The Polish president has reaffirmed his country’s support for Montenegro’s bid to join the European Union and promised to lobby for the Balkan country to become a „participating partner” of the Polish-led Three Seas Initiative of 12 EU countries.

Andrzej Duda made the declaration after hosting his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Đukanović in Warsaw on Thursday. Duda and Đukanović held two-hour talks that focused on international politics, further assistance to war-torn Ukraine and Poland’s support for Montenegro’s efforts to join the EU, officials said.

Source – Polskie Radio

An opinion poll published this week shows that Poles are happy that the government is expanding the military – but are less happy about the costs involved.

The survey, published in „Gazeta Prawna”, shows that over 60% of Poles have a positive opinion of the government’s policy of increasing the total number of Polish soldiers to 300 000. The results also show that the country is split on whether the increase should come at the expense of other areas. Supporters of the current government are widely in favour of the plan even it means having to make cuts in other areas, while supporters of the opposition area against the idea where there could be negative financial consequences.

Source – Polskie Radio

A decade after Poland joined the European Space Agency, more than 300 Polish firms and institutions work with the intergovernmental organisation, officials said on Thursday.

The latest figures were announced at a two-day conference celebrating Poland’s 10 years in the ESA. In all, more than 300 Polish firms and institutions work with the ESA, including over 150 that participate directly in space projects, with the contracts worth over EUR 140 million.

Source – Polskie Radio

Father Józef Wilczyński, the founder and organiser of the Stella Maris Choir and Orchestra, died. This unique ensemble, made up of students and graduates of the Music School in Gdańsk, many of whom went on to become members of the world’s top orchestras, performed Polish traditional and patriotic music.

Stella Maris has appeared on most continents and is widely acclaimed. Józef Wilczyński, decided to join the Jesuit order in Warsaw after his brother, a trainee Jesuit, was murdered by the German forces during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. He studied theology alongside Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II, who asked him, at the hight of communist persecution, to help preserves Polish traditional values through music. Father Wilczyński achieved this magnificently for over 40 years with hundreds of musicians passing through Stella Maris, listened to by tens of thousands of people around the world, including several appearances before the Pope in Rome. A Requiem mass will be conducted today at noon at the Jesuit church at Mickiewicz in Gdańsk as a sign of thanksgiving for Fr Józef’s lifelong achievements.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a somewhat rainy day in a gentle breeze and temperatures of 13 degrees centigrade (55 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 11 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with some showers in a gentle breeze and temperatures of 14 degrees during the day and degrees overnight.

Martin Caren/MarWer