Category Archives: Poland

Poland backs down in row with EU over disciplining judges

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Warsaw says it will shut down supreme court chamber that Brussels says is a breach of EU law

Poland has told the European Union it will shut down a chamber at its supreme court devoted to disciplining judges, an issue that has been at the heart of a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.

The Polish government said on Tuesday that it sent a letter to the European Commission on Monday, the for Warsaw to inform the EU’s executive branch of how it would proceed with the disciplinary chamber after the EU’s top court said the chamber undermined judicial independence and contravened EU law.

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Polish appeals court overturns ruling against Holocaust historians

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Case has raised questions about freedom to research Poland’s wartime past

A Polish appeals court has overturned a ruling against two leading Holocaust historians accused of defamation, in a closely watched case that raised questions about the freedom to research Poland’s second world war past.

The civil case was brought against Prof Barbara Engelking and Prof Jan Grabowski for a book they co-edited about the complicity of Catholic Poles in the genocide of Jews during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland.

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Australia secures 1m Pfizer vaccine doses from Poland, with half earmarked for Sydney Covid hotspots

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530,000 of the new doses to go to 20-to-39-year-olds living in the 12 hotspot LGAs as NSW struggles to contain outbreak

One million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine are on the way to Australia, after the Polish government answered the Morrison government’s international pleas for help and as New South Wales authorities struggle to contain the state’s Covid outbreak.

A total of 530,000 of the new doses, due to arrive in Australia late on Sunday, have been quarantined for use in NSW for 20-to-39-year-olds living in the 12 hotspot Sydney local government areas.

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Poland’s president signs bill to curb claims on property seized by Nazis

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Move to limit Jewish people’s opportunity to seek restitution sparks furious response from Israel

Poland’s president has decided to sign a bill that would set limits on the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers and retained by postwar communist rulers, drawing fury from Israel, which said the law was antisemitic.

“I made a decision today on the act, which in recent months was the subject of a lively and loud debate at home and abroad,” Andrzej Duda said in a statement published on Saturday. “After an in-depth analysis, I have decided to sign the amendment.”

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Polish government’s media bill is latest move to silence its critics

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Analysis: legislation is likely to target US-owned broadcaster as press freedom continues to deteriorate

In 2015, the year that the populist Law and Justice party (PiS) came to power in Poland, the country ranked 18th – its highest ever position – out of 164 countries on Reporters without Borders’ (RSF) annual World Press Freedom Index.

By this year it had fallen to its lowest ever position, 64th, continuing an annual slide that has left it just below Malawi and Armenia, in 62nd and 63rd, and just above Bhutan and Ivory Coast, with a classification from RSF of “problematic”.

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Poland’s coalition under threat as parliament votes on media bill

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Government confident of winning vote despite losing majority after coalition partner walks out

The future of Poland’s three-party coalition government has been thrown into doubt as parliament votes on Wednesday on a controversial media ownership bill that could lead to the country’s largest remaining independent TV station losing its licence.

After a night of protests in Warsaw and 80 other towns and cities against the bill, which opponents see as an attempt to silence an often critical broadcaster, the government said on Wednesday it was confident of winning the vote.

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Belarus sprinter who fled to Poland tells compatriots ‘not to be afraid’

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Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has arrived in Poland under diplomatic protection after seeking help in Japanese airport

A Belarusian sprinter who took refuge in the Polish embassy to avoid being bundled on a plane back to Minsk has spoken out about her dramatic experience, telling Belarusians “not to be afraid and, if they’re under pressure, speak out”.

In her first press conference from Poland, where she arrived under diplomatic protection this week, the Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she had decided not to return to Belarus after her grandmother told her by telephone that she had been slammed on television as a traitor and called “mentally ill” for criticising her coaches’ “negligence”.

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Anger as Poland plans law that will stop Jews reclaiming wartime homes

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Daughter of Holocaust survivor pledges to continue her fight for family property seized by Nazi occupiers

A few years ago, Shoshana Greenberg stood outside a building in Lodz, Poland, once owned by her family, with an old photograph in her hands and tears running down her face.

Greenberg, now 74 and living in Tel Aviv, was on a quest to reclaim property lost during the Holocaust. Her father was head of a prominent, wealthy Jewish family in Lodz that owned industrial buildings, residential homes and holiday properties.

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EU launches legal action over LGBTQ+ rights in Hungary and Poland

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Ruling is part of ongoing fight for rule of law and freedom from discrimination in heart Europe

The EU executive has launched legal action against Hungary and Poland to defend LGBTQ+ rights in the latest battle over values with the two nationalist governments in central Europe.

The announcement that Hungary and Poland’s governments could end up in the EU’s highest court is part of an ongoing existential fight for the rule of law and freedom from discrimination in the heart of Europe.

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‘Legal Polexit’: Poland court rules EU measures unconstitutional

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European court of justice had demanded suspension of Polish reforms that could lift judges’ immunity

Poland’s top court has ruled that measures imposed by the European court of justice against the country’s controversial judicial reforms are unconstitutional, in a decision that could have far-reaching implications for the bloc’s legal order.

Judge Stanislaw Piotrowicz said on Wednesday that Poland’s constitutional court had reached a majority verdict that EU measures regarding the “system, principles and procedures” of Polish courts were “not in line” with the Polish constitution.

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Malawi Pride and press freedoms in Palestine: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Chile to Cambodia

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Spain v Poland: Euro 2020 – live!

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55 min A change for Poland: the 17-year-old Kaper Kozlowski replaces Mateusz Klich. He takes Jude Bellingham’s record as the youngest player in the history of this tournament.

55 min Spain thought there was a foul on Laporte by Lewandowski. You could certainly make the case, but it’s hard to argue it was a clear and obvious error.

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Poland: thousands turn out for Warsaw Pride march

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Sea of rainbow flags in the capital as campaigners warn against rising tide of homophobia

Thousands marched through central Warsaw on Saturday in an “equality parade”, amid what campaigners say has been a rising tide of homophobia in Poland in recent years.

LGBT rights have become a central part of a wider struggle in the country between liberals, who stress the need for a more tolerant and inclusive society, and religious conservatives, who denounce what they say is an attempt to subvert traditional values in the predominantly Catholic nation.

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More than half of Europe’s cities still plagued by dirty air, report finds

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Data shows only 127 of 323 cities had acceptable PM 2.5 levels despite drop in emissions during lockdowns

More than half of European cities are still plagued by dirty air, new data shows, despite a reduction in traffic emissions and other pollutants during last year’s lockdowns.

Cities in eastern Europe, where coal is still a major source of energy, fared worst of all, with Nowy Sącz in Poland having the most polluted air, followed by Cremona in Italy where industry and geography tend to concentrate air pollution, and Slavonski Brod in Croatia.

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Poland v Slovakia: Euro 2020 – live!

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22 min: Poland mdfielder Gregorz Krychowiak is booked for a foul on Tomas Hubocan, who also received a yellow card for some indiscretion or other in the immediate aftermath of the goal.

20 min: That was a terrific goal from Mak, although the Polish defending was questionable to say the least. It has actually been credited to Szszesny, who should have kept it out after the ball took a deflection off Glik. Mak was faceing the touchline out wide, but managed to turn, cut inside and beat two defenders before firing goalwards. His goal came against ther run of play.

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Polish government faces court action over failure to tackle climate crisis

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Five citizens accuse government of failing to protect them from impacts of global heating

Five Polish citizens are taking their government to court over its failure to protect them from the impacts of the climate crisis.

They say the state has breached their rights to life, health and family life by delaying action to cut national carbon emissions and propping up the coal industry.

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‘Please save him’: Belarus blogger’s parents urge action as Biden mulls sanctions

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Parents of Raman Pratasevich fear for his life, as mother of girlfriend Sofia Sapega says she was not involved in politics

The parents of Raman Pratasevich have pleaded for international help to free the Belarusian journalist as US president Joe Biden said sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime were “in play”, without revealing further details.

From their new home in Poland, Natalia Pratasevich, the blogger’s mother, told Agence France-Presse: “I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community to save him.

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Poland defies EU court by refusing to close major brown coalmine

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Shutting Turów lignite mine would cause thousands of job losses, says development minister

Poland’s government has defied an injunction by the top European Union court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coalmine, with officials saying it would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.

The country’s development minister, Jarosław Gowin, said Poland would not shut the lignite mine in Turów, on the border with Germany and the Czech Republic, but instead was engaged in “very intensive diplomatic and law-related efforts” to secure undisturbed operation of the mine and connected power plant that generates 7% of Poland‘s energy.

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Belarusian journalist was forced to record confession video, says father – video

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The father of the dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was detained in Belarus after his plane was forced to land there, said he believed his son was forced in a video posted online to admit guilt and appeared to have a broken nose. 'I think he was forced. It's not his words, it's not his intonation of speech,’, Dzmitry Protasevich said over Skype from Poland. 

Appearing on several channels of the Telegram messaging app, Roman Protasevich acknowledged playing a role in organising mass disturbances in Minsk last year. His father said the video seemed to be the result of coercion. ‘It's likely his nose is broken, because the shape of it has changed and there's a lot of powder on it’, he said

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How continental Europe is emerging from Covid lockdown

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Countries across Europe are starting to relax coronavirus restrictions as case numbers fall

Counting on an accelerating vaccination campaign to keep new infections in check, much of continental Europe has announced plans for a gradual exit from lockdown over the coming weeks as case numbers begin to fall. Here is where things stand:

Belgium (at least one vaccine dose administered to 25% of whole population) aims to permit outside dining in restaurants and bars again on 8 May, with a mandatory 10pm closing time and tables limited to groups of four. Non-essential shops and hairdressers reopened on Monday.

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