Over 260 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan as of yesterday evening as part of an evacuation mission launched by the Polish government.
A fifth plane carrying people evacuated from Afghanistan arrived in Warsaw yesterday morning, according to Michał Dworczyk, the top aide to Prime Minister Morawiecki. The evacuees included Polish citizens and vulnerable Afghans with their family members.
Poland joins a growing list of countries attempting to rapidly evacuate their own citizens along with Afghan nationals who assisted them during the 20 years NATO was present in the country. Air travel remains the only available means of transit in and out of Afghanistan, with the airport itself currently being secured by nearly 6,000 (5,800) U.S. troops.
Thousands have gathered at the airport despite being urged to stay home, with official reports listing at least 12 people as having been killed over the past week in and around the vicinity of the airport. As of yesterday evening, both the United States and Germany were advising their citizens to avoid traveling to the airport in Kabul due to ongoing security issues.
Source: Reuters, PAP, Radio Poland
Leaders of Poland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia met yesterday to discuss the surge in illegal attempts to access the EU from Belarus.
Convened at the request of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the meeting was attended virtually by Lithuania’s Ingrid Simonyte, Latvia’s Arturs Karins, and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas. Following the talks, the Polish Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement affirming that “all EU member states are obliged to protect the bloc’s external borders” and calling on Belarus to „assist foreign citizens who legally enter its territory.”
In an earlier post on Twitter, Morawiecki described the current crisis as part of a hybrid war launched by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime against EU member states, including the bloc’s members bordering Belarus. Recent weeks have seen a surge in illegal attempts to enter Poland from Belarus, with more than 2,000 people refused entry or detained in the month of August alone. In response, more than 1,000 Polish soldiers have been sent to shore up border defenses by erecting a 150-kilometer barbed wire fence along sections of the Polish-Belarusian border.
Source: Radio Poland, PAP
An estimated 3-4 thousand demonstrators took part in the sixth annual Equality March on Saturday from various points in the Gdańsk city center to Plac Solidarności.
Among the demonstrators were the mayors of Gdańsk and Sopot, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz and Jacek Karnowski, along with representatives from the Lewica (Left) and Civic Coalition parties, as well as the Irish ambassador Emer O’Connell and Polish-Belarusian activist Jana Shostak.
Small groups of counter-demonstrators were also present, with 30-40 representatives of the All-Polish Youth organization gathering at the Sobieski Monument at Targ Drzewny, with an additional group of 10 anti-abortion activists at the Gdańsk City Council and several members of the Christian Revival Movement „God’s Camp” near the Shakespeare Theatre.
According to unofficial data, over a thousand police officers were on hand to keep order during the march and associated events, according to Karina Kamińska of the Pomeranian police.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
The Lotos Gdynia Aerobaltic Airshow continues today with performances by pilots from Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden, Turkey, the UK, and Finland.
Nearly one hundred different planes will be performing a variety of aerial acrobatics for tens of thousands of spectators watching from the tarmac. Crowd favorites the Red Arrows of the UK’s Royal Air Force are set to perform today along with the Midnight Hawks of the Finnish Air Force. They will be accompanied by a showcase of fighter jets (French Dassault Rafale, Swedish JAS 39 Gripen, and Solo Türk) from the French, Swedish, and Turkish air forces.
The airfield in Kosakowo will be open today until 18:00 and can be accessed by bike or public transport from Gdynia Głowna railway station or by car from Kosakowo.
More information can be found on the event website at: https://aerobaltic.pl/airshow/program.
Weather
Today will be partly cloudy and cool, with winds coming in from the northeast and little to no chance of rain. Temperatures will peak around a high of 20°C, or 68°F, dropping to an overnight low of 12°C or 54°F.
A similar mix of cool weather, sun, and clouds is expected to continue into the week, with a chance for rainstorms returning again on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Peck/tm
