The state budget for 2021 has been published. The deficit this year will amount to 82 billion zloty. The head of the ministry of finance, Tadeusz Kościński stressed that there are secured funds in the project for the new budget, for example through the continuation of the most important social benefit programs, as well as investments for the development of the economy, which has suffered greatly due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The scenario for the coming year assumes a growth of the GDP by 4.0% and, what’s important, the growth of government investments. We estimate the rise of consumer products’ prices at 1.8%, and the rise of the average fund of salaries in the national economy and the retirement pensions nominally by 3.8%. The profits in the state budget will be higher than the budget for the past year and will amount to 403.7 billion zloty. It is a rise of around 5 billion zloty, or 1.3%. The expenses will amount to 486 billion zloty which is 22 billion zloty or 4.3% less than the past year”, stated minister Kościński at a press conference.
Zbigniew Rau, who was appointed for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will participate in two-day Gymnich meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union in Berlin. This is the first Rau’s visit as the Minister.
Informal Gymnich meetings take place twice a year, organized according to the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Germany, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, informed that the main topics are the situation in Belarus and the relations between EU and Russia. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Oliver Varhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, and David McAllister, the Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, will take part in this meeting.
Informal meeting starts with the session concerning Belarus on Thursday. During this session Ministers of Foreign Affairs will talk about the situation in Belarus and about the way in which the EU should react. What is more, Ministers will talk today about the relations between the EU and Turkey and about the situation on the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
On Friday Ministers will start with the topic concerning relations between EU and Russia, and then they will finish with a dinner dedicated to geopolitical effects of COVID-19.
A Gymnich meeting is an informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union, therefore they will not take formal decisions.
After a meeting with representatives of parliamentary clubs on the situation in Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that Poland wants to be an ambassador of a free Belarus. The meeting was attended by representatives of all political clubs of the Polish Sejm.
„With no exceptions, we all agreed that for us, the highest value is for Belarus to be a sovereign, independent, and free country. This thought is very important, because it determines our actions in many areas. We’ve shared our opinions on this matter. Our opinions had a common determinator. Belarus should be a sovereign, free, and democratic country. Most of us agreed that our actions are proper. We also thanked each other. We thanked the representatives of the opposition for their actions, and representatives of the opposition thanked us”, stated Prime Minister Morawiecki.
As you may have noticed, the Poland Daily twitter account #PolandDaily has been blocked. We don’t know the reason for that action nor have we had any similar issues in the past. For the time being, we are not aware of any potential breach of Twitter rules and guidelines nor breaking of any other law in Poland or elsewhere in the World on our part.
The Poland Daily team is puzzled and confused as a result of this incident.
In her text, “journalist” Anna Mierzyńska made up an organized international group, took to Twitter to gather the alleged “members” of it and later provided phoney “proof” of her claims consisting solely of baseless accusations and screenshots taken from Twitter.
Normally we would refrain from publishing such nonsense, however in this case we feel obliged to provide you with a taste of this “investigative journalism”:
“Members of this group, including those accused by the American and British media of racism, even of neo-Nazism, some with convictions, visit our country, shoot films in our country, conduct interviews, take photos of themselves in the Polish parliament. Most often they come to the nationalist Independence March.
The group, operating from the USA to Brazil and Australia, is associated with Steve Bannon and conservative US multi-billionaires. She supported Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign, and she is also supporting him now, especially online. It will undoubtedly have an impact on the course of the US presidential campaign this year.”
We noticed that Matthew Tyrmand was said to be part of this “international clan”. Born in Brooklyn N.J., he is the son of one of Poland’s greatest ever writers. And so, we ask the question: If this is not anti-semitism, what is?
Pure and simple: a known antisemite Anna Mierzyńska of OKO Press accuses Matthew Tyrmand of international conspiracy?
Paratrooper Raphael Domjan made, first in history, parachute jump from a solar-powered aeroplane. Domjan jumped from the aeroplane at the height of 1520 meter above Western Switzerland.
A two-seater prototype of the aeroplane, from which Domjan jumped, was taking a test flight.
After the parachute jump, the paratrooper reached 150 km per hour. He landed nearby in Payerne.
– This day changes the parachuting jumping – said Domjan, who is involved in the project SolarStratos. He also added that he flew thanks to solar panels.
We want Silesia to be the industrial heartland of Poland – said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday in Katowice. This ‘Program for Silesia’ is completely compatible with the third decade of the XXI century’s challenges.
After Tuesday’s meeting of the Executive Council concerning the ‘Program for Silesia’, Prime Minister assessed that this program focuses not only on industrial capabilities but also on science and research.
‘We have prepared further projects about which we will talk in the upcoming weeks. These projects are incredibly important and crucial for the Silesia’s development’ – said Morawiecki.
He also added that every project from ‘Program for Silesia’ aims to preserve or create workplaces. The transformation should attract people from all over the country but also those who left the Silesia. This voivodeship is going to be the heartland for the Polish economy. ‘This is our commitment, the commitment of the ‘Program for Silesia’ – added.
The second edition of the Vision for Development Forum started in Gdynia, with the participation of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. This is one of the most important economic events of the second half of 2020. During his speech inaugurating the forum, the Prime Minister said that the time of the pandemic is a turning point in the economic history of the world. According to Morawiecki, Poland in 2050 will be “a window for the East to the West, and a window for Western Europe to the East. It will simply be the center of Europe”.
“The winners will be the countries which will base their economic development on automation, robotics, and at the same time will be able to engage the workers, not leave people on the sidelines and include them in the process of economic development. And this truth leads us to the concept of a balanced vision of development. This is our fundamental premise, to get people involved and at the same time focus on the most modern technologies. We need to build on lasting foundations of our Polish culture, tradition and history. I need to bring this up on the occasion of this centennial of the Battle of Warsaw. We would not be here today if not for the fantastic victories of our predecessors. We also have with us today some of those brave predecessors from the freedom fights 40 years ago, of the era of Solidarity. This is exactly the model I am speaking about, the inclusive model, the way to include. This was the dream of our predecessors”, said PM Morawiecki at the forum.
‘If Alexei Navalny survived the ‘poisonous attack’, he would be off politics for few months’ – said Jaka Bizilj, the founder of Cinema for Peace foundation, to German’s tabloid ‘Bild’. Bazilj’s foundation sent the medical plane for Navalny. He was transported from Omsk to Berlin’s hospital Charité on Saturday.
‘If he managed to survive and he had a good condition, for sure he would not be in the political area for at least one, two months’ – said Bazijl. He also added that Navalny managed the flight quite good from Omsk to Berlin.
Doctors from the Charité Hospital said that Navalny’s condition is stable but serious. The Chief Physician of the Hospital in Omsk Alexander Murachowski ensured that ‘German friends also do not doubt that patient’s life was saved’.
We know the Grand Prix winners of the International Green Film Festival in Cracow. The ceremony of the awards held in the festival town on the Vistula boulevards.
The main prize – the Grand Prix – won the movie ‘Honeyland’. It is a Macedonian documentary film from 2019, directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. The film portrays the life of Hatidže Muratova. She is a wild bees’ keeper, who lives in the remote mountain village of Bekirlija with her seriously ill mother.
This year during the festival 53 films qualified. Additionally, there were presented about 20 movies in the form of special shows.
According to the official website of the festival, Cracow Green Film Festival (KGFF) ‘is an international festival of ecological films, it is a celebration of cinema and people who are not indifferent to the fate of our planet’.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has spoken with Belarusian blogger ‘NEXTA’ about protests in Minsk and other Belarusian cities. ‘NEXTA’ has become the main source of information about the protests in Belarus. According to Morawiecki, the protests in the aftermath of the presidential election constitute a groundbreaking moment in the lives of the Belarusian people.
“We want to implement financial measures to help those repressed in Belarus, and those who want to come to Poland, and build a Polish-Belarusian friendship. I believe that these changes which have begun are unstoppable. They will be growing like a snowball. The need for freedom, democracy, and being part of the family of free nations will pull the Belarusian nation to the final victory. Over 10,000 Belarusian students are currently studying in Poland. We want this number to be higher, and we want it to be proof of Polish-Belarusian friendship. It is only natural that young people from Belarus learn about everyday life in Poland, go back to Belarus and tell their friends and families that Poland is a friend who wants to live in friendship and cooperation, especially economic, cultural, and scientific. Together with Belarus, we have our own beautiful history. We respect the Belarusian nation and its achievements, and that is why this program is not only directed to those repressed, but to everyone. However, those repressed by the Lukashenko regime will get special support from the Polish state”, stated Morawiecki.