Baltics and Poland are key countries for regional security
The defense ministers of Poland and the Baltic states met on Monday in Tallinn to discuss issues related to common defense and security. According to Blaszczak, the US presence in Poland will contribute to the security of both Poland and allies, especially the Baltic States.
Poland’s Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak said at the meeting that the Baltic States, like Poland, have common views on security threats and ways to avoid them. He added that the gathered countries also share the assessment of the role of transatlantic ties for the region. Błaszczak emphasized that four countries are not only crucial for the Baltic Sea region, but also for the entire Alliance. Their cooperation is to ensure deterrence and defense effectiveness in the eastern flank. According to the minister, it is also important to restore the ability to conduct joint defense operations. – We have achieved a lot in this field. We participate in strengthening the chain of command in our region – added Błaszczak.
The scouts gave the Prime Minister the Bethlehem Light of Peace
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki received on Tuesday the Bethlehem Light of Peace from scouts of the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) in an office in Warsaw. This year’s action of relaying light takes place under the slogan “The light that gives power”.
After receiving the light, the prime minister said that whenever scouts appeared in his office, he knew that they carried peace and a good message. He added that scouts show how to change the world for the better thanks to help that they bring to people. – We need it, let this light brighten the lives of all Poles, let life in Poland be better – he added. The Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) has been arranging the Peace Light of Bethlehem relay campaign since 1991.
Free medicines for pregnant women
Guaranteeing pregnant women free access to the medecines they use most often – this is the main premise of the bill adopted by the government. The list of medicines will be included in the reimbursement notice of the Minister of Health.
The proposed provisions are to allow access to free medicines for all pregnant women from the moment it is found. Prescriptions for medicines covered by the program will be available to gynecologists or midwives who have diagnosed pregnancy, as well as other doctors or midwives – based on a certificate issued by a person confirming pregnancy. The Ministry of Health, which prepared the project, estimates that about 400,000 pregnant women will have access to free medicines every year. The Act will come into force on July 1, 2020. The list of free medicines will be published in the first list of reimbursed medicines after the Act enters into force.
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Alliance of the Visegrad Group
Mayors of the 4 capital cities in the Visegrad Group, Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava gathered yesterday at the Central European University in Budapest to strike an alliance, obliging the city halls in the 4 capitals to work together with the aim of convincing the EU to bypass national governments and pay out EU funds directly to local governments which are in opposition to their governments.
The meeting took place symbolically in the George Soros-founded Central European University in Budapest which is in the process of relocating to Vienna, as conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has introduced laws which made it impossible for the American liberal billionaire and political activist’s university to remain in the country.
The new liberal mayor of Budapest argued that local governments can make better use of EU funds than national governments.
“Independent of the serious problems regarding the right usage of funds in the region, these issues make the old adage of ‘think global act local’ especially acute. Therefore we think that it is in the interest of the EU that in the whole of Europe these direct financial mechanisms should be launched and they can expect results in return. I am convinced that these cities can do miracles in the areas of climate change and innovation”- says Gergely Karacsony, Mayor of Budapest.
The mayor of Warsaw stated that EU funds should be slushed straight to local governments as the conservative national governments often withhold money from the metropolitan regions.
“We were allocating money to the poorer regions which needed to catch up, and of course we have to do it, we have to concentrate on those, but we also were allocating money to the cities as they were engines of growth, and we have 12 engines of growth in Poland as the metropolitan regions are very, very important. Similarly in the countries like the Czech Republic of Hungary or Slovakia, where sometimes governments have ideas of actually taking money away from the cities for political reasons”- says Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw.
Some EU member states say the disbursement of EU funds for infrastructure and other projects should hinge on respect for democratic standards and the rule of law, accusing the conservative governments in the Visegrad Group of breaking the rules. The liberal mayors want to take advantage of the situation and hope to gain funds at the expense of national governments.