Researchers believe Casimir Pulaski’s skeleton indicates the 18th-century cavalry officer may have been female or intersex
Researchers believe a famed Polish general who fought in the American Revolutionary war may have been a woman or possibly intersex.
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Continue reading...Anti-sorcery post by evangelical Catholic group widely mocked on Facebook
Catholic priests in Poland have burned books that they say promote sorcery, including one of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, in a ceremony they photographed and posted on Facebook.
Three priests in the northern city of Koszalin were pictured carrying the books in a large basket from inside a church to a stone area outside. The books were set alight as prayers were said and a small group of people watched on. A mask, various trinkets and a Hello Kitty umbrella were also visible in the pictures of the makeshift bonfire.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Survey of 14 countries show some Europeans now favour “emigration controls”
Southern and eastern European countries are more concerned about emigration than immigration, according to a wide-ranging survey of attitudes in 14 EU countries.
In Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary and Romania, six countries where population levels are either flatlining or falling sharply, more citizens said emigration was a worry than immigration, according to the poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
Continue reading...Poland the worst offender as global justice index identifies decline in checks on government power for second successive year
Autocratic rule is on the rise throughout the world, with a growing number of authoritarian leaders “hijacking” laws to consolidate their own power, a study of global justice has found.
Poland demonstrated the most significant turn towards authoritarianism over the past four years, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In all, 64% of 126 countries surveyed made similar moves towards autocratic rule in the past year alone, according to an annual rule of law index published by the World Justice Project.
Continue reading...Israeli foreign minister accuses Poles of hatred towards Jews in remarks described as ‘racist’ by Polish PM
Poland has pulled out of a planned trip to Jerusalem and scuppered an international summit the same day officials were due to arrive, after Israel’s foreign minister accused Poles of hatred against Jews and complicity in the Holocaust.
Israel Katz, who was appointed acting foreign minister on Sunday, said Poles “suckle antisemitism with their mother’s milk”. Speaking on another radio show on Monday morning, he accused all Polish people of harbouring “innate” antisemitism.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to build friendly relations with central European nations are being tested, on the eve of a Jerusalem summit aimed at showcasing the alliance, by disputes over Holocaust history.
Netanyahu has long been criticised by domestic opponents for seeking political alliances in central Europe while turning a blind eye to historical revisionism and antisemitism in the region. However, the Israeli leader was caught up in the dispute last week, when he said during a visit to Warsaw that Poles had collaborated with the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Continue reading...Lack of participation at Middle East event reflects anger over US policy on Iran and Syria
Key European powers will offer only limited participation in a high-profile Trump administration summit on the Middle East starting on Wednesday, reflecting their growing anger over unilateral US policymaking on Iran and Syria.
The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will leave the Warsaw summit early, pleading Brexit Commons business, while France is sending a civil servant and Germany its junior foreign minister.
Continue reading...The president of the European council caused a tabloid feeding frenzy with his ‘special place in hell’ remark but what makes him tick?
Donald Tusk has it in him to be a bit of a hooligan. His younger self, he admits, would “roam the streets cruising for a bruising” to break the monotony of communist life in his home-town of Gdańsk, the port city on Poland’s Baltic coast.
Contrary to the image of the typical bloodless Brussels Eurocrat, the president of the European council, who stands alongside Jean-Claude Juncker as the most senior of EU figures, is a man of passion with a feel for who is on the right side of history. Last week it was frustration, not boredom, that brought out the inner wrecking ball.
Continue reading...German journalist with links to Russia allegedly organised arson attack in Ukraine to stoke tensions, court told
The plot allegedly involved three Polish extremists and a German journalist with ties to the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, as well as to a number of Kremlin-friendly Russian news outlets.
Their alleged task was to carry out a “false flag” operation in western Ukraine: burn down a Hungarian cultural centre, and make it look as though Ukrainian nationalists were responsible. The main beneficiary of the ensuing recriminations would be Russia.
Continue reading...Even as Paweł Adamowicz was lying in state at Gdańsk’s European Solidarity Centre, a museum, archive, and public space dedicated to the history and values of the independent trade union born in the city’s shipyards, its grief-stricken staff were preparing his entry into history.
The opening of the museum in 2014 was the realisation of a dream for Adamowicz, a Gdańsk native who had long sought to present his city to the world as a symbol of Europe’s hard-won freedom. In between shifts maintaining an overnight vigil by his coffin, researchers gathered materials with which to commemorate him.
Continue reading...Carrying flags and candles through the streets, thousands of people walked in procession on Friday along with the coffin of Gdańsk's murdered mayor, Paweł Adamowicz. He was stabbed on Sunday evening by a man who rushed the stage during a charity event. Adamowicz died the following day
Continue reading...Poles mourn critic of ruling party’s anti-immigration policies who was stabbed at charity event
Polish and European officials joined thousands of people from across Poland on Saturday for the funeral of Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of the northern city of Gdańsk, who died on Monday after being stabbed the night before at a charity event.
The European council president, Donald Tusk, a friend of Adamowicz, was among those attending the burial at the vast Gothic St Mary’s Basilica. Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, and the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, also attended along with former leaders including Lech Wałęsa.
Continue reading...Residents take part in vigils after stabbing of Paweł Adamowicz on stage at charity concert
The music has been switched off at the Red Light pub in the heart of the picturesque old town of Gdańsk. A single candle adorned with a black ribbon rests on the bar. The city is in mourning.
The people of Gdańsk are coming to terms with the death of their mayor, Paweł Adamowicz, who was stabbed on stage at a charity concert in front of thousands of people on Sunday. A public appeal led to crowds of people queueing for hours to donate blood to save their mayor, but he was pronounced dead on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...Thousands of people have gathered in cities across Poland after the fatal stabbing of the Gdańsk mayor, Paweł Adamowicz. In Gdańsk they were addressed by the European council president, Donald Tusk, a Gdańsk native, friend and longtime ally of Adamowicz
Continue reading...Donald Tusk remembers friend Paweł Adamowicz as debate turns to rise of hate speech
Thousands of people have gathered in cities across Poland after the fatal stabbing of Gdańsk mayor PawełAdamowicz in protest at what some say is a creeping pervasiveness of hate speech in Poland’s national discourse.
In Gdańsk, thousands gathered for a minute’s silence at the statue of Neptune in the city’s Long Market, which also hosts the city hall, where Adamowicz served as mayor for more than 20 years. Adamowicz died after he was stabbed in the chest on stage at a charity concert on Sunday evening.
Continue reading...Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of the Polish city of Gdańsk, has died after he was stabbed in the chest on stage at a charity concert on Sunday evening. The 53-year-old, who had held the post since 1998, had surgery overnight in hospital that lasted more than five hours.
Continue reading...Paweł Adamowicz in serious condition after thousands of people witness apparent assassination attempt
The mayor of the northern Polish city of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, was stabbed on Sunday evening in an apparent assassination attempt in front of thousands of people during a charity concert.
Continue reading...Wang Weijing was arrested on allegations of espionage by Polish authorities
The Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei said it had terminated the employment of a Chinese worker arrested on spying allegations in Poland.
Polish authorities arrested Wang Weijing and a former Polish security official on Friday , a move that could fuel western security concerns about the telecoms equipment maker.
Continue reading...Mikołaj Golachowski describes plan as ‘evil’ and warns of environmental consequences
Conservationists have branded plans by the Polish government to cull almost the entire wild boar population of the country as “pointless, counterproductive and evil”.
In a move to tackle an epidemic of African swine fever, the Polish government has ordered a series of hunts, beginning this weekend, with the aim of killing the vast majority of the country’s population of around 200,000 wild boar.
Continue reading...Italy’s interior minister strives to forge far-right alliances before European elections in May
Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has said that Italy and Poland could trigger a “European spring” that could break the dominant “Germany-France axis” as he strives to forge far-right alliances before the European parliamentary elections in May.
Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right League, travelled to Poland on Wednesday for strategy meetings with members of the ruling Law and Justice party. The two parties share similar anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and Eurosceptic views.
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