The Court of Justice of the EU has ordered Poland to pay a fine of EUR 1 million per day for not disbanding a contested disciplinary chamber for judges. The EU’s top court ruled in July that Poland must immediately stop all proceedings at the disciplinary chamber, set up by the country’s ruling conservatives as part of a sweeping overhaul of the national justice system.
In an official statement issued on Wednesday, the ECJ warned that “compliance with the interim measures ordered on 14 July 2021 is necessary in order to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and to the values on which that Union is founded, in particular that of the rule of law.”
Polish officials have decried the move as “punishments and blackmail.” In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki promised to dismantle the disputed disciplinary chamber by the end of the year.
Source: Radio Poland, Reuters
Polish senators have approved a government plan to build a wall on the country’s border with Belarus in a bid to stave off an influx of migrants.
Earlier this month, the Sejm adopted a bill to construct a “permanent barrier” along Poland’s eastern border with Belarus amid what officials said was a growing migrant surge. The measure passed in a 52-46 vote with one abstention in the upper house of parliament late on Wednesday.
The Polish border service “has been dealing with increasing migrant pressures” on the border with Belarus for several months, according to comments by Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński earlier this month.
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak told public broadcaster Polish Radio that Poland plans to draw on the experience of Hungary, which constructed a permanent wall on its border with Serbia during a migrant crisis in 2015.
The wall is expected to cost PLN 1.6 billion (EUR, 350 million, USD 410 million) and take months to build, according to officials.
The legislation now reverts to the lower house for a final vote after the Senate modified the proposal.
Source: Radio Poland
Polish air carrier LOT has filed a lawsuit against US aerospace giant Boeing over design flaws in 737 MAX aircraft, according to reports by Reuters and the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
LOT is demanding compensation of at least PLN 1 billion (EUR 220 million, USD 250 million), according to PAP. The lawsuit, filed in a court in Seattle, was preceded by months of negotiations that failed to produce a settlement, according to statements by LOT’s spokesman Krzysztof Moczulski.
All 737 MAX aircraft were grounded worldwide in 2019 following two deadly crashes, which resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
Source: PAP, Reuters
An exhibition celebrating the role Polish mathematicians had in cracking the German Enigma code during World War II has now been launched in an online format.
Entitled Enigma: Decipher Victory, the exhibition aims to highlight the achievements of Polish mathematicians and their contribution to Allied efforts to break German coding machines during the war, according to the Polish Cultural Institute in New York.
The exhibition has previously been shown in museums in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, and at the UK’s National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park in London.
The project is currently hosted by the international affairs bureau of the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship and can be viewed online in English or Polish at https://enigma.umww.pl.
Source: Radio Poland
The tunnel under the Martwa Wisła will be closed in both directions between the hours of 20:00 and 3:00 tonight for rescue services to conduct training drills.
Detours will be set up along along the streets of Marynarki Polskiej, Jana z Kolna, Wały Jagiellońskie, Podwale Przedmiejskie and Elbląska. More information on the closure is available here.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy but warmer, with a slight chance of rain in the afternoon and a strong breeze coming in from the south. Temperatures will peak around a high of 15°C, or 59°F, dropping to an overnight low of 6°C or 42°F. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with slightly warmer temps and sunny weather returning over the weekend.
Elizabeth Peck/ua
