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☆ Poland’s goodwill toward Ukraine is eroding. The far right is taking advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

The group is capturing voters from the ruling populist party, forcing a hardening in the government's tone towards Ukraine. Anna Martynenko fled to Poland with her sons, in the first weeks of the war in Ukraine. “In our relationship, between Poland and Ukraine, there were many things that were not solved – for years,” he adds, with some weariness. But whoever enters power next week, displaced Ukrainian Martynenko believes – and hopes – that Poland’s support will not waver further. When Poles welcomed her last spring after she fled Ukraine, “I knew that everything is OK,” she said.

Persons: they’re, Poland’s, “, I’m, ”, Przemysław Chinek, –, Rob Picheta, Zelensky, Mateusz, Tomasz Piotr, Katarzyna, Anna Martynenko, Gianmarco Ercolani, Pew, Dan Kitwood, Sławomir Mentzen, TikTok, Martynenko, Filip Gajos, Mentzen, ” Chinek, “ Everybody, Dariusz Stola, ” Stola, “ There’s, Simon Oshinski, Volodymyr Zelensky, Rob Picheta “, Adam Zaleski’s, we’re, Adam Zaleski, Slovakia –, ” Zaleski, Zaleski, Justyna –, Rob Picheta Zaleski Organizations: Poland CNN, European Union, CNN, Confederation, Law, Justice, Ukraine, NATO, Pew Research Center, Twitter, “, ”, Polish Academy of Sciences, EU, United Nations General Assembly, PiS Locations: Lublin, Kostrogaj, Poland, wardrobes, European, Lublin’s, Russia, Ukraine, “, Ukraine’s, Moscow, Kyiv, Warsaw, Lodz, “ Ukraine, Soviet Union, Volhynia, Poland’s, Europe, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukrainian

According to preliminary results released by Slovakia’s Statistical Office at 6 a.m. local time, Robert Fico’s populist SMER party won 23.3% of the vote. While in opposition, Fico became a close ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, especially when it came to criticism of the European Union. Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than a decade, first between 2006 and 2010 and then again from 2012 to 2018. Kuciak reported on corruption among the country’s elite, including people directly connected to Fico and his party SMER. In the Czech Republic, which used to form one country with Slovakia, 71% of people blame Russia for the war.

Persons: Robert Fico’s, Fico, upend, Peter Pellegrini, Hlas, ”, Pellegrini, Slovakia “, “, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Victor Orban, Orban, Jan Kuciak, Martina Kušnírová, Kuciak, Věra Jourová, GlobSec, – Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, NATO, Slovakia’s, SMER, Progressive, Ukrainian, Ukraine, European Union, Russia, Hungary’s, European, Justice, Kyiv Locations: Slovakia, Ukraine, Progressive Slovakia, Slovak, Kyiv, Brussels, Russia, Bratislava, Baltic, Czech Republic, States

☆ Slovakia's election could turn Ukraine's stanchest supporter into a Kremlin ally
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The frontrunner, former Prime Minister Robert Fico, has made no secret of his affinity for the Kremlin during the election campaign. Fico’s left-wing populist SMER party has been leading for months, although opinion polls published earlier this week showed SMER neck-and-neck with the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party. “The approach to Russian war in Ukraine is a divisive line (in the election),” she said. It is also far from certain that the leader of the biggest party will become the prime minister. While in opposition, Fico has also become a close ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, especially when it comes to criticism of the European Union.

Persons: Robert Fico, Slovakia’s, Zuzana Čaputová, Fico’s, Michal Šimečka, Věra Jourová, ”, Peter Pellegrini, Pellegrini, Fico, Ján Kuciak, Martina Kušnírová, Russia ”, OLaNO, Kyiv’s, “, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Victor Orban, Orban Organizations: CNN, European Union, Kremlin, NATO, Progressive, EU, Kyiv, West ., “, Coalition, Republika, Russia, ”, and Solidarity Party, Independent, Ukraine Fico, Hungary’s, Justice Locations: Ukraine, NATO, American, Progressive Slovakia, Slovakia, “ Slovakia, Russia, Russian, Brussels

☆ Never ‘insult Poles again,’ Poland’s prime minister tells Ukraine’s Zelensky
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Maija Ehlinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has told Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the Ukrainian president suggested his neighbor was putting on a show over their disputes on grain exports. “I want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” he said. “The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honor, but also the most important task of the Polish government,” the Polish prime minister added. Most Western military equipment and other supplies get to Ukraine through Poland and the country is hosting 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees, according to the United Nations. According to the Kiel Institute’s tracker on how much nations have donated to Ukraine, Poland has pledged 4.27 billion euros (about $4.54 billion), in a combination of military, financial and humanitarian aid.

Persons: CNN —, Mateusz Morawiecki, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Morawiecki, Zelensky, “, Slovakia –, Zelensky’s, Andrzej Duda, Ukraine’s, Vladimir Putin’s Organizations: CNN, CNN — Poland’s, United Nations, UN, EU, Eastern, Ukrainian, Kiel Locations: Polish, Zelensky, Poland, Europe, Swidnik, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukrainian, Warsaw, United States, Soviet

☆ Poland says it will stop arming Ukraine. How did we get here – and what does it mean for the war?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Poland’s decision was both sudden and predictable, coming after months of tensions over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports to a number of European Union countries. “We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a blunt social media statement on Wednesday. But three nations – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place. They are particularly suffering in their stronghold rural regions in eastern Poland, where agriculture is an important economic pillar. The urgency of the war to Poland has also slipped over the course of year.

Persons: Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, Piotr Muller, CNN Muller, Slovakia –, Alexander Ermochenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ”, Mateusz, Beata Zawrzel, PiS, Vladimir Putin Organizations: London CNN, European Union, NATO, Ukrainian, CNN, EU, European Commission, Reuters, UN, Assembly, Ukraine, Law, Justice, Confederation, Kyiv Locations: Kyiv, Russia, Poland’s, Poland, Ukraine, Polish, United States, Soviet, Warsaw, Slovakia, Hungary, Europe, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, New York, Moscow, Ukrainian, Germany, Ukraine’s

CNN —Poland said Wednesday it will stop providing weapons to Ukraine amid a growing dispute between the two countries over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports. “We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on social media. The ban on Ukrainian grain was initially put in place earlier this year by several European Union nations, to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by low prices of Ukrainian grain. But three nations – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place. Polish President Andrzej Duda also urged greater unity and action on Wednesday at a meeting of the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member.

Persons: CNN —, Mateusz Morawiecki, Ukraine’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Slovakia –, Volodymyr Zelensky, Gleb Garanich, ” Zelensky’s, Pawel Jablonski, Morawiecki, ” Morawiecki, “, Andrzej Duda, ”, ” Duda Organizations: CNN, Eastern, European Union, EU, UN, Assembly, NATO, Ukrainian, United Nations, Kiel, UN Security Council Locations: Ukraine, Poland, Polish, Kyiv, Warsaw, Hungary, Slovakia, Europe, Bilohiria, Moscow, Ukrainian, United States, Soviet, Russia

☆ Fact Check-Photo shows pool in Slovak labour camp, not Nazi concentration camp
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Online posts, however, miscaption the photo with the names of infamous concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, or falsely characterize the actual Slovak labour camp in the photo, Nováky, as a Nazi-run concentration camp. Senior historian at Yad Vashem Robert Rozett told Reuters via email that Nováky was not a concentration camp. UPN’s Jašek said that having a swimming pool was not usual for Slovak concentration and forced-labour camps. EXTERMINATION, CONCENTRATION CAMPSPaweł Sawicki, a spokesperson for the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (here), told Reuters via email that concentration camps and extermination camps were different to forced-labour camps. The photo shows a forced-labour camp in Slovakia, where, according to three historians, conditions were different to those at Nazi-run concentration camps.

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