Coalition government to slim down school curriculum after cramming of subjects under previous nationalist administration

Poland’s new government is seeking to slim down the material taught in schools by about 20%, saying a cramming of the curriculum under the previous rightwing populist administration has left teachers and students exhausted.

Speaking during a school visit in the Silesian town of Mysłowice over the weekend, the education minister, Barbara Nowacka, said she was consulting experts on how to narrow down the curriculum, which will come into force in secondary schools after the summer break, from 1 September.

Johan Van Overtveldt, chair of the European parliament’s budgets committee, says newly agreed €50bn aid to Kyiv is will leave a shortfall

Farmers today continued demonstrating in different parts of Europe.

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Andrzej Duda’s remarks escalate battle for rule of law with new government and come as politicians convicted of abuse of power begin hunger strike

Poland’s president has said he will not rest until two politicians from the opposition nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party – both on hunger strike – are freed from prison, in a further dramatic escalation in the new government’s battle to restore the rule of law.

“I will not rest in the fight for a fair and just Polish state,” the president, Andrzej Duda, who is closely aligned with PiS, declared on Wednesday. “I won’t be scared. I will act legally, in accordance with the constitution and the law – as before.”

Adam Bodnar is determined to reverse damage to judicial system inflicted by defeated PiS, which led to clashes with EU

Poland’s new justice minister has vowed to “find any niche in the legal system” that will allow him to push through reforms, as he starts work to reverse the rule of law breaches carried out under the previous government.

Adam Bodnar, a law professor and former human rights ombudsman, was elected to Poland’s upper house of parliament in the October election and became justice minister last Wednesday, part of a new government led by prime minister Donald Tusk.

Incoming PM tells parliament he will ‘bring back billions of euros’ of EU funds, as MPs prepare to confirm his candidacy

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Donald Tusk has presented his vision of a new, progressive Poland at the heart of the EU, before a vote in parliament that is set to confirm his candidacy for prime minister.

“Poland will regain its position as a leader in the European Union,” Tusk told the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, during a speech on Tuesday. He promised to “bring back billions of euros” of EU funds to Poland, which were frozen due to a dispute between Brussels and the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) government over rule-of-law concerns.