Poland Archives - Read Selective

Poland Issues Warning to Zelensky After UN Comments

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been told that he must not insult Poland amid a growing spat between the countries, which one expert told Newsweek is being driven by the upcoming Polish election.

Since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Poland has been one of Kyiv’s biggest backers, pledging around 4.27 billion euros (about $4.54 billion) in military, financial and humanitarian aid.

But relations have soured in recent weeks after Warsaw said it would not suspend an EU ban on Ukrainian agricultural products that Brussels had imposed earlier this year, which aimed to protect European farmers.

Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Poland, as well as Slovakia and Hungary, which also intend to continue with the ban. Then Zelensky told the United Nations’ General Assembly on September 19 how some of their friends in Europe are demonstrating political theatre, which played into Moscow’s hands.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on April 5, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. Morawiecki accused Zelensky on September 22, 2023 of insulting Poles amid a spat between the countries over a grain deal and weapons’ supplies.
OMAR MARQUES/GETTY IMAGES

In response, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on social media that Warsaw would “no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland.” Newsweek has contacted the Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministries by email for comment.

Polish President Andrzej Duda walked back Morawiecki’s comments. He said that they referred to new weapons being purchased for the Polish army and that Warsaw would still transfer its older weapons not required for modernizing Poland’s armed forces.

But Morawiecki took aim at Zelensky again on Friday, telling a rally in the city of Swidnik, Poland, that the Ukrainian leader must “never insult Poles again.”

“The Polish people will never allow this to happen,” Morawiecki said, adding that “defending the good name of Poland” was both “my duty and honor.”

Despite Morawiecki’s declaration, “Warsaw’s militarily support for Ukraine will not substantially change,” said Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

Buras told Newsweek that ties between Kyiv and Warsaw have become “hostage to the Polish electoral campaign.” The ruling national-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the far right Konfederacja are vying for the nationalist and anti-Ukrainian vote in Poland.

But Buras did not expect Poland’s growing assertiveness regarding Ukraine to end any time soon. Its parliamentary election on October 15 is likely to be followed by a lengthy period in which the government is formed, and a snap election in spring 2024 “cannot be ruled out.”

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/poland-ukraine-zelensky-morawiecki-warning-1829335

Ukrainians aghast as Poland stops sending weapons to fight Russia

Warsaw, one of Kyiv’s top allies since the Russian invasion began, took the surprise decision amid a row over Ukrainian grain.

People attend an event for the anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day in Warsaw, Poland, August 24, 2023 [Kacper Pempel/Reuters]

“I can’t believe the friendship is over.”

That is what Maryna Vasilevskaya, a Ukrainian woman of Polish origin, told Al Jazeera with a heavy sigh on Thursday after learning that Warsaw halted arms supply to Kyiv – and may cut aid to a million Ukrainian refugees it hosts.

Poland has supplied hundreds of Soviet-era tanks and 14 Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in its time of need amid Russia’s invasion, served as a major transit hub for weapons from other Western nations, and provided its military bases for training Ukrainian servicemen.

It has also spent billions of euros on other forms of aid from the construction of temporary houses for refugees to donating medical supplies and power generators.

Vasilevskaya and her children were among the most vulnerable and desperate recipients of Poland’s aid – as well as its overwhelming, heart-melting moral support.

Her paternal grandparents were ethnic Poles, and she spent four months in the eastern Polish city of Krakow with her daughters aged five and eight last year after fleeing the Russian onslaught.

She returned to Kyiv in August because her husband Vladislav had a medical emergency and her eldest daughter Darya missed her schoolmates.

But despite the latest tensions, Vasilevskaya says she remains “eternally grateful” to Polish authorities and public.

She arrived in Krakow in mid-March 2022 on a slow overnight train jam-packed with crying children and frightened, disoriented grownups, but Poles welcomed them all like “dearest friends”.

“They helped us any way they could with everything, absolutely everything, from food and clothes to lodging and healthcare,” the 34-year-old, who works in marketing, recalled with tears in her eyes.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God,’ our dislike to each other is finally over.’”

Poland once conquered huge swaths of Kyivan Rus, a medieval Eastern European confederation of principalities that spawned what is Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

It also was a conduit of Western influences from philosophy to visual arts, but its efforts to convert its Orthodox Christian subjects in what is now Ukraine to Roman Catholicism met resistance that partly paved the way to Moscow’s takeover.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/21/ukrainians-aghast-as-poland-stops-sending-weapons-to-fight-russia

Poland to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine over grain row

One of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, Poland, has announced it will no longer supply weapons to the country as a diplomatic dispute over grain escalates.

The nation’s prime minister said it would instead focus on arming itself with more modern weapons.

The move comes as tensions between the two nations rise.

On Tuesday, Poland summoned Ukraine’s ambassador over comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN.

He said some nations had feigned solidarity with Ukraine, which Warsaw denounced as “unjustified concerning Poland, which has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war”.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, announced the decision to no longer supply Ukraine with weapons in a televised address on Wednesday after a day of rapidly escalating tensions between the two countries over grain imports.

The grain dispute began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine all but closed the main Black Sea shipping lanes and forced Ukraine to find alternative overland routes.

That in turn led to large quantities of grain ending up in central Europe.

Consequently, the European Union temporarily banned imports of grain into five countries; Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to protect local farmers, who feared Ukrainian grain was driving down the prices locally.

The ban ended on 15 September and the EU chose not to renew it, but Hungary, Slovakia and Poland decided to keep on implementing it.

The European Commission has repeatedly stated that it is not up to individual EU members to make trade policy for the bloc.

Earlier this week, Ukraine filed lawsuits to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against those countries over the bans, which it said were a violation of international obligations.

Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that “it is crucially important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban imports of Ukrainian goods”.

But Poland said they would keep the ban in place, and a “complaint before the WTO doesn’t impress us”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66873495

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia to introduce own bans on Ukraine grains

A view of the cereal terminal with grain silo in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Anca Cernat/File Photo

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend its ban on imports into Ukraine’s five EU neighbours.

Ukraine was one of the world’s top grain exporters before Russia’s 2022 invasion reduced its ability to ship agricultural produce to global markets. Ukrainian farmers have relied on grain exports through neighbouring countries since the conflict began as it has been unable to use the favoured routes through Black Sea ports.

But the flood of grains and oilseeds into neighbouring countries reduced prices there, impacting the income of local farmers and resulting in governments banning agricultural imports from Ukraine. The European Union in May stepped in to prevent individual countries imposing unilateral bans and imposed its own ban on imports into neighbouring countries. Under the EU ban, Ukraine was allowed to export through those countries on condition the produce was sold elsewhere.

The EU allowed that ban to expire on Friday after Ukraine pledged to take measures to tighten control of exports to neighbouring countries. The issue is a particularly sensitive one now as farmers harvest their crops and prepare to sell.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday countries should refrain from unilateral measures against imports of Ukrainian grain, but Poland, Slovakia and Hungary immediately responded by reimposing their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports. They will continue to allow the transit of Ukrainian produce.

“As long as Ukraine is able to certify that the grain is going to get to the country of destination, through the trucks and trains, the domestic use ban is not really going to put a dent in Ukraine’s ability to get exports out,” said Terry Reilly, senior agricultural strategist for Marex. He noted that disruptions to Black Sea exports are a bigger concern.

It is unclear how much Ukraine has pledged to restrict exports or how the new bans would impact the flow of produce from Ukraine. The issue has underscored division the EU over the impact of the war in Ukraine on the economies of member countries which themselves have powerful agriculture and farming lobbies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the EU’s decision not to further extend the ban on Kyiv’s grain exports, but said his government would react “in civilised fashion” if EU member states broke EU rules.

But the three countries argue their actions are in the interests of their economies.

“The ban covers four cereals, but also at my request, at the request of farmers, the ban has been extended to include meals from these cereals: corn, wheat, rapeseed, so that these products also do not affect the Polish market,” Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“We will extend this ban despite their disagreement, despite the European Commission’s disagreement,” added Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki. “We will do it because it is in the interest of the Polish farmer.”

Hungary imposed a national import ban on 24 Ukrainian agricultural products, including grains, vegetables, several meat products and honey, according to a government decree published on Friday.

Slovakia’s agriculture minister followed suit announcing its own grain ban. All three bans only apply to domestic imports and do not affect transit to onward markets.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-does-not-extend-ban-ukraine-grains-imports-neighbouring-eu-countries-2023-09-15/

Berlin ready to extend Patriot air defence deployment to Poland until end of 2023

German Patriot air defence system units are seen at the Vilnius airport, ahead of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

Germany has offered to extend the deployment of three Patriot air defence units in Poland until the end of 2023, the defence ministry in Berlin said on Tuesday.

“An extension beyond the end of 2023 is not foreseen,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that some of Germany’s Patriot units were needed for use by NATO’s quick reaction response force in 2024, while others had to undergo maintenance.

Together with three Patriot air defence units, some 300 German soldiers have been based in the Polish town of Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, since the start of the year to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.

The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in the region last November, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.

During a visit to Zamosc in July, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had not immediately responded to a request by his Polish counterpart to extend the Patriot mission.

Relations between Berlin and the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in Warsaw have been strained, with both sides at odds over a range of topics – from arms deliveries to Kyiv to an EU migration deal rejected by Poland.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/berlin-ready-extend-patriot-air-defence-deployment-poland-until-end-2023-2023-08-08/

Poland puts NATO on alert after Belarus violates airspace – troops scrambled to border

Tensions rise as Belarusian helicopters reportedly cross into Polish airspace during a training exercise.

Belarus military helicopters stray into Polish airspace during training (Image: Getty)

Poland’s Ministry of Defence has reported that two Belarusian military helicopters violated Polish airspace during a training exercise.

In response to the incursion Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of Defence has ordered the number of soldiers on the border to be increased.

The Belarusian side had previously informed Poland about the training drills, the Polish Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The border crossing reportedly took place at a very low altitude, making it difficult to detect by radar systems.

The Polish MoD noted: “Therefore, in the morning announcement, the Operational Command of the Armed Forces Branches informed that the Polish radar systems did not record any violation of Polish airspace.

“NATO has been informed of the incident.”

Belarusian helicopters cross into Polish airspace during training (Image: Getty)

A statement released by the Polish MoD on Tuesday (August 1) said: “After the commanders and service chiefs presented conclusions from the analysis of the situation, it was established that today, August 1, 2023, there was a violation of Polish airspace by two Belarusian helicopters that were training near the border.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1797618/Poland-NATO-Belarus-hybrid-warfare-Russia

Wagner Attack On Poland Will Be Treated As Russian Attack On NATO: US Ambassador To UN

Poland has raised the alarm over the presence of Wagner fighters on its border with Belarus, which it says is to “launch a hybrid attack” and “destabilize” it. But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claims that he is rather restraining the Wagnerites.

They have been itching to go into Poland to stop what Belarus and Russia allege are Warsaw’s “revanchist ambitions” to occupy western Ukraine and Belarus.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference on July 29, “We have information that more than 100 Wagner mercenaries have advanced towards the Suwalki Gap, not far from Grodno in Belarus.” Wagner fighters had arrived in Belarus last month after their short-lived rebellion against Russia’s Ministry of Defense (RuMoD).

Polish Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, announced on July 27 a training academy for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and mentioned its utility against Russia. It came a week after Putin promised to intervene against Poland if Minsk is threatened.

The US ambassador to the United Nations (UN) has meanwhile warned on Monday that any attack on NATO by Russia’s Wagner Group will be treated as an attack by Russia. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the remarks while briefing reporters in New York.

Asked about the presence of Wagner forces on the Polish border, she said: “We certainly worry that this group, at the behest of the Russian government – because they do not work independently of the Russian government – is a threat to all of us.”

Poland Wields HIMARS To Deter Russia

Establishing the HIMARS Academy and the 1st Rocket Brigade at Toruń in the country’s north, Błaszczak announced that the center would also cooperate with Baltic states like Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, who too have ordered the weapon from the US. He then praised the capabilities of the Polish Army and the HIMARS platform, saying they could effectively deter Russia.

“Today, we saw the HIMARS in action, with a range of up to 300 km. The Polish Army can fire at long distances. Our task is to equip it with proven weapons that deter the aggressor, which will make Russia not dare to attack Poland. In the hands of Polish soldiers, trained both in the United States and Poland, it is a great weapon to deter the aggressor,” Błaszczak said at the training ground in Toruń.

Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak with Polish Army servicemen and HIMARS platforms on July 27

Poland is in the middle of a massive armament buying spree, with the first of the 20 HIMARS launchers from the US, part of a $414 million deal from 2019, reaching the country in May this year. It has also inked a $13.7 billion arms deal with South Korea to buy Chunmoo rocket launchers, K2 main battle tanks, K9 self-propelled guns (SPG), and FA-50 fighter aircraft.

‘Poland Has Revanchist Ambitions’

But Russian officials rather claim that Poland envisages reacquiring what it believes are its historical territories. A meeting between Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on July 23 and Putin’s meeting with his 11-member Security Council on July 21 saw Lukashenko and Russia’s Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin touching upon Polish plans.

While Putin was non-committal on responding to a Polish intervention in western Ukraine, he, however, did promise to rush militarily to Belarus’s aid. The mobilization of Wagner fighters – now based in Belarus, to the Polish border can be seen in this context. This means the Wagner drills are a pre-emptive measure to deter Poland. Also, the Baltic nation of Lithuania has formed the ‘Lublin Triangle’ with Ukraine and Poland to execute the plan on western Ukraine, according to Naryshkin.

Source : https://www.eurasiantimes.com/wagner-attack-on-poland-will-be-treated-as-russian-attack

Poland suspends food imports from Ukraine to assist its farmers

Poland’s governing party leader Jarosław Kaczyński says the list of banned items would include grain and honey.

A dump track unloads grain in a granary in the village of Zghurivka, Ukraine [File: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo]

Poland’s government said it will temporarily prohibit grain and other food imports from Ukraine as it seeks to address the rising anger of Polish farmers, who say they are losing huge amounts of money to a glut of Ukrainian grain on the market.

The leader of Poland’s governing party, Jarosław Kaczyński, said that the Polish countryside is facing a “moment of crisis,” and that while Poland supported Ukraine, it was forced to act to protect its farmers.

“Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland,” Kaczyński told a party convention in eastern Poland on Saturday.

The government announced that the ban on imports would last until June 30. The regulation also includes a prohibition on imports of sugar, eggs, meat, milk and other dairy products and fruits and vegetables.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said that it “regrets the decision of its Polish counterparts”.

“Polish farmers are facing a difficult situation, but we emphasise that Ukrainian farmers are facing the most difficult situation”, it said.

The ministry proposed the two countries come to a new agreement in the coming days that would satisfy both sides.

Farmers in neighbouring countries have also complained about Ukrainian grain flooding their countries and creating a glut that has caused prices to fall – and causing them to take steep losses.

Romanian farmers protest outside the European Commission’s Offices over the price of grains after an influx of cheap Ukrainian grains in Buchares [File: Inquam Photos/George Calin via Reuters]

“The increasing imports of agricultural products from Ukraine cause serious disturbances in the markets of our countries, great damage to producers and social unrest,” the Polish agriculture minister, Robert Telus, told his counterparts from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary this week. All are members of the European Union and he said the bloc should take urgent action on the matter.

“We cannot accept a situation where the entire burden of dealing with increased imports rests mainly with farmers from our countries,” Telus said.

The situation is the result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. After Russia blocked traditional export sea passages, the European Union lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to facilitate its transport to Africa and the Middle East.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/15/poland-suspends-food-imports-from-ukraine-to-assist-its-farmers

‘Pimps’ are stalking Poland’s railway stations and border crossings targeting vulnerable women and children refugees fleeing Ukraine, charity groups warn

Ukrainian women — Ukrainian refugees are seen after crossing into Poland on March 13, 2022.LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images

Women and children fleeing Ukraine are being preyed upon by traffickers in neighboring countries, charity groups have warned.

Karolina Wierzbińska, a coordinator at Homo Faber, a human rights organization based in Lublin, Poland, told The Guardian that charity workers had witnessed refugees being targeted as they arrived in the country.

“We’ve registered the first cases of [suspected] pimps preying on Ukrainian women near refugee shelter points in Lublin; accosting them, sometimes aggressively, under the guise of offering transport, work or accommodation,” Wierzbińska told The Guardian.

Teams of predators were seen “pretending to offer rides or lodging to women distressed and exhausted from their journey,” Wierzbińska told the paper.

These teams were not only made of men, as women and couples had also been seen approaching female refugees at bus stations, she said.

Wierzbińska previously told The Guardian that there had also been instances of children going missing after being sent across the border alone by desperate parents.

Charity groups fear that women could be forced into slavery or prostitution, and children could be kidnapped and sold to criminal gangs.

Police in Wrocław, Poland, said they arrested a 49-year-old man suspected of raping a 19-year-old Ukrainian woman who he offered a place to stay, France24 reported.

Traffickers are believed to be taking advantage of the chaos

More than 3.7 million people are believed to have fled from Ukraine since Russia began its military invasion a month ago, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The vast majority of these refugees, over 2 million, have fled to Poland.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/pimps-are-stalking-polands-railway-stations-and-border-crossings-targeting-vulnerable-women-and-children-refugees-fleeing-ukraine-charity-groups-warn/articleshow/90460222.cms?utm_source=social_Whatsapp&utm_medium=social_sharing&utm_campaign=Click_through_social_share

India to temporarily shift its embassy in Ukraine to Poland

India has decided to temporarily relocate its embassy in Ukraine to Poland, the government said on Sunday.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the decision to move the embassy from Kyiv was being taken in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country.

“The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments,” it added.

Earlier this month Ukraine’s government said that it had helped evacuate about 20,000 Indian students from areas of the country attacked by Russian forces following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but several were still trapped.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/india-temporarily-shift-its-embassy-ukraine-poland-2022-03-13/