Today’s news round up in Poland
Start your day with a summary of today’s top stories from Poland’s leading news sites.
TVPInfo.pl – The state-owned broadcaster TVPInfo ran a story on how Donald Tusk, the leader of the main opposition party, and Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and also a prominent opposition politician, failed to secure a meeting with Joe Biden. They did, however, meet the US president but only for a few seconds for, according to TVPInfo, a commemorative photograph. The briefness of the encounter undermined claims by the opposition, the news organisation wrote, that the two had a proper meeting with Biden.
Wyborcza.pl – Campaigners for refugee rights in Poland are opposed to a new amendment to the Act on Foreigners, which is now being read by the Senate, the upper house of the Polish parliament. They claim the amendment will increase the powers of the Border Guard. Under its terms, apparently, appeals against decisions made by the Border Guard will no longer be heard by the head of the Office for Foreigners but by the head of the Border Guard. This gives the organisation too much power, say campaigners.
TVN24.pl – The private news organisation TVN24 wrote that residents of Warsaw will continue to face problems moving around the city because of the presence of the US president for a second day. The city’s authorities said that it was advisable to avoid driving into the city, and to use public transport. Trams and buses, however, will face occasional disruption as well when the president is moving from one location to the other.
Rp.pl - Taxi firms are slowly disappearing from Poland, the newspaper Rzeczpospolita wrote on Wednesday. In 2022, according to the paper, 1,500 taxi firms closed down, a decrease of 3 percent, and this trend is set to continue. Taxi firms were hit by the pandemic and now face growing competition from firms such as Uber, iTaxi and FreeNow. Another reason, according to the director of one taxi firm, is that people are tired with the red-tape that comes with running a firm.
