Mandator two-week coronavirus quarantine imposed on people crossing Polish borders has sparked protests of hundreds Poles working abroad. Many of them staged protests at border crossings with Germany and the Czech Republic.

As Poland's presidential election is approaching fast, critics of holding the vote under extreme circumstances caused by the coronavirus crisis do not stop raising concerns as to the fairness and transparency of such event. The ruling Law and Justice party keeps on reassuring a postal ballot would secure absolute safety for the citizens and guarantee democratic standards. Recent polls indicate the incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, would win the May 10 vote by a landslide. According to the Civic Platform party leader, Borys Budka, the surveys only show opposition voters do not want to take part in a postal vote.

"We should be in the Green Deal and not stand aside," opposition Civic Platform's presidential candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said on Wednesday. She reassured, during a radio debate on climate, Poland could achieve zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 or even earlier. Poland is the only EU member state not to have signed the so-called Green Deal.

The annual Holocaust remembrance event - the March of the Living - could not have been organised as usual because of the coronavirus restrictions. Instead, some 10,000 people made virtual plaques of remembrance that were projected onto the Birkenau gate at the camp in Poland and also onto the Israeli National Theatre Building in Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Morawiecki decided to earmark funds from the budget in fight to contain tragic fires that have already consumed about 6,000 hectares of Poland's largest natural treasure, the Biebrza National Park. Environmentalists say that the fire reflects ongoing climate change and urge the government to change its water management policies to fight the drought.

As the world marks Earth Day, Greenpeace activists unfurled a giant banner in front of a government building in Warsaw on Wednesday (April 22) urging Poland's nationalist government to focus on the well-being of its citizens and the environment rather than on the growth of the country's coal-reliant economy once a lockdown is lifted.

The Ministry of Health informed on Wednesday morning about 178 new coronavirus infections and death of 3 people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in Poland, 10,034 infection cases have been reported, of which 404 people have died.

Deputy PM Jadwiga Emilewicz announced on Tuesday the government would present a set of proposals later this week that would protect Polish companies struck by the coronavirus lockdown from being taken over on the cheap by private equity funds. "This is also taking care that Polish companies, which have been built laboriously for 30 years, do not become a cheap target in this difficult situation," Emilewicz told a press conference.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and his Agreement party - a junior partner in the ruling coalition led by Law and Justice (PiS) - on Monday began talks with opposition Civic Platform (PO) party aimed at delaying the presidential election scheduled for May 10. PiS wants to carry out the election as planned, but only through postal voting. Agreement wants the election to be postponed until 2022.

U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, commented in a tweet on the announcement made last week by "Fakty" TVN anchor Grzegorz Kajdanowicz on behalf of the editorial team, in response to a wave of attacks on TVN and its journalists, made by state-owned TVP television.

As of Monday (April 20), a ban on moving, travelling and remaining in public places has been lifted. Furthermore, forests, parks and beaches have been reopened, with the exception of playgrounds and sport facilities. Children above 13 years of age may from now on move about without parents.

As of Sunday, April 19, Polish government has confirmed 9,287 coronavirus infection cases and 360 deaths. The new daily record of new infections has been reported one day before the new, eased set of restrictions comes into effect.

A sound of blaring sirens echoed through the streets of downtown Warsaw to mark the 77th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the official commemorations had not been organised.

Polish Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski said on Friday the nearest time safe elections in traditional form are possible would be in two years. He added the only other safe way to hold elections would be by post. Poland is scheduled to hold a presidential election in May and the ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) have advocated a postal vote. As of Friday evening, Poland had reported 8379 cases of the coronavirus and 332 deaths.

The Sejm decided on Thursday to send the controversial "Stop Paedophilia" bill to parliamentary commission for further examination. The authors of this citizens' initiative, which would jail people who promote underage sex for up to three years, said sex educators were often people who "groom and familiarise children with homosexuality".

Polish government announced a 4-stage plan to ease restrictions imposed on citizens in fight against the coronavirus spread. Green spaces, such as parks and forests, will reopen from April 20, and more people will be allowed in shops at one time. "These steps ... do not mean the epidemic is over," Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski stressed at a conference on Thursday. Poles are required to wear protective masks in public places at all times.

Chairman of junior coalition member Agreement, former deputy PM Jarosław Gowin, announced on Thursday his faction would seek cross-party support for the plan to extend president's term up to seven years, which would keep incumbent Andrzej Duda in office until 2022. As a constitutional change, this would require opposition backing to secure the necessary two-thirds approval. In the meantime, citizens' bill tightening abortion laws has been sent to parliamentary commission for detailed analysis.

Polish parliament on Wednesday a citizens' initiative to further tighten already strict abortion rules. "We are talking about whether in Poland we can cut people into pieces without anaesthetic," Kaja Godek, one of the authors of the proposal, told parliament. Barbara Nowacka, a leftist member of parliament said the initiative would only expose poor women to fear. Spokeswoman for the ruling Law and Justice party said that parliament would probably vote on Thursday to send the measure to a committee for further deliberations.

A draft law that, if passed, would allow prison sentences for sex educators is among other highly controversial bills the Polish lower house, the Sejm, is set to vote over on Thursday. The underlying idea behind the project is, as its authors claim, that paedophiles and LGBT+ activists often use sex education to "groom and familiarise children with homosexuality". Since coming to power in 2015, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has targeted LGBT+ rights as an invasive foreign influence that threatens Poland's national identity.

The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) have put forward a draft legislation that would extend presidential mandate from five to seven years. The move would require amending the constitution. If passed, the law would extend President Andrzej Duda's, a PiS ally, term up to 2022. The election next month has been clouded in uncertainty amid restrictions on public life imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Polish lower house is to proceed over draft laws, put forward as citizens' initiative, that would further limit instances in which abortion would be legal. The ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party had once already backed out from pushing stricter anti-abortion rules after massive protest staged across the country. This time PiS is under fire for attempting to pass the controversial agenda when coronavirus restrictions made public gatherings illegal. Despite the restrictions, some women, standing apart and wearing face masks, protested on Tuesday in Kraków, while in Warsaw some drivers stuck "Women's Strike" protest banners in their car windows. By Wednesday, about 700,000 people had signed an online petition to the government to oppose the proposal. Several other citizens' bills are also on the agenda on Wednesday, highlighting a growing presence of conservative and far-right voices in public debate.

Poland's lower house is ready to debate the proposals on abortion and sexual education that were submitted during the last term and must be discussed by May. The former bill is aimed to tighten already very strict abortion rules, seriously affecting rights and safety of women in the country. The latter, on the other hand, may violate the right of children to comprehensive sexuality education. Critics accuse Poland's ruling Law and Justice party of trying to push the controversial and widely protested agenda through parliament in the time of coronavirus chaos. Human Rights Watch is one of the institutions speaking against the idea. "The Polish government's focus during the pandemic should be to protect people's health and rights, not diminish them."

Restrictions imposed in Poland to curb the spread of coronavirus will most likely be gradually lifted starting April 19, government officials informed on Tuesday. Shops would be the first facilities to see the limitations withdrawn. Poland's borders will remain closed until May 3. The number of coronavirus infections has gone up to 7,049 with 251 deaths.

The 10th anniversary of Smolensk crash commemorations were held in a low key fashion on Friday (April 10) due to coronavirus crisis. Senior officials laid wreaths at a monument in Warsaw to honour late president Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria, and 94 others who died in the crash. Poland has yet again asked Russia to return the wreckage of the presidential Tupolev. Russia, in turn, has released a video showing the wreckage and an official stating there was no evidence of an explosion on board the plane.

The European Commission informed on Friday (April 10) it has green-lighted Poland's government plan to aid the country's economy, suffering due to coronavirus crisis. The 115-million-euro scheme is meant to partially cover interest on business loans and will take the form of direct grants.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski on Thursday announced restrictions on citizens have been further extended in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Borders will be shut until May 3, businesses will remain locked down until April 19 and limits for schools, as well as rail and air transport, will be extended for another two weeks.

Poland should immediately suspend the powers of a Supreme Court chamber created to discipline judges since it is not independent and thereby in breach of EU law, the European Union's top court ruled on Wednesday. The decision comes as a blow to Poland and its ruling euroskeptic Law and Justice party (PiS), which has been at odds with the EU's executive arm, over its judiciary reforms since it took power in 2015.

After Polish lower house has approved an idea to hold presidential election by postal voting, critics raise concerns regarding transparency and fairness of the planned ballot. "I urge lawmakers to think carefully about the consequences of their decision," the head of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, said in a statement. The upper house - the Senate - which is controlled by the opposition, now has 30 days to consider the bill, though it effectively cannot reject it.

Poland's lower house on Monday passed a legislation green-lighting postal voting in May 10 presidential election. Earlier on that that the chamber rejected the first draft submitted by the ruling Law and Justice party, which the critics accuse of risking public health only to make sure their candidate, incumbent Andrzej Duda, gets re-elected. In the late-evening vote, however, PiS enforced party discipline and managed to push their agenda through the Sejm.

Poland's lower house, the Sejm, on Monday (April 6) voted against the plan to hold presidential election as scheduled on May 10 but by postal voting. The ruling Law and Justice party maintains the election should take place. The critics, on the other hand, accuse the party of putting the incumbent Andrzej Duda's reelection before public health. Earlier on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin, of junior coalition member party Agreement, announced his resignation over the election issue, saying the vote should be postponed until 2022. Poland has confirmed 4,413 coronavirus infections so far with 107 deaths.