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Polish MPs vote through legislation just as top court rules its provisions unlawfulA confrontation between the Polish government and senior judges has escalated dramatically after the country’s supreme court and parliament issued conflicting rulings on the legality of judicial reforms.The rival rulings, which concern attempts by the ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) to assume direct control over the judiciary, have thrown the...

Event hit by controversy as presidents of Russia, Germany and France – but not Poland – invited to speakPoland’s president has pulled out of an event in Israel to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz after being told he would not be allowed to speak at the event, but Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, would.The move comes amid anger in Poland over...

Mateusz Morawiecki attacks Russian president’s ‘lies’ blaming Poland for start of warPoland’s prime minister has launched a furious response to claims by Vladimir Putin that Poland was partially responsible for the outbreak of the second world war.It is the latest episode in a bitter conflict over historical memory that is likely to intensify as the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazism approaches next...

Parents appeal for information on urn being carried in suitcase taken from carA Swedish couple have appealed for information about a wooden urn containing their son’s ashes which was stolen while they were on holiday in Cyprus.Police said the urn was inside one of three suitcases taken from the couple’s car within a 20-minute period on Friday while it was parked outside a restaurant...

Mayors of Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava and Budapest agree to protect common valuesThe mayors of four central European capitals signed a so-called “Pact of Free Cities” in Budapest on Monday, vowing to stand together against populist national governments in the region.Budapest’s mayor Gergely Karácsony was joined by his counterparts from Warsaw, Prague and Bratislava to sign the document, which promised to promote the “common values...

Poland opts out of 2050 net-zero emissions after hours of wrangling over timetables and moneyEuropean Union leaders have vowed to press on with a major economic plan to confront the climate emergency, despite Poland’s opt-out from a net-zero emissions target by 2050.The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, told journalists he had secured an exemption for Poland on the 2050 target, which is meant to...

German chancellor pledges further €60m donation to Auschwitz FoundationAngela Merkel has for the first time visited the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, site of one of the most notorious atrocities Adolf Hitler’s regime inflicted on Europe.The German chancellor also pledged a donation of €60m (£51m) towards a fund to conserve the physical remnants of the site of the barracks, watchtowers and personal items...

Move came after Auschwitz Memorial in Poland called on the e-commerce company to remove the ‘disrespectful’ productsA Polish museum has criticised US e-commerce giant Amazon for selling Christmas ornaments decorated with images of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.The museum at the site of the former camp in southern Poland tweeted screenshots of the items showing train tracks and barracks and requested that Amazon...

Pew research reveals very different views on whether countries are better off todayThirty years after the fall of communism, few people in Europe’s former eastern bloc regret the monumental political, social and economic change it unleashed – but at the same time few are satisfied with the way things are now, and many worry for the future.A Pew Research Center survey of 17 countries,...

Analysts say tactic of cooperation against nationalist parties appears to be workingA narrower-than-expected win for Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and a serious setback for Hungary’s governing Fidesz show eastern Europe’s illiberal nationalist parties are not entirely invincible, analysts and commentators have said.“It looks like this may be a small step in the right direction – but it’s clear the opposition still...

Almost complete election results show party has done even better than four years agoPoland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party has scored a convincing victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, with almost complete results indicating a parliamentary majority and another four-year term in office.According to results from 99.5% of constituencies published by the electoral committee on Monday, Law and Justice took 43.8% of the vote,...

Conservative ruling party took 43.6% of vote according to Ipsos poll which also shows return of leftwing parties and seats for far-rightPoland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party is set to win a majority in the country’s parliament and secure another four-year term, according to an exit poll published at the close of voting on Sunday night.The poll, conducted by Ipsos for private broadcaster...

The rightwing Law and Justice party may be authoritarian and anti-LGBT, but its welfare programmes have transformed the lives of low-income Poles“Every good Pole should know what the role of the church is … because beyond the church there is only nihilism.”– Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the Law and Justice party, 7 September Continue reading...

Magdalena Adamowicz draws sense of purpose from murder of husband Paweł, a critic of nationalismNewly elected MEP Magdalena Adamowicz is on a mission to craft new Europe-wide laws on hate speech, and she has more moral authority to make the demands than most.Her husband, Paweł Adamowicz, for more than two decades the mayor of the northern Polish city of Gdańsk, was stabbed while on...

European leaders, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, marked the 80th anniversary of the start of the second world war in Warsaw on Sunday. But Donald Trump – who cancelled on his Polish hosts at the last minute last week, citing concerns over a hurricane barrelling towards Florida – was due to spend the day at his golf club in Virginia.Trump heads for the golf course as leaders gather to...

Frank-Walter Steinmeier makes speech at Warsaw event to mark 80 years since start of warThe German president vowed his country would never forget the atrocities of the Nazi period on Sunday as he asked forgiveness from Poland during a series of commemorative events to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war.“In no other square in Europe do I find...

Dead include two children after thunderstorm in trekking location in the Tatra mountainsAt least five people, including two children, have died and more than 100 have been injured during a sudden thunderstorm in Poland and Slovakia’s Tatra mountains, according to rescuers.Most of the victims were in Poland, where lightning struck a metal cross atop Mount Giewont as well as a metal chain near the...

Explosives could be used to open up route to pair trapped in cavern in Tatra mountains More than two dozen rescue workers are battling to save two cavers trapped in a cavern in the Tatra mountains in Poland after a narrow tunnel flooded with water.A representative of the rescue service said on Sunday it had not yet been possible to establish contact with the...