As of October 1, 2019, Poles and citizens of 52 other countries are eligible to visit the historic city of St. Petersburg under the e-visa system previously available only for Kaliningrad. The free, single-entry e-visas are valid for up to 30 days at a time, and authorize travelers to stay in the Leningrad region for up to 8 days for tourist, business, or humanitarian purposes. Unfortunately, the e-visa regime does not include citizens of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, or New Zealand.
Based on the success of the visa-free regime used during the 2018 World Cup and the potential for economic growth in the tourism sector, Russia plans to expand the e-visa program to include all of the Russian Federation by January 2021. According to the World Tourism Organization, Russia was the 16th most popular tourist destination in the world in 2018, above Portugal, Canada, and Poland.
Those interested in obtaining an e-visa should visit the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (electronic-visa.kdmid.ru) at least four days before the expected date of entry and have a suitable photograph available. For full details of the visa requirements, please visit http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/spb_home_en.html
Over the the weekend officials in Warsaw bid farewell to Kornel Morawiecki while those in Gdańsk commemorated the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Defenders of the Polish Post Office.
Though the events at Westerplatte are more widely known abroad, the roughly 15-hour siege of the Polish government outpost on September 1, 1939 also stands as a testament to the bravery and resilience of a small group of Poles who stood their ground against a brutal German assault.
Though some of the roughly 50 Polish postal workers — including the 10-year-old daughter of the caretaker — were killed during the fighting or in the immediate aftermath, 38 were caught, tried, and executed by firing squad on October 5, 1939 for their “partisan activities.” Their bodies were unaccounted for until a mass grave was discovered during construction in 1991; the remains were later reinterred and memorialized in the Monument of Heroes cemetery in Zaspa.
Yesterday’s silver for the women’s 4×400 relay team and bronze for Marcin Lewandowski in the 1500 meters will be added to Joanna Fiodorow’s silver medal in the Hammer Throw and bronze medals in the men’s Pole Vault and Hammer Throw competitions. The lone gold medal was won by Paweł Fajdek in the men’s Hammer Throw last week.
The results put Poland just shy of the top ten in terms of medal rankings, with the United States the unquestioned leader with 29 medals overall, nearly half of them gold.
Source: PAP
Today marks the last day for new residents of Gdańsk to sign up for free training workshops on civic and community engagement as part of the European Solidarity Center’s “CZEŚĆ” program.
The weekend workshop series “Ja w Społeczności” or “The Community and Me” offers practical advice and training on living in Trójmiasto, including work and residency requirements along with opportunities for social engagement through volunteering, cultural events, and language courses. All workshops are taught in Polish with English and Russian language support.
In addition to the weekend workshops, the CZEŚĆ program offers a Polish-language discussion group on Polish culture every other Thursday at 6pm, with the inaugural meeting scheduled for October 10th.
For more information on the CZEŚĆ program, visit https://ecs.gda.pl/czesc
RGEN
