‘Szlachetka Paczka’ is a project organized every year to help families with financial difficulties. Thanks to the volunteers and donors, families receive packages that meet their individual needs and often also their dreams. This year, the project has helped over 14,562 families throughout Poland. The total value of the donations exceeded 45 million Polish zloty.

As the managing director and the Vice President of the initiator of the project – the WIOSNA association, Joanna Sadzik said ‘handing a package is such a beautiful moment when the tears come out, because the families we help don’t ask for it and they think that they won’t get it. 

During the so called ‘weekend of miracles’, the storehouses located in 633 regions throughout Poland represented the heart of the ‘Szlachetna paczka’ project. Thanks to the donors and over 10 thousand volunteers, the packages were handed over to the families included in the program. 

Many families and lonely people in need live in hard to reach places. Thanks to the donations of individual people supporting the ‘Szlachetna paczka’ initiative, the volunteers managed to bring wise help to over 112 new regions in the furthest corners of the country. 
 

Christmas markets in Poland are held every year during December. They attract many thousands of people, especially those who love the magical time of Christmas. A Christmas market is a perfect place to try traditional, regional food, drink mulled wine, or buy original presents.

 
The largest Christmas market in Poland takes place in Cracow’s Main Market Square during December. It attracts visitors from around the world. Warsaw’s main Christmas market is held in front of the Royal Castle. Other Polish cities, even the small ones, host Christmas markets too. They may not be as expansive as the ones in Cracow and Warsaw, it all depends on the resources of the city.
 
Year by year, the Christmas markets become more and more popular. They gather hundreds of people, even the visitors from abroad. A Christmas market is a magical place decorated with all kinds of Christmas decorations, carriage rides and the smell of mulled wine. 
 
There are many different things that a Christmas market has to offer. It’s a great place to shop for handmade crafts or Polish Christmas decorations. Visitors from all around the world can try cold-weather Polish treats. The Christmas markets give them an idea of how Poles celebrate this special holiday. 
 

A government spokesman, Piotr Muller, said on radio one, that the president of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, will need help to deal with failure at a city heating plant which has left several areas of the city without heat. He also said that this is a common problem in Warsaw.

 ”The company in question was privatized, I don’t know why. It’s easy to say now that the privatised company failed. It’s easy to blame the private company. Several thousand people in Warsaw don’t have heat. Streets are blocked. It’s a typical evasion of responsibility
Is it possible to change it back?
The decision is on the president, Rafal Trzaskowski’s, side; after a few years of Platforma Obywatelska rule with we decided to buy PKO SA bank, because some of the banks and companies are really important for our national safety”- says Piotr Muller, spokesman for the Government of Poland.

A meeting of the European Council is taking place in Brussels. Charles Michel from Belgium is chairing the meeting for the first time since becoming president of the council. The talks are focussed on the new EU plan, announced yesterday, to achieve climate neutrality, and the new EU budget. Aleksandra Zarzycka, our special correspondent, reports from Brussels.

 ”Yesterday the European Commission presented a new long term program until 2050, the European Green Deal. In order to help various countries meet the expected milestones, a fund of about 100 billion Euros fund is being proposed, called the Just Transition Fund. The program presented is challenging and complicated, and for some countries might be very difficult to achieve. The European Council is meeting for the first time to discuss the complicated implications for various member countries, implications for the economy and for their citizenry. The changes are called radical by some politicians and there are concerns about the cost. Poland is dependent on coal for its energy supply and the Polish Prime Minister will address just that”- says Aleksandra Zarzycka, TV Republika.

 ”Poland has made enormous efforts in recent years in order to reduce CO2 emissions and to work on climate programs, such as „Clean Air”. We will continue those efforts. We need to point out here that the cost of energy source transformation is much higher than in other countries, which had more luck and developed some of the green energy sources earlier. We have to take into account all aspects of costs for Poland, such as costs borne by society and costs incurred by the Polish economy. We are here to explain our situation to other EU members”- says Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.

 ”Besides climate change, the discussion of the current session will also focus on budget discussions. There is no anticipation of reaching a full agreement. The negotiations are described as difficult and it will take some time to work out a satisfactory agreement. The European Commission is also to discuss an extension of sanctions against Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine”- says Aleksandra Zarzycka, TV Republika.