POLAND: Right to Seek Asylum Suspended & more – 27th Mar 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 27th of March twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s kick off with an update to the suspension of the right to seek asylum. On Wednesday, the 26th, President Andrzej Duda signed a bill allowing the government to suspend the right to asylum for people at the border with Belarus. Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, said the government would quickly create a rule to stop people from applying for asylum.

This law is part of Poland’s new plan to control migration and stop asylum requests for up to sixty days in certain areas, with exceptions for vulnerable people like children, pregnant women, and those who are elderly or ill.

However, human rights groups like Amnesty International criticized the law, saying it could lead to illegal actions at the border and violate international rules. Still, the government says the law is necessary because Belarus and Russia are using migrants for political reasons.

On Sunday, the 23rd, Donald Tusk met with Mark Rutte, the NATO Secretary General, in Warsaw to talk about security issues, especially Russia's actions in Ukraine, military threats, and NATO's role in keeping Europe safe.

They agreed that European countries should raise their defense budgets to reach NATO's goal of spending two percent of their GDPs. This effort is meant to strengthen NATO's defense, especially on the eastern border. Both leaders also confirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing aggression. They emphasized the need to provide military aid to protect Ukraine's independence and borders.

Also on Sunday, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, proposed a windfall tax on large bank profits to fund national defense and public services.

She said that Polish banks were making big profits by charging high interest on loans and giving low returns on savings, which worsens financial inequality for citizens. Pełczyńska-Nałęcz suggested Poland should follow countries like the Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain, which have already used similar taxes to address financial challenges.

The money from this proposed tax could be used to support the national defense budget or public services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Even though banks may resist the idea, she said that determined government policy could make the tax a reality.

Speaking of healthcare, on Friday, the 21st, Izabela Leszczyna, the Health Minister, announced during a press conference that the Ministry plans to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, both with and without nicotine, due to their harmful effects, especially on young people. She said that young people get cheap e-cigarettes easily, and added that they have unknown chemicals, and are causing plastic waste.

People are divided about the ban. Some support it mainly because of health and environmental concerns. Others, like those in the vaping industry, are against it, saying it hurts businesses and the economy, and that e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. They suggest instead improving the enforcement of current rules and educating people more effectively about the risks.

Still on health, on Friday, the 21st, Łukasz Krasoń, the Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policy, announced that adults with rare genetic diseases and Down syndrome can now receive permanent disability certificates, while children will have them after they turn sixteen.

Previously, individuals had to prove their disability every two to three years, but now those with lifelong conditions no longer need to go through this process. The disability certificate provides access to financial benefits, tax discounts for medical and rehab costs, faster medical care, educational support such as learning plans and assistants, job assistance, cheaper public transport, and special parking permits.

The Ministry will soon introduce more changes, including extending the validity of medical certificates required for disability assessments, sick leave, and access to certain benefits.

Let’s switch gears to a corruption investigation. On Tuesday, the 25th, Gazeta Wyborcza, a major Polish daily newspaper, published the results of their investigation into a massive corruption affair involving Hungary’s National Bank and its ties to Daniel Obajtek, the former CEO of the Polish oil company Orlen.

György Matolcsy, the former head of Hungary’s National Bank, took money from the bank and created several foundations, including one that later invested in Globe Trade Centre or GTC, a Polish real estate company that built major properties in Warsaw. In twenty fourteen, Daniel Obajtek joined the supervisory board of the GTC but resigned after just ten months without explanation.

Hungarian authorities are currently investigating Obajtek's role in the case, checking if he was involved in the GTC investment and if he had any conflicts of interest or broke the law during his short time at the company.

Next up, on Tuesday, the 25th, the EU announced new driving license rules, including a digital license by twenty thirty that will work in all EU countries and be stored in the European Digital Identity Wallet. Poland already offers a digital license through the mObywatel app, but it’s only valid within the country. The digital license is optional, and people can still go for a physical one, both valid for fifteen years.

The new rules will standardize medical tests for drivers across the EU, increase penalties for drunk-driving, and require new drivers to complete a two-year probation.

However, the EU rejected a proposal to force drivers over seventy to take medical tests, calling it discriminatory. The rules will still help with the truck driver shortage by allowing seventeen-year-olds to get a license if they drive with an adult until they turn eighteen.

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In more new policies, on Tuesday, the 25th, the government approved a draft bill to raise the funeral allowance from 4,000 zloty, which is 960 dollars, to 7,000 zloty, about 1,700 dollars starting next year. The funeral allowance is the government’s one-time payment to help cover funeral costs.

It has stayed at 4,000 zloty (which is around 1,000 dollars) since twenty eleven, but funeral costs now range from 8,000 to 10,000 zloty, which is between 2,000 and 2,600 dollars, depending on the area.

The proposal also includes adjusting the allowance according to inflation and offering extra help for special funeral costs, like transporting bodies from abroad.

In sport news, on Friday, the 21st, vandals damaged the restrooms at the new stadium in Opole, in southwestern Poland, during a friendly football match between Poland’s Odra Opole and Germany's FC Magdeburg.

The police arrested four people, including a German citizen who had drugs and pyrotechnics, and a local resident who attacked a police officer during the game. Authorities also found stickers and graffiti left on the restroom walls.

The German football club condemned the actions and said that this kind of behavior is not acceptable, while local authorities reminded everyone that weapons, pyrotechnics, alcohol, and drugs are not allowed at public events, warning that breaking these rules could lead penalties including fines, bans on attending events, temporary detention, or up to five years in prison.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the 24th, Radosław Sikorski, the Foreign Minister, became the first Pole to receive the title of Honorary Fellow at Pembroke College, in Oxford. He studied at Pembroke College in the eighties, earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

Pembroke College gives the title of Honorary Fellow to people who have made important contributions in their fields, and Sikorski earned the honor for his work as Poland’s foreign minister and his efforts in European defense and Poland's role in the EU.

He thanked the college, saying he was honored to join writers like Samuel Johnson and J.R.R. Tolkien.

And to close this edition, on Sunday, the 23rd, the Elbląg Forest District, the Polish Society of Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy, and the Elbląg Upland Landscape Park opened a forest therapy path in the Elbląg Forest District, in northern Poland’s Pomerania region.

This path is designed to boost the senses and support treatment and recovery for visitors. Forest therapy, which has scientific backing, helps reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve mood, and provide many health benefits.

The path, the first of its kind in the Pomerania region and third in Poland, aims to connect people with nature and promote mental and physical well-being.

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

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