A government commission investigating the 2010 Smolensk air disaster which killed Poland’s presidential couple has notified the prosecution about the possibility of the incident having been a planned assassination attempt on former President Kaczynski, the commission’s head, Antoni Macierewicz, clarified yesterday.
On April 10th 2010 the presidential aircraft carrying Kaczyński, his wife and over 80 top state and military officials, crashed near a military airfield in Smolensk, western Russia, during a landing attempt in heavy fog. No one survived the crash.
A Russian-headed international commission investigating the incident put its causes down to pilot error. However, Macierewicz has now claimed that his commission has proof that explosives were involved in the Smolensk crash.
(PAP)
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki yesterday took part in a conference on the implementation of Orlen Group’s strategic plans in the area of nuclear energy. Orlen intends to invest in SMRs, or small modular reactors. SMR technology is currently most advanced in Canada and the US. In fact, US financial institutions have pledged 4 billion dollars to help Polish energy giant Orlen Group build them.
The Prime Minister pointed out that due to the European Union’s climate policy, burning coal, which today ensures Poland’s primary source of energy security, will become more and more expensive.
Morawiecki argued that thanks to the foundation of one SMR type reactor, it will be possible to save somewhere between 100 to 200 million Euros on CO2 emissions annually. Such funds will not have to be spent on the purchase of emission allowances. There will also be a positive impact on employment opportunities. The program would mean new jobs created in the country related to the new industry. According to the prime minister, there could be as many as hundreds of thousands of such new jobs.
(Radio Gdańsk)
On Monday, a press conference led by the Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Jarosław Sellin, was held at the Castle Museum in Malbork announcing the purchase of a 17th-century amber altar in its original case. The purchase was funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Locating this type of collection in Malbork was not accidental, as a reference to the history of the area. In the Neolithic period the area was strewn with amber workshops, during Roman times Malbork was used as an important stop on the Amber road, while in the Middle Ages amber became one of the most important items of trade in the country of the Teutonic Order.
The museum is constantly trying to acquire new exhibits, and today the Malbork Castle amber collection boasts over 2,000 artifacts.
(Radio Gdańsk / PAP)
Monument dedicated to the memory of American airmen. War heroes were commemorated in Słuchów.
On April 9, 1944, American airmen from the 8th US Air Force were shot down over the Choczewski Forest. B17 bombers were returning from a mission aimed at bombing the Focke Wulf aircraft factories in Rumia and Malbork.
Damian Drąszkiewicz of the „White Stars” Historical Association was the instigator behind the creation of the monument.
(Radio Gdańsk)
The weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and breezy in the afternoon. There will be light showers in the late evening and overnight. Wind will be coming in from the north east. Daytime temperatures will see a high of 11°C or 52°F, with expected lows of 4°C or 39°F overnight. Tomorrow’s weather will be rain showers all day at similar temperatures.
Thomas Rado
