Polish MPs have voted to extend the current state of emergency in place on the border between Poland and Belarus for another two months in a resolution passed yesterday evening.
Lawmakers voted by 237 to 135 votes in favour of the move in a late night parliamentary session. The Polish president told a news conference this week that the 60-day extension seemed „justified at this moment in time” due to mounting „pressure on the frontier.” He also said that the state of emergency needed to be extended so that Polish officials and troops could „carry out their tasks effectively”. Poland and fellow EU members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have accused Belarus’ strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko of organising a wave of illegal migrants seeking to enter the bloc as part of what officials have called a „hybrid war.”
Source – Polskie Radio, PAP
A deadline for Poles and foreigners residing in the country to complete a national census form passed at midnight yesterday.
Those who missed the deadline could be fined up to 5,000 PLN. The fine applies to anyone who refuses to take part in the census or did not make themselves available for the interview by census officials. The census is carried out once every ten years, and this year’s data collection started in April.
Source – TVP, Notes from Poland
From today, Polish citizens travelling to the UK will need to present a valid passport at the passport control in order to enter the country, according to Poland’s foreign ministry.
Only those with settled or pre-settled status in the UK are set to be exempt from this requirement, and will be able to travel to Britain on the basis of an identity card, at least until 2025, the Polish foreign ministry said on its website. However, this will only be possible if the ID document is linked with someone’s digital profile, the ministry’s press office cautioned.
Source – Polskie Radio
An European moose was spotted swimming across the Wisła river at the south of Gdańsk yesterday in an unusual sighting.
A man sailing a small boat on the river captured the moment the moose swam the 500 metres across the river, greeting him with an „Ahoy, brave moose” as the animal made it to the other side of the river. There are estimated to be around 20,000 moose in Poland.
Source – trojmiasto.pl
Weather
Today will be a sunny day with scattered clouds and a moderate breeze with temperatures reaching 16 degrees centigrade (61 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to 7 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will continue sunny with cloudy spells and temperatures will again reach a pleasant 17 degrees during the day and 9 degrees overnight.
Martin Caren/MarWer
