Diplomat Mark Brzezinski has been confirmed as the next US Ambassador to Poland after the US Senate officially approved his appointment Saturday morning. Brzezinski previously served in the administration of President Obama and was the US Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015, as well as the director for Russia and Eurasia on the National Security Council of President Clinton.
Brzezinski speaks both Polish and French and was a Fulbright scholar in Poland in the early 1990s, researching his book “The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland.”
He is the son of Polish-born diplomat Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as US National Security Adviser under President Jimmy Carter and was later awarded Poland’s Order of White Eagle.
The previous US Ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, left her post when the new US presidential administration was inaugurated last January.
Source: Radio Poland, PAP
On Friday, President Andrzej Duda signed a law temporarily reducing excise duty on electricity and fuels and temporarily abolishing tax on retail fuel sales.
The move comes at the same time Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office (URE) announced a steep increase in energy prices for household consumers.
According to the URE announcement on Friday, the cost of electricity in Poland is projected to increase by about 24 percent, and gas bills are projected to go up by 54 percent on average next year.
The decision to hike rates was reportedly due to sharp increases in CO2 emission allowances and wholesale gas prices reaching record highs in the European Union.
The act signed by Duda on Friday provides for a temporary reduction in excise duty rates for electricity and some motor fuels, including diesel oil, biocomponents constituting intrinsic fuels, motor gasoline, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The reductions will last from January 1 to March 31, 2022.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Director Jan P. Matuszyński’s drama “Leave No Traces” has gained popularity abroad and is set to hit cinemas in the United States in February.
The film is based on real-life events surrounding Grzegorz Przemyk, a Warsaw high school student beaten to death by communist police in May 1983, during martial law imposed by the ruling Communist authorities.
Last month “Leave No Traces” took the top prize at the 3Kino Festival of Central European Cinema in Prague, and previously took home a Silver Lion award at the 46th annual Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
The film was featured in Polish cinemas in September and was later picked as Poland’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Shops will be open today for the last trading Sunday of the year, with enhanced sanitary rules and limits on the number of shoppers in effect.
Under the current sanitary restrictions, masks covering the mouth and nose must be worn in all retail outlets, and shops are required to provide customers with access to disposable gloves and disinfectant.
The Polish Council of Shopping Centers (PRCH) has also appealed to shoppers to observe the DDM principle – proper distance, frequent disinfection, and proper mask-wearing – to keep themselves and others safe.
Vaccinations against COVID-19, including booster shots, will also be available in many shopping centers today and throughout the week. For a complete list of vaccination sites, please visit: https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie/mapa-punktow-szczepien#/.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, PAP
Weather
Today will be partly cloudy and cold, with very little chance of rain and a strong breeze coming in from the northwest. Temperatures will remain above freezing with a high of 6°C, or 42°F, dropping overnight to a low of 2°C or 35°F. Cloudy weather accompanied by rain and snow is set to return over the next few days, with an increasing chance for a white Christmas later in the week.
RGen/EPeck
