Poland’s prime minister says the country must have an army so strong that it would never have to fight, as he announced plans to increase defence spending.

Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters that Poland’s defence budget will rise to between three and four percent of the country’s economic output next year, making it one of the highest among NATO’s 30 member countries.

The PM made the announcement as he watched military manoeuvres being carried out in the south-east of the country by 2,000 troops from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, the US and Britain.

The prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, also attended the PUMA-22 exercises, and said his country was „intensively modernising [its] armed forces”. Mateusz Morawiecki said that, „the best strategy is to deter the opponent with the power of one’s own army and through cooperation with others.”

Source: AP, PAP

The United States ambassador to the United Nations was in Warsaw yesterday to visit a hub for Ukrainian refugees. Linda Thomas-Greenfield toured a UNICEF centre that offers educational support and therapy to refugee children and their mothers. She also had talks with government and Warsaw city officials, which she said afterwards included making contingency plans for a possible new influx of refugees to Poland and other frontline countries over the winter months.

The ambassador expressed gratitude to the people of Poland and its government for the enormous help provided to Ukrainians. She added that she doesn’t expect Washington’s support for Ukraine to waver after the US midterm elections, given the bipartisan backing for Kyiv since the Russian invasion.

Source: AP

Polish train operator PKP Intercity has announced the largest tender process in its history as it sets about modernising its fleet of passenger trains.

The company unveiled plans for new carriages it hopes will attract millions more people a year to use its services. The carriage interiors feature atmospheric lighting, hardwood floors, and even play areas for children. The tender includes production of three hundred of the new cars, with the first deliveries expected in 2025.

PKP Intercity plans to spend 27 billion zlotys on stock by the end of the decade. Interested parties have until 13 December to submit their bids.

Source: thefirstnews.com

The mystery over the whereabouts of the most important painting to be stolen in Poland during World War II has taken a new twist after an old letter came to light.

Raphael’s 16th-century Portrait of a Young Man went missing after being looted from a private collection by German troops in Sieniawa in south-east Poland in 1939. Now, in the newly-unearthed letter, an SS officer writes in 1947 that he saw the painting as part of a trove of cultural goods moved in boxes from Kraków.

Bart Zelaytys from the Silesian Bridge Foundation, which received the letter from descendants of senior Nazis, said, „This is the first written document that tells us at least in part what happened to the painting after it left Kraków”. He added that, „Finding the lost Raphael would be the biggest sensation in the art world since the end of the war.”

Source: thefirstnews.com

A Gdynia-based startup is looking for funds to launch production of an invention which turns sea water into drinking water without using electricity.

Scientists at the company Nanoseen have created a device that can treat up to a thousand litres of sea water a day, in a way that they say is eco-friendly. The company says the filter tubes will be created from biodegradable materials and could benefit people all over the globe, including in Poland.

Poland has some of the smallest drinking water resources per capita in all of Europe, with only Malta and Belgium worse off.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

It’ll be dry and mild again today in Gdańsk, with the sky remaining cloudy and a high temperature of 12°C (53°F). Overnight will dip to around 8°C (46°F), before tomorrow brings another similar day weather-wise. The outlook for the weekend is also similar, dry with clouds and moderate temperatures for the time of year.

Andrew Carter/MarWer