Today’s news round up in Poland
Start your day with a summary of today’s top stories from Poland’s leading news sites.
Wyborcza.pl – According to a national census done two years ago, over 37 million people declared Polish nationality. The Central Statistical Office (GUS) has just revealed the data. Polish nationality is followed by Silesian with 585,700 people, and Kashubian - 176,900. In total, 97.7 percent of Poland's total population is Polish, and 1.3 million, 3.5 percent, declared another nationality.
TVPInfo.pl - The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk (northern Poland) has investigated extortion of EU funds and irregularities in the functioning of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone. According to the state-owned TV news channel, investigators have indicted 22 people, including Teresa K. (surname withheld under Polish law), a former minister in the Jerzy Buzek government. Eleven people out of the 22 were charged with participation in an organized criminal group.
rp.pl – The daily conducted an interview with Andzelika Borys, a Polish activist in Belarus, who was detained in March 2021 initially for organising a cultural event deemed "illegal" by the Minsk authorities. Later she was charged with inciting national and religious hatred and sowing discord on the grounds of national, religious and linguistic affiliation. At the beginning of April, the Belarusian authorities dropped the charges. "I don't feel like a hero and I wouldn't want to be treated as a heroine. I would be happier if Andrzej Poczobut were today in the same situation as me," she told Rzeczpospolita daily. Poczobut, a Polish activist and journalist, was sentenced earlier this year to eight years in prison for "inciting hatred" and "terrorist activities". Borys admitted that in 2021 she and Poczobut got a proposal to leave the country, which they both refused.
RMF24.pl – For several weeks, Polish farmers have been protesting over the uncontrolled import of grain from Ukraine. The Ukrainian grain is cheaper than Polish and rather than being exported to third countries has been bought up by companies in Poland. As a result, silos are full and Polish farmers are unable to sell their grain. On Wednesday, farmers plan to block the broad-gauge railroad in Hrubieszow (southeastern Poland), which is the route through which grain from Ukraine enters Poland. Last week, Poland's minister of agriculture and rural development, Henryk Kowalczyk, resigned and the president appointed Robert Telus as the new minister. It is still unclear how the new minister plans to get rid of excess grain from Poland. He said that about 4 million tonnes of grain need to be "taken off" the Polish market. On Wednesday, he plans to meet with ambassadors of those countries where Poland can potentially sell the grain.
