Poland’s president and prime minister have congratulated former NATO official Petr Pavel on winning the Czech Republic’s presidential election.

Pavel, a former army chief, defeated ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš by a decisive margin yesterday in the second round of the Czech presidential vote. Returns from most voting districts showed Pavel with more than 58 percent of the vote in the runoffs, against less than 42 percent for Babiš.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Pavel on Saturday, saying in a post that “the Polish-Czech partnership is the guarantor of our region’s safety.”

Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general running for office for the first time, won the Czech presidency with a campaign featuring strong backing for NATO and the European Union and support for aid to Ukraine, Reuters news agency reported.

In a tweet and later phone call, Polish President Andrzej Duda also sent “congratulations and greetings from Poland” and invited Pavel to visit Warsaw.

Before the runoff election, Pavel declared that he would travel to Poland for his second foreign trip as president after a visit to neighboring Slovakia.

Source: Radio Poland

The entrance to the Naval Museum in Gdynia now boasts an intriguing new display: large brass propellers from the destroyer “Błyskawica.”

Each of the two propellers weighs approximately 6.5 tons and was an essential component of the destroyer’s reputation as one the fastest units in its class during the Błyskawica’s heyday.

The propellers were previously part of the Naval Museum’s open-air exhibition, but officials decided to move them and create an “intriguing” permanent display in front of the building instead.

According to Aleksander Gosk, Deputy Director of the Muzeum Marynarki Wojennej, the propellers were also moved to make way for a new addition to the open-air exhibitions. The museum plans to add the historic submarine “Sokół,” which helped the Polish armed forces to defend, protect, and patrol the Polish coast until 2018, to the outdoor exhibition area this year.

The “Sokół” will reportedly be placed adjacent to the walking path and close to the outdoor exhibition area.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Gdańsk residents celebrated the 412th birthday of famous Gdańsk astronomer Jan Heweliusz in a series of workshops yesterday at the Hevelianum center on Góra Gradowa.

Participants made simple telescopes out of paper and specially prepared optical lenses and were later treated to an exhibition of long-exposure pictures of the night sky and the cosmos.

A replica of the instrument designed and used by Jan Heweliusz was also on display; the mechanically and optically identical copy was built by Dr. Maciej Nowacki, an enthusiast of 17th-century optical instruments.

According to event coordinator Dorota Ciemna, the Hevelianum center “is primarily intended to popularize science” with events like the celebration of Hewielusz’s birthday a chance “to try to show what this science looks like in real life.”

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Cities and towns across Poland are preparing to celebrate the finale of the annual Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP) tonight.

The annual fundraiser, which is now in its 31st year, is raising money to support the treatment and early diagnosis of the bacterial infection that causes sepsis. Various celebrities, including football star Robert Lewandowski and tennis icons Iga Świątek and Hubert Hurkacz, have pitched in by putting up personal items for a charity auction.

Local auctions include a chance to name cheetahs at the Gdańsk Zoo, feed seals at the University of Gdańsk Marine station, attend a Lechia Gdańsk-Radomiak Radom game as a VIP, take guided tours of the New Town Hall or the Tunnel under the Martwa Wisła, or win an assortment of gifts from signed sports memorabilia to a pressed amber fountain pen.

Some 1,000 volunteers will be out on the streets of Gdańsk today collecting donations, with shows, ceramic workshops, and a lottery set to begin around 16:00 at Ulica Elektryków. The festivities will be followed by concerts at Club B90, with headliner Kasia Kowalska set to go on stage at 19:45.

More information on today’s events, including special trams and free transport options, can be found on the City of Gdańsk website.

Source: gdansk.pl, Radio Poland

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with a freezing rain and drizzle warning active throughout the day and a strong breeze coming from the southwest. Temperatures will remain just above freezing, starting out with lows of 1°C or 34°F before climbing to a high of 3°C, or 38°F during the day. Similar weather is expected for tomorrow, with an increasing chance of rain or snow on Monday and Tuesday.

Elizabeth Peck/am