A large protest against the European Union’s climate policies has been held in Warsaw today, organised by the Solidarity trade union and attended by leading figures from Law and Justice (PiS), the main opposition party to Donald Tusk’s pro-EU government. They argue that the EU’s Green Deal will “destroy” the Polish economy, causing particular harm to farmers and industrial workers. At noon, protesters began to gather in Castle Square, from where they marched through the city to parliament. #PreczZzielonymŁadem pic.twitter.com/FXaFnqY8Bp — Pan Cezary Krysztopa #BabiesLivesMatter (@cezarykryszt ..read more

Poland’s ruling coalition has begun the process of putting the head of the broadcasting regular, an appointee of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, on trial. They accuse Maciej Świrski, an outspoken conservative figure who has led the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) since 2022, of impartial and politically motivated decisions against private media he perceived as hostile to PiS and of withholding money from public media after the new government took office. In response, Świrski has decried the move to bring him before the State Tribunal, a body empowered to punish the highest o ..read more

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has named four new ministers in the first reshuffle of his government since it took office five months ago. He is replacing the heads of the interior, culture, state assets and development ministries after they stepped down to stand in next month’s European elections. “The ministers who are bidding farewell today have performed their task effectively,” said Tusk at a press conference on Friday alongside both the departing and newly nominated ministers. “These first months [in office] were about ‘breaking down the wall’,” added the prime minister, referring to the tas ..read more

Polish government bodies have been targetted this week by Fancy Bear (also known as APT28), a Russian cyber espionage group working on behalf of the Kremlin, according to NASK, a Polish state research institute. NASK’s computer emergency response team and the defence ministry’s computer security incident response team “observed a large-scale malware campaign targeting Polish government institutions this week”, announced NASK on Wednesday. “Based on technical indicators and the similarity to past attacks (including on Ukrainian entities), the campaign can be linked to the activities of APT28, w ..read more

In one of his first decisions after taking office, the newly elected mayor of Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, has announced that he will attend the city’s annual LGBT Equality March next week, something his long-serving predecessor never did. He will also hang a rainbow flag at city hall. “I want to build a sensitive and tolerant Kraków, a home for everyone and open for everyone,” wrote Aleksander Miszalski in a letter to organisers of the parade, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. “Diversity is our strength.” Miszalski was sworn into office on Tuesday this week after b ..read more

Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party, has been hit by rebellions in its ranks in two regional assemblies, one of which it has lost control of as a result. Party leader Jarosław Kaczyński has condemned the actions of some local PiS politicians as a “betrayal” and has sacked the head of the party’s regional structures in one of the provinces. Zdrada, takie rzeczy się zdarzają -mówi prezes @pisorgpl pytany o utratę władzy w sejmiku podlaskim. Czy będą konsekwencje za to, co wydarzyło się w sejmiku @malopolskaPL ? -Zobaczymy- odpowiada prezes Kaczyński.@OnetWiadomosci pic.twitter ..read more

Poland, which has in recent years been dealing with a surge in crossings from Belarus by migrants and asylum seekers, has now been confronted by a different kind of arrival: a dog that managed to cross the highly fortified frontier. Unlike many of the migrants, the German shepherd was not pushed back into Belarus and has instead been taken into the care of border guards. Despite the dog having a Cyrillic name on its collar, the Belarusian authorities have not taken it back. On Tuesday, the border guard branch in Poland’s Podlasie province, which sits alongside Belarus, announced that the four ..read more

Poland’s defence and education ministries have teamed up to launch a programme in which soldiers visit schools to teach children about emergency preparedness. Just over 3,000 schools have signed up for the scheme, titled “Education with the Military”. It consists of three classes over six weeks during which soldiers teach the basics of emergency medical care, where to find shelters, and how to behave in emergency situations. The programme, which is currently in a pilot phase, is “a response to contemporary security needs, challenges and threats,” says the defence ministry. Classes began on Mon ..read more

Polish prosecutors have announced that they will not proceed with a criminal investigation into the remains of four people – one of them a child – found beneath a residence used by Herman Goering in Hitler’s “Wolf’s Lair” bunker complex. They say that, while the remains can be dated to the period around World War Two, it has been impossible to determine the cause of death. The discovery was made earlier this year by amateur archaeologists at the Wolf’s Lair, which served as Hitler’s eastern front military headquarters during World War Two. It was where the famous failed assassination plot aga ..read more

A Russian soldier has been detained in Poland after crossing the border from Belarus. He was reportedly in possession of documents indicating that he had been serving in military operations during the ongoing war in Ukraine. Polish broadcaster RMF first reported early on Wednesday morning that a soldier who had deserted Russia’s army was detained by border guards in Poland’s northeastern Podlasie province. The 41-year-old was in plain clothes, unarmed and in possession of Russian military documents, including a contract with the army covering participation in military operations in Ukraine, r ..read more