President Andrzej Duda met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv yesterday for the second summit of the Lublin Triangle.
Following the trilateral talks, the three heads of state signed a Joint Declaration confirming the “centuries-old historical ties” between the three countries and defining priority areas of cooperation under the trilateral framework.
According to a press release from the Ukrainian President’s office, the Lublin Triangle priorities include support for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO and the EU, and commitments by Lithuania and Poland to continue providing “powerful military, technical, defense, humanitarian and other support to Ukraine.”
Duda and Zelensky later visited the Polish Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów, also known as the Young Eagles’ Cemetery, to pay tribute to thousands of Polish soldiers killed during the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919 and the 1920 Polish-Soviet War.
Source: Radio Poland, PAP, president.gov.ua
At an annual sports gala earlier this week, Polish President Andrzej Duda congratulated Poland’s athletes on their success in 2022 and thanked the sports community for helping athletes from Ukraine.
During Tuesday’s event, dubbed the New Year’s Meeting of the Olympic Family, Poland’s best athletes and coaches of the year received the 2022 Great Honorary Sporting Awards, with a special prize going to tennis superstar Iga Świątek.
Speaking at the event, Duda noted Świątek’s two Grand Slam titles, ski jumper Dawid Kubacki’s bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, and hammer-thrower Paweł Fajdek’s fifth consecutive world championship title.
The Polish men’s volleyball team also earned recognition for their second-place finish at the World Championships, while the men’s basketball and football teams were praised for advancing beyond the group stages of their respective tournaments. The men’s basketball team made the final four of the EuroBasket tournament, and the men’s football team progressed to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Duda finished by thanking Polish athletes, coaches, and club officials for showing “simple human solidarity” by hosting and supporting Ukrainian athletes preparing for events, training in Poland, and using Polish facilities.
Source: Radio Poland
The Polish national handball team narrowly lost to France last night in the opening match of the 2023 World Men’s Handball Championships, hosted jointly by Poland and Sweden.
The disappointing 24:26 (13:14) loss was not entirely unexpected, with Poland’s coach Patryk Rombel describing the former Olympic champions as “a very difficult opponent to beat.”
France is currently the most successful handball team in the World Cup, having won six gold, one silver, and four bronze medals. Polish handball players won silver at the World Cup in 2007 and three bronze medals (1982, 2009, and 2015). In 2021, they took 13th place.
According to Rombel, the Polish team aims to reach the quarterfinals as this “will give us an opportunity to play in a tournament to qualify for the 2024 Olympics” in Paris. Along the way, Poland is sure to face stiff competition, with defending champions Denmark looking to become the first team to win the world championship three times in a row.
The White-and-Reds are set to play Slovenia on Saturday (January 14), followed by Saudi Arabia on Monday (January 16) in the next matches of the first group stage. After that, the top three teams will advance to the next phase in Krakow.
The 2023 World Men’s Handball Championship will be played across nine venues in Poland and Sweden from January 11 to 29.
Source: Rado Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Officers from the Gdańsk City Guard responded to two unusual distress calls on Monday, resulting in the rescue of two badly injured seagulls.
The first gull was spotted on Monday by an employee of the District Court on ul. Piekarnicza, who reached out to the city guard for help after noticing the gull was extremely weak and had a wound on its neck.
Officers from the Ecological Department of the Straż Miejska responded to the call and transported the injured bird to an animal hospital on Kartuska Street.
Later the same day, city guards were called out again, this time to rescue a black-headed gull whose leg was broken and wings damaged after a collision with a car. The second gull was also taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment and observation.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with a chance of rain showers later in the day and a strong breeze coming in from the southwest. Temperatures will hover around 7°C or 45°F during the day, dropping slightly to a low of 6°C, or 42°F overnight. Slightly warmer weather is expected for tomorrow, with a chance for more rain showers in the early morning and afternoon.
Elizabeth Peck
