Polish PM urges EU not to close doors on Ukraine
Poland’s Prime Minister has called on the EU to not close the door on Ukraine in its bid for EU membership. He made the appeal ahead of the informal European Council summit in Paris, France. Morawiecki’s words came as the Russian invasion of Ukraine raged for the fifteenth day. Membership of the EU is contingent on conditions known as the 'Copenhagen criteria’ which include a free-market economy, a stable democracy and the rule of law, and the acceptance of all EU legislation, including of the euro. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a prominent opponent of EU enlargement said at the summit, “there is no fast-track process”. French president Emmanual Macron also poured cold water on the idea of quick EU membership for Ukraine.
Source – Polskie Radio, Al Jazeera.
Poland, Germany, France join forces to assist refugees from Ukraine
The interior ministers of Poland, Germany and France on Thursday announced they would coordinate support for the people escaping Russia’s war on Ukraine. The ministers met in the south-eastern Polish city of Rzeszów, in a three-way format known as the Weimar Triangle. They also visited the Polish border crossing with Ukraine in Korczowa. Poland on Thursday reported it had accepted 1,43 million people fleeing the Russian invasion.
Source – Polskie Radio
Facebook relaxes rules on hate speech against Putin and Russian army
Facebook has relaxed its rules on hate speech when it comes to calling for the death of Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers. Facebook’s own published policies that state “we don’t allow hate speech on Facebook”. The company has relaxed the rules in many countries in the geographical proximity of Russia including Poland, but has stopped short of allowing credible threats to Russian civilians. In July 2021, the firm temporarily allowed posts calling for the death of Iran’s supreme leader.
Source – The Economic Times, Facebook
152 children signed up for Sopot schools and nurseries
And finally, the City Hall in Sopot has announced that 152 children of refugees from Ukraine have enrolled in Sopot kindergartens and schools in the last three days. The city said that it was preparing to provide them with care and education. Speaking at a press conference, the vice president of the city said „Nobody really knows how long our guests will stay with us. We want them to feel good in Sopot at that time, to minimize the feeling of temporariness that accompanies them”. There are already over 200 children from Ukraine living in Sopot.
Source – Radio Gdańsk
Weather
Today will be a sunny day with a light breeze and temperatures of 5 degrees centigrade (41 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and -5 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will see continued sunny spells in a gentle breeze with temperatures of 8 degree during the day and -4 degrees overnight.
That was the Radio Gdańsk English news and weather.
Martin Caren/aKa