The EU budget commissioner has warned Poland and Hungary that the EU may circumvent Warsaw and Budapest in the continuing row over the so called „Rule of Law” conditions that are part of the 750 billion euro coronavirus pandemic recovery budget plans. The budget approval is currently being held up by Poland and Hungry as they object to what they consider arbitrary conditions being put on the disbursement of monies in the fund. Now EU lawyers may have found a way to circumvent the rules that state that budget plans must be approved by all member states. In an article in the the Financial Times the EU budget commissioner said that Brussels lawyers are confident that the EU may be able to cut Poland and Hungary out of the fund altogether and bypass the approval mechanism that is currently in place.
Source – Financial Times
Some 8,000 vaccination sites are expected to be set up across Poland as the country prepares to roll out its COVID-19 immunization program, the Polish prime minister’s top aide announced on Friday.
The chief of staff to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, said that the government aims to have a vaccination point set up in every district, adding that the first shots were likely to be administered next month. He added that a list of vaccination sites would be made available to the public by December 15. The government will then launch a public awareness campaign, complete with a special hotline and website with detailed information on available vaccines and the immunization procedure. He added that some 40,000 to 50,000 medical staff were expected to join the nationwide operation to vaccinate the public.
Source – Polskie Radio
A painting by Polish artist Wojciech Fangor has been sold for PLN 7.3 million in an art this week, a record on the domestic art market. The work of art was sold by an art auction house in Warsaw.
In a previous record sale on the Polish art market, a set of five paintings by Fangor was auctioned off for PLN 7.1 million in December 2018. Fangor was the first Polish artist to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The painter, who was also a graphic artist, poster artist and sculptor, died in 2015.
Source – Polskie Radio
And finally, the mayor of Gdańsk has contracted coronavirus it has been confirmed. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, who has served as the city’s mayor since 2019 confirmed on her Facebook page that she is infected with COVID-19.
In the post, the mayor said that she was feeling quite well, having lost her senses of taste and smell and that she would continue to work from home. She was due to attend the lighting of the Christmas tree lights in the city’s Long Market. Officials who came into contact with the mayor in recent days will now be quarantined as a matter of precaution.
Sources – trojmiasto.pl
Weather
Today there will be sunny intervals in a moderate breeze and temperatures reaching a 8 degrees centigrade (46 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to 4 degrees overnight. Sunday will be a cloudier day with a moderate breeze and temperatures again reaching 8 degrees centigrade during the day, and 2 degrees overnight. And finally a quick reminder that the Christmas lights go on around the city today, with big displays in the old city, Oliwa Park and Reagan Park – so wrap up warm!
That was the Radio Gdańsk English news and weather.
