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Post by Bonobo on Jun 17, 2010 14:47:59 GMT 1
Poland begins process for extraditing ‘Mossad agent’ to Germany
17.06.2010 11:54
The Prosecutors Office in Warsaw has addressed a motion to the local District Court to extradite Uri Brodsky to Germany.
The extradition request has been confirmed by spokeswoman for the Warsaw Prosecutors Office, Monika Lewandowska. In turn, District Court spokesman Wojciech Malek said the case will be reviewed no sooner than in 10 days.
Uri Brodsky is an alleged Mossad agent linked to the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, in January. He was detained at Warsaw International Airport last week after German authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant accusing Brodsky of aiding a third person in illegally obtaining a German passport.
According to procedure, the Polish prosecutor, formally representing Germany, needs to interrogate the suspect and ask him if he agrees to be extradited. If Brodsky agrees, he will be transferred to Germany within ten days, if not, the court in Warsaw will have 60 to 90 days to decide what to do with him. So far Uri Brodsky has not agreed to be extradited, claiming that he is innocent.
According to police in Dubai the killing of the Palestinian Hamas leader had been masterminded by the Israeli intelligence service. The case sparked sharp international reaction when it was disclosed the group which carried out the assassination made use of passports issued in the name of citizens of various EU countries. www.thenews.pl/international/artykul133727_poland-begins-process-for-extraditing-mossad-agent-to-germany.html
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Post by valpomike on Jun 17, 2010 17:51:08 GMT 1
Send him back to Germany to stand trial for his part, if he has one.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 5, 2010 21:40:48 GMT 1
What ? Even cigarettes are Made In China?
Chinese contraband cigarettes swamp Poland
03.09.2010 10:28
An increasing number of contraband cigarettes from China are being smuggled to Poland.
In the first half of this year customs officers seized over 20 million cigarettes from China, which is the same amount as in the whole 2009.
“Contraband cigarettes are shipped from China to the Polish ports of Gdynia and Gdansk,” says head of the Customs Service Jacek Kapica.
In 2005, Poland signed an agreement with the EU and China on customs cooperation and combating crime. “However, so far there have been no joint investigations or information exchange,” said Kapica, who is in Shanghai to participate in a conference on the EU-China customs cooperation.
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 1, 2010 20:52:25 GMT 1
Brits polish up their Polish
30.09.2010 09:28
The Polish language is enjoying a growing popularity among residents of Peterborough in England.
As more and more Poles are starting up shops selling Polish food, running accounting and removal firms and publishing their own community newspapers, the city authorities have decided to start Polish language classes for locals. In most cases the courses are public financed.
Clive Mariner, manager from City College, told Polish Radio that the main aim has been to improve communication between Polish and British employers and employees.
He also disclosed that social contacts play a no small incentive for studying Polish. Mixed marriages are another stimulus to attend Polish classes. Specialist courses have been organized for rescue services, policemen and medical staff.
Peterborough, north of London, has a 16,000 strong community of immigrants from Eastern Europe, primarily from Poland. Poles currently constitute 10 per cent of the local workforce.
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 7, 2010 19:06:54 GMT 1
This news shows we are really United States of Europe.
Thousands of Polish kids get UK benefits - in Poland!
07.10.2010 16:42
Around 40,000 children living in Poland are receiving child welfare benefits paid in the UK.
The child support is being paid to Poles - and other EU nationals working in Britain - who have left their children at home in their home countries.
The arrangement is reciprocal for all EU member states. In theory, British parents can claim child benefit in Poland for kids still in the UK. But as child benefit is much higher in Britain, few Brits would claim in Warsaw or Krakow for children living in London or Manchester.
Conservative MP Philip Hammond is quoted by the Daily Telegraph (UK) as saying: "With Britain facing a debt crisis […] it beggars belief that [Britain] is continuing to send millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to children who don't even live in this country."
In Poland, each child receives around 790 zloty annually from child benefit, while in the UK the payment is the equivalent of 5,345 zloty, according to figures by the OECD.
The new Conservative-Liberal coalition government in the UK has mooted the idea of ending universal welfare payments such as child benefit, and means testing families according to income. But reciprocal benefit laws within the EU are outside the government‘s powers to reform.
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 17, 2010 23:03:50 GMT 1
Poland and UK at loggerheads over EU budget
17.12.2010 10:28
Poland and Great Britain are in conflict over the level of the EU’s budget, with Warsaw seeking to protect the amount of subsidies it receives and London determined to make cuts in spending in the future.
"There is a clear division about the issue, and Britain and Poland are on the opposite poles of this dispute," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday before the start of the EU summit in Brussels, which this month is focusing on finance policy, including hammering out details of a permanent bailout mechanism for debt-ridden member states.
The UK’s prime minister David Cameron, supported by France and Germany, wants a freeze to the budget from 2014 onwards, while Prime Minister Tusk is concerned that this would badly hit regional aid policy.
Cameron is thought to be trying to persuade up to 10 nations to sign a letter calling for a budget freeze.
The budget is currently set at 141.5 billion euros annually.
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Post by valpomike on Dec 18, 2010 16:00:53 GMT 1
Why would Cameron even care? And who thinks this is good? Why pick on Poland?
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 27, 2011 21:32:49 GMT 1
Outrage after Halloween in, Easter out of EU calendar
26.01.2011 10:21
EU diary - anti-Christian?
The Association of Catholic Families from the city of Legnica, western Poland, has filed a complaint in response to what is being deemed as a prejudiced EU calendar that excludes Christian holidays.
The educational calendar, created for distribution in the 27 EU states, has been printed in over 3 million copies for 2011.
Whilst Sikh, Muslim and Jewish holidays have been included, Christmas, Easter and All Saints have not made it into the calendar.
The Polish edition comes under the honorary patronage of the the Ministry of National Education, whilst the foreword was written by EU Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, factors which have further exasperated many Poles.
However, Poland is not alone in being irked by the EU publication. Objections have already been raised by French and Dutch politicians, amongst others.
In the response to the rumpus, an EU spokesman has said that the omissions were made “without any deliberate intent,” and that the same mistake would not occur in the 2012 edition.
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Post by valpomike on Jan 28, 2011 1:53:56 GMT 1
The hell with the EU, Poland needs to have mind of her own, and keep the both, and even add Thangsgiving. Now don't take there money, it looks like they could be going down the tubes, and want to take all with them.
Could it be, since they are based in Germany, and we all know how the Germans are, don't we.
Mike
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Post by tufta on Jan 28, 2011 9:26:49 GMT 1
we all know how the Germans are, don't we. Mike Yes, they make cars so good that even you drive one ancient one  And the Americans? Aren't they in large part exactly "how the Germans are"? They ARE Germans in fact in exactly the same way you are Polish, isn't it.  |
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Post by valpomike on Jan 28, 2011 19:13:16 GMT 1
The Germans and Russians both think they are better than the rest of the world, and will tell you each chance they get. I don't think so, they are not even as good as many others.
Mike
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Post by valpomike on Jan 28, 2011 19:15:45 GMT 1
Does it bug you that I own a Classic Bendz, and you don't? You bring it up often. I don't care what you drive, even with you never saying what you drive. It is a great car, and the only thing good from Germany.
Mike
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Post by tufta on Jan 29, 2011 13:30:28 GMT 1
The Germans and Russians both think they are better than the rest of the world, and will tell you each chance they get. I don't think so, they are not even as good as many others. Mike That some Germans do dislike Poles is much too small a reason to act the same and dislike, diminish and stereotype all of them. You wish US was part of EU, of which Germany is a member. Quite an amibitious plan I must say, but anyway you do I wish, and hope, that some day, the U.S.A. will join this. Also ancient German car is your dream car. And then again and again you pester, harass the Polish culture forum with your, please don't mind the word, with your paranoia regarding both Germans and Russians. Before you state more nonsense about them just ask yourself Mike - How many Germans and Russians do you know in person? With how many have you worked or discussed things throughout the night over a glass? How many times you've visited their countries, obesrved their behaviour in first person. How often do you follow their media? How many of their books, movies, stages have you read or watched? One arrogant, rude and nationalistic German you know from the internet is really not enough. And FYI, Mike - both Germans and Russians have a very strong love-hate feelings towards their own societies, towards themselves. It is ungrounded to say they both universally think they are better than the rest of the world. If anyone -this is what some American tend to think, Mike (compare a noteworthy passus of the last public speech of your President, claiming that 'in this room' there is noone who would wish to swap the country). You are not that old and mentally helpless not to be able to look beyond suraface Mike. I am telling you that as a friendly soul from the net, not your foe. And if you are indeed unable to look rationally at the surrounding word regarding Polish neighbours, than I have to ask you once again to stop pestering me - the reader of this board- with your monotonous stereotypes. You may do it in some German or Russian Culture forum, I am sure there are many. |
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Post by tufta on Jan 29, 2011 13:33:49 GMT 1
Does it bug you that I own a Classic Bendz, and you don't? You bring it up often. I don't care what you drive, even with you never saying what you drive. It is a great car, and the only thing good from Germany. Mike Mike, Poland is full of old German cars And I don't bring your German car up often. I do it only on the occasions you post nonsense about Germany. Not everytime you post something about Germany, but everytime you post nonsense without rational background. I know you do see the difference Tschüs! ;D |
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uncltim
Just born
I oppose most nonsense.
Posts: 73
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Post by uncltim on Jan 29, 2011 15:02:33 GMT 1
If Poles can make peace with the Germans, shouldn't we Mike?
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Post by valpomike on Jan 29, 2011 16:55:10 GMT 1
Germans can make peace, since they were not killed by the Polish. I have been to Europe a few times, and know many Germans and Russians, and find my statement to be true. I find it hard to let go, of what they did to my family in Poland, and many others. I find many in Poland think as I do.
Mike
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uncltim
Just born
I oppose most nonsense.
Posts: 73
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Post by uncltim on Jan 29, 2011 19:36:20 GMT 1
I've been around a bit. Germans were OK but a little tenative. A sense of humor goes a long way with them. Russians were another story. I think they viewed me with more distrust than I could have ever imagined. I just told them I didn't like Germans ( I know..) and they loved me for it. Russians thought all jokes were directed at them though.
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 3, 2011 17:17:53 GMT 1
Brain drain fear after German labour market opens
02.04.2011 09:02
Over half a million skilled Poles plan to move to Germany after the country opens its labour market on 1 May, according to the Polish-German Chamber of Commerce.
The high demand for engineers and other skilled staff could spell trouble for Polish companies, which in order to maintain their staff will have to increase wages.
The German market also lacks painters, welders, mechanics and builders, and they too may be tempted with the offers of higher wages.
According to estimates by the Polish-German Chamber of Commerce, the wave of Polish migrants may exceed half a million people.
The greatest interest in travelling abroad is recorded in the regions bordering with Germany, where over 100,000 workers plan to find a better living in Germany.
The Polish Craft Association is being flooded with applications to confirm craft diplomas, which guarantee higher wages.
A worker without a diploma can earn 1200 euro monthly, with a diploma from 1600 to 2000.
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Post by valpomike on Apr 4, 2011 0:13:53 GMT 1
The reason for this, is Polish people do it better, and with care, and a art, and the Germans can't do the same. Germany is only good at war. And I forgot, car making.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 19, 2011 11:58:08 GMT 1
Polish-German relations celebrated in Berlin
17.06.2011
President Bronislaw Komorowski is in Berlin to mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Good Neighbourly Relations and Friendly Cooperation between Poland and Germany.
During his one-day visit, Komorowski is to give a speech at the Humboldt University as well as take part in a ceremony marking 20 years of the Polish-German Youth Cooperation with his opposite number, Christian Wulff.
Friday’s meeting comes exactly two weeks before Poland takes over the rotating EU Council presidency.
Prior to his visit, Komorowski stated that Germany is one of Poland’s key allies for the 6-month presidency, underlining that Warsaw and Berlin have a similar point of view in a number of key issues.
The Polish head of state is also set to posthumously decorate Ludwig Mehlhorn, a German human rights activist who opposed the Polish communist regime from the 1970s and a promoter of Polish-German relations, with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
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Post by pjotr on Jun 20, 2011 17:28:35 GMT 1
Bo, Is this anti-slav and anti-semitic tension or attitude only present in Lithuania, or also in the other two Baltic states, Estonia and Lativa? Estonians and Latvians don`t have a substantial Polish minority so the cases of anti-Russian sentiments are not so known in Poland. A few years ago there were scandals connected with Latvian SS veterans or removal of Red Army monument in Estonia, I think. I am and was worried in the past about Polish minorities in Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine, because I read about difficult and threatening situations and discrimination of the Polish minority in those countries. But Lithuania seems the most troublesome these days. Yes, Poles who stayed in those countries after WW2, often against their will (in Lithuania, especially) , have a hard life if they want to remain Poles. If the Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski won't set foot in Lithuania until progress has been made in Polish minority rights than there really must be something going on in that Baltic state in Polands North-Eastern border region. He won`t press too much. Remember, Poland is ready to sacrifice the Polish minority in Eastern countries in order to have good relations with them. Why? A much more important goal is in view - not to allow Russia to take over in the East. Then the only solution is a strong alliance of Central- and Eastern-European countries. You already have the Visegrád Group countries, but maybe the Baltic states and * Ukraine should become part of it? P.S.- * I know that in the present situation with the Eastern-Urkainian Pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, and Pro-Russian prime-minister Mykola Azarov (In a 11 March 2010 article the UK daily The Guardian labelled him the most Russophile member of the new Ukrainian cabinet.) is not so beneficial for Polish-Ukrainian cooperation and having a counterveiling power alliance in the East.  Former Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Prime Minister Yanukovych during a visit to Kiev (December 22, 2006) Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, May 2010 |
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Post by pjotr on Jun 20, 2011 17:30:09 GMT 1
Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group, also called the Visegrád Four or V4, is an alliance of four Central European states – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – for the purposes of cooperation and furthering their European integration. The Group's name in the languages of the four countries is Visegrádská čtyřka or Visegrádská skupina (Czech); Visegrádi Együttműködés or Visegrádi négyek (Hungarian); Grupa Wyszehradzka ( Polish); and Vyšehradská skupina or Vyšehradská štvorka (Slovak). It is also sometimes referred to as the Visegrád Triangle, since it was an alliance of three states at the beginning – the term is not valid now, but appears sometimes even after all the years since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The Group originated in a summit meeting of the heads of state or government of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland held in the Hungarian castle town of Visegrád on 15 February 1991 (not to be mistaken with Vyšehrad, a castle in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, or with the town of Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Czech Republic and Slovakia became members after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. All four members of the Visegrád Group became part of the European Union on 1 May 2004.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 8, 2011 19:17:00 GMT 1
Weimar Triangle initiates special military unit
05.07.2011 15:24
Polish, French and German soldiers will join forces to create a special military unit, following the signing of an agreement in Brussels.
The so-called Weimar Combat Group (Weimarska Grupa Bojowa) will comprise of 1,700 soldiers, and is due to be be fully operational in 2013.
According to Major General Janusz Bojarski, Polish representative for the NATO military committee and the EU, the unit will be a strategic reserve of the EU, capable of taking up rapid response tasks.
“They will be appointed to perform any operations that might arise,” he revealed to Polish Radio. “The combat group could be activated in practically every crisis which the European Union finds itself in,” he continued.
“Such a situation could arise today or tomorrow, we cannot know when, but we must have some military instrument which will allow us to react to crisis situations,” Bojarski commented.
The unit takes its name from the Weimar Triangle, a political grouping of France, Germany and Poland that was formed in 1991 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
Following the signing of the agreement, specifics will now be finalised by experts from the three countries in question. (nh/jb)
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Post by pjotr on Jul 11, 2011 12:00:27 GMT 1
Tufta, Bo and Mike,
You have some irritating, stubborn, stif and agressive Krauts today, but in the same time there are a lot of nice Germans, good Germans, and Germans who are actually very Polish-friendly. I have a few friends who are half German, half-Dutch, I know Germans who became Dutch actually (very nice guys) and I know Germans living and working in the Netherlands, Arnhem and Amsterdam, who are good people.
Cheers,
Pieter
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uncltim
Just born
I oppose most nonsense.
Posts: 73
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Post by uncltim on Jul 11, 2011 12:31:39 GMT 1
I've wondered for some time when the EU would start to campaign for a central/federal government. It appears the trial balloon has been launched. I give it ten years and all national governments will be reduced to a symbolic status. Power never wastes a crisis. www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,773071,00.html |
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Post by valpomike on Jul 11, 2011 15:51:11 GMT 1
Not all Germans, or Russians, are bad, just most. Most off the ones still living in there home lands. When they move and are forced to get along, many do, some don't. I have many, German-American, and Russian-American frieds, living here, and many agree with me, on this.
Mike
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Post by pjotr on Jul 11, 2011 23:03:39 GMT 1
I've wondered for some time when the EU would start to campaign for a central/federal government. It appears the trial balloon has been launched. I give it ten years and all national governments will be reduced to a symbolic status. Power never wastes a crisis. www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,773071,00.html Tim, Although I have my doubts about a united Europe due to the eternal differances and discord between the Europeans I think some sort of Centralism or a Federal democratic European Union state is necassery? Why? Because the world is going to be increasingly being dominated by large continental states. China, India, Northern-America (sooner or later I think the Anglo-saxon - English speaking -USA and Canada will unite), Russia, Brasil, in the future there might be a United Suni Muslim state in the Middle-East and Northern-Africa (The New Umayyad Caliphate: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate ), and next to that maybe a Shia Muslim empire too (a united Iran and Iraq). Now I am exaggerating, but the world is increasingly being dominated by large countries or alliances of countries. China worries me, it is taking over Africa, has to close ties with not the best of Muslim countries, and is in many cases a hidden and secret power in many regions of the world. A weak devided Europe is not good for Europe itself, not good for America (because a weak devided Europe which collapses or turns itself into a third world war, or a series of internal conflicts which will tear the continent apart will be an economical disaster). Ofcourse the USA will have the rest of the world, the large Northern-American innermarkets, Southern-America, Asia and Africa stil, but a desintegrating Europe will be a threat to world peace, stability, economical development and human progress. Cheers, Pieter |
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uncltim
Just born
I oppose most nonsense.
Posts: 73
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Post by uncltim on Jul 12, 2011 22:41:00 GMT 1
I'm fine with a European super-state. Some things will be gained and some lost. The eventuallity of a one world governance is also under way. I think this is a step towards it.
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Post by pjotr on Jul 13, 2011 23:21:30 GMT 1
I'm fine with a European super-state. Some things will be gained and some lost. The eventuallity of a one world governance is also under way. I think this is a step towards it. Tim, I have always been very positive about the close alliences between the English speaking countries, and in that perspective I believe in a future Transatlantic Anglo-American world alliance. A Federation of English speaking countries; The USA plus Canada plus Great Britain plus Australia and plus New Zealand. Today Brits and Americans and Canadians look at the differances between their countries, but in the near future the differance between them will be much less than between them and the Asian superpowers China and India. I don't believe in Nafta and I don't think a hispanization of the USA is a good thing. I like English speaking and English culture America and that should stay that way. Cheers, Pieter P.S.- Echelon from NSA is a good example of the cooperation between the English language culture countries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_(signals_intelligence)pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 6, 2012 10:19:33 GMT 1
UK made 'serious mistake' in giving Poles full access to benefits
05.04.2012 09:31
A right-wing UK pressure group claims it was “a very serious mistake” to extend full access to Britain's benefits system to Poland and other new EU members.
“The whole EU benefit regime must be renegotiated,” says Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK.
“Otherwise there is a clear risk that the number of East European migrants coming to seek work in Britain will shoot up, placing even greater strain on our public services and putting the government’s immigration objectives at considerable risk,” he continues in a press release.
The report, “Incentives for Polish Migration”, warns that in January 2014, Romanians and Bulgarians will have access to the same level of benefits after their EU transition phase comes to a close (both countries joined the EU in 2007).
The anti-immigration group claims that on the UK's minimum wage, a Polish worker with a wife and two children can earn “almost four times what he would earn at home on the minimum wage, once the difference in cost of living has been accounted for.”
About three quarters of a million migrants have moved to the UK from the eight countries that joined the EU in 2004. The majority of these are Polish citizens.
Migration Watch's anti-immigration stance has been criticised for its stand on asylum policy and arguments that the new EU migrants are taking jobs from the British.
Economist Philippe Legrain has argued that "Migration Watch's xenophobic prejudice is causing it to twist the truth".
On predictions of future immigration to Britain, academics Nissa Finney and Ludi Simpson have called the group's use of evidence “questionable”
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