Two Polish volunteers are being treated at a hospital in Poland after suffering serious injuries while providing humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine.

Wojciech Andrusiewicz, a spokesperson for Poland’s health ministry, told the PAP news agency that the pair had been distributing humanitarian supplies near the frontline in Bakhmut when a mortar shell exploded nearby.

With the assistance of the Polish charity Humanosh in Ukraine, the Ministry of Health helped transport the pair to a hospital in Lublin, where they were later visited by Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski.

Both volunteers are reportedly in „stable” condition after one volunteer „had to have part of her leg amputated” due to her injuries, and the other volunteer „suffered a wound from a shell splinter.”

The town of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has been the focus of intense fighting over the past several weeks as Russian forces seek to make advances in the area.

Source: Radio Poland, PAP

Six out of ten Poles do not want Poland to join the eurozone, according to a recent survey conducted by the polling organization IBRIS for Radio ZET.

When asked if „Poland should adopt the euro instead of the Polish zloty,” nearly half, or 49 percent of respondents, replied „definitely not,” while slightly over 15 (15.2) percent answered, „rather not.”

A slightly smaller amount, 14.7 percent, said Poland should „definitely” adopt the euro, while just under 10 (9.8) percent were in the „rather yes” category, while the remaining 11.3 percent were undecided.

Opposition to adopting the euro is most prevalent in the Polish countryside (70 percent opposed) and in towns of 50,000 inhabitants or less (75 percent opposed).

In cities of over 250,000 residents, opinions toward joining the eurozone were somewhat evenly divided, with 48 percent of respondents in opposition and 42 percent in favor of the single currency.

Guests on Tuesday’s edition of the „People and Money” program on Radio Gdańsk stressed the potential costs of transition along with a loss of control and tradition as the primary reasons for opposing the adoption of the euro.”We are traditionalists; we are attached to everything that is ours, like the zloty,” explained Marek Krzykowski, former president of International Paper and current manager of AK Construction.

The IBRIS survey was conducted between January 5-7, 2023, through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with a nationwide sample of 1,100 people.

Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk

Polish referee Szymon Marciniak has been named the men’s world’s best referee of 2022 by the Federation of Football Historians and Statistics (IFFHS).

The 42-year-old from Płock, who garnered praise for officiating during the recent World Cup final in Qatar, was the clear leader in the competition, scoring 150 points overall and defeating runner-up and 2022 winner Daniele Orsato of Italy by 65 points.

A post on the IFFHS website praised „the achievement of Martin Marciniak” for becoming „the first Polish referee to officiate a World Cup Final” just one year after being forced to miss the Euro due to health problems.

Established in 1984, IFFHS studies the history of European football and maintains statistics on the sport. The organization also conducts annual plebiscites, including awards for best goalkeeper, player, playmaker, national coach, and club trainer.

Lionel Messi won the award for best player and playmaker of 2022, while Lionel Scaloni was recognized as best national coach. From Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti won for best club trainer, and Belgian Thibaut Courtois won in the „best goalkeeper” category, ahead of Poland’s Wojciech Szczęsny in sixth place.

Source: PAP, iffhs.com

The „Dar Pomorza” or „Gift of Hope” tall ship was the most visited branch of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk last year, with over 110,000 tourists boarding the vessel in 2022.

According to museum officials, visits to the vessel accounted for more than 25 percent of the 385,000 visits to all nine museum branches, part of a record-setting increase from 255,000 total visitors to the museum in 2021.

The ship museum „Sołdek” was the second most popular museum destination, with over 79,000 visitors in 2022, followed by the Maritime Culture Center in Gdańsk (72,000), the Granaries in Ołowianka (50,000), and the Fisheries Museum in Hel (44,000).

In Gdynia, the storied „Biała Fregata” or „White Frigate” was the fourth most visited site overall, ranked just below other Gdynia attractions such as the Naval Museum and the vessel ORP Błyskawica, the Experyment Science Center, and the Gdynia Aquarium.

The three-masted Dar Pomorza was built in 1909 and has served the Polish Merchant Navy since the 1930s. Since 1982 it has been moored in Gdynia as part of the National Maritime Museum. While the vessel is closed in autumn and winter, Gdynia officials report the ship will again be open to visitors after January 13, 2023.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with a chance of rain showers in the afternoon and a strong breeze coming in from the south. Temperatures will hover around 5°C or 41°F during the day, dropping slightly to a low of 3°C, or 38°F overnight. Similar, cold, cloudy weather is expected again tomorrow, with a chance for rain again in the afternoon.

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Elizabeth Peck/pb