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☆ Polish mayor targeted by Pegasus spyware-media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Caitlin Tremblay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) - An opposition-linked Polish mayor had his phone hacked using Pegasus spyware, Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on Friday, amid allegations that the country's special services have used the technology against government opponents. It said that his number appeared on a list that it had access to as part of the investigative journalism initiative the Pegasus Project. Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller told private broadcaster RMF FM that he did not know about actions taken by special services concerning specific individuals, but that no laws had been broken. A spokesman for the Polish security services could not immediately be reached for comment. NSO has said it cannot confirm or deny any existing or potential customers for Pegasus.

☆ Poland has delivered tanks to Ukraine, government announces on war's first anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and is prepared to deliver more quickly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as Western nations increase their support to Kyiv a year after Russia invaded the country. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia," Morawiecki said during a visit to Kyiv, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Warsaw's commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently. Poland said last month it aimed to get training time for Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks. Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz Editing by Alex Richardson, Tomasz Janowski and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WARSAW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will meet leaders of NATO's eastern flank on Wednesday to show support for their security after Moscow suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty. Hours earlier, Putin delivered lengthy remarks laden with criticism of the Western powers, blaming them for the war in Ukraine. At the meeting, Biden plans to reaffirm commitments over their security and discuss support for Ukraine before he returns to Washington. "Lithuania and other like-minded countries have several requests, which concern air defence, forward defence presence, air defence systems, and greater investments in the defence industry," Asta Skaisgiryte said. The former Soviet republic on Russia's doorstep joined NATO in 2004 and plans to host Biden in July for the security alliance's leaders' summit.

Biden said the West was never plotting to attack Russia and the invasion was Putin's choice. "It is a big mistake," Biden said of Putin's decision before his session with eastern European allies known as the Bucharest Nine. We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO," he said. The Kremlin says it regards NATO, which could soon expand to include Sweden and Finland, as an existential threat to Russia. It said the leaders looked forward to further strengthening unity and collective defense at a NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

Hours before Biden spoke in Poland following a surprise visit to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would achieve its objectives in Ukraine and accused the West of plotting to destroy Russia. Biden proclaimed "unwavering" support for Kyiv and a commitment to bolstering NATO's eastern flank facing Russia, while rejecting Moscow's contention that the West was plotting to attack Russia. "I can report: Kyiv stands strong, Kyiv stands proud, it stands tall and, most important, it stands free. "When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll into Ukraine, he thought we would roll over. Putin said Ukraine had sought to strike a facility deep inside Russia where it keeps nuclear bombers, a reference to the Engels air base.

☆ Olympics row deepens as 35 countries demand ban for Russia and Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics. "At the same time, we know that 70 percent of Russian athletes are soldiers. He said that most participants had been in favour of an absolute exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The IOC has opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals. While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, has said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers have said they will abide by the IOC's decision on the issue.

☆ Polish c.bankers see CPI falling from Q2 -minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Most members of Poland's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) said inflation in will start to gradually return towards the central bank's target rage from the second quarter of 2023, according to minutes from the sitting. The National Bank of Poland (NBP) left its main interest rate unchanged at 6.75% in January. Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel FlorkiewiczOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Too early to talk about rate cuts, says Poland's Glapinski
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Inflation in Poland should start slowing sharply after the first quarter and could fall to an annual rate of 6% by December, but it is still too early to talk about rate cuts, Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski said on Thursday. It is too early to discuss rate cuts." Analysts said that despite Glapinski stressing that the bank has not officially closed its rate hiking cycle, limited rate cuts in the second half of the year could not be excluded. "We see increasing chances for some initial rate cuts before the end of 2023." Romania's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 7.0% on Thursday, the first pause after a 16-month hiking cycle as it expects inflation to fall.

☆ Poland to close Belarus border crossing until further notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Poland is to close a key border crossing with Belarus until further notice, the Polish interior minister said on Thursday, as relations between Warsaw and Minsk sink to new lows. Bobrowniki, more than 200 km northeast of Warsaw, is one of the main crossing points between Poland and Belarus. In 2021, Poland and the European Union said Minsk had engineered a migrant crisis on its borders, an accusation Belarus denies. More recently, Poland has condemned the vandalism of Polish graves in Belarus. Thousands of people of Polish origin live in Belarus as the west of the country was Polish territory until the borders were redrawn after World War Two.

The most contentious reforms for those in Poland's ruling camp concern the judicial system. To become law, the bill needs to be signed by President Andrzej Duda. "We will now continue to follow the next steps in the legislative process," Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, said on Twitter. Relaxing rules on wind farm investment is also among the milestones Poland has to pass to unlock the EU funds. The amendment will slash potential onshore wind investments by 60-70%, effectively discouraging them, according to the Polish Wind Energy Association which groups some 150 investors.

☆ U.S. President Biden to visit Poland, Polish president's adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Poland, the Polish president's foreign policy adviser said on Saturday. "We already know for sure that President Joe Biden will respond positively to President Duda's invitation and will come to Poland," Marcin Przydacz said on public TV. Przydacz said that preparations are underway for the visit which "meets the expectations of both the White House and the expectations of the Polish side". "But for us it will be very important and crucial to continue supporting Poland's security ...," he added. President Biden said on Monday that he would visit Poland but did not know when.

Pressure has been building on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine and let other countries send the ones they own. Ukraine says heavily armoured Western battle tanks would give its ground troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive that Kyiv expects in the near future. Germany has previously said that no country had formally asked for permission to send their Leopard tanks. A German defence source told Reuters that Poland had submitted a request to let it supply up to 14 Leopard 2 A4 tanks to Ukraine. He expressed confidence that a decision on sending battle tanks would come soon.

☆ German green-light for Leopard tanks is 'secondary' issue, Poland says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Poland is pushing for countries who have Leopards to send them to Ukraine, even if Germany does not want to join them. Even if we did not get this approval ... we would still transfer our tanks together with others to Ukraine", Morawiecki told reporters. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday that Berlin would not stand in the way if Poland sent its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. However, a German government spokesperson said on Monday that Berlin had still not received any requests to authorise the re-export of the tanks.

☆ Polish central banker Kotecki says no room for rate cut this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Double-digit inflation in Poland leaves no room for loosening monetary policy this year but interest rates will not rise further, central banker Ludwik Kotecki told Reuters. Kotecki said even talking about lower rates at the moment risked weakening the impact of monetary policy. Kotecki's views follow comments last week by Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski, who said he remained hopeful a rate cut could happen this year, despite still rising inflation rates. The MPC has de facto ended the hike cycle, although formally it is in a phase of monetary policy tightening. Talking about rate cuts at the moment is, in my opinion, a communication error," that weakens the impact of monetary policy, he said.

☆ Poland plans to give Ukraine Leopard tanks as part of coalition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Poland's President Andrzej Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, January 11, 2023. Duda said that he hoped that the Polish tanks, together with tanks from other countries, would soon travel to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday that Poland did not intend to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine without the formation of a broader coalition. Any re-export of Leopard tanks requires approval by the government in Berlin. However, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday that it was not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

The Romanian central bank said slower economic growth and cheaper energy would help bring inflation down to single digits this year from over 16% now, earlier than previously forecast. "So the main question is when inflation in the region will fall enough that central banks will be willing to start normalising monetary conditions." Inflation is still expected to rise in early 2023 in some central European countries, based on central bank forecasts, before returning to single-digit territory by year-end. "This will help to improve external positions and lower inflation pressures in Central and Eastern Europe." "Given the dovish bias around the growth-inflation trade-off at Poland's central bank, we think the risk of premature policy easing is greatest there."

Off-budget spending, where the cost of activities deemed to have special characteristics is not included in the official budget, is widely used across the world. In Poland, it was initially deployed for spending to weather the pandemic but now encompasses a surge in military and other expenditures. "Budget funds are becoming less and less transparent," Supreme Audit Office President Marian Banas told Reuters. Importantly, they note that the off-budget spending still gets captured under European accounting rules. In recent years, Poland's off-budget spending has gone from insubstantial amounts to several percentage points' worth of GDP, based on spending tracked by economists and rating agencies.

☆ Mercedes-Benz Vans plans first electric-only plant in Jawor
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) Vans will invest more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to build its first electric-only vans plant in Jawor, Poland, pending approval of conditions such as the sign-off of subsidies for its investment, the company said on Monday. The van maker, a division of Mercedes-Benz, has signed a declaration of intent with the Polish government and other partners to add the van factory to its Jawor site where it makes combustion engines and batteries for Mercedes-Benz Cars. The plant will be the fourth in Mercedes-Benz´s European van production network, which it is reorganising towards producing only fully-electric vans built on the VAN.EA platform. A possible expansion of the plant through a joint venture with U.S. electric van maker Rivian (RIVN.O) would no longer take place because the U.S. firm had reprioritised its planned projects, the statement said, confirming a statement by Rivian. ($1 = 0.9482 euros)Reporting by Tristan Chabba in Gdansk and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, editing by Rachel More and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Polish c.bank governor says no decision on ending rate-hike cycle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Poland's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) has made no decision about ending its tightening cycle, the central bank governor said on Thursday, as he reiterated that the series of rate hikes was paused rather than definitively finished. "We are still on hold," central bank governor Adam Glapinski told a news conference. "The Council... did not discuss whether to end the rate-hike cycle or not." Glapinski said he expected inflation would start to fall in March or April after rising at the beginning of 2023. "Then there will for sure be such a discussion in the Council.. whether to end the rate-hike cycle."

"We are talking with our allies about how to handle Poland's ... suggestion," a German government spokesperson told reporters in Berlin. Berlin offered Warsaw the Patriot system to help secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed and killed two people in Poland last week. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak later asked Germany to send the fire units to Ukraine instead. Stoltenberg's comments came after German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht on Thursday said sharing Germany's Patriot units outside NATO territory would require prior discussions with NATO and the allies. Duda later said that Germany could send the Patriot units to Ukraine without NATO troops to operate them, something he says Kyiv has been asking for for a while.

☆ Germany must decide where Patriot missiles are stationed, says Polish president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - It is Germany's decision where its Patriot air defence units are stationed, the Polish president said on Friday, adding that it would be better for Poland's security if they were on Ukrainian territory near the border. "From a military point of view, it would be best if they were located in Ukraine to also protect Polish territory, then they would protect both Ukraine and Poland most effectively," Andrzej Duda told a news conference in Kaunas, Lithuania. "But the decision rests with the German side." Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel FlorkiewiczOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NATO troops hold drills in Poland's Suwalki Gap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Kuba Stezycki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KLUSY, Poland, Nov 25 (Reuters) - NATO forces took part in drills in northern Poland on Friday, an area of crucial significance to the security of the alliance's eastern flank. "As part of these drills there were exercises that... were formulated based on our experience and observation of the battlefield in Ukraine," said Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak. The TUMAK- 22 exercises involve 2,000 soldiers from land and air forces, the Polish Ministry of Defence said. On the snowy day, drills included practicing crossing water and landing. The drill saw dozens of Polish and allied soldiers cross the water with military vehicles on amphibious transporters, while U.S. troops in Abrams tanks simulated chasing the enemy.

☆ Hungary to ratify NATO membership for Finland, Sweden early next year - PM Orban
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday that Hungary's parliament would ratify NATO membership for Finland and Sweden early next year. Orban told a briefing after a meeting of the Visegrad Group in Slovakia that his government had already decided that Hungary would support Finland's and Sweden's NATO accession and parliament would set this item on its agenda at its first session next year. "Hungary will surely give its backing to their accession, after the government had done, also parliament will do so," Orban said. Hungary and Turkey are the only members of the alliance who have not yet cleared the accession. Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Polish climate minister says EU gas cap proposal is a 'joke'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's gas price cap proposal is a 'joke', Polish climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Thursday. Moskwa's criticism followed disagreement among the 27 European Union countries on Wednesday over a proposal to cap future gas prices at 275 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). read more"The gas cap proposal is key, but what emerged the day before yesterday is a joke. it was presented at the last moment and deviates from what had been proposed before and isn't acceptable as it's higher than current market prices," Moskwa said in Brussels. As many as 15 EU countries including Poland, Italy and Greece want a cap, while a camp led by Germany argues that a cap could hamper gas supplies.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that access to the site of the explosion would require the agreement of both countries leading the investigation, Poland and the United States. "The Ukrainians asked for access to the site of the investigation. You see shots over Ukraine, fighting over Ukraine, and at some point, in a very short time, you see a certain sequence of events," he added. Police officers walk near the site of an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, November 16, 2022. Przewodow is less than 10 kilometres away from one of the two power lines linking Poland and Ukraine.

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