The leader of the Polish opposition has said his party is considering a legal challenge in a bid to have Poland’s presidential election declared invalid, claiming the vote did not meet democratic standards.
The head of the Civic Platform, Poland’s largest opposition party, said he wanted the Supreme Court to scrutinise the way the election was held. In Sunday’s ballot, opposition challenger Rafał Trzaskowski, a deputy leader of the Civic Platform, lost by a margin of some 440,000 votes to incumbent Andrzej Duda, who was backed by Poland’s ruling conservatives.

The opposition party have launched a website for voters to lodge complaints about voting irregularities.

Source – Polskie Radio

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is in Brussels for a two-day summit in which EU leaders are trying to hammer out the bloc’s long term budget and its COVID-19 recovery fund.

The summit started on Friday with no guarantee that European Union member states, pressing their national interests, will be able to reach a compromise.

European Council President Charles Michel has proposed an EU budget of 1.074 trillion euros for the period 2021 to 2027. Meanwhile, the European Union’s executive in May unveiled a EUR 750 billion proposal to prop up economies battered by the coronavirus and help the bloc out of its worst economic crisis since World War II.

Source – Polskie Radio

Two government employees have been fired after a call by Russian prankster posing as the UN Secretary General got through to Polish President Andrzej Duda, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

The pranksters posted a recording of the call with Duda on YouTube on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Polish President’s Office confirmed the recording was authentic.

The pair are known in Russia for pranking celebrities and politicians with hoax phone calls. The duo has in the past tricked, among others, Britain’s Boris Johnson, when he was foreign minister before becoming prime minister, and British singer Elton John.

Source – Polskie Radio

Gdańsk’s famous St Dominic’s fair is due to take place for the 650th time next weekend despite the coronavirus epidemic still existing in Poland.

As many as 650 stalls with goods from 12 countries are due to take part in the fair which will run from July 25th until August 16th.

The fair is the largest open-air trade and cultural event in Poland and one of the largest such events in Europe. The mayor of Gdańsk, who was present at the conference, explained that the decision to organize this year’s edition of the fair was preceded by „difficult” talks due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Source – Warsaw Business Journal, jarmarkdominika.pl

Weather

Today will be a warm and sunny day with a gentle breeze and temperatures reaching 24 degrees centigrade (75 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to 13 degrees centigrade overnight. The sunny weather will continue on Sunday with temperatures reaching 25 degrees centigrade during the day in a light breeze, and a balmy 15 degrees overnight.

MC/am