A massive effort is underway this week to contain forest fires burning in the country’s largest national park.

Biebrza National Park, in north-eastern Poland close to the city of Białystok, first raised alarms on April 19th. About 6,000 hectares, 10 pct. of the park’s area, is now ablaze. Fire crews from across the country have been sent to tackle the fires. While the cause is still not known, the park’s director said: „It is not possible now for fire to ignite itself – this is not the middle of summer” and attributed the fires to someone’s irresponsibility or stupidity.

Biebrza National Park contains rare marshlands and forests and is home to wildlife including cranes, eagle-owls, beavers and elk. The fires come amid the worst droughts in decades across much of Central and Eastern Europe. In recent weeks, neighboring Ukraine has also seen wildfires break out, including in the area of Pripyat, close to the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The news also comes as figures show 2019 was Europe’s hottest year on record and a warning from the Copernicus Climate Change Service that droughts will become more frequent in Central Europe in the rest of this century.

Sources: Copernicus Climate Change Service, Bloomberg

Polish FM calls for EU support for Ukraine

Poland’s Foreign Minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, has called on the EU to support Ukraine and other Eastern European in their fights against both coronavirus and Russian influence.

Speaking to his European counterparts in a teleconference yesterday, Mr Czaputowicz said: „Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries need strong European Union support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic”. A day earlier, the Foreign Minister said „Russia’s pressure on Kyiv remains strong” and called on the EU to support Ukrainian sovereignty and give it’s full backing to pro-European reforms being introduced by the Ukrainian government.

Conflict is ongoing in eastern Ukraine against Russian backed separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

Gdansk population reaches 470K

New figures this week show Gdansk’s population at its highest level since the fall of communism with just over 470,000 inhabitants.

The new numbers from the Polish Central Statistics Office are the highest since 1987, at the hight of the Solidarity movement. Population fell in the decades after the collapse of communism as many Poles relocated abroad for work. However, in Gdansk the trend has reversed in recent years, with about 10,000 moving into the city since 2014, driven by new job opportunities, investment, and a booming cultural scene.

Combined with Gdynia and Sopot, the Tricity metropolitan area has a population of just over 752,000 people, comparable to Denver, Colorado in the US.

Gdansk city government looks to support immigrants during pandemic

Gdansk city government is running a survey asking foreigners living in the city what support they need during the time of pandemic. The survey is available in English, Russian, and Ukrainian and can be found online or by following the links on the Radio Gdansk Twitter page.

Weather

No sign of that high pressure going anywhere just yet with more dry, sunny weather on the way. Highs today of 18°C, 64°F with a light breeze.

Radio Gdansk News/TAH