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☆ Poland no longer arming Ukraine, says PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Poland is no longer arming Ukraine as it is focusing on building up its own stocks of weapons, the prime minister said on Wednesday, as Warsaw's stance towards Kyiv shifts just weeks before an election. "We are no longer transferring any weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming ourselves with the most modern weapons," Mateusz Morawiecki told Polsat News. Morawiecki's words came after Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to the foreign ministry to protest against comments made by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy following Poland's decision to extend the grain ban. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced curbs on grain imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into five EU states, including Romania and Bulgaria. Ukraine's foreign ministry called for calm in the dispute on Wednesday, with a foreign ministry spokesman urging the Poles to "put aside their emotions".

Persons: Ukraine's, Mateusz Morawiecki, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Alan Charlish, Pawel, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Polsat, United Nations General Assembly Kyiv, European Commission, Law and Justice, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Warsaw, Ukrainian, Moscow, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria

☆ Poland's Govt to Run Ad Defending Migrant Policy Before Screenings of Critical Movie
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's government plans to run adverts ahead of some screenings of the prize-winning refugee drama "Green Border" to defend its treatment of migrants crossing the frontier from Belarus, a minister said on Thursday. Directed by veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, the film has drawn a furious response from conservatives in Poland ahead of its release in Polish cinemas on Friday. It says the film's depiction of what happens to migrants crossing into Poland from the east dishonours those who are protecting their country. "In arthouse cinemas throughout Poland, screenings will be preceded by a special ad about elements missing in the film", he told reporters. Director Holland has previously rejected criticism of the film, saying that it is "an attempt to give voice to those who are voiceless".

Persons: Agnieszka Holland, Blazej Pobozy, Holland, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Toby Chopra Organizations: Law and Justice, Migrants Locations: WARSAW, Belarus, Poland, Syria, Afghanistan, Russian, Europe, Brussels, Venice

☆ Poland No Longer Arming Ukraine, Says PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is no longer arming Ukraine as it is focusing on building up its own stocks of weapons, the prime minister said on Wednesday, as Warsaw's stance towards Kyiv shifts just weeks before an election. "We are no longer transferring any weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming ourselves with the most modern weapons," Mateusz Morawiecki told Polsat News. Morawiecki's words came after Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to the foreign ministry to protest against comments made by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy following Poland's decision to extend the grain ban. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced curbs on grain imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into five EU states, including Romania and Bulgaria. Ukraine's foreign ministry called for calm in the dispute on Wednesday, with a foreign ministry spokesman urging the Poles to "put aside their emotions".

Persons: Ukraine's, Mateusz Morawiecki, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Alan Charlish, Pawel, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Polsat, United Nations General Assembly Kyiv, European Commission, Law and Justice Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Warsaw, Ukrainian, Moscow, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria

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

☆ Poland summons Ukrainian ambassador over Zelenskiy comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Alan Charlish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Poland summoned Kyiv's envoy to the foreign ministry on Wednesday, after comments by Ukraine's president on a ban on grain imports angered the government in Warsaw, which is toughening its stance ahead of October elections. It said Jablonski also told Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych that "putting pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international tribunals are not appropriate methods of resolving disputes between our countries". He did not name the countries although Kyiv has previously said the complaint targeted Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told state-run news agency PAP that he took Kachka's comments as a way of "calming down a certain atmosphere that had been building for two or three days". Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; editing by Christina Fincher, Tomasz Janowski and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Viacheslav, Kyiv's, Ukraine's, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Pawel Jablonski, V, Zelenskiy, Jablonski, Vasyl Zvarych, Florin Barbu, Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, Facebook Morawiecki, Taras Kachka, Robert Telus, Alan Charlish, Christina Fincher, Tomasz Janowski, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Russian, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations General Assembly Kyiv, General, European Commission, Romanian, Trade Organization, Poland's, Polsat, Facebook, Trade, RMF, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Velykomykhailivka, Dnipropetrovsk region, Poland, Warsaw, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, Moscow, Romania, Bulgaria, Kyiv, Republic of Poland

Polish leaders have compared Ukraine to a drowning person hurting his helper and threatened to expand a ban on food products from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that EU allies that are prohibiting imports of his nation’s grain are helping Russia. All the EU countries will keep allowing Ukrainian products to move through their borders to world markets. Russia dealt a huge blow by withdrawing in July from a wartime agreement that ensured safe passage for Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Ukraine also threatened this week to ban some Polish food items, but appeared to back off that.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “ Alarmingly, they’re, ” Zelenskyy, Pawel, “, Vasyl Zvarych, Jablonski “, Andrzej Duda, Mateusz Morawiecki, ” Morawiecki, Nikolai Denkov, Veselin Toshkov Organizations: Union, EU, World Trade Organization, General, Polish Foreign Ministry, Law, Justice, Croatia, Kyiv, General Assembly, Russia, Confederation, Polsat, Russia Socialist Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Kyiv, Warsaw, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Moscow, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, New York, EU, Ukrainian, Bulgaria, Sofia

☆ Catholic Church beatifies Polish family for sheltering Jews
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Clergy attend the beatification ceremony of the Ulma family, who were murdered by German Nazis for sheltering Jews in Markowa, Poland September 10, 2023. Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Catholic Church beatified on Sunday a Polish family of nine, including a new-born baby, who died at the hands of Nazi Germans during World War Two for sheltering a Jewish family from the Holocaust. Speaking at the Vatican, Pope Francis described the Polish family as a "ray of light" in the darkness of World War Two and said they should serve as a model for others to follow. Polish President Andrzej Duda thanked the Catholic church for the beatification on behalf of the nation. HOLOCAUSTSome three million Jews who lived in pre-war Poland were murdered during the Nazi German Holocaust, accounting for about half of all Jews killed during World War Two.

Persons: Patryk, Wyborcza.pl, Jozef, Wiktoria Ulma, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Pope Francis, God, fearlessly, Pope, Andrzej Duda, PiS, Dariusz Libionka, Libionka, Jan Grabowski, Michael Schudrich, Justyna Pawlak, Anna Wlodarczak, Alan Charlish, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Catholic, Poland's, Roman Catholic Church, Vatican, Law and Justice, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland's Institute for National, Thomson Locations: Markowa, Poland, Nazi, Polish, St Peter's, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor

☆ Polish ruling party figures would face state tribunal after election, opposition says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO-Poland's central bank governor-designate Adam Glapinski speaks during a hearing at a parliamentary panel at the Parliament in Warsaw, Poland May 20, 2016. Agencja Gazeta/Kuba Atys via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Poland's main opposition party said on Saturday it would convene a state tribunal if it wins October's national election to consider allegations against ruling party figures and their allies, including the president, prime minister and the governor of the central bank. The central bank said that it "never comments on statements from politicians". It also says Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki should face a state tribunal for giving the order to attempt to hold the presidential elections by post in 2020. Most polls for the national election show PiS with more than 35% of the vote, while the KO grouping has around 30%.

Persons: Adam Glapinski, Atys, KO, Donald Tusk, Tusk, PiS, Glapinski, Andrzej Duda, Mateusz Morawiecki, Alan Charlish, Mike Harrison Organizations: Agencja Gazeta, REUTERS, Rights, liberal Civic Coalition, Justice, National Bank of Poland, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Germany, Russia

☆ Polish central bank stuns with 75 bps rate cut, zloty plunges
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WARSAW, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Poland's central bank cut its main interest rate by 75 basis points to 6.00% on Wednesday, in a shock decision ahead of October elections that sent the zloty currency tumbling against the euro. The National Bank of Poland (NBP) said it took the decision because it expects inflation to return to target faster than originally expected. It said that the adjustment to interest rates would be "conducive to meeting the NBP inflation target in the medium term". NBP Governor Adam Glapinski had previously signalled that a rate cut could come in September if inflation fell to single digits. "We have already said that it is too early for a rate cut, and certainly such an aggressive rate cut, when the prospects (of a slowdown) in inflation are still distant," said Piotr Bielski, director of the economic analysis department of Santander Bank Polska.

Persons: Adam Glapinski, Piotr Bielski, J.P, Morgan, Wojciech Paczos, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak, Karol Badohal, Marc Jones, Justyna Pawlak, Nick Macfie, Sharon Singleton, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Reuters, National Bank of Poland, Santander Bank Polska, Cardiff University, Justice, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, NBP, Poland, Pawel

☆ Poland, Baltics will shut Belarus border if 'critical incident' occurs -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a "critical incident" involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, the Polish interior minister said on Monday, amid rising tensions on NATO's eastern flank. EU and NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which share a border with Belarus, have been increasingly concerned about border security since hundreds of Russian battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko. "If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately. Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told media that there were two criteria that could lead to a border closure. Poland has closed all but one border crossing point with Belarus this year following the imprisonment of a journalist of Polish origin and expulsions of Polish diplomats.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Mariusz Kaminski, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Agne Bilotaite, Bilotaite, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Marek Strzelecki, Andrius, Conor Humphries, Nick Macfie Organizations: WARSAW, EU, NATO, Wagner Group, Lithuanian, Thomson Locations: Poland, Baltic, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Minsk, Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Russia, Europe, East, Africa, Warsaw, Andrius Sytas, Vilnius

☆ UK sees surge in interest from non-EU job hunters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Workers walk through the Canary Wharf financial district, ahead of a Bank of England decision on interest rate changes, in London, Britain, August 3, 2023. EU-based job seekers accounted for 1.4% of Indeed's UK job searches in June - down slightly from before Brexit - while non-EU interest has more than doubled to 4.1% of searches. The UK government phased out most EU nationals' unrestricted right to move to Britain to work after Brexit. Canada and Australia have seen foreign-origin job searches roughly double since 2019 to 10.9% and 17.2% of total job searches for those countries respectively, according to Indeed, which claims 330 million unique visitors each month. By contrast, the figures for overseas job hunters targeting the United States and the EU were 3.4% and 2.7% respectively, both barely changed from before the pandemic, according to Indeed.

Persons: Toby Melville, Pawel, Adrjan, David Milliken, Andy Sullivan Organizations: Bank of, REUTERS, European Union, EU, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: Bank of England, London, Britain, Europe, East, Africa, Brexit, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Canada, Australia, United States

☆ As Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore, Ukraine Builds a Case of Ecocide Against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Marc Santora | More About Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The victim was found along a stretch of beach near the port city of Odesa in southern Ukraine early this summer, cause of death unknown. They are washing up dead in droves on the shores of the Black Sea. “Dolphins are not only cute creatures,” Pawel Goldin, 44, a doctor in zoology who specializes in marine mammal populations at the Ukrainian Scientific Center of Ecology of the Sea, said before the necropsy. “They are keystone creatures for the marine ecosystem. If dolphins are in a bad condition, then the entire ecosystem will be in a bad condition.”

Persons: ” Pawel Goldin Organizations: “ Dolphins, Ukrainian Scientific Center of Locations: Odesa, Ukraine

☆ Poland to hold biggest military parade in decades, as its clout in Europe grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Kacper Pempel/ReutersPolish military vehicles are seen during a Saturday rehearsal for this week's parade in Warsaw. “Nobody is going to say that military security is not an important issue and that we shouldn’t be strengthening the military. With the UK out of the European Union and Germany still hesitant to take on a leadership role on Ukraine, Poland has sensed its opportunity. In November, two people were killed in eastern Poland, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) west of the Ukrainian border, by a Ukrainian missile defending against incoming Russian fire. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked the group to help train his country’s military, and earlier this month the two forces held joint training exercises near the Polish border.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Kacper Pempel, Pawel Supernak, ” Edward Arnold, Arnold, Aleks, ”, Jamie Shea, Putin, ” Arnold, ” Shea, Abrams, “, Dominika, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Mariusz Blaszczak, Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, NATO, Poland’s Defense Ministry, Polish, Russia’s, Abrams, University of Sussex, University of Exeter, Chatham House, Eastern Europe …, European Union, Ukraine, United Nations, “, Polish Army, Getty, Kremlin . Locations: Poland, Belarus, Korean, Crimea, Ukraine, Russian, Kaliningrad, Warsaw, Russia, Polish, Soviet, North Korea, Iran, Communist Poland, England, East, Afghanistan, Central, Eastern Europe, Germany, France, Washington, Ukraine Poland, South Korea, Italy, Polanka Wielka, Ukrainian, Minsk

☆ Poland detains two Russians for distributing Wagner Group propaganda
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Two Russians accused of disseminating propaganda on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group in two Polish cities have been arrested and charged with espionage, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Monday. They fly-posted around 300 leaflets in Krakow and Warsaw, which were among around 3,000 pro-Wagner items of propaganda in their possession, the press office of the minister responsible for coordinating special services said in a statement. "Both were charged with espionage, among other things," Kaminski wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Mercenaries of the Wagner Group have served as shock troops in Ukraine and are expanding their presence in West Africa. ($1 = 101.3925 roubles)Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Toby Chopra and John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Wagner, Mariusz Kaminski, Kaminski, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Pawel Florkiewicz, Toby Chopra, John Stonestreet Organizations: WARSAW, Wagner Group, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Krakow, Warsaw, Ukraine, West Africa, Russian, Belarus, Poland

☆ Poland to vote in privatisation referendum, likely alongside October election
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"For us, the voice of ordinary Poles is always decisive," PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in a video posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said that the first referendum question would be: "Do you support the sale of state-owned enterprises?". "The Germans want to embed Tusk in Poland to sell off common property, his background shows it directly," Kaczynski said. Another state-run broadcaster, Polskie Radio 24, reported that there would be four referendum questions in total. Poland's lower house of parliament will deal with legislation concerning the organisation of the referendums at its sitting on Aug. 16-17.

Persons: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Kacper, Donald Tusk, Tusk, Kaczynski, Marcin Kierwinski, Alan Charlish, Toby Chopra Organizations: Justice, National Army, REUTERS, Law, Former European, PO, Polskie Radio, Polskie, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Germany

☆ Poland plans to send up to 10,000 soldiers to border with Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A sign is seen near the Bug River at the Poland-Belarus border, near Kostomloty, Poland July 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File PhotoWARSAW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Poland is planning to move up to 10,000 additional troops to the border with Belarus to support the Border Guard, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Thursday. "About 10,000 soldiers will be on the border, of which 4,000 will directly support the Border Guard and 6,000 will be in the reserve," the minister said in an interview for public radio. Deputy interior minister Maciej Wasik said on Wednesday that Poland would send 2,000 additional troops to its frontier with Belarus. The head of the Border Guard, Tomasz Praga, said earlier this week that 19,000 people have tried to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally this year, up from 16,000 last year.

Persons: Kuba, Mariusz Blaszczak, Blaszczak, Maciej Wasik, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Tomasz Praga, Pawel, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Border Guard, Defense, Thomson Locations: Poland, Belarus, Kostomloty, Belarusian

Poland's government, which faces October elections, is even suing Brussels over climate policies. Britain has already quickly gone from being a leader on the world stage to looking quite weak on green policies, he said. CITIZENS, BUSINESSESEurope's green policies are still more credible than U.S. ones, given see-sawing between electoral cycles in the United States, some analysts said. Rows over green policies have propelled right-wing populist parties to second place in both Dutch and German polls. "Otherwise citizens might start to feel that climate policy is always financially overwhelming and bad, and that sentiment is then exploited by populists."

Persons: Timm Reichert, Virginijus Sinkevicius, Sinkevicius, Anna Moskwa, Nathalie Tocci, Mats Engström, GREEN, Bob Ward, Ward, Rishi Sunak, Rob Jetten, Nina Scheer, Simone Tagliapietra, Tagliapietra, Kate Abnett, Sarah Marsh, Gloria Dickie, Anthony Deutsch, Angelo Amante, Pawel, Susanna Twidale, William James, Alexnder Smith Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Reuters, European People's Party, European Council, Foreign, United States, Grantham Research, London School of Economics, Political, Climate, Energy, Democrats, Thomson Locations: Gruenberg, Germany, EU, BERLIN, BRUSSELS, Netherlands, Brussels, Europe, United States, Grantham, India, China, Britain, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Warsaw

☆ Factbox: Resistance to green policies around Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File PhotoAug 10 (Reuters) - Europe faces growing pushback against policies to address climate change and protect the environment, causing its green agenda to start to fray as severe heatwaves and wildfires rage. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month warned of climate policies that "unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs", days after his ailing Conservatives unexpectedly clinched a local election after opposing charges for the most polluting vehicles. Riding a wave of protests against the government's environmental policies, it unexpectedly beat the conservative VVD party in regional elections in March. POLANDPoland's government, long conservative on environmental policies at home and facing elections in October, has gone a step further by suing Brussels. The row has helped propel the far-right Alternative for Germany to second place in the polls.

Persons: Kuba, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Mark Rutte, Kate Abnett, Sarah Marsh, Gloria Dickie, Anthony Deutsch, Angelo Amante, Pawel, Susanna Twidale, William James Organizations: REUTERS, Union, EU, BRITAIN, Conservatives, Farmer, Movement, Justice, Greens, Thomson Locations: Gryfino, Poland, Europe, ITALY, Italy, BRITAIN Britain, Britain, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, Brussels, GERMANY, Germany, Berlin, Bremen, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Warsaw

☆ Poland to send 2,000 troops to reinforce Belarus border
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign is seen near the Bug River at the Poland-Belarus border, near Kostomloty, Poland July 20, 2023. Poland has worried increasingly about the border area since hundreds of battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus last month at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus started military exercises near the border this week, and Lukashenko said several times that he is restraining Wagner fighters who want to attack Poland. "This reinforcement will be not by 1,000, but by 2,000 soldiers," Maciej Wasik told PAP. Belarus started military exercises near the border this week.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Maciej Wasik, Mariusz Blaszczak, Wasik, Alan Charlish, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Border Guard, Security, Defence, Thomson Locations: Poland, Belarus, Kostomloty, WARSAW, Belarusian, Warsaw

☆ Wagner fighters seek to unsettle NATO's eastern flank, Polish PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Fighters from Russia's private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to NATO's eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland's prime minister said on Thursday. Wagner soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. "We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise," Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland. "The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilize it." Nauseda said the number of Wagner fighters in Belarus could be higher than 4,000.

Persons: Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Gitanas Nauseda, Nauseda, Vladimir Putin, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: WARSAW, Belarus national, NATO, Thomson Locations: Poland, Belarus, Russian, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine

☆ Zelenskiy and Poland's Duda pay tribute to victims of WW2 massacre
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Together we pay tribute to all the innocent victims of Volhynia! Memory unites us!," Duda's office and Zelenskiy both wrote on Twitter. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram that Ukraine and Poland were "united against a common enemy who dreamed of dividing us". "We agreed to work together to get the best possible result for Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote. However, Ukraine's parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk moved to defuse tensions in May when he told the Polish parliament that Kyiv understood Poland's pain.

Persons: Kyiv's staunchest, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Andrzej Duda, Zelenskiy, Stanislaw Gadecki, Andriy Yermak, Duda, Pawel Szrot, Stepan Bandera, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Max Hunder, Alan Charlish, William Maclean, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Twitter, Polish Bishop's Conference, NATO, Polsat, Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Warsaw, Russia, Volhynia, Lutsk, Ukraine, Poland, Vilnius, Kyiv

☆ Poland arrests Russian ice-hockey player on spying charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 30 (Reuters) - Poland has detained a Russian professional ice-hockey player on spying charges, prosecutors said on Friday, describing him as the 14th person that had been arrested from one espionage network. The player for a first division Polish team was taken into custody in the southern Polish region of Silesia, prosecutors said in a statement. "Russian spies are falling in one by one!" Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had demanded an explanation from Poland over its arrest of Russian citizens, state news agency RIA reported. In April it said it was introducing a temporary 200 metre exclusion zone around its Swinoujscie Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, citing concerns about Russian espionage.

Persons: Zbigniew Ziobro, Maria Zakharova, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Felix Light, Peter Graff Organizations: WARSAW, Polish, Prosecutors, Twitter, Russian Foreign Ministry, Thomson Locations: Poland, Russian, Polish, Silesia, Ukraine, Moscow, Warsaw

☆ Poland was not hub for Nord Stream sabotage, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 22 (Reuters) - There is no evidence to suggest that Poland was used as a hub for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, Polish prosecutors said on Thursday, rejecting a report that a team that blew up the pipelines may have used Poland as an operating base. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported this month that German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as its base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September. "The statement that 'Poland was a logistics hub for the operation of blowing up Nord Stream' is completely untrue and is not supported by the evidence of the investigation," the Polish National Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Citing people familiar with the voyage, it said the sabotage crew placed deep-sea explosives on Nord Stream 1 before they setting the vessel on a course towards Poland. Polish prosecutors said that the Andromeda had sailed to Poland from the German island of Ruegen and spent 12 hours in a Polish port.

Persons: Alan Charlish Organizations: WARSAW, Street Journal, National Prosecutor's, Rzeczpospolita, Thomson Locations: Poland, Nord, Baltic, Ruegen, Polish

☆ Poland's Kaczynski rejoins government ahead of tough election
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 21 (Reuters) - Poland's ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski returned to the cabinet as deputy prime minister on Wednesday, taking up a more prominent role ahead of a closely fought election expected in October or November. The other deputy prime ministers resigned and will continue as ministers. Kaczynski previously served as deputy prime minister from October 2020 till June 2022, and also headed Poland's security committee. Although PiS is ahead in most opinion polls, a question mark remains over whether it can secure a parliamentary majority. Divisons in the ruling coalition have also re-emerged over Poland's relations with Brussels, after the EU withheld funding over rule of law concerns.

Persons: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Kaczynski, Andrzej Duda, PiS, Pawel Florkiewicz, Karol Badohal, Alan Charlish, Gareth Jones, Emma Rumney Organizations: WARSAW, Law, Justice, European Union, PiS, Thomson Locations: Republic, Warsaw, Brussels

☆ Polish president backpedals on law on undue Russian influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 2 (Reuters) - Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Friday he would propose amendments to a law on undue Russian influence he signed this week, reacting to criticism that it could result in banning opposition politicians from public office. Duda on Monday signed into law the bill proposed by the ruling party to let a panel investigate whether opposition parties allowed Poland to be unduly influenced by Russia. A spokesman for ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) suggested the amendments could be acceptable for the party. "The amendment proposed by the president as a result of social pressure does not change anything. The entire law establishing this illegal kangaroo court should end up in the trash," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), wrote on Twitter.

Persons: Andrzej Duda, Duda, Monday, PiS, Jarosław Kaczynski, Rafal Bochenek, Wladyslaw Kosiniak, Anna Wlodarczak, Andrew Cawthorne, Emelia, Angus MacSwan Organizations: WARSAW, Constitutional, U.S . State Department, European, Justice, Polish Peasants ' Party, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Poland, Russia, Polish

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