POLAND: US Arms Shipments to Ukraine & more – 13th Mar 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 13th of March twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with foreign affairs. On Wednesday, the 12th, Radosław Sikorski, the Foreign Minister, confirmed that U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine through Poland had returned to normal after its temporary suspension. He also supported new ideas during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha in Warsaw, like a ceasefire agreement and negotiations to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine

The meeting followed talks in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine agreed to a thirty-day ceasefire proposal from the US, and in return, the U.S. promised to resume military and intelligence support for Ukraine.

Speaking of the Foreign Minister, on Monday, the 10th, Sikorski tweeted that Poland was paying for its own and Ukraine’s Starlink internet service in response to Elon Musk’s suggestion saying that Ukraine’s army front line would fall apart if he turned Starlink off. Poland said that if Musk decided to do this, it would look for another network.

Sikorski also highlighted that Poland had contributed fifty million dollars for Ukraine’s access to Starlink, while Musk dismissed Sikorski’s comments saying that Poland paid very little compared to the service’s cost, and called him a small man.

In response, Polish officials confirmed that the US had assured them that Starlink would continue to be available for Ukraine, despite the ongoing tensions and disagreements over the satellite system’s role in the war.

Shifting gears, on Wednesday, the 12th, Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, met with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish President, in Ankara, Turkey’s capital. Tusk asked Erdoğan to take on a more prominent role in bringing peace, stability, and security to Eastern Europe, the Black Sea region, and the Middle East. He said Poland is ready to work closely with Turkey in defense and military industries, and they also discussed boosting trade between their countries from seven billion dollars to fifteen.

Tusk emphasized the strong and lasting friendship between Poland and Turkey, built on years of trust and cooperation, and highlighted the importance of working together on regional security and efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

In another meeting, on Tuesday, the 11th, science ministers from all twenty-seven EU countries met in Warsaw to discuss priorities in science. They agreed on a new plan focusing on science, innovation, and investing in research and development.

The ministers said that the EU Framework Program, which supports research, innovation, and development across its member states, needs a strong structure and a budget that matches today’s challenges, such as achieving technological independence and addressing security concerns.

Marcin Kulasek, Poland’s Science Minister, said that without a strong program, it would be hard to improve Europe’s competitiveness, build technological independence, or support security.

Remember that last week we covered a cyber attack on the Polish Space Agency or POLSA? Well, on Tuesday, the 11th, Krzysztof Paszyk, Poland's Minister of Development, dismissed Grzegorz Wrochna, the head of POLSA, due to alleged mismanagement and irregularities in running the agency. In February twenty twenty-five, POLSA didn’t properly warn about the uncontrolled entry of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris into Polish airspace.

After the dismissal, Paszyk also ordered a review of the agency's warning system to fix any issues. He is also currently evaluating potential candidates to replace Wrochna.

On the same day, Barbara Nowacka, the Education Minister, announced at the 11th Students' Round Table event in Katowice , that starting in September twenty twenty-five, students will do civil defense training as a part of Physical Education classes. This will help students handle emergency situations and prepare for possible military service, as there are worries about a possible war.

She also said that the training will focus only on emergency situations, while mental health topics will stay in health classes.

At the same meeting, some students also asked why they receive grades for religion classes when they don't affect their grade point average. Nowacka agreed that evaluations should only give feedback, and don’t affect their GPA.

Similarly, on Monday, the 10th, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and the Ministry of National Defense shared with the media that they were developing a guide to help Poles survive the first seventy-two hours in case of natural disasters, infrastructure failures, or war.

The guide will include tips on first aid, protecting pets, preventing fires, and understanding alarm signals, and it will be available in Polish and other languages, like Ukrainian, to reach everyone in Poland. Additionally, there will be special versions for children and people with disabilities, including in Braille, and it will be distributed to all households later this year.

Meanwhile Poland prepares for the 18th of May Presidential Elections. On Wednesday, the 12th, Maciej Świrski, the head of the National Broadcasting Council, said the council would monitor the election campaign to ensure its fairness, equal access to candidate information, and no censorship. He also criticized the European Commission’s plan to oversee Poland’s presidential elections through a roundtable meeting where they will check if online platforms like social media and news websites follow election rules. Świrski called the plan an unnecessary interference in Poland’s elections.

Investigators are also currently reviewing over 18,000 complaints the National Broadcasting Council received in early twenty twenty-five, mostly about concerns over the accuracy of TV coverage of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The council launched 112 cases against broadcasters and fined them a total of 930,000 zloty which is 223,200 dollars for violations.

On another note, on Wednesday, the 12th, the Monetary Policy Council informed that inflation this year would be between four and five percent, higher than the three percent the National Bank of Poland expected. They predicted inflation would return to the forecasted level in the medium term if interest rates remained unchanged. The Council said that past energy price hikes and higher excise duties would push inflation up, and wage growth could keep it high for a while, especially in sectors experiencing rapid expansion.

Meanwhile, the National Bank predicted that inflation would gradually fall to four percent by the end of twenty twenty-seven and that GDP growth would be between three and five percent this year, while in twenty twenty-four, inflation was between five and six percent, driven by rising costs and market fluctuations.

On Saturday, the 8th, the Abortion Dream Team, a group fighting for abortion rights in Poland, opened a support center, Abotak, for women seeking abortions in Warsaw, near the Polish Parliament. Abotak is not a medical clinic, and it does not perform any medical procedures. Instead, women can get information about abortion, guidance on how to take abortion pills safely, and emotional support. The activists said they created the center to help women who undergo abortions alone at home because of Poland's strict abortion laws that forbid abortions in all cases except rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is at risk.

Anti-choice groups protested the center with graphic posters, played baby sounds and covered the windows of the center with banners. During the twenty twenty-three elections, PM Tusk and his Civic Coalition promised to ease Poland's strict abortion laws within 100 days of taking office. However, nothing has changed yet.

Wrapping up this edition with some health news, on Tuesday, the 11th, researchers at Wroclaw University of Technology received a one million dollar grant from the National Science Center to develop a new Alzheimer's drug. Dr. Marcin Poręba is leading the team, which is working on creating antibody-drug conjugates to target specific proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease. These conjugates will improve treatment effectiveness while reducing side effects such as nausea, and headaches. The project will use antibody-drug conjugates, a method used in cancer treatment where an antibody carries a toxic drug to the targeted areas.

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

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