The first shipment of Polish apples - the official fruit of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU - set off for Brussels on Wednesday from the orchards of Grójec The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has concluded a contract to supply more than 82,000 apples for meetings organised as part of the Presidency participants in summits and ministerial meetings – in Poland and Brussels Grójec apples come from the Grójec region known as ‘the largest orchard in Europe’ where they have been grown for almost 500 years They have a sweet taste and a distinct aroma the name ‘jabłka grójeckie’ was entered in the EU register as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) This is an EU mark awarded to regional products of exceptional quality with a name referring to the place where they are produced and emphasising their link to that place This initiative relates to the promotion of Polish strawberries during the 2011 Presidency and is a unique showcase for Polish agriculture – Polish apples will be served to participants at the most important events that will take place in Poland and Brussels as part of the Presidency the participants of these events will be able to experience the unique taste and appreciate the top quality of Grójec apples – said Undersecretary of State Plenipotentiary of the Minister for European Union Affairs for the Preparation and Holding of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka It is a symbol of the success of Polish fruit farming achieved during the 20 years of Poland's presence in the European Union – stressed Undersecretary of State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Adam Nowak – Polish fruit growers have been able to make good use of EU funds which makes us stand out in the European Union – emphasised Adam Nowak Read more about Polish orcharding and apples of the Presidency. By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org The actress's grandfather sold bananas on the Lower East Side The fate of the family he left behind in Poland was far more dark (JTA) — Scarlett Johansson knew that her mother’s side of the family came from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe but she didn’t know much else about her Jewish ancestors But when the movie star appeared on the PBS show “Finding Your Roots” on Tuesday night she learned some specifics about those branches of her family tree — and broke down in tears upon learning about their tragic Holocaust experiences Johansson’s maternal great-grandfather Saul Schlamberg (who was then still going by his Yiddish first name Schlachne) immigrated from a small town in Poland to New York City He settled on Ludlow Street in the city’s Lower East Side which was full of Jewish immigrants at the time and was believed to have sold bananas at a market is visibly moved as she pored over a document about the ship Saul took across the Atlantic Ocean they came over on this ship or whatever,’” she said “But then to actually see the paper and know that they were journeying towards what would eventually result in me — it’s pretty surreal.” the narrative takes a dark turn as host Henry Louis Gates shifted to the family Saul left behind in Grojec Saul’s brother Moishe and his family of 10 children ended up in the Warsaw Ghetto by 1942 all of Grojec’s Jews had been either killed or deported “I cant imagine what you must be feeling,” Johansson says when Gates asks about what she thinks deportation for the family must have been like Thanks to a testimony one of Moishe’s daughters sent years later to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Israel Johansson learns about the fate of some of Moishe’s other children: Zlata “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” she says “It’s crazy to imagine that Saul would be on the other side selling bananas on Ludlow Street and how different it would be being in America at that time,” Johansson continues It makes me feel more deeply connected to that side of myself Johansson wasn’t the only Jewish actor to learn about a dark ancestral past in Tuesday’s episode. Paul Rudd was also surprised to hear about the anti-Semitism his grandfather faced in England JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent I accept the Privacy Policy has learned the sad fate of family members in World War II on PBS' Finding Your RootsFinding Your Roots/PBS In an episode of the PBS program Finding Your Roots, actress Scarlett Johansson, was moved to tears when she learned that her great great uncle and his family met their deaths in the Warsaw Ghetto. For the first time, Johansson discovered the fate of her maternal grandfather's brother and his children thanks to information on a Page of Testimony The Page of Testimony was submitted to Yad Vashem in 1956 by Miriam Margalit According to the biographical information on the Page of Testimony Mosze Szlamberg was born in Poland in 1880 to Lejbusz and Zlata near Warsaw and was married to Dvora (nee Zilbershtein) Szlamberg; they had ten children together Pages of Testimony are special forms created by Yad Vashem to restore the personal identities and to record the brief life stories of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices. To date there are some four million seven hundred thousand names of Shoah victims recorded on Yad Vashem's Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names is a primary resource for people searching for information about their family history during the Shoah There are two listings from Polish archival sources about an additional child who reached Uzbekistan and was recorded as having survived the Holocaust in Stettin in 1947 There are no details regarding his current whereabouts There are also no details regarding the additional child or their mother Dvora Szlamberg While Johansson's great-grandfather Saul worked as a grocer in New York City, his brother, Mosze, was a merchant in Warsaw. In a clip published by People "It’s crazy to imagine that Saul would be on the other side selling bananas on Ludlow Street and how different it would be being in America at that time The fate of one brother versus the other." Johansson explained how the discovery made her feel a greater family connection "It makes me feel more deeply connected to that side of myself The episode featuring Johansson is scheduled to air on Tuesday The Yad Vashem website had recently undergone a major upgrade The page you are looking for has apparently been moved We are therefore redirecting you to what we hope will be a useful landing page For any questions/clarifications/problems, please contact: webmaster@yadvashem.org.il You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed They will continue to develop initiatives to support foreign trade and intraregional operations 2019.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and Banco Industrial de Guatemala (BI) renewed a Global Credit Line (GCL) for an amount of US$50.0 million.The credit line will strengthen business capacities mainly in foreign trade and intraregional operations derived from its nature of corporate banking as well as contribute to the growth of the country's economy and employment.It should be noted that CABEI's relationship with BI began in March 1971 when CABEI agreed to expand its relations with a reduced number of 13 Central American financial institutions in order to provide resources for financing projects through the instrument denominated "Financing Program for the Promotion of Non-Traditional Products and Tourism Exports." BI was one of the chosen institutions thus initiating the relationship between both organizations.With the signing of the agreement CABEI reaffirms its commitment to continue to promote and finance the country's foreign trade through the creation of financial programs and products aimed at addressing priority areas for national development such as initiatives that promote the inclusion of small and medium enterprises in production chains Central American Bank for Economic Integration The past year has been described as breakthrough for the Jablka Grojeckie association in Poland and for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Apples from Grojec developing its offer and introducing new products “It was a strange year,” says Maciej Majewski board president of Sady Grojeckie Association “On one hand we have been seeing an increasing sales level of apples at the beginning of the year when people were looking for healthy products 'At the same time we have to be sure to maintain high levels of consumption at any given moment,' he explains 'That is why Sady Grojeckie has joined a project which will be focusing on promoting apples as one of the fruits of choice in schools.” Apples from Grojec was awarded its PGI certificate in 2011 and since then a lot of changes have taken place with the association’s PGI specifications having to adapt accordingly “In order to refresh our offer we have prepared some changes to the specification,” Majewski continues “Production of some of the varieties will be cancelled and would like to reintroduce some ‘old’ typically Polish varieties with PGI certification.” Sady Grójeckie also plans to add completely new apple varieties Jablka Grojeckie will be able to reduce the use of plant protection products and will be better prepared for the European Green Deal Other changes are connected to the introduction of a completely new production strategy The association is working towards using some apples – which are still of the highest quality but do not meet standards in terms of size or are demonstrating signs of post-frost damage – for the production of juices In addition to this new production strategy Jablka Grojeckie association is introducing new products “I think that such remarkable apples as Jablka Grojeckie PGI and that is why we have decided to use the strong brand of Jablka Grojeckie PGI to create an innovative and surprising line of juices,” Majewski adds “We have decided to create a completely new approach towards apple juice we are also introducing apple juice with hops and sparkling apple juice We hope that these last two propositions will be very attractive for younger customers and seekers of new taste.” Site powered by Webvision Cloud Ola Cichowlas returns to the Polish orchards her grandmother grew up in to find out how apple growers are handling Russia’s boycott of this year’s harvest My 96-year-old paternal grandmother now lives in a Stalinist apartment block in Warsaw’s Mokotow district but she comes from an apple-growing village outside Grojec after the Germans had killed her husband for being in Poland’s underground Home Army she moved to the ruined Polish capital as a single mother she set up a fruit stall in a corner of a destroyed school to sell apples to local workers rebuilding the city was a broken man who found solace in growing fruit He sold nearly all of his possession to buy a plot of land south of Warsaw where he nurtured his hundreds of trees with the reluctant help of his children Apple profits bought my mother her one-way ticket to London on the eve of the communist declaration of Martial Law in Warsaw in 1981 apples helped rebuild a war-ravaged Warsaw and were in abundance even when Polish shops were empty during Soviet domination were a world apart from Warsaw’s fading communist facades but they are a touchstone in Polish culture and history they are helping revive the solidarity Poles hoped they would no longer need They even have their own slogan in Warsaw these days: An apple a day keeps Putin away Grojec has been an apple-growing center for half a millennium. The area’s microclimate—with its high-yield soil, and its scorching days and chilly nights during harvest season—produces apples with a deep red color and slightly bitter taste. Today, Grojec is Europe’s apple basket, and for Poles, its name is synonymous with the fruit. Just 30 miles south of Warsaw, the area is the source for one in three Polish apples. My aunt Krysia owns an orchard in the region, in the hamlet of Lewiczyn. “Meet me at the church,” she told me over the phone when I made plans to visit. “Make sure your trunk is empty”. This time Russia is at war with Ukraine, and the villagers fear the old tricks won’t work. In the meantime, revenues are dropping fast. As we walk through the narrow rows of trees, Krysia picks up the produce that has fallen prematurely. “I used to sell these for 50 grosz; now I sell them for 20. But every penny counts.” Though Warsaw’s economy is most at risk from EU economic sanctions on Russia, it is least likely to budge. Like other farmers, Mirek supports a tough stance against Russian aggression, no matter the cost. “Tell me, is it true Russians actually support Putin?” he asks me in disbelief. Many farmers feel overwhelmed by EU agricultural rules Life for Polish farmers has changed dramatically in the decade since their country joined the EU. Though enthusiasm for Brussels remains high in the biggest cities—Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk—the more conservative countryside remains skeptical. Many farmers have prospered from EU membership, but the new demands for monoculture and mass production are straining rural life. Under socialism, farmers faced no competition and were given tractors from the local agriculture committee. Today, they spend years paying off loans for vehicles to handle the new, higher yields. “We used to grow all kinds of produce,” Krysia tells me as she looks out on Lewiczyn’s endless rows of orchards. “Now we have to focus on mass production”. Many farmers feel overwhelmed by EU agricultural rules, and accuse the bloc of discrimination against its relatively new Eastern European members. “I’ve been to German orchards. They use so many sprinklers on their trees and nobody says anything. When we use them, they stop working with us.” Still, despite their frustrations with Brussels, Polish farmers realize the alternative—relying on Putin’s Russia for their livelihood—is a far more precarious prospect. Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel, what they eat, where they stay. Free to sign up. How the Russian LGBT Sports Federation is trying to hold an event for people who aren’t supposed to exist. A century ago, a hero rose up from the Ukrainian heartland who fought for neither east nor west. Deepti Patwardhan reflects on India’s unusual and uncomfortable relationship with Europe’s darkest period. Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news! You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site. If you keep getting this message, please enable cookies in your browser. You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker). As we provide the news for free, we are relying on revenues from our banners. So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks! Freezing temperatures in Poland have resulted in damaged crops. Although the extent of the damage is still unknown, it is certain the Polish farmers will lose some of the produce. The frost has effected apples and all kinds of soft fruit. It will take a couple of months to fully understand the consequences of the unfortunate weather conditions. Marcin Swiatek claims the damages for the apples of Bialski Owoc Sp. don’t seem to be that big: “Our farms are located in the central and south eastern part of Poland. Although the last few days have seen some frost, from what I hear it’s not the apples that have the biggest problems. The larger damage will have been done to the farms that grow cherries and other faster flowering fruits. Of course some apples will have a little damage, but we will have to see. So far we’re not too worried yet.” It's hard to say when there will be more information on the damages, but it is expected the consequences on the total Polish crops will be known in a couple of months. FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Claimed Vast New Arctic Territory -- In An Unusual Way Select an inline link to view its contents As competition for resources in the Arctic Ocean intensifies nations are staking claims to swaths of undersea territory where oil and other minerals could someday be found and mined The United States has just staked its own claim -- and it did so in a way that’s raising lots of questions a pair of Russian minisubs whose crew included a prominent polar explorer descended to about 4,300 meters below the surface of the Arctic Ocean the crew planted a Russian tricolor flag made of titanium into the seabed and staked claim to hundreds of thousands of kilometers of mineral-rich undersea territory “Our dive, our action, was a geographical event, not a political one; it was like planting a flag on Everest or on the moon,” the explorer, Artur Chilingarov, asserted years later Others didn’t see it that way. Though it had little scientific significance, the stunt infuriated other Arctic nations and kicked the international rush to map out claims to the seabed into high gear the United States planted its own figurative flag on a huge chunk of Arctic undersea territory staking out an expanse of seabed twice the size of California claim covers about 1 million square kilometers in the Beaufort Sea a windswept expanse stretching hundreds of kilometers north from Alaska’s coastline The area the United States is eyeing is what’s called the “extended continental shelf” -- what would essentially be the farthest reaches of U.S It could contain huge oil and mineral resources: 90 billion barrels of oil potentially Resource rights in ECS regions arelimited to the seabed Resource rights in ECS regions are limited to the seabed Other countries have done the same thing for their “extended continental shelf.” Russia has submitted several claims under a process sketched out by a 1994 UN treaty called the Convention on the Law of the Sea set up a way for countries to collect evidence and have the claim reviewed by scientific experts State Department last month essentially boils down to this: If we were ever part of the treaty which may or may not happen someday in the future then this is what our claim would look like “It was a very unconventional and surprising move,” said Rebecca Pincus director of the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington has claimed a million square kilometers of territory but we have done so in a way that raises some questions about international law,” she said in an interview we’re declaring the limits of what is ours by nature of geology rather than through some sort of political flag-planting a political geographer and head of the Center for Borders Research at Durham University in Britain two Russian minisubs planted a titanium flag at the North Pole at a depth of 4,300 meters below the surface of the Arctic Ocean setting off a rush to stake out claims to the seabed claimed about 1 million square kilometers in the Beaufort Sea overlapping Canadian claims in the same area also claimed 176,300 square kilometers in the Bering Sea but this claim does not cross the U.S.-Russia maritime boundary set by a 1990 treaty Russia's claim to the Arctic seabed has evolved and enlarged over the years since its first submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2001 Following its latest revision in February 2023 the claim covers an area of about 2.1 million square kilometers The other three Arctic nations all have their own claims and Danish claims overlapping each other over an area covering much of the Arctic Ocean Out of an area of approximately 2.8 million square kilometers located outside of the Arctic nations' exclusive economic zones For its part, the United States spent nearly two decades mapping and exploring before finalizing its claim, publicly released on December 19: “The largest offshore mapping effort ever conducted by the United States.” away from the “exclusive economic zone.” It’s located entirely in the Beaufort Sea and includes the undersea formations known as the Beaufort Shelf and the Beaufort Slope It also includes part of a formation called the Chukchi Shelf and the Chukchi Borderland It does not include any claim to territory west of a maritime boundary that the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on in 1990 “The unilateral expansion of borders in the Arctic is unacceptable and can only lead to increased tensions,” Nikolai Kharitonov, a lawmaker who heads the Russian parliament’s Arctic committee, told RIA Novosti it’s necessary to prove the geological affiliation of these territories Neither Denmark nor Norway responded to requests for comment A spokeswoman for Canada’s Foreign Ministry said in an e-mail: “The government of Canada will continue its efforts to obtain international recognition of the outer limits of Canada's extended continental shelf are in frequent communication with regards to the continental shelf in the Arctic and have expressed their commitment along with other Arctic states to the orderly settlement of overlapping claims.” In its announcement justifying the claim, the U.S. State Department said that Washington had “strongly supported” the treaty and that “it has been the policy of the United States to act in a manner consistent with its provisions with respect to traditional uses of the ocean.” Asked for further response to the criticism of the U.S a State Department spokesperson said UNCLOS reflected “customary international law” -- a legal concept that basically says if a general practice or norm is widely accepted by nations and consistent and recognized over time this administration supports the United States joining the Law of the Sea Convention,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail “The United States has consulted widely with UNCLOS parties on this matter and will continue to do so Our approach is inclusive and transparent.” an expert on polar geopolitics with the Modern War Institute at the U.S “This erodes credibility of an international system the West has worked tirelessly to achieve “It appears to be a political signal with no clear direction or intention beyond clarifying there is a thinning line between customary law and American exceptionalism,” she told RFE/RL in a text message Pincus echoed the notion that the claim was consistent with the treaty You look at the Russian coverage of this and it's once again ‘The United States is not playing by the rules that everyone wants everyone else to follow,’” she said “There is certainly that interpretation out there.” Also raising eyebrows among Arctic experts and cartographers: the fact that Washington justified the announcement by citing a treaty clause -- Article 76 -- which it said allowed the United States to submit the claim to the UNCLOS commission even though it is not part of UNCLOS when countries submit technical data to the commission the understanding is that the commission will review them -- a peer-review process “I do see where Russia has a perspective to say I wouldn’t say necessarily it’s an inherently belligerent act.” highlights “how political paralysis in Congress is impacting the U.S ability to be effective or lead in the Arctic.” “While Russia is pouring billions of dollars into building out Arctic infrastructure and building yet more icebreakers to add to its fleet the United States is unable to confirm ambassadors for Arctic affairs or even allocate money to update [the] over-the-horizon radar station,” she said “You can sort of understand why they would say it seems like we might as well just put this out there because it seems very unlikely that we're going to get UNCLOS ratification anytime soon.” Written by Mike Eckel. Reported by Mike Eckel, Wojtek Grojec, Ivan Gutterman. Designed by Wojtek Grojec, Ivan Gutterman. Edited by Steve Gutterman. Video: Shutterstock, continental shelf claims data from maps by IBRU, Durham University, U.K. Hidden from view for decades, a trove of color images taken behind the Iron Curtain come to light. The Soviet dictator’s funeral procession has been seen before, but never like this. Through their photos and letters home, the Manhoffs paint a portrait of city life in the Soviet Union. The Manhoffs traveled to places seldom seen by American eyes. That Major Manhoff might have been more than just an avid amateur photographer is not out of the question. Tap/click any image to view the gallery full-screen. © 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty *Note: At the time of the Manhoffs' visit, in 1953, Crimea was part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. 2015 12:18 AM EDTPolish brewer Tomek Porowski knew he was taking a gamble when he opened his business in 2011 “I couldn’t afford to start a winery so I decided instead to start [making] cider,” Porowski tells TIME they launched Cydr Ignacow with the intention of selling it to a small city-slicker niche and as their cider started appearing in more bars and restaurants with each passing year so other brewers were inspired to start their own craft cider operations Porowski feels like he has sparked a trend much larger than what he initially intended — and he has Russia to thank for it After Warsaw criticized Moscow’s actions in Ukraine in 2014 and the consumption of apples became something of a nationalist duty Poland’s newfound love of cider was born in this climate Sales of the beverage have almost quadrupled in the past year alone according to Malgorzata Przybylowicz-Nowak the editor in chief of the website Kraina Cydru “Cider producers took definite advantage of the national outcry against the embargo,” Iwona Chromiak a spokesperson for Poland’s Ministry of Agriculture “The embargo directly led to the popularity of cider.” it’s no surprise that Poland would eventually become a good market for cider Poland produces more apples than Italy does grapes one of Poland’s biggest distributors of wines and alcoholic beverages The beverage had to overcome an image problem first fizzy alcoholic beverages made from apples drunk only by misty-eyed seniors lamenting the days of Gomulka and Gierek this reluctance to accept cider was marked According to a 2013 KPMG study done on the Polish alcohol market Poles consumed over 4 billion liters of alcohol a year with beer and vodka constituting almost 80% of that total Only 11% of the population drank cider with anything approaching regularity The cider market increased from $6.63 million to $21 million Ambra started mass-producing ciders like Cydr Lubelski in the summer of 2013 selling them in stores throughout the country Przybylowicz-Nowak says she is expecting Poles to drink over 80 million liters of the beverage in the coming years — although that number still only represents about 2% of Poland’s total beer market are counting on the drink’s appeal to young people for whom the drink doesn’t have cheap connotations “Hipsters are a good channel of communications — they brag about the brands they like,” says Mazuruk who has been selling his product to trendy bars and restaurants in Poland’s bigger cities because more young people born in 1991 don’t know what was there before,” he adds making a reference to the year when Poland threw off Soviet rule nationalism and antipathy toward the Russians make for a distinctly Polish cocktail Contact us at letters@time.com How The Ukraine War Could Revamp Trade In Eurasia The Middle Corridor -- a 6,500-kilometer trade route connecting China to Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus -- has expanded since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine But can countries work to overcome the problems that have long plagued trade between Europe and Asia By Reid Standish As attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have shown Countries and shipping companies need reliable alternatives to keep the world economy humming This lesson was learned in the heart of Eurasia in February 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threw global supply chains into upheaval and opened up new geopolitical battlegrounds aka the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and ports that connect China to Europe had long been championed but it was the prospect of a long war in Ukraine that shifted the calculus in Beijing and European capitals Before the war, the majority of overland trade between China and the European Union traveled along Russia’s vast rail network to connect two of the world’s largest markets. This better-developed northern route gave cargo companies a predictable Russian trains became the main mode of transport for China-EU overland trade as cargo companies had to navigate sanctions and find new trade routes linking Europe and China that bypassed Russia “Transit between Europe and Asia is becoming more complicated and more expensive by the day,” Romana Vlahutin a German Marshall Fund fellow and former EU ambassador-at-large for connectivity Thus the Ukraine war breathed new life into the Middle Corridor after it had been avoided for years due to rising costs “The Middle Corridor would be the shortest multimodal corridor and there is a genuine interest from the Central Asian states to have more robust and much closer links with the EU,” said Vlahutin Enticed by the mega-route’s potential, cargo traveling along the Middle Corridor skyrocketed from 350,000 tons in 2020 to 3.2 million tons in 2022. According to a World Bank study released in late 2023 trade volume on the Middle Corridor could triple by 2030 But the Middle Corridor’s limitations -- ranging from a lack of infrastructure to soaring wait times in ports and at border crossings -- still need to be overcome “Much will depend on how China perceives the Middle Corridor,” Emil Avdaliani international relations professor at the European University in Tbilisi there will be little incentive to expand the route.” The EU has also moved to further develop infrastructure in Central Asia and the Caucasus; other countries have sensed opportunity, with billions of euros in new investments and Kazakhstan agreed to set up a body that would accelerate development and they are working to improve coordination and lower trade barriers has slowly grown into a key hub for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since the massive infrastructure project was launched in 2013 With strong internal connections to domestic Chinese centers like Xi’an the city has become a launching pad for the rail networks in Kazakhstan that form the early strands of the Middle Corridor Cargo from China to Kazakhstan goes through two main crossings which was the main port of entry for goods traveling north to Russia but also connects to railways moving west; and the second is Khorgos which was built as one of China’s key BRI investments in Central Asia Roughly 2,500 kilometers from the nearest coastline Khorgos was launched in 2015 and dubbed a “dry port" as a terminal designed to process overland cargo goods heading west are transferred by cranes from Chinese trains to Kazakh ones that have the same track gauge as Russia and most other former Soviet countries The next such transfer isn’t required on the journey to Europe until entering the EU and then west by rail to the Caspian port city of Aqtau sits on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea and is the Middle Corridor’s principal maritime port on the Central Asian side The Kazakh government is investing tens of millions of dollars into the port and announced plans to expand it in late 2022 and Kazakhstan also agreed in September 2022 to inject $900 million into projects that support the Middle Corridor The journey across the Caspian Sea is where the Middle Corridor’s first obstacles appear The sea is known for its rough waters during the summer that can delay ferries for weeks which only worsens the already bad congestion in Azerbaijan due to a lack of infrastructure and logistics centers to unload and transfer cargo As the World Bank said in a 2023 Middle Corridor study the longest delays along the route occur at sea crossings due to “a shortage of vessels followed by errors in shipping documentation.” The report added that high costs and a lack of cargo tracking systems are all major problems for the Caspian crossing Forecasts show that if the Middle Corridor is to reach its upper projections and take advantage of its shorter route between Europe and Asia then solving these logistical issues is a necessity The biggest gains could be for regional trade between Azerbaijan which could increase by 37 percent by 2030 and by 28 percent between those countries and the EU alone While a lack of ports presents a bottleneck for the Middle Corridor container capacity is also limited due to the size of the ports on the Caspian whose port has more limited capacity than Aqtau Azerbaijani authorities announced expansion plans and were investing in new infrastructure for the port outside of Baku before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine this could also align with other infrastructure projects in Central Asia such as a prospective China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line and expanded capacity in Turkmenbashi As the World Bank and other organizations have noted one of the largest inefficiencies along the corridor exists at Baku’s port One study said the average wait time for containers in Baku’s port yards was 25 days This period was calculated to account on average for 70 percent of the total shipping time for a one-way journey across the entire Middle Corridor Armenia is not officially part of the Middle Corridor's route but there are talks to possibly include it The route currently travels through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Black Sea but a proposed 43-kilometer rail route through Armenia's Syunik Province to the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan and then to Turkey would connect the Caspian and Mediterranean seas Realizing the proposed "Zangezur Corridor" would first require a normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan containers go west by rail and road to Georgia The Georgian government has been building and modernizing its transit infrastructure to more easily bring goods across its mountainous terrain to its Black Sea ports at Poti and Batumi or southwest to continue the journey by land to Turkey Several new multilane highways have been built across the country with the most high-profile being a 51.6-kilometer section that cuts through the rugged terrain of the Rikoti Pass The project was awarded to Chinese construction companies and is estimated to cost close to $1 billion The highway -- which consists of 96 bridges and 53 tunnels -- is currently behind schedule but will cut transit time from Tbilisi to the Black Sea in half once completed located in northwest Turkey near its borders with Armenia and Georgia is the main point of entry by land into the country via the Middle Corridor but the World Bank says reconstruction of the lines connecting from Georgia are needed if it is to accept larger quantities of goods Turkey had pushed its own vision for the Middle Corridor as a way to build stronger economic ties to Central Asia and improve its strategic position among its neighbors and Kazakhstan to boost the Middle Corridor and completed new projects to improve connectivity including the Eurasia Tunnel and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in Istanbul in 2016 Turkey is also in the process of finishing a new high-speed railway connection to Kars and a northern highway to more easily bring goods to Istanbul Turkey’s overall position within the Middle Corridor is uncertain with the World Bank’s 2023 comprehensive study saying the country’s position and alternative routes will be studied in more detail in a future report Georgia’s ports of Poti and Batumi account for 76 percent and 24 percent of all Georgian container flows and the country’s location on the eastern edge of the Black Sea has made it particularly crucial for the Middle Corridor to take off But Georgia’s potential has thus far been limited by long lines of trucks at its borders and ports at Batumi and Poti operating near capacity which would allow larger ships to transport increased volumes at a more efficient rate something that organizations like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank say is necessary to make the Middle Corridor globally competitive This has revived plans in Georgia to build a deep-sea port in Anaklia, a town farther north on the country’s coastline. In May, the Georgian government announced it had awarded a 49 percent ownership stake to a Chinese consortium as well as contracts to build and operate a new port there A previous attempt to build the port in Anaklia by a consortium led by Georgia's TBC Bank and U.S.-based Conti International broke ground and moved residents from the future site of the port in 2018 That bid was eventually canceled by the government in 2020 after years of political jostling Poti is also looking to expand and increase its capacity for larger ships although its narrow entrance could still limit the number of ships it can handle compared to Anaklia Most projections, however, show that Georgia is unlikely to need both an expanded Poti port and a new deep-sea one in Anaklia. This leaves room for Georgia’s port politics to still play out in unpredictable ways. goods can transit across the Black Sea or cut south towards Turkey but due to major infrastructure gaps along the land route which serves three destinations -- Istanbul and Chornomorsk -- is preferred by operators the Black Sea presents new obstacles in terms of high tariffs Added to this is the instability and uncertainty brought by the war in Ukraine that have seen attacks and tensions across Ukrainian and Russian portions of the Black Sea The Black Sea port at Constanta is where the Middle Corridor enters the EU after traveling roughly 5,000 kilometers Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port has rail and sailing connections to Varna in Bulgaria, Batumi and Poti in Georgia, and Samsun in Turkey, making it a strategic location along the Middle Corridor. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has cast a shadow over how integral it will be as the route progresses. Chornomorsk’s location and Ukraine’s comparatively developed rail network make it an attractive option, but with fighting under way in Ukraine, the port’s place in the Middle Corridor will ultimately be determined by how the war ends. Poland was the main destination for the northern route that traveled through Russia and Belarus to the EU, where goods would then make their way across Europe. That infrastructure is now being put to use as the Middle Corridor gathers steam. Warsaw has strong road and rail connections to Romania and Ukraine and is a gateway to other markets within the bloc, such as neighboring Germany and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. From here, goods also pass on their journey back east to the Caucasus, Central Asia, and China, where they once again encounter the same obstacles that governments across the trade route are trying to solve. There’s no denying that the Middle Corridor has attracted a new level of energy and interest from major companies and countries that wasn’t present before but, despite this momentum, it’s still struggling with inefficiencies that keep costs high and trade unpredictable. Economists are undecided on the route’s future, but its role as a land bridge between China and Europe that bypasses Russia will continue to draw interest as countries and companies look for alternative trade routes amid a volatile geopolitical climate. Projections show that the route could one day reduce transit time between China and Europe to 12 days, compared to 19 days along the northern route through Russia and 22-37 days for maritime trade that runs to and from China via the Indian Ocean. Whether the governments along the Middle Corridor can realize this vast potential will be decided in the coming years. 0Loading (0%) Sorry, you need javascript turned on to experience this story.One Last Time Over GeorgiaOne photographer's mission to capture Georgia from above before new laws limit the use of drones.By Amos ChappleDigital Production By Wojtek Grojec August 16 2017When they first buzzed onto the market in 2013 camera drones transformed the photography world by enabling cheap and (relatively) safe aerial imagery Georgia was one of the last countries with relatively open skies it too will impose tight restrictions on drones one of the early pioneers of drone photography headed to Georgia with a high-end quadcopter to make one last aerial record of Georgia's mountains and cities before the new rules come into force The wind-battered cross atop the Abano Pass is a favored rest stop for travelers on the treacherous road from Kakheti up into the Tusheti region Gergeti Trinity Church (bottom left) as the morning sun creeps down the flanks of the 5,033-meter Mount Kazbegi (Mkinvartsveri) A shepherd leads his flock alongside a river near the village of Khiso The river runs loud enough to drown out the noise of the 4-kilogram Inspire 2 drone used to shoot this photo Morning mist drifts over a small church near Ukhati along the north-south Georgian Military Highway Ancient defensive towers sprout from the top of the village of Omalo in Tusheti National Park which borders Russia's Daghestan and Chechnya regions Sheep stream into the morning sunlight after being released from their corral near Omalo Livestock are returned to captivity every evening as protection against wolves Clouds flow around a tiny church in the vicinity of Gulebi a town in the southwestern Ajara Autonomous Republic The last light of day catches the houses of Ukhati The remains of the fortified village of Mutso situated atop a razor-sharp ridge near the border with Chechnya A stone watchtower in the Caucasus Mountains overlooks the Datvisjvari Pass near the village of Shatili a Soviet-era landmark near Gudauri that illustrates various scenes from Russian and Georgian history Crypts on a clifftop 1 kilometer from the border with Chechnya infected villagers were banished to these stone buildings to await death the remains of apparent plague victims can still be seen today A break in the clouds during a stormy morning in Juta village high in the mountains of Mtskheta-Mtianeti looking like a little slice of Tuscany in the evening sunlight near the breakaway region of South Ossetia Georgians displaced during the 2008 war with Russia now live in the camp with most surviving off government handouts with its backdrop of vineyards lit by the morning sun A young brave leaps from the wall of the Samtsvera waterfall The ancient cave city of Vardzia in southern Georgia some of the cave dwellings are still inhabited by a group of monks who live in a section of the caves roped off from the tourists The job of shearing sheep (and one calf!) is almost complete at this shepherd settlement on plains in central Georgia A stork perched atop the ancient Baraleti church where an elderly Georgian monk has lived for the past 24 years in order to be "closer to God." The monk has his food winched up by volunteers from the monastery below The rock-top fortress was reportedly sacked by Alexander the Great on his march toward the Far East an abandoned rock-hewn town in the central Kartli region that was of one of the earliest settlements in Georgia The Alaverdi monastery among the vineyards of eastern Georgia The monks inside the monastery sing songs about the wine they produce The Nekresi monastery and the fertile plains of the eastern Kakheti region The Jvari monastery glowing in the first light of day Beneath the monastery lies the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers originally built as a holiday home for Russia's tsar After the Bolshevik Revolution the building was used by Josef Stalin for his holidays Shepherds drive their herd down a quiet country lane in the vicinity of Gori informally known as "Mother Georgia," looking out over the capital The coastal town of Batumi silhouetted in the setting sun After a bitter separatist war in Abkhazia in the early 90s with murkier water and less appealing beaches than the breakaway region to the north has gone all out to attract tourism with casinos and high-rise buildings this picture shows the quiet hills around Batumi’s Convent Of The Holy Trinity The controversial structure was built on the site of a Word War II memorial During the demolition of the Soviet-era monument a woman and her eight-year old daughter were killed by chunks of flying concrete The monolithic Holy Trinity Cathedral looming over Tbilisi looking out over the multicultural town of Akhaltsikhe and mosque within a stone’s throw of each other The little-known (by tourists at least) landmark is the work of Zurab Tsereteli the same artist behind the divisive Peter the Great statue in central Moscow A valley in the hardscrabble town of Chiatura This factory processes the rare mineral and makes it ready for transport to steel-working operations in Georgia and abroad The town’s dizzying geography inspired Soviet engineers to install a network of "rope roads" to transport workers up to their mines This passenger cable car has run almost continuously since its first run in 1954 a trove of color images taken behind the Iron Curtain come to light The Soviet dictator’s funeral procession has been seen before the Manhoffs paint a portrait of city life in the Soviet Union The Manhoffs traveled to places seldom seen by American eyes That Major Manhoff might have been more than just an avid amateur photographer is not out of the question Tap/click any image to view the gallery full-screen rivers that vein the enormous open spaces of Siberia freeze solid life for most people in the region turns inward the frozen rivers mean truck wheels can turn and trade can flow for as long as the ice will hold With springtime gnawing at the ice highway RFE/RL photographer Amos Chapple joined one young truck driver on a 12-day journey to haul supplies to Russia's Arctic north The trip up to Belaya Gora takes around five days if things run smoothly 28 years old and the father of two small boys he's been running his Kamaz truck up the frozen Indigirka River to supply the Arctic town of Belaya Gora The money is good -- he earns around $600 per run But every trip is "a different adventure" and the dangers of Siberia's ice roads are very real at a workshop on the outskirts of the city of Yakutsk Supplies are loaded onto the truck and last-minute preparations are made Ruslan's truck is 12 tons heavy with groceries: pasta even a couple of kilograms of chocolate croissants is leaving Yakutsk to return to his family in the north Ruslan offered him free passage in exchange for assistance on the journey It's slim pickings for the workshop dogs at this time of year Springtime means all minds are concentrated on the few days remaining until the ice roads close Ruslan (right) is on the phone to another trucker but Ruslan finally hits the road late in the afternoon The road to Belaya Gora begins on the Kolyma Highway built with slave labor during the Stalin era a truck slid on this patch of road and plunged off the ledge at the bottom right of the picture The truck and its doomed driver freefell 70 meters onto the ice below This was the first of several stories that began to make me increasingly nervous about the journey ahead The engine and heaters are left running through the night nights here can freeze a drive-shaft solid Truckers carry blowtorches to thaw vehicle parts Ruslan looks ahead to where the Kolyma Highway cuts east through the mountains Ruslan's friend Andrei was also bound for Belaya Gora but flipped his minivan around a bend We loaded the contents of his ruined van onto Ruslan's truck we will ride the frozen Indigirka River north into the Arctic Many stretches of the river run too swiftly for summer boats the river serves as a kind of magic carpet allowing access to areas of the Sakha Republic virtually impossible to see any other way In narrow gorges the ice is swept clean by funneled winds When this truck-shaped hole in the ice appeared in front of us "That's fresh," before finding another route Ruslan shows a photo of a colleague's truck we pass a point where three trucks broke through in December One driver died a nightmarish death beneath the ice the second driver lost sight of the first truck When he saw the steam [from the first truck after it broke through the ice] The first truck had sunk through nine meters of water; the old man [the driver] drowned so he smashes the window and gets out of the water and sees the third truck coming It takes the third driver some time to understand these signs but luckily they were picked up by a guy on a snowmobile springwater emerging close to the surface can keep the ice from freezing thick As Ruslan attempted to cross from one bank to another worried that if the truck toppled onto my side I would end up underwater with three people on top of me so I opened my door slightly to be ready to leap out The truck suddenly lurched over to my side hoping to scrabble across the ice before the truck toppled onto me Ruslan was able to scrape backward out of the rut deep in the wilderness and committed to a journey that was beginning to look like a mistake the sky in front of me started sparkling green It was the aurora borealis stretching across the horizon the Russian took the "message from the universe" aspect seriously Despite his taste for salty language and heavy music The isolated little Zashiversk chapel serves the truckers who roll back and forth Ruslan visits the church on every trip he makes and says God has always helped him in difficult moments on the river Truckers also harbor superstitions unique to the road It's taboo to urinate in front of the vehicle: the trucker's equivalent of killing an albatross Ruslan collects drinking water from a hole in the river as we near the first of our delivery destinations Despite the pride the truckers take in the pristine landscape In the towns and villages around Belaya Gora Ruslan also stops to help every needy trucker we pass The trip drags into a full week of 12-16 hour days without a shower or a change of clothes But finally the truck is emptied and Belaya Gora or "White Mountain," appears on the horizon The town relies largely on fishing to sustain its 2,000 inhabitants all that's left is to return safely to Yakutsk Ruslan emerged feeling "like a newborn baby." The shops of Belaya Gora are remarkably well stocked but prices are far higher than in Russia's major cities With the journey now vastly behind schedule and the official road closure just days away but a spell of mild weather means the road is fast disintegrating The water pushes up through the ice and creates a layer of weak ice above a "bedrock" of frozen river Days late and racing against the melting ice He tows the faulty vehicle down the river and offers the driver a lift all the way back to Yakutsk Ruslan says truckers helping each other out on the ice is "just what you do," adding rip someone off' hasn't reached us here yet." Back on the solid earth of the Kolyma Highway the mood brightens as we turn into the spring sunlight and Ruslan has successfully completed another trip just days before the ice road shuts down until next season Ruslan hasn't quite finished with the ice road Pushing the limits on the ice highway is only for a special breed: those who have the ice road Iraq launches a poison-gas attack on its own city of Halabja Chemical weapons repeatedly strike rebel-held areas during Syria's civil war in attacks that Western governments blame on the Syrian government Italy uses mustard gas during its invasion of Ethiopia Some 168 tons of chlorine gas is released near Ypres The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult launches a sarin attack on the Tokyo subway Iraq uses mustard gas and the nerve agent Tabun against Iranian forces Japan uses a number of poisonous gases in China Countries agree to ban the use of projectiles to diffuse "asphyxiating or deleterious gases." Russia mediates a deal to have Syria eliminate its chemical-weapons stockpiles The Chemical Weapons Convention is presented to the United Nations or use of chemical weapons and requires signatories to destroy chemical weapon stockpiles The Geneva Protocol prohibits the use in war of asphyxiating Mustard gas is first introduced by the Germans made major advances in chemical-weapons technology Their breakthroughs were accompanied by innovations in nuclear-weapons technology It was during this period that the third generation of chemical weapons was invented: nerve agents Within a century of their devastating debut at Ypres chemical weapons have increased in lethality a thousandfold Research into chemical weapons has resulted in a thousandfold increase in lethality in less than a century This chart compares the minimum concentrations of various chemical weapons for a lethal dose Varies in size as they can be made from oil barrels At least 1,283 people have been killed by chemical attacks in Syria according to the Violations Documentation Center The world will most likely never know the precise origins of the deadly nerve agent used to poison former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury last month says a former Russian chemical engineer who worked on developing the Novichok family of poisons Your request appears similar to malicious requests sent by robots Please make sure JavaScript is enabled and then try loading this page again. If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: (JTA) — Scarlett Johansson knew that her mother’s side of the family came from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe The narrative takes a dark turn as host Henry Louis Gates I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association “Reindeer meat is a mainstay in the Scandinavian diet The meat from one reindeer currently fetches around $400 for the Sami herders But only if the deer isn’t too radioactive to eat.” Even though Norwegian authorities enforce a relatively high contamination limit for food (3,000 becquerels per kilogram—compared with the EU limit of 600) some years—even as recently as 2014—reindeer pulled aside for slaughter have to be released back into the wild because they are too radioactive We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com A collection of winning and honored images from this year’s nature-photo competition A collection of amazing recent images made with the Hubble Space Telescope Mourners of Pope Francis gathered at the Vatican scenes from the the second weekend of Coachella 2025 and landscapes of the Earth’s arctic and subarctic regions 1914 Photo: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks Fresh Retail Packing Sp zoo (FRP) has opened a branch in Grojec Dutchman Ted van den Berg and Artur Tomasiuk from Poland are in charge The company offers a complete fruit and vegetable service That includes four cooling cells and two docks," says Ted That's for trade pre-selection from the growers to retailers "Producers who supply retailers need partners These must act as a 'filter' between growers and supermarkets That's so the goods arrive at stores in the agreed-upon shape and quality," Ted continues "That sometimes means additional selection Things can easily happen during transportation." "Sometimes the end client or form the wares must be delivered in isn't yet 100% certain Even that we can handle quickly and professionally." Sustainability is also important in the Polish market the trend is increasingly towards environmentally friendly packaging less plastic and more recycled material and organic packaging There's also still considerable growth to be achieved here," Ted concludes “The first thought about joining the uniformed services appeared in my head in high school so I chose National Security at the University of Social Sciences (Społeczna Akademia Nauk) in Łódź I decided to join the army,” says 2ndLt Hiacynta Lichańska she went to the Military Recruitment Office and in the following year she began her 4-month preparatory service at the Communications and Informatics Training Center (Centrum Szkolenia Łączności i Informatyki) in Zegrze she took part in the reserves training twice and she admits the army started to draw her in there was a 4-month officer course for reservists at the Military University of Technology (Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna) after finishing several more trainings – commissioning to 2nd Lieutenant of the reserve she has been working as a professional soldier at the Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Support Center (Centrum Rozpoznania i Wsparcia Walki Radioelektronicznej) in Grójec The ranks of the Polish Armed Forces are gradually growing According to the information of the Ministry of National Defense since 2015 the number of professional soldiers has grown from 95,000 to 110,000 Increasing the numerical strength of the army is one of the ministry’s main priorities According to the directions of development of the Polish Armed Forces within 15 years our army is to number 200,000 The MoND wants to reach that goal using various methods – for example the recruitment campaign called “Become a Polish Soldier” (Zostań Żołnierzem Rzeczypospolitej) The ministry also undertakes many other activities to encourage people to join the army One of the main issues to consider is recruitment of volunteers the ministry noticed that the rules of recruitment tests done in various places and at various times as well as the necessity to wait for many months to be called The “Become a Polish Soldier” Program Office was one of the bodies that was to deal with solving this problem Many people are of the opinion that now it is much easier to get into the army and soon after that I got information about the place and date of my visit at the military recruitment center I completed all the formalities: I underwent tests Everything was done in one day,” emphasizes Paulina Brzyska who now works as a civilian cook’s assistant at the 16th Military Economic Department in Oleszno Although she had been thinking about joining the army earlier she admits that she seriously started considering it only after she had finished her maternity leave and found out about the introduced changes the shortened time of preparatory service has become a magnet for many volunteers couldn’t afford to drop everything for four months and come to a training Personal and professional reasons got in the way Many people come to check if the army is actually something for them,” says LtCol Mariusz Muskus the commandant of the Military Recruitment Office in Mokotów completing such a training is the first step to joining the professional army the military also addressed the expectations of the volunteers and made the way to the professional army shorter than ever before Volunteers can express their will to join the professional army ranks already during preparatory service She underwent necessary tests and impatiently waited to sign the contract she has been a driver and radiotelephone operator at the 12th Mechanized Brigade “I returned to the unit where I had my training although there are many organizational matters on my mind I am happy to have executed my plan,” she admits but a year of working online was really hard for her “I had enough of sitting at the desk all day That was when I decided to register at the recruitment website,” says Zimniewicz Paulina Brzyska says that out of 105 people who were doing preparatory service with her as many as 70 applied for professional service it turned out my vision defect excluded me from professional service it is possible now to undergo a corrective procedure I am already waiting for my operation and as soon as it’s done I will submit my documents I hope to sign my contract very soon,” says the volunteer Private Karol Hajdasz has served in the professional army since July 1 as a soldier he is a rifleman at the 2nd Mechanized Brigade in Złocieniec I decided already during the preparatory service to continue my adventure with the uniform,” says Hajdasz he is learning the ropes of the profession “I’m sure that the army is where I will be able to develop I feel great in a uniform,” emphasizes Hajdasz The number of people interested in the army is constantly growing the number of active accounts on the recruitment website totaled over 27,500 The number of volunteers undergoing preparatory service is also gradually growing when everyone was facing the problems connected with the pandemic the military managed to call 9,967 candidates for training including as many as 6,278 on the basis of the new formula All the signs indicate this year will break the record as to the number of trainees – for the time being it is already 7,863 “Statistical data collected from the region covered by our Recruitment Office confirm the system works People are more willing to come and they rarely give up during the recruitment process it is mostly due to the recruitment committee’s decision we can’t help the fact that work in the army requires good health and psychophysical resistance so these conditions must necessarily be fulfilled by all candidates,” says LtCol Muskus The number of places at military universities is also gradually growing military schools admitted 300–500 candidates a year the number of places is constantly growing,” inform representatives of the MoND as many as 1,625 future officers will be able to start the academic year There are many candidates who decide to take this route to the army and the interest in studying at four military universities (University of Technology in Warsaw University of Land Forces in Wrocław and University of Aviation in Dęblin) continues unabated for many years Not everyone would be able to rise to the challenge considering the fact that the recruitment process itself is already very demanding,” explains Maj Marek Kwiatek a spokesman for the Military University of Aviation Candidates for pilots are required to have very good results of the high school leaving exam but also to pass a selection training that checks one’s predispositions to service in the air but it clearly does not demotivate the candidates – only this year almost 500 people applied for the 70 available places in aviation specializations Private 1st Class (Officer Cadet) Kinga Tomaszek started the School of Eaglets in October last year She graduated from Secondary Aviation School in Dęblin and now she is studying aviation and cosmonautics with a specialization in piloting jet aircraft I treated all this as a preparation for my future profession as I already knew back then I wanted to wear a uniform and pilot aircraft,” she says I am aware the path I’ve chosen is not an easy one but I think it’s worth every effort to be able to do what you love in the future.” Those who dream of officer stars can also choose a slightly shorter path and take part in officer courses Although the number of available places and specializations is limited The courses train candidates for armored and mechanized divisions 138 people graduated from the officer courses where the academies prepared a total of 105 places Civilians also have the opportunity to become a professional after completing the course “Although the main source of candidates for the officer cadet corps are professional privates there might not be candidates among them with competences or education necessary for a certain position especially as regards niche specializations the army reaches out to civilian volunteers to fill the vacancies,” admits SSWO Andrzej Woltmann a senior officer cadet of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces as many as 428 civilians will be able to take part in such courses at officer cadet schools: Air Force in Dęblin Navy in Ustka and Territorial Defense “Sonda” in Zegrze One of the volunteers is Daniel Florkowski who has finished undergraduate studies on internal security at the WSB University in Poznań “Patriotic values are very important to me and I want to join the army and my dream is to serve at the 7th Special Operations Squadron in Powidz The school in Dęblin is the best place to prepare me for this,” he explains Patryk Krajewski is another candidate for an officer cadet He has finished Physical Education at the University of Szczecin he became a penitentiary correctional officer “There are many people around me who work in uniformed services Some of them have encouraged me to join the army “As a private 1st class of the prison service I can take part in the qualifications for the Private Corps of some military unit without preparatory service The doors to the army are open also to reservists The ranks are reinforced by the troops of the national reserve forces – in the years 2018–2021 over 4,000 of them became professionals – former soldiers and those who had completed preparatory service already before introducing the new recruitment system who completed preparatory service in the NCO corps at the beginning of 2020 I had worked as a civilian in the Border Guard but at some point I felt I wanted something more and later I took part in the training of the 18th Mechanized Division I decided I was doing pretty well and as a corporal of the reserve I applied for professional service Reservists willingly use the opportunity to start professional service: almost 14,000 of them joined the army in the last three years The army as a plan for life has also been chosen within the last four years by over a thousand officers of other services “My father was a professional soldier and I wanted to follow in his footsteps women were not admitted to military universities,” she explains she finished engineering studies in geodesy and cartography at the Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) after completing preparatory service and a warrant officer course she decided to go forward with her old plan by the opportunities of development offered by the army “It turned out that in the army I would be able to combine my interests with my education,” she emphasizes she started work at the 22nd Military Cartographic Center in Komorowo “I think it was one of the best decisions in my life I finally feel I am where I am supposed to be,” admits Wilk When talking about the increase in the army’s strength it is impossible not to mention the Territorial Defense Force (WOT) The growing ranks of the formation now include about 30,000 people it is the first step to becoming a professional This was also the plan of Cpl Adam Jabłoński I treated my service at the 12th Wielkopolska Territorial Defense Brigade as a chance to prove myself that despite great trainings and working on advanced equipment the service in WOT was not enough for me,” admits Jabłoński he began to ask his superiors about opportunities of professional growth “I knew it wasn’t an easy career path and that you needed to pave it on your own as my superiors sent me to a Territorial Military Service NCO course,” says Jabłoński Since December 2020 he has served at the 124th Light Infantry Battalion in Śrem as a commander of an anti-tank section The newly created units or the easier path to becoming a soldier are only some ways to increase the numerical strength of the army The Ministry is particularly interested in teenagers They are the group to which the MoND offers programs coordinated by the “Become a Polish Soldier” Program Office such as certified military uniformed classes (CKWM replaced by military preparation classes created in 2020) and the Academic Legion (Legia Akademicka) The first program was launched in 2017 and it is currently implemented in about 200 high schools in Poland The schools run military classes according to the standard curriculum supplemented with preparation for service The graduates of such classes can count on easier access to the army: they get extra points during recruitment to military universities or WOT They also have a chance to complete shortened – from this year 12-day – preparatory service the training within the shortened preparatory service was attended by over 700 high school graduates and this year applications have been submitted by 854 people Among them is Private (Res) Andrzej Krzyżaniak this year’s graduate of 111th Fighter Squadron’s PUL High School No 1 (I Liceum Ogólnokształcące PUL im I decided to start preparatory service in order to gain new experience and get additional points as a reservist during enrolment at the Land Forces Academy as this is my chosen path to becoming a professional soldier,” he says Also the people who enrolled for the Academic Legion program during their studies have an open door to professional army about 7,400 people have completed the basic training 5,800 of whom have been awarded the rank of corporal after completing the NCO module 58 best trainees have been given the opportunity to take part in the first ever officer module an opportunity of professional development a chance to prove yourself – these are only some reasons why young people decide to put on a uniform “The Polish Armed Forces offer all of these opportunities Everyone can find their place in the army if they really want to,” says 2ndLt Lichańska Artur DębczakIntroducing a new recruitment system as the formula currently used in the recruitment process by most civilian companies and corporations also proved to work well in the army that it is impossible to increase the strength of the army overnight Apart from offering incentives to potential candidates the number of teenagers and students taking part in military classes or Academic Legion programs would be enough to form another division or maybe even two divisions of the Polish Armed Forces This potential is constantly growing and I think that we will be able to see the effects of our actions in a few years.LtGen Artur Dębczak is the Director of the “Become a Polish Soldier” Program Office Bigger Training PossibilitiesIncreasing the numerical strength of the army is closely connected to promoting professional privates to the NCOs corps.After completing training gaining the rank of corporal and being designated for an NCO position a soldier somewhat frees the former position in the professional private corps The number of professional privates transferring to the NCO corps is gradually growing In 2020 (in the conditions of pandemic restrictions) as many as 1,828 privates finished NCO courses including – to the end of May – 1,376 soldiers of the lowest level corps the number of soldiers who will transfer from the professional private corps to the NCO corps will exceed 2,000 Three Steps to the UniformGo to the zostanzolnierzem.pl website and enter necessary information.Visit a Military Recruitment Office at a designated place and time and complete all necessary formalities in one day.Finish basic training and apply to join the ranks of the professional army Children at a Polish school enjoy a meal of soup In this Polish town 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Warsaw gray buildings line the road leading from Grojec to Gora Kalwaria boxy architecture left by socialism throughout Poland ankle-deep puddles form along the side of the road A traveling trader under a tarpaulin sells cheap Chinese goods from banana cartons and two tipsy men are already stumbling their way past his stand Poland's economic miracle has yet to arrive in Chynow The elementary school sits next to the cemetery It is one of the few buildings with any paint a stately woman in a white smock and a ladle-holding hand on her hip "I notice if children aren't used to warm food at home," she says "They're shy; they only take a few crumbs of bread." Often they won't even touch the soup and "It takes months before they dare to eat their fill." Fifty of them can't pay the 2.5 Zloty (70 euro cents/$1.10) for a daily school lunch because their parents are too poor and government and charitable organizations have to step in Poland's economy will probably grow this year by up to 5 percent modern office buildings reach toward the sky and along many residential streets there are no longer any visible traces of the country's socialist past and more than a quarter of Polish schoolchildren are growing up in poverty Nowhere in the European Union are there so many poor children as there are in Poland "It isn't always alcoholics or people who have failed to make a living who send their children to school with empty stomachs," says Renia "They don't even have to be unemployed anymore." In fact more and more people in Poland cannot earn enough to feed their families Prices for the most important foods rose by an average of 40 percent last year "The rise in prices is global in character," says Artur Lawniczak the under-secretary of state at the Polish Agriculture Ministry "And it will all get still more expensive." Things have already gotten to the point where Little Ania's parents -- her father works in a paint factory and her mother is blind -- can only afford bread and inexpensive cheese The 8-year-old girl is emptying her bowl of tomato soup Ania wouldn't dare to dream of eating pizza or hamburgers An unemployed person in Poland receives a maximum of 500 Zloty (€146/$228) per month for half a year "It's impossible to live on that amount," says school director Malgorzata Pawelczyk An energetic woman and with fashionably short hair and elegant make-up Pawelczyl's 's a bit too well-dressed for the rural setting went to Warsaw to study education and then returned to the barren plains of Masovia Pawelczyk considers making sure that her charges have full stomachs at least once a day one of her most important duties "Poor and hungry children almost never complain," she says they withdraw and they keep their distance as much as possible from school life." The elementary school is the center of life for Chynow's children The only playground equipment in the bleak village is here and there is no other place for the children to run around and play To determine which of the children are really needy Pawelczyk occasionally puts together teachers' groups to visit families at home and give advice to parents Ania has spooned up her second bowl of tomato soup she has no idea that the Polish Humanitarian Organization pays for her meal it is the only such project that the aid organization runs within its own country Otherwise it subsidizes the building of wells in Darfur helps undernourished Chechens and procures supplies for schools in Afghanistan which she now carries with her into the classroom but it will fill her up later in the afternoon when she gets hungry again And well-fed children not only learn better; they are also more socially interactive takes part voluntarily in sports and sings in the chorus the food provided at Chynow's elementary school has a double effect: Not only are the children fed halfway decently; they also like coming to school which the program's donors point out only soberly: For some children the free meal is the only reason to attend school at all.