Lithuania’s Foreign Minister has indicated that Poland, Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania may stop Russian tourists from entering their countries even if the European Union does not enact an Europe-wide ban.

„I have talked to ministers from all these countries … I don’t see many differences politically,” the minister told reporters in Vilnius this week. EU foreign ministers are due to discuss an EU-wide visa ban for Russian nationals. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposed such a ban this week, saying that Russians should be able to flee their home country if they disagree with the Kremlin’s policies. The proposed ban has been criticized as discriminatory, counter-productive and counter to European values and laws by some commentators.

Source – Polskie Radio

Zofia was the most popular name given to baby girls in Poland in the first half of this year, while Antoni was the top choice for boys, officials have said.

Next on the list for girls were Zuzanna and Hanna, while Jan and Aleksander made up the rest of the top three for boys, according to the digital policy department at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office. Other girl names popular in Poland in the first six months of 2022 included Maja and Laura, while Franciszek and Nikodem were among popular picks for boys. A year earlier, Zuzanna was the No. 1 name for girls, while Zofia was runner-up. Meanwhile, Antoni remains the most popular name for Polish boys, unchanged from the last three years.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland beat Bulgaria 3-0 in their opening match of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships on home turf in the southern city of Katowice on Friday.

Poland, who are reigning world champions, are set to take on Mexico on Sunday in their next match at the championships, which run from August 26th to September 11th. The Poles play Bulgaria, Mexico and the United States in the first round of the championships, which are being jointly hosted by Poland and Slovenia. Poland defeated Brazil in the last two world championship finals to win titles in 2018 and 2014.

Source – Polskie Radio

The mayor of Sopot has talked insultingly of teachers of the town who may want to use a new history textbook that has been slammed in liberal circles because it defends conservative values.

During a session of the city council, the mayor said that he is sure that there would be no „idiot” teachers wanting to teach from the textbook. The mayor has already made a statement with Gdańsk mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz saying that the Polish government is only concerned with ideologizing, introducing some moronic textbooks”, referring to the textbook in question, „I hope none of our teachers will teach it”.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a sunny day in a gentle breeze with the chance of thunder storms later in the day and temperatures of 26 degrees centigrade (79 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 17 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will start rainy and overcast in a moderate breeze winds with temperatures of 21 degrees during the day and 15 degrees overnight.

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Martin Caren/MarWer