TVN24 News in English

TVN24 News in English

Crew abandon aircraft after bringing Ukrainian refugees to Poland

The crew of an Azur Air Ukraine plane have abandoned the aircraft after bringing the last group of Ukrainian refugees from Egypt to Solidarity Szczecin-Goleniów Airport in Poland. The crew members told the airport staff that they were no longer working for the carrier. If the owner does not request to get the aircraft back, it will most likely be sold.

Former U.S. Ambassador Daniel Fried: Biden's visit to Poland will express solidarity of the West

U.S. President Joe Biden will come to Poland on Friday. Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried told TVN24 that Biden's visit "is an important moment for the West and for the defence of freedom". Fried also told TVN24's Piotr Kraśko that Biden was likely to "express the solidarity of the West – the United States and Europe – to defeat Putin’s aggression, to defend freedom in Ukraine, and to not accept Putin’s diktat as fait accompli". The former ambassador added that Biden wanted to underscore "special solidarity with Poland, which is a frontline state and has accepted 2 million Ukrainian refugees with a generosity of spirit that reminds us all that human beings can rise and act according to their better angels," the former U.S. Ambassador to Poland said.

Tusk: we discussed very serious issues, but government side wasn't completely serious

"The problem is that although the situation is very serious, and so were the discussed issues, our government partners were not completely serious," chairman of Civic Platform Donald Tusk said after the meeting of opposition leaders and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. In his opinion, "it's still more about politics rather than actual work for the homeland's safety".

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.