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 top story on the website of state-owned broadcaster TVP Info's website on Tuesday morning was an invitation to watch a TVP documentary series on Poland's relations with Russia, especially during the years when Donald Tusk was prime minister. The series, called 'Reset', examines thousands of documents concerning decisions made on Polish-Russian relations. It emerges as controversy continues over a law that establishes a commission to investigate alleged Russian influence over Polish politics, which some say targets Tusk.
Wyborcza.pl – The newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported that there is a "huge hole" in the finances of the National Health Fund. It wrote that expenditure could be PLN 11.5 billion (EUR 2.5 bln) higher than revenue this year and, that means, according to an opposition MP from the parliamentary health committee, money for treatment will run out as some point out.
Rp.pl – The Polish government has "schizophrenia" when it comes to migration the newspaper Rzeczpospolita wrote. On the one hand it opposes an EU plan for member states to take a quota of migrants while on the other hand it is "opening the door to newcomers". Even putting aside the huge and recent influx of Ukrainian refugees, since 2015, when the ruling Law and Justice party came to power, the number of temporary residence permits issued to citizens of countries such as Egypt, Zimbabwe and Georgia has increased five-fold. In the last eight years, the paper wrote, the number of temporary permits issued to people from 19 countries (excluding Ukraine and Belarus) had risen from 18,000 to 86,500.
TVN24.pl – In an "urgent" debate the European Parliament discussed on Monday a Polish law creating a commission to investigate alleged Russian influence over Polish politics, the news network TVN24 reported on Tuesday. The debate occurred owing to the "great concern" over Polish democracy the law has caused in Brussels. One MEP said during the debate that this is "the most serious situation we've seen in years". But Beata Kempa, a Polish MEP from the governing Law and Justice party, expressed her "absolute indignation over the interference in the domestic affairs" of a member state.
