Latest news with #BarbaraErling
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poland intervenes as Russian 'shadow fleet' ship spotted near power cable
By Barbara Erling and Marek Strzelecki WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's military intervened after a ship from the Russian "shadow fleet" was seen performing suspicious manoeuvres near a power cable connecting Poland with Sweden, the Polish Prime Minister said on Wednesday. NATO has stepped up security in the Baltic following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "A Russian ship from the 'shadow fleet' covered by sanctions performed suspicious maneuvers near the power cable connecting Poland with Sweden," Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X. "After the effective intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports." The term "shadow fleet" refers to vessels used by Russia to ship oil, arms and grains in violation of international sanctions imposed after the invasion. Speaking later to reporters, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said a patrol flight scared the ship off and Polish Navy Polish Navy's ORP Heweliusz was sailing to the scene. Vice Admiral Krzysztof Jaworski, Poland's Maritime Component Commander, told Reuters that the tanker in question was called Sun and that it sailed under the Antigua flag. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. In the past, Moscow has denied its involvement in undersea sabotage in the Baltic, saying the West was using such claims to curb its sea-borne oil exports. The 600-megawatt undersea cable links the Swedish coast near Karlshamn with Ustka in northern Poland and allows both grids to rely on cross-border supplies when electricity is cheaper in the other system. A spokesperson for Polish grid operator PSE said the cable was working. PSE data showed over 600 megawatts were flowing to Sweden through the cable at 1130 GMT. "This shows how dangerous the times we live in are, how serious the situation in the Baltic Sea is," Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference. "Since Sweden and Finland joined the North Atlantic Alliance, the Baltic Sea has become a key marine area, where the largest number of incidents occur, the most common incidents related to cable breaks... and sabotage." He vowed a "firm response" from Poland and NATO to any attack on Baltic Sea infrastructure. Sweden's coast guard declined to comment. Reuters was not immediately able to reach Sweden's minister for civil defence.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rafal Trzaskowski: the pro-EU Polish polyglot with his eye on the presidency
By Barbara Erling and Alan Charlish SZCZECIN, Poland (Reuters) - Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the Oxford-educated son of a jazz musician and frontrunner in Sunday's Polish presidential election, made friends across the European Parliament when he worked there, including with Portugal's now-foreign minister. "He was very well known, not only because he was very talented," Paulo Rangel said during a break from campaigning for his own country's election, referring to their time together as EU lawmakers from 2009. "He really became very popular... because he was a very easy-going person but at the same time he could speak five languages," he added. Trzaskowski can communicate in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Italian. His supporters hope his friendships with high-ranking European policymakers like Rangel can further Poland's growing influence in Europe since Prime Minister Donald Tusk succeeded a eurosceptic nationalist in 2023. But it is also part of the reason some Poles going to vote in the first round of a presidential election on May 18 view him as part of a liberal metropolitan elite whose concerns are far removed from their own. Trzaskowski paints the vote as a choice between Western liberal values and the rising nationalism across central and eastern Europe, where eurosceptic parties have already won power or are poised to do so. "These elections are about whether we will be part of the West or part of the East," he told a rally in the northern port city of Szczecin. "Look where Slovakia is today, where Hungary is, what's happening in the Balkans. Look - this very same battle is happening in Romania... These parties are either pro-Russian or repeat Russian propaganda. They simply don't feel at home in Europe. Why? Because Europe is too positive for them." His rivals are fighting back. "He is so European he has forgotten he is Polish," said Marek Suski, a lawmaker from the nationalist opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party. PiS backs conservative historian and amateur boxer Karol Nawrocki to become president, a role with limited executive powers but the right to veto legislation, in the election, which is likely to go to a second round. Outgoing PiS President Andrzej Duda has used his power of veto to block many of Tusk's pro-European reforms. POLITICAL CAREER After studying in Oxford and Paris, Trzaskowski wrote a PhD thesis in Warsaw called "The dynamics of reforming the decision-making system of the European Union". He worked as an adviser and an elected member of the European Parliament before becoming Poland's Minister of Administration and Digitalisation and then Deputy Foreign Minister. As mayor of Warsaw since 2018, he has gained a reputation as a supporter of liberal causes such as LGBT rights. His critics say he is a deeply polarising figure in a country where many Poles, especially outside the big cities, hold socially conservative views, and they are scathing about his perceived rightward shift during the presidential campaign. His rivals also say his pro-European stance means he will put the interests of other countries above those of Poland. His supporters say he is trying to reach out to all sides of the political spectrum. "His goal is to reduce the polarisation we see in Poland," said Agnieszka Pomaska, a lawmaker from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO) and a member of Trzaskowski's campaign team. "He's definitely not someone who rejects ideas just because they come from another political camp." Rangel said Trzaskowski could cement Poland's place as a major player at the heart of European policymaking over the twin challenges of Russia's invasion of Poland's eastern neighbour Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Trzaskowski's international track record "will open a lot of doors," Rangel said.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Poland's Tusk expects $160 billion of investment in 2025 to spur growth
By Barbara Erling and Marek Strzelecki WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is likely to see total investment of more than 650 billion zlotys ($160 billion) in 2025, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday, as the government unveiled a package of measures including tax cuts and deregulation to spur growth. The economy has been one of Europe's fastest growing in recent years, driven largely by private consumption on the back of double-digit wage growth in a tight labour market. But analysts say investment has been a weakness for the country as it tries to catch up with wealthier western European nations. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. "Investment in Poland in 2025 will amount to over 650 billion zlotys," Tusk told a news conference at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. "This amount has never been seen in the history of the Polish economy." Tusk said investments would be made in sectors such as defence, green energy, information technology and transport infrastructure, including 180 billion zlotys spent on the rail network by 2032. He said the head of tech giants Google and Microsoft would be in Poland in a few days to finalise plans to invest in the country. Economic growth in Poland in 2025 could be close to 4%, Tusk added. Tusk said he had asked Rafal Brzoska, chief executive of parcel locker company InPost, to help prepare measures to cut red tape. TAX Lawmakers from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party were unimpressed, with Member of the European Parliament Michal Dworczyk dismissing Tusk's speech as "waffle without any specifics". Mariusz Zielonka, chief economist at business association Lewiatan, said the amount of investment projected for 2025 "does not differ from what the state and investors spend in Poland every year", adding that few specifics had been given. Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said Poland would boost its spending on research and technology, as well as on developing ports and railways and would work to support business as it seeks to build "a strong, dynamic, but also safe economy - an economy resistant to external shocks." He said Poland would raise a limit on VAT exemptions for companies and cut the amount of money collected in a tax on copper production by 500 million zlotys in 2026 and 700 million zlotys in 2027. This announcement sent shares in mining company KGHM surging as much as 9% higher on the day. Domanski later said that the copper tax cut could be extended beyond 2027. Rafal Benecki, chief economist at ING in Poland, said he saw signs of "change of the paradigm in terms of the attitude to business". "We are starting this process of changing the growth model," he said, adding that Poland in the past had been too reliant on cheap labour. ($1 = 4.0523 zlotys)
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Auschwitz survivors to mark 80th anniversary of camp's liberation
By Barbara Erling and Kuba Stezycki OSWIECIM, Poland (Reuters) - Auschwitz survivors will be joined by world leaders on Monday to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp by Soviet troops, in what will likely be one of the last such gatherings of those who experienced its horrors. The anniversary at the site of the camp, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War Two, will be attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain's King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Antonio Costa and a host of other leaders. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Israel will be represented by Education Minister Yoav Kisch. Pawel Sawicki, a spokesperson for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial, said that there would be no speeches by politicians and that leaders would instead be listening to the voices of survivors. "It is clear to all of us that this is the last milestone anniversary where we can have a group of survivors that will be visible who can be present at the site," he said. "In ten years it will not happen and for as long as we can we should listen to the voices of survivors, their testimonies, their personal stories. It is something that is of enormous significance when we talk about how the memory of Auschwitz is shaped." The main commemoration will begin at 1500 GMT in a tent built over the gate to the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. One of the symbols of the anniversary will be a freight train car, which will be placed in front of the gate. More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, perished in gas chambers or from starvation, cold and disease at Auschwitz. More than 3 million of Poland's 3.2 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, accounting for about half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe.
