POLAND: Securing the Eastern Border & more – 29th Jan 2026

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 29th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off this episode with national security. On Monday, the 26th, the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces said they secured sixty km, about thirty-seven miles, of Poland’s eastern border with Russia and Belarus in twenty twenty-five under the Eastern Shield program, Poland’s military initiative to strengthen and secure its eastern border.

The military plans to secure two hundred km, one hundred twenty-four miles, more in twenty twenty-six.

The project includes anti-tank barriers, concrete obstacles, barbed wire, reconnaissance and counter-drone systems, and upgrades to supply facilities. They’re also using natural defenses like forests and wetlands, having acquired thirty-eight key properties so far and planning one hundred fifty more. The army is working with the environment ministry to restore peat bogs and wetlands as natural barriers.

To know more about this story, check out the link in the show notes.

On Wednesday, the 28th, the Senate approved changes to the law on the National Council of the Judiciary or KRS and related election rules.

All judges will now elect fifteen KRS members directly in secret votes instead of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, choosing them. The bill now goes to President Karol Nawrocki for signing.

Waldemar Żurek, the Justice Minister, said the law will restore public trust in the courts. The reform reduces political influence and ensures judges from all types of courts are represented.

Judges with at least ten years of experience can run, and all judges can vote.

Speaking of justice, on Monday, the 26th, the Interior Ministry began procedures to fire a Special Protection Service officer who attacked his family while off duty and killed his four-year-old daughter.

The ministry immediately suspended him and ordered a full review of his career, including his medical and psychological records. He had served for twenty-three years and passed his most recent exams in October, twenty twenty-five.

Doctors are treating the injured family members at a hospital in Słupsk, in northern Poland, and providing them with psychological support. Two relatives have already been discharged in stable condition.

Police are investigating the case under a prosecutor’s supervision.

Also on Monday, the 26th, the Ministry of Justice said it will toughen penalties for repeat drivers who commit serious road offences.

The Minister of Justice said that poor coordination between authorities often makes courts treat multiple offences as just one, resulting in lighter penalties. He said repeat offenders should face stricter measures, like car confiscation and prison time.

The ministry also plans to improve coordination among prosecutors, involve them more in court hearings, and make sure they check offenders’ full records before sentencing.

Dariusz Korneluk, the National Prosecutor, added that all cases involving a single offender should be handled by a single prosecutor, so courts can hand down sentences that truly reflect the risk they pose to public safety.

Going back to national security for a minute. On Wednesday, the 28th, Poland temporarily blocked civilian flights over part of its north-east after some unidentified objects came in from Belarus.

The military tracked the objects but isn’t sure what they were and thinks they were probably harmless balloons. The restrictions were just a precaution and only affected civilian planes.

The military sees this as part of ongoing tensions along the eastern border and is keeping a close watch.

Switching gears to foreign affairs. On Monday the 26th, Poland and Saudi Arabia agreed in Warsaw to set up a coordination council that will create teams to help the two countries develop their cooperation.

Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Saudi Foreign Minister, met with Radosław Sikorski, his Polish counterpart and Deputy PM. They talked about the conflicts in the Middle East, including the Israel-Palestinian war, rebuilding Gaza, the ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and how to end the war in Ukraine

They also removed visa requirements for diplomatic and official passports and agreed that direct flights between the two countries would make it easier for officials to meet and communicate.

Next up, on Wednesday, the 28th, major Polish oil and energy company Orlen announced that it will continue giving paper invoices to business customers at its fuel stations at least until the 1st of April, twenty twenty-six to give companies extra time to get used to the new e-invoice system.

From the 1st of February, most fuel stations, including Orlen, were supposed to issue invoices only through the National e-Invoice System, without paper or PDF copies. Orlen decided to keep giving paper invoices because customers worried that logging into the e-invoice system after every refueling would take too much time.

Until the end of this year, businesses can still issue paper invoices up to 10,000 zloty, around 2,200 dollars, per month and use small receipts with tax identification numbers up to 450 zloty, about 100 dollars, which won’t go in the e-Invoice System.

There have been more changes, as on Monday, the 26th, Stefan Krajewski, the Agriculture Minister, announced that vets will inspect animal shelters four times a year instead of twice to make sure animals get proper care.

The move came after reports that a shelter in Bytom, southern Poland, mistreated animals, which caught the public’s attention when singer Dorota Rabczewska, known as Doda, spoke out. Shelters like the one in Bytom kept animals in freezing, dirty conditions with little food or medical care, while the shelter boss used the money meant for their care for personal needs. Authorities had ignored allegations against the shelter’s owner for seven years.

So far, vets have carried out over 200 surprise inspections, uncovering problems in several shelters.

On a charity update, on Sunday, the 25th, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity or WOŚP raised over 180 million zloty, over forty million dollars, by midnight during its thirty-fourth annual fundraiser, setting a new early record for donations. The money is set to be used to buy equipment to diagnose and treat children’s digestive issues.

Jerzy Owsiak, the Founder of WOŚP, said the total isn’t final yet and will probably increase as more donations come in. This year’s campaign involved more than 1,600 local teams and about 120,000 volunteers across Poland and twenty-five other countries.

The money will help up to 1.5 million children, marking the first time the fundraiser focused on paediatric digestive health.

On the next day, on Monday, the 26th, freezing rain hit the Warmian-Masurian region in northern Poland, making roads and sidewalks slippery and dangerous. There were a bunch of accidents, including a five-car crash, a bus sliding into a ditch, and another bus getting stuck and blocking traffic.

Train travel was also disrupted, with PKP Intercity, Poland’s main long-distance train operator, canceling or rerouting several trains because ice hit the overhead lines.

Early next week, temperatures could drop to minus twenty-four degrees Celsius, about minus eleven degrees Fahrenheit.

On Wednesday, the 28th, journalist Malwina Gadawa wrote in Polish for Money.pl, an online business news portal, about how Polish stores were running more and more promotions to attract customers.

She said that nearly half of the increase comes from a price war between the largest low-cost supermarkets such as Biedronka, Lidl, and Aldi.

Gadawa pointed out that the increase in promotions isn’t just in grocery stores, but also in electronics shops and home improvement stores. They have become shorter, more frequent, and more visible, while Polish shoppers continue to check deals online before visiting stores, making discounts an essential part of everyday shopping habits.

Closing this edition on a sad note, on Monday, the 26th, Jadwiga Żak-Stewart, the oldest Polish woman and the last person in the country born before World War I, died at over 113 years old in Łódź, in central Poland.

She was born on the 15th of July, nineteen twelve in Warsaw and spent most of her life in Łódź, though she also lived thirty years in Indianapolis, in the US, where she worked in a hospital. She returned to Łódź on her 100th birthday to be near her family.

She spoke English, Italian, and German, loved singing, had a sweet tooth, and kept driving until she was eighty-four. Married twice, she spent her last years in a care home. People who knew her remember her as warm, cheerful, and beautiful.

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

Do zobaczenia!