TVN24 News in English

TVN24 News in English

Jakub Kumoch leaves president's chancellery. He will be replaced by Marcin Przydacz

Jakub Kumoch announced on Thursday (Jan. 12) he was leaving the Chancellery of the President of Poland. "Supporting the Republic of Poland in the first months of the war and taking part in shaping Polish-Ukrainian relations was an honour to me. Unfortunately, the family situation and permanent separation from my dearest have turned out an insurmountable obstacle for me and my children," he said in a statement. A few hours later, the chancellery informed that Kumoch would be replaced by Marcin Przydacz, a foreign ministry undersecretary.

President Duda visits symbolic cemetery in Lviv and receives applause from Ukrainians

"This ovation was for our whole society for showing heart, for openness," Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday (January 11), commenting on his meeting with residents of Lviv and huge ovation he had received from them. Duda said that the Poles were helping the Ukrainians despite the crisis and many other worries. "Our Ukrainian neighbours see it and acknowledge it," he stressed. He also mentioned his visit to the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów, calling it symbolic. "This cemetery is a burial ground of defenders of Poland, defenders of Lviv against Soviet aggression," Polish president said.

Henley Passport Index for Q1 2023. Poland high in global ranking

Japanese passport is the strongest travel document in the world, according to the latest ranking released by Henley & Partners. Japanese citizens are now able to visit an astonishing 193 destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. Polish passport, along with the Hungarian, has been ranked 9th.

Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski on a visit to Kyiv

Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski visited Kyiv on Wednesday (January 11), assisted by his counterparts from Prague, Budapest, and Bratislava. This was his first trip to Ukraine's capital city since Russia attacked that country in February last year.

U.S. Ambassador to Poland: if Ukraine pushes Russia out, it will be the biggest endorsement of Western democracy

In an interview for TVN24, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski wished peace to Ukraine and prosperity and growth to Poland in 2023. He said that in 2023, he hoped for "peace in Ukraine, prosperity and thriving in Poland". He added that "if the Ukrainian people win and push Russia back out of Ukraine, it will be the biggest endorsement of the Western definition of democracy and free market that we will have seen in years". "The military cooperation between America and Poland is stronger than it's ever been," Brzezinski stressed. The ambassador also argued that "freedom of the press is one of the fundamental ways of protecting our populations against disinformation".

"It's crucial not to be afraid and speak out loud". Polish free media united in support for TVN in a dispute with KRRiT

"We've been through this. As a matter of fact, for us TVN is like a barometer of the government's actions with respect to the media. What the central government has been doing in the last few years, we've been facing in these years locally, on our soil," said Andrzej Andrysiak, an editor of Gazeta Radomszczańska. According to Wojciech Szacki of Polityka Insight, Antoni Macierewicz's accusations against TVN24 journalist Piotr Świerczek are "a bunch of insults, rather than a rational polemic with a journalistic material".

Six Constitutional Tribunal judges demand new court president be appointed

Six Constitutional Tribunal judges demaned a General Assembly be summoned in order to select candidates for this court's new president. They claim that the sitting president Julia Przyłębska's term has ended. In turn, Przyłębska issued a statement in that regard. Country's president Andrzej Duda also commented on the issue on Thursday (January 5).

Flash estimate: December inflation at 16.6%

Inflation in December 2022 was at 16.6% year on year - according to a preliminary data released by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (Statistics Poland). Economy experts expected a 17.3% increase in consumer prices.

MOD chief signs purchase deal on 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks

Poland's Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak has signed a deal foreseeing purchase of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks from the United States. "We are strengthening Polish Armed Forces in order to realistically and effectively deter an aggressor. One of the elements of this strengthening is to provide Polish Army with equipment that is the crucial argument in our entire deterrence policy. Abrams tanks are such an argument," the minister said.

Unprecedented support from Poland's largest media outlets. "The Power of a Lie" report published on dozens of websites

As a sign of solidarity with TVN24, dozens of Poland's largest nationwide and local media outlets have decided to publish on their websites a report titled "The Power of a Lie" by our own Piotr Świerczek. The report exposes lack of reliability in the works of the so called Smolensk Subcommittee led by MP Antoni Macierewicz, whose task was to investigate the 2010 presidential aircraft crash that killed Poland's then president Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and 94 other people. Now, instead of safeguarding the freedom of speech, Poland's National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), acting on Antoni Macierewicz's request, seeks to punish TVN for its report.

Man detained for trying to smuggle live peregrine falcons into Poland

National Revenue Administration officers from Rzeszów have prevented an attempt to smuggle five live peregrine falcons from Ukraine into Poland. They detained a 57-year-old man at a border crossing in Medyka and charged him with animal cruelty. Also criminal proceedings have been launched against the smuggler.

"We have 300,000 infections a week". Poland struggles with COVID-19, RSV, and the flu

This is a real perfect storm of infections. I can't remember an infection season like this one - chairman of Warsaw Family Doctors Dr Michał Sutkowski told TVN24 on Tuesday (January 3). He was referring to a wave of influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 infections that is sweeping through Poland. Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska announced that 389,000 people contracted the flu virus in the last nine days.

PM Morawiecki: I'm a supporter of the death penalty

The death penalty for heaviest crimes should be permissible. I don't agree with the teachings of the Church in that regard, because I'm a supporter of the death penalty, although we don't have it - said Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Three ancient swords found in a parcel sent from Ukraine

National Revenue Administration from Lublin (Revenue Administration Chamber in Lublin) have discovered three ancient swords in a postal parcel sent from Ukraine. Two of them are typical Scythian culture weapons, whereas the third is a Sarmatian sword. The market value of the artefacts has been estimated at 6,000 zlotys.

City of Rzeszów will finance in vitro fertilisation

Poland's southeastern city of Rzeszów will earmark 650,000 zlotys to finance in vitro fertilisation (IVF) programme for residents. This should be enough to support at least 40 couples struggling with infertility, but who are eager to have a baby.

Poland's top cop injured by exploding present

Poland's most senior police officer was injured and hospitalised when a present he received during a visit to Ukraine exploded at police headquarters in Warsaw, Poland's interior ministry said on Thursday.