TVN24 News in English

TVN24 News in English

Government spokesman: changes in constitution needed to increase defence spending

At today's meeting with leaders of parliamentary groups, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will propose a package of solutions which will require changes in the constitution, government spokesperson Piotr Müller said on Monday. He added that said proposals would include removing public debt ceiling on army spending and a possiblity to confiscate assets of Russian oligarchs and state.

Smaller towns organise support and shelter for refugees

Poland's Commissioner for Human Rights, Marcin Wiącek, appeals to Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression to also choose smaller Polish cities as their destination. Local mayors say refugees are welcome to seek shelter in their towns. They also encourage newcomers assuring them that it's much faster to sort out all the necessary formalities, and that it may be even easier to find accomodation and work than in the major cities. What's necessary to make the help for the refugees more effective? Money, charity gifts, and volunteers.

Russian vessel SMP Novodvinsk has left port in Szczecin after overhaul

A ship under the Russian flag, SMP Novodvinsk, left Marine Ship Repair Yard "Gryfia" in Szczecin on Thursday. In January, the vessel ran aground in Szczecin Bay and was taken to the local shipyard. It remained there also when Russia attacked Ukraine in late February. According to media reports, Ukrainian employees at "Gryfia" refused to repair the ship. The shipyard issued a statement in which it informed that Novodvinsk was halted "in accordance with the contract provisions".

Senate approves homeland defence bill increasing army spending

Poland's upper house of parliament, the Senate, unanimously approved on Thursday a homeland defence bill, which main aim is to increase budget spending on defence, increase the number of Polish troops, re-launching of military reserve force, as well as advancing military training capabilites. The bill will now be sent to President Andrzej Duda, whose office announced he would sign it as soon as possible.

Major traffic control outage halts trains across Poland

Railways ground to a halt in many places across Poland on Thursday, disrupting an important means of transport for Ukrainian refugees after what the transport minister said was a traffic control system outage impacting several countries.

"We must speak in one voice about trade ban" Mayors of Poland's Tricity visited Lviv

Local government representatives from the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland on Wednesday met with the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi and his associates. Polish delegation and Lviv authorities discussed ways in which Pomerania could help Ukraine, including offering hospital space in Pomeranian hospitals for the wounded, as well as providing medical equipment for Lviv hospital.

President Duda in Turkey: there's a refugee crisis in Poland, we need international support

President Andrzej Duda went to Turkey's capital city of Ankara, where he spoke with the country's head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Ukraine and refugees fleeing from that country to Poland. "We can clearly state that we have a refugee crisis in our country. If we don't receive international support, we will be in a very, very difficult situation," Duda stressed at a press conference held with Erdogan.

Polish banks blocked Russian diplomats from withdrawing over 2 million euro in cash

After Russian invasion into Ukraine, diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Warsaw tried to withdraw over 2 million euro (approx. 10 million zloty) in cash. According to information learned by tvn24.pl, the withdrawal attempts were blocked by banks in cooperation with the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIFI) - an institution responsible for preventing money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.

Prices keep surging. Latest inflation data

Inflation in Poland was at 8.5% in February in a year-on-year comparison, according to the latest data released by Statistics Poland. Analysts argue that prices spike has temporarily slowed down thanks to the anti-inflationary shield. "A new chapter will begin in March with inflation higher than 10%" - mBank economists said in their comment on the latest data.

Morawiecki and Kaczyński travel to Kiev by train to show support for Ukraine

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia were travelling to Kyiv by train on Tuesday to show support for the country on behalf of the EU, the first foreign leaders to visit the Ukrainian capital since Russia invaded last month. Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki is travelling along with the chairman of the country's ruling party and Deputy PM Jarosław Kaczyński.

Poland's Ambassador to NATO: the Alliance has launched its defensive plans

Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to NATO, Tomasz Szatkowski, told TVN24 on Friday that the Alliance has launched its defensive plans. "Both the territory and the airspace are protected with special vigilance," he said. The ambassador added that the fighting Ukrainians were receiving help from individual NATO member states, although the Alliance as a whole was not taking part in the conflict. He also told TVN24 that the issue of potential handing Polish fighter jets over to the USA has been "ended".

Deputy ombudsperson: we ask the government for proper coordination of help for refugees

Poland's deputy ombudsperson dr Hanna Machińska spoke in TVN24 on Friday about the urgent need of proper coordination of the support offered to refugees from Ukraine. "We call upon the public administration for better coordination of efforts," she stressed. "We can see that this cooperation is breaking up in a number of key places. It's not enough to just give public statements and say that everything works fine," Machińska added.