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 – There are four applications for every one place at private schools in Poland’s big cities, the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza wrote on Monday. In smaller towns the ration is two-to-one. According to a survey cited by the newspaper, 55 percent of parents are also committed to paying for extra tuition for their children. The situation, the paper added, reflects the apparent problems in the education system, in particular a shortage of teachers.
TVPInfo.pl – Law enforcement officers in Poland have arrested two more people linked to a gang that both smuggled and produced illegal cigarettes, state-owned broadcaster TVP Info reported. The gang’s activities cost the Polish exchequer an estimated PLN 200 million (EUR 44.7 mln) in lost revenue. The gang operated between 2015-22, mainly in Poland but also in other EU states. It made millions of zlotys by either smuggling cigarettes in from Belarus or producing their own. The products were then sold in Great Britain, Sweden and France.
Rz.pl – The newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that Poland has begun to hand over to Ukraine men believed to have fled their country illegally in order to escape mobilisation. The numbers being returned, the paper added, could increase owing to a crackdown on draft dodgers in Ukraine. According to the Polish Border Guard, some 80,000 men of military age crossed into Poland after February 24, 2022 and then disappeared.
TVN24.pl – A Polish man wanted in the UK in connection with a murder who was also wanted by the Polish police for drugs dealing has been arrested after about four years on the run, news channel TVN24 reported. The man, known only as Patryk M, had attained a new identity, changed his appearance, bought a house and settled down. He managed to pass himself off as the owner of a construction company.
