches, in September twenty twenty-three and twenty twenty-four.

Officials warned that the drought is worsening, and it’s not limited to Warsaw, as sixteen other stations across Poland have also dropped below the seasonal minimum.

Finishing off this edition, on Sunday, the 24th, Polish Post, the national postal administration, stopped sending parcels to the US, citing new rules from US authorities and airlines taking effect on the 29th of August.

The US ended the duty-free rule for parcels under 800 dollars, and now customs checks every package with goods, no matter the value, which made things harder for online shops that mostly send low-value parcels.

For now, the Polish Post is only accepting plain letters and documents. Postal services in other countries, like Belgium, the Netherlands, have also done the same.

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

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