Polish President Andrzej Duda has been in Belgium this week attending anniversary commemorations of the Battle of the Bulge.
Senior figures from several European and North American nations were present at the event, including the King and Queen of Belgium, German President Steinmeier, and a bipartisan delegation from the United States, as well as representatives of the UK, France, Canada, and the EU among others.
Speaking at a ceremony in the Belgian town of Bastogne, President Duda said „We are meeting today … to commemorate all those men who fought here for a free world, a free Europe”.
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Battle of the Ardennes was a bloody battle in the snow-covered forests of southern Belgium, France, and Luxembourg in the final months of WW2. For six weeks allied troops fought in extreme conditions, taking some 75,000 casualties. Some of those who fought in the battle made the journey from America to attend the ceremony.
POLISH AND BALTIC DEFENCE MINISTERS MEET
Defence ministers from Poland and the Baltic Countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia met in Tallinn to discuss defence in the Baltic region.
The four countries were meeting in wake of the Nato summit in London earlier this month, where the alliance agreed new plans for Baltic defence.
Speaking at the meeting in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak stressed the importance of Poland and the Baltic States as Nato’s eastern flank. He said „Our four countries are key, not only for the Baltic region, but all of NATO. We are located on its eastern flank, which is of huge strategic value to the Alliance.”
Both Błaszczak and his Baltic counterparts emphasised the alliance with the US and being especially important.
5G COMING TO TRÓJMIASTO IN 2020
5G is coming to Tricity as network operator Play announces plans for Poland’s first large-scale fifth generation mobile network.
P4 telecommunications, which operates Play, announced it would launch the new service in Gdynia before moving on to cover the rest of the Tricity agglomeration.
Interestingly, Play has also said it will use new technology to run 5G on largely existing infrastructure and bandwidths, meaning the new network can be operational must faster.
The operator will modernise over 100 base stations around Tricity to set up the network, which is expected to begin testing as soon as early next year, well ahead of any other cities in the country.
5G is the next generation of mobile phone network, following on from 4G LTE. It is expected to be capable of delivering speeds of up to 20 Gigabytes per second, making all kinds of developments possible.
FIVE MILLION PASSENGERS FOR GDANSK LECH WALESA AIRPORT
It was a very special welcome to Gdansk yesterday for one little girl and her mum.
Hania and Marzena Bujawska arrived to cheers, music, and dancing when they arrived at Gdańsk Airport on Monday, becoming the airport’s five millionth and five million and first passengers of 2019.
It’s a new record for the airport, which reached four million back in 2016.
2019 has been a big year for Poland’s third busiest airport, with a terminal extension and a huge new office development in the works.
The airport, named after famous Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa, also made the top 5 in this year’s Airhelp airport rankings, which compares international airports from all over the world.
Now, the airport will finish the year with another new record, topping five million passengers for the first time as Mrs Bujawska and her daughter came through the arrivals gate on Monday afternoon.
They’ll now be jetting off again, with their prize of free return tickets.
WEATHER
Mostly cloudy today with some sun in places. Temperatures warmer than normal for this time of year, reaching up to 7°C, 44°F, and even up to 9°C tomorrow morning, that’s 48°F.
RGEN/TAH
