INSIDER
Poland prepares to vote in a high-stakes national election with foreign ties and democracy at stake
Read full article: Poland prepares to vote in a high-stakes national election with foreign ties and democracy at stakePoland is holding an election Sunday that many view as its most important one since the 1989 vote that toppled communism.
Polish democracy champion Lech Walesa turns 80 and comments on his country's upcoming election
Read full article: Polish democracy champion Lech Walesa turns 80 and comments on his country's upcoming electionFormer Polish President Lech Walesa says he is supporting opposition leader Donald Tuskโs effort to oust Polandโs conservative government in the countryโs parliamentary election next month.
Hundreds of thousands march in Poland anti-government protests to show support for democracy
Read full article: Hundreds of thousands march in Poland anti-government protests to show support for democracyHundreds of thousands of people have marched in an anti-government protest in Polandโs capital.
Jerzy Urban, spokesman for Polish communist govt, dies at 89
Read full article: Jerzy Urban, spokesman for Polish communist govt, dies at 89A spokesman for Polandโs communist-era government in the 1980s who masterminded state propaganda and censorship for a regime in the final years before its collapse has died.
By chance, Polish cop helps Lech Walesa with flat tire in US
Read full article: By chance, Polish cop helps Lech Walesa with flat tire in USA Connecticut state trooper who is a native of Poland got quite the surprise while responding to an SUV with a flat tire โ a passenger in the vehicle happened to be former Polish President Lech Walesa.
Biden sends subtle message to Polish leaders on democracy
Read full article: Biden sends subtle message to Polish leaders on democracyPresident Joe Biden used his speech in Poland's capital to forcefully denounce Russia's Vladimir Putin, but Biden seemed to have a more subtle message for his Polish hosts.
Central European leaders push for faster vaccine deliveries
Read full article: Central European leaders push for faster vaccine deliveries(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW โ Central European leaders pushed Wednesday for faster deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines from every reliable manufacturer to speed up inoculations which they said is the way to conquer the pandemic and jump-start Europeโs economic recovery. The leaders of Hungary, Slovakia and Poland said they support purchasing vaccines from manufacturers regardless of โgeopoliticsโ provided they are safe and effective. Hungary is the European Union's first and so far only member state to administer Russia's Sputnik V vaccine without waiting for approval from the European Medicines Agency. โThere is no Eastern or Western vaccine, there is only a good or a bad vaccine,โ Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference in Krakow, Poland. European Council President Charles Michel, who attended the celebrations, said EU leaders will discuss next week ways of increasing vaccine production and of speeding up inoculations.
Central Europe presidents mark 30 years of Visegrad Group
Read full article: Central Europe presidents mark 30 years of Visegrad GroupThe group, also known as V4, often works out joint positions in international ties, especially within the European Union. Opening the ceremonial meeting, Duda said the V4 group has had a positive role in European and trans-Atlantic ties. โThe group is an important, if not the key catalyst of the regional cooperation in all of Central Europe and contributes significantly to the cooperation and political processes regarding the EU and NATO," Duda said. Poland currently holds the group's 12-month rotating presidency, which it will hand over to Hungary on July 1. ___A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of the Slovakia presidentโs name to Zuzana Caputova, not Zuzanna Czaputova.
EXPLAINER: How do other democratic nations select leaders?
Read full article: EXPLAINER: How do other democratic nations select leaders?SPAINIn Spain, the Congress of Deputies elects the prime minister. In 1996, this led to an awkward situation for the would-be prime minister. As votes were being counted, Jose Maria Aznar's conservative Popular Party thought it won enough seats to make him prime minister. Then, the party that wins the largest number of the 650 constituencies generally takes power, with the party leader becoming prime minister. That means the prime minister must officially be approved by the Queenโs representative in New Zealand, the governor-general.
Poles voice fears of 'Polexit' as govt defies EU over budget
Read full article: Poles voice fears of 'Polexit' as govt defies EU over budgetFILE - In this Jan. 11, 2020 file photo, protesters carry an EU flag at an anti-government protest in Warsaw, Poland. Poland's conservative government denies that it has ever wanted to leave the 27-member bloc and popular support for EU membership runs very high. The fears of a hypothetical Polexit are fueled by Brexit, Britain's messy divorce from the EU, which is seen as accidental. โI cannot imagine Poland outside of the European Union remaining a democratic and liberal country,โ Buras said. Poland's three living former presidents, noting their own long efforts to build a democratic nation, asked the government in a joint appeal this week โto stop blackmailing other European Union countries."
Poland marks 40 years since key pro-democracy agreement
Read full article: Poland marks 40 years since key pro-democracy agreementPoland on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020 celebrated 40 years since it took a crucial step toward democracy with the creation of the Soviet bloc's first free trade union, Solidarity, which changed the course of the nation's history. (Bjoern Elgstrand/Reportagebild via AP, file)WARSAW Poland on Monday celebrated 40 years since it took a crucial step toward democracy with the creation of the Soviet bloc's first free trade union, Solidarity, which changed the course of the nation's history. He was speaking at a place symbolic for Solidarity the gate of the Gdansk Shipyard where 40 years ago he signed the agreement alongside a government representative. Poland is now drawing international attention to the developments in Belarus that resemble its own struggle for independence. The road to Polands freedom, that started 40 years ago, was difficult, rough and tragic but the Poles never lost hope, Mosbacher said in her tweet.