Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that his government is in talks with US officials to increase the number of US troops stationed in Poland.

In an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Morawiecki said the Polish government was “in the process of discussion with President Biden’s administration about making their presence more permanent and increasing them.”

Morawiecki told the American broadcaster that he expects President Biden to confirm “our resilience and our joint efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine” during Biden’s upcoming trip to Poland.

The US president is set to arrive in Poland tomorrow as part of a two-day visit to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Last June, Biden announced that the US would create a permanent headquarters for its Army V Corps in Poland in response to the increasing threat posed by Moscow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to figures cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP), 11,000 US soldiers are currently stationed in Poland on a rotating basis.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Local officials are still cleaning up after storms hit Pomerania over the weekend, with high winds and rain predicted again for today.

Firefighters in Pomerania were called out 70 times on Sunday to deal with storm-related damage, a marked decrease from the roughly 1,700 interventions reported on Friday and Saturday.

As of 19:30 on Sunday, over 5,000 residents in Pomerania, mainly in Gdańsk and Słupsk, were still waiting for their electricity to be restored. Some 1,000 transformer stations in the Gdańsk region were reportedly damaged due to the recent storms.

Municipal cemeteries and Oliwa Park are again open to visitors after being closed over the weekend, although vehicles are still not allowed inside the Łostowicki and Srebrzysko cemeteries in Gdańsk.

Weather forecasters have warned again of strong winds in the region today, with gusts reaching speeds of up to 95 km or 60 miles per hour, accompanied by up to 15 mm of rainfall.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Polish snowboarder Oskar Kwiatkowski made history after winning a gold medal in the men’s snowboard parallel giant slalom at the world championships in Georgia yesterday.

Kwiatkowski’s victory makes him the first Pole to win a world championship in alpine snowboarding. Earlier this year, he became the first Polish man to win a World Cup snowboarding event.

Fellow Polish snowboarder Aleksandra Król also made her mark during the competition in Georgia, taking home a bronze medal in the women’s snowboard parallel giant slalom.

In the team events, Ukraine took home a bronze medal in the mixed team aerials competition, behind China in second place and the United States in first.

The 2023 Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships are currently underway in Bakuriani, Georgia, and will continue until March 5.

Source: Polskie Radio, olympics.com

Trefl Sopot defeated Start Lublin 91:80 last night to win their first Polish Basketball Cup trophy since 2008.

Much of Trefl Sopot’s victory was attributed to American point guard Garrett Nevels, who scored 27 points and had 6 assists in the game. Teammate Jarosław Zyskowski followed closely behind with 26 points and 3 assists.

While the first quarter finished with Lublin in the lead, Nevels and Zyskowski made up the difference in the second quarter, eventually pushing Sopot to their final 11-point lead.

The victory marks the fifth time Trefl Sopot (formerly Prokom Asseco Sopot) has won the Suzuki Polish Basketball Cup, or Puchar Polski, the annual top basketball competition for clubs in Poland.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

The Polish national rugby team made history last night in Gdynia by defeating Belgium 21:15 (8:3), the first time the team has won a match at the Rugby Europe Championship level.

The victory gives the “Biało-Czerwoni” the right to play the semi-final match of the second phase of the tournament on home turf in Poland. The match is set for Saturday, March 4, against Germany, with the location in Poland yet to be determined.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will start out cloudy with a good chance of rain or snow and strong winds coming in from the west. Temperatures will be warmer than yesterday, climbing from a freezing low of around 2°C, or 36°F to a high of 8°C or 47°F later in the day. Slightly cooler temperatures and less wind are expected for tomorrow, with a chance for scattered showers throughout the day.

Elizabeth Peck