Poland is in talks with the EU in a bid to secure financial assistance from Brussels in supporting refugees from the war in Ukraine, Polish officials have said.

A government spokesman has said that the Polish Prime Minister has submitted an official request to the EU and it will be one of the main points of discussion at the next EU Council summit in May. He also noted that the EU had assisted Turkey when that country was dealing with a wave of refugees.

Source – Polskie Radio

The head of the Polish Development Fund, a state-owned financial group, has said that he expects that Poland will have to endure elevated inflation levels for the coming two to three years.

Speaking to TVN24’s news channel he said the Polish Central Bank had underestimated the level of inflation so far mainly as a result of unpredictable events which made forecasting a challenge. He estimated that inflation will peak in the 3rd quarter of this year and will start falling slowly next year. Currently inflation is sitting at 12.3% year on year. Poland’s reference interest rate is now at 4.5 percent, the central bank yesterday continued its rate-hike cycle and announced another hike.

Source – Polskie Radio

Members of the European Parliament have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution calling on the European Commission to refrain from approving Hungary and Poland’s national plans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The resolution stated that approval „should only happen when both countries comply fully with all European recommendations in the field of rule of law, and only after they implement all relevant judgements”. Former Polish Prime Minister and Polish MEP Beata Szydlo criticized the resolution saying „Fighting against Poland is acting on behalf of Putin”.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

And finally, Gdańsk airport has invested in two new baggage scanning machines that will speed up the flow of passengers through security at the airport.

The machines which cost PLN 22 million, provide more accurate control during the automatic baggage assessment, which reduces the number of suitcases flagged for assessment by the operator. If such a situation occurs, the employee will receive a 3D view of the flagged item which they can view from all sides, which enables faster and more accurate verification. This should lead to fewer items of luggage needing to be sent for manual inspection in the presence of a passenger.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a day of sunny spells and scattered clouds in a gentle breeze with temperatures of 15 degrees centigrade (59 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 5 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will continue sunny with scattered clouds in a gentle breeze and temperatures of 18 degrees during the day and 7 degrees overnight.

Martin Caren/aKa