Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party continues to have the highest support of any political grouping ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to a poll published late this week. A poll by IBRiS on 9th October showed the Law and Justice-led coalition with 42.6 pct. support, while its main rival, Civic Coalition, which includes Civic Platform , was at 22.5 pct., leftist bloc Lewica had 13.1 pct. and PSL/Kukiz’15 had 6.9 pct.

Poland, the biggest post-communist European Union member country, will hold elections for its upper and lower houses of parliament this Sunday after four years of Law and Justice governance. Under Polish law, all campaigning and polls have to cease at midnight tonight until after the voting stations close on Sunday under pre-election calming rules.

Poland in NATO spearhead force

Polish armed forces will commence annual combat duty in NATO, according to Rzeczpospolita broadsheet and the First News. The tour of duty will last throughout 2020 and the Polish forces will be on alert 24 hours a day. The 21st Podhale (Mountain) Rifles Brigade will be the framework unit within NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the military bloc’s rapid response troops. Selected units will have between two and five days to take action in the event of a military operation or natural disaster in any NATO member state. The commander of the Polish brigade, Brigadier Dariusz Lewandowski, told Rzeczpospolita that the task was the biggest challenge for Poland in terms of building an international combat structure since the country joined NATO in 1999. Six thousand soldiers will serve on the Spearhead Force, including four thousand from Poland, including other military units besides the rifles brigade. Soldiers from the United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Albania will also serve on the force.

Poland, which generates most of its electricity from coal, is planning to triple its solar energy capacity this year, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Polish radio on Wednesday.

Facing a general election on Sunday, the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) has maintained support for coal, a key industry in the Silesia region where Morawiecki’s constituency of Katowice is located. However, with awareness of air quality issues growing domestically and pressure from the European Union to cut carbon emissions ramping up, it has also pledged investment in photovoltaic, offshore wind and nuclear power to cut emissions.

Source – Reuters

A hydrogen-powered passenger car ran for the first time on the streets of Gdynia

The Toyota Mirai, one of the first mass produced hydrogen cell cars, was presented to the attendees of the 2nd Polish Conference on Hydrogen Energy and Technology 2 that took place last week in Gdynia. Hydrogen-technologies and modern developments were discussed by almost 300 participants at this year’s edition. During the conference a new initiative was announced – the launch of the Pomeranian Hydrogen Valley programme whose goal is to create conditions which will enable transport based solely on hydrogen obtained from renewable energy sources. (30 seconds)

The “Hy-way to Hel” project aiming at obtaining this goal, is set to build an ecosystem which will provide a minimum of 2000 tons of pure hydrogen for pulic transport and will establish hydrogen sea and rail transport to the Hel Peninsula.

The program will also affect a number of other areas, including research and development through the involvement of Polish universities with extensive use of the potential of the Gdańsk University of Technology.

The Weather

Friday is going to be cloudy with light rain and a fresh breeze throughout the day. Temperatures will reach 13 degrees centigrade (55 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, and 11 degrees centigrade (52 degrees fahrenheit) overnight.

The rain will die out into the early hours of Saturday morning leaving an overcast and grey day with chances of showers.

What’s On

First up tonight, and If you’d like to experience the excitement and thrills of motorcycle speedway, known as “żużel” in Polish, then head along to Gdansk’s very own speedway stadium near the old town. From 6pm this evening the Stadium will host the Golden Helmet Final where competitors will compete not only for the prestigious main trophy, but also other important prizes – places in the Speedway Grand Prix 2021 and Speedway European Championship 2020 qualifications. Tickets start at 15zl per person.

On Saturday there’s a whole host of attractions and events across the Three Cities. An interesting one for you is the „Dire Straits Symphonic” which brings the worlds of pop and classical music together at the Stary Menaż at 7pm. Two seemingly distant worlds – rock and symphonic music – meet in order to satisfy even the most demanding listeners with their richness and full sound. The Dire Straits Symphonic project was created thanks to work and the involvement of its originators: Krzysztof Herdzin – the author of brilliant orchestral arrangements, Kuba Badach – the vocalist with a unique voice and Marek Napiórkowski – the extraordinary guitarist. Tickets are available from 129 PLN.

And finally if rugby is your thing then why not head along to the LA rugby stadium tomorrow at 3pm to watch Lechia Gdańsk take on Juvenia Kraków in the 6th round of the Extra-League rugby season. The players from Kraków will be hoping to continue their winning streak – after 5 matches they are in 3rd place and have a strong international team that will provide an interesting challenge to the home team.

AG/RGEN