It is part of the modernized Chabówka-Nowy Sącz railway line The tunnel will be excavated using a massive Chinese TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) will carve through solid rock while simultaneously constructing a reinforced concrete lining managed by the Polish company Budimex and Turkish Gülermak This unprecedented investment will significantly enhance Poland's rail infrastructure Get the best of “Warsaw Business Journal”  delivered to your inbox daily Report: resources of modern office space.. Terms of Service Trademarks Privacy Policy 2018 Warsaw Business Journal 14 May, 2024 By Polish infrastructure operator PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PLK) has appointed a Polish-Turkish consortium to build Poland’s longest railway tunnel as part of a project to modernise a stretch of railway PKP PLK has selected a consortium comprising Polish contractor Budimex and Turkish infrastructure firm Gülermak to deliver the project the consortium will the modernise the fourth section of the 104 railway line between Chabówka and the village of Nowy Sącz in the Małopolska province The works is being carried out as part of the PLN1.9bn (£382M) Podłęże - Piekiełko project - one of the largest infrastructure projects in southern Poland The upgrades to the railway will involve modernising and electrifying a 12.5km long stretch of track between Limanowa and Klęczany and building new train stops at Mordarka and Chomranice It will also involve excavating a new tunnel to take trains underground through part of the Western Beskids mountains The almost 3.8km long tunnel will run between the towns of Męcina and Mordarka The tunnel and upgraded railway infrastructure will reduce travel times between Krakow “This is great news for everyone who wants to travel between these two cities and sees their chance in rail transport,” said Poland’s minister of infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak The project will also include the construction of 10 viaducts and 12 bridges Rail and road crossings will be replaced with grade-separated intersections Modernisation of the railway tracks will mean that passenger trains will be able to run at speeds of up to 160km/h and freight trains at 100km/h Construction works are currently underway on three sections of railway line between Klęczany and Nowy Sącz PKP PLK is also conducting a tender procedure for the reconstruction of Limanowa station as part of the project “The implementation of this project will increase the competitiveness of the railways and contribute to the economic development of the region,” said PKP PLK’s acting president of the management board Want to read more? Subscribe to GE’s enewsletters and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Tagged with: The partial collapse of a building in the centre of Łódź above tunnelling works shows that more attention must be paid to “high risk” older buildings during design and construction Italian construction company Webuild has launched three tunnel boring machines (TBMs) on the Naples-Bari and Messina-Catania high-speed railway projects in southern Italy Implenia has won the £86M (CHF100M) contract to build the tunnel and one station for a large complex inner-city railway project in Gothenburg Construction activities have started at the tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch site of the San Francisco Bay Area’s rapid transit (BART) system phase two extension Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion At the GSMP Limanowa 2011 race event in Poland this Ferrari F355 Challenge crashed and ended up in a ditch rescued the sports car and put it back onto the road The race-ready F355 Challenge model was introduced in 1995 for use specifically in the Ferrari Challenge The racer was created on the basis of a standard Ferrari F355 Berlinetta model and modified with a $ 30,000 factory-to-dealer supplied kit Only 109 copies were produced of this model Update: Oh and do not forget to watch this video (from 0:34) as well thanks I have added it… What a crash To the unfortunate F355 guy : ever heard about wet race lines and opposite lock and website in this browser for the next time I comment that politics is not and never has been a game for Senator Sanders; it is serious Combined with economic hardship and social deprivation In the hands of a gifted and twisted demagogue The antidotes – genuine social security (think about what that term meant engagement and upward mobility – are not just moral imperatives They are what protect a population from the seduction of scapegoating Bernie is not trying to give away “free stuff”; he is trying to save lives (perhaps lives that were lost long ago) He is trying to build the safe and sane framework to keep his fellow countrymen on track where the other way of doing business leads.Rolf PechukasWellfleet Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com Feb 26, 2020 | History, Society Bernie Sanders’s father arrived in the United States he arrived twice – the first time was a particular mystery Retracing this immigrant’s steps is a fascinating task Bernie Sanders is the 78-year-old currently leading the contest to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge Donald Trump in November’s US presidential elections Sanders would become the first American president whose father came from Poland Eliahu Ben Yehuda) was a Jew born in Poland at a time when the country did not exist on the map – being partitioned between Germany Russia and Austria – and then leaving it just after it reappeared following World War One he informed American immigration officials that Polish was the language he read and wrote in This information can be seen in publicly available documents at Ellis Island where prospective Americans arrived after their voyage across the Atlantic one must first know the maiden name of his mother If you use the search function to look for “Elias Sanders” you find only his arrival on 24 April 1931 when he was already a US citizen a decade after arriving in America as a poor immigrant from Poland Elias Sanders first sailed to America from Europe in 1920 This is the most mysterious part of his migrant biography and to the best of my knowledge not mentioned in any source Since Senator Sanders first achieved renown as a candidate for the White House four years ago information about his immigrant father from Poland has appeared in the media These never give 1920 as the year he left Poland to cross the Atlantic; usually they say 1921 The same year can be found on genealogy websites Geni and WikiTree the senator’s father embarked on this mysterious unrecorded voyage on board the Rochambeau from Le Havre in France He gave his name as Elias Gutmann (using his mother’s maiden name which is usually spelt with one “n” in Polish but the Ellis Island form gives her name as Etel Gutmann) and his place of birth as Słopnice/Galicia The form included questions on whether the new arrivals were polygamists or anarchists (everyone from the Rochambeau replied “no” to both) and on their health (all answers were “good”) including whether they were “deformed and crippled” (all “no”) Although there is no “deported” note on the form filled in by the immigration official Elias was probably not allowed into the United States He claimed that he had never previously been to the United States My father traveled across an ocean to come to this country from Poland at the age of 17, without a nickel in his pocket, to escape poverty and persecution. That took unbelievable courage, and he became the proudest American you ever saw. #FathersDay pic.twitter.com/Tbo0TuXAzv — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 16, 2019 This time he sailed from Antwerp in Belgium on board the Lapland was also sailing for the company at the time For the first three decades of the 20th century – until 1934 when it went bankrupt – the Red Star Line carried 2 million emigrants to America Eliasz Gitman gave his profession as “student” The place of birth given on the form is “Stopnica” in Poland but there is no doubt that this was the same young man who had sailed to America the previous year from Le Havre He provided the same contact name in each case although in the first case he only gave the initials A.J The address is the same: 186 Madison Street New York – although it was spelt “Madasin Street” the second time round but there are also two versions in documents in Poland Elias’s mother used several surnames – there are four on her death certificate issued in February 1934 in Słopnice She died as Ettel Schnützer (the name of her last husband the Sanders name did not yet have an “s” at the end The aforementioned death certificate of the innkeeper Ettel Schnützer laid to rest at the Jewish cemetery in Limanowa lists one of her children as Eliasz Sander and for a while this introduced some uncertainty into my research But I now have no doubt that this was one and the same person Not all documents are precise; officials often make mistakes and writing names from different languages and alphabets is a difficult task Not to mention the fact that officials could intentionally be misled Was this the case with the senator’s father It is hard to determine after a hundred years but it is also hard to escape the question of why basic data about the youthful would-be American from 1920 are different from those given in 1921 Even the petition for naturalisation submitted by Elias Sanders in 1927 turns out to be imprecise Słopnice has turned into “Stopince” in Austria – this at least is true because when the applicant was born – and here I learned his date of birth giving his occupation as merchant (he worked in a paint store names 1921 as his year of arrival in the United States There is no word of his earlier voyage from Le Havre The future senator was born in New York in 1941 two decades after his father’s departure from Poland born in the Lublin region of what is now Poland Both died when Bernie Sanders was entering adulthood – she in 1960 Bernie Sanders did not visit his father’s homeland until 2013. The village mayor of Słopnice, Adam Sołtys, heard that somebody important was coming from the family that had lived in house number 215. (Images of the former family home and Sanders’s visit to Słopnice can be found here.) We checked that it was a house formerly beginning to Jews Only later did I find out that this important guest from America was Bernie Sanders,” Sołtys said adding that it was not a typical highlander’s cottage The future senator’s family ran a general store “There are none of these cottages left any more,” says the mayor remembers that Roman with the stiff arm lived in that house a very distinctive man,” said Sołtys as his father had talked about Roman with the stiff arm too That was when I was certain that the senator was in the right village.” in an article about Bernie Sanders’s origins The Jewish community in Słopnice was small by the standards of Poland a century ago 40; and finally 35 (out of around 4,000 residents in the village) None of the Jews still living there at the start of the Second World War survived the Holocaust Bernie Sanders has written about his father’s emigration on several occasions He has given two reasons: horrendous poverty and widespread antisemitism This article was originally published in Polish by Rzeczpospolita here and has been translated into English by Ben Koschalka Main image credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr (under CC BY-SA 2.0) , , , , , Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR He founded the Chamber Orchestra of Limanowa and is a member of the art section of the scientific society EDUCARE an organization focused on the education of children The text of “O Salutaris Hostia” comes from Verbum Supernum It was written for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office of Corpus Christi The text refers to the institution of the Eucharist by Christ at the Last Supper and his Passion and death “O Salutaris Hostia” (O Saving Victim) consists of the last two verses of Verbum Supernum “O Salutaris Hostia” is sung during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament This recording was made in the Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Jurek with the mixed Canticum Lubilaeum choir Follow Cecilia–Aleteia’s music page–on Facebook Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you Please make a tax-deductible donation today Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news Justyna Kowalczyk has put Polish cross-country skiing well and truly on the map Justyna Kowalczyk’s story begins with an administrative error on her birth certificate Though she was born on 19 January 1983 in Limanowa a registrar incorrectly recorded the date as the 23rd a mistake that figures to this day on her passport The champion skier nevertheless regards herself as a child of Capricorn explaining that she owes her stubbornness to the fact that she was born under the tenth sign of the zodiac In her childhood years Kowalczyk was a keen athlete and played basketball and handball to a high standard She took up cross country skiing at the age of 10 and competed in her first FIS World Cup race at Cogne (ITA) in December 2001 and her first world championships in Val di Fiemme (ITA) in February 2003 when she won Olympic bronze in the 30km freestyle behind Russia’s Julia Tchepalova and gold medal winner Katerina Neumanova of Czech Republic It was Poland’s first ever Olympic medal in cross country skiing Kowalczyk picked up a silver in the individual sprint and bronze in the 15km pursuit before lifting her first Olympic title in the 30km classical the Pole just getting the better of Norway’s Marit Bjørgen in a breathtaking sprint finish Her winning margin of 0.3 seconds was the narrowest in the history of the event Kowalczyk was suffering with a triple hairline fracture in her foot though it did not stop her from dominating the 10km classical from start to finish and claiming the second Olympic gold of her career and her fifth medal overall Such feats mean that Kowalczyk has rewritten her country’s sporting history Not only is she the only Polish cross-country skier to have medalled at the Olympic Winter Games she is also the only one to have won a FIS World Cup race (as of March 2014 she had won 30) or to have lifted an FIS World Cup title Between 2009 and 2013 she picked up four large crystal globes She is also the only female cross country skier in the world to have won the FIS Tour de Ski on four occasions making the title her own between 2010 and 2013 In addition she has amassed a total of six world championship medals including two golds won in the 15km pursuit and the 30km in Liberec in 2009 And just for good measure she was also voted Polish Sportswoman of the Year four times in a row between 2009 and 2012 and the town of Limanowa is being battered by a sudden downpour young people are huddled in shop doorways in twos and threes Among their number is a 21-year-old who tells me his name is Dominik clad in the obligatory hooded top and baseball cap and surveying the scene with a kind of low-level contempt "I'll be happy to get out of here as soon as possible," he says you have to leave." What job does he fancy doing He's been back here for a year after a spell working in Italy and the local job market simply doesn't pay: he says he'd get 50 Polish zlotys (PLN) an hour in Italy and only eight if he stays here – with the proviso that finding even a low-paid job will probably be difficult Such is the kind of blunt arithmetic that defines the lives of thousands of young Poles: their generation may be hailed for being so worldly and well-travelled but those qualities are often traceable not to joyous wanderlust but a deep pessimism about the prospects of towns like this most of the way to the border with Slovakia a range of hills that attract hikers and skiers and the Alp-like Tatra mountains are not far away and compared with the gap-toothed high streets of so many comparable British towns an embodiment of that brazen post-communist capitalism whereby every available surface is plastered with an advert half-suggest the landscape of rural south Wales – are peppered with impressively large houses which locals say are often paid for using money sent home from young relatives working abroad Underneath it all, however, is a story of ongoing hard times. Poland may have avoided a recession but the unemployment rate in Limanowa county is 20% a third of people who can't find a job are under 25 and more than half are under 35 (nationally there is a sudden bulge in the number of young locals on benefits thanks to an influx of people returning to Poland after working abroad the local economy was swollen by the imperative to make sure everyone was in work: the local enterprises included a food-processing plant and a factory that made industrial metering equipment but their payrolls are a tiny fraction of their former size and local family-run farms don't bring in enough money to keep their owners in full-time work What with scores of hiking trails and villages smattered with ski-lifts there could conceivably be a tourist economy here There's a freshly launched local enterprise zone which has attracted a handful of small businesses this is a case study in one big aspect of Poland's rising levels of inequality: the increasing gap between often thriving urban areas "We have human capital: people who want to work," says 35-year-old Marek Mlynarczyk the director of Limanowa's employment agency "But there's not enough investment." To make things even more difficult The town's schools reflect the general sense of life being lived in trying circumstances Many Poles I meet mention a latent national anxiety about the under-funding of education and you can see why: whereas plenty of British schools have long been modernised and equipped with mountains of IT Limanowa's remind me of the shabby-looking place I went to during the depths of the Thatcher years There is an all-pervading smell of overcooked vegetables and everything could do with a fresh coat of paint – but there again at the Josef Pilsudski school (named after the legendary politician who brought Poland back into being after the first world war) a group of eight students aged between 17 and 18 are sparkiness and confidence incarnate After Polish teenagers have finished at gimnazjum schools – similar to British comprehensives – at the age of 15 There are "basic" vocational schools lyceums aimed at readying their students for university and two types of institution that sit somewhere in between: "vocational secondary" and "technical" schools These eight are beneficiaries of the first type of institution and all able to speak good English: learning it is compulsory for all secondary school students and if you aim at working in any remotely high-end occupation On the wall of the classroom where we talk is a handmade poster that reduces the UK's attractions to Windsor Castle is minded to come and work in the UK; instead whose labour market will be open to Poles as of 1 May "I went there three years ago," he says You can see how it is here in Limanowa: there's a lot of rubbish in the streets." "We associate the UK with sin," he says A brief exchange with the Guardian's interpreter ascertains that he actually means "sinks" "We're studying to get better jobs than that," he says Around half of them want to eventually return to their home country to pursue careers as lawyers; a couple of others say they would eventually like to work as translators I talk to them for just under an hour, and the conversation is fascinating, pointing up the fact that they're part of a generation caught between Poland's long-standing Catholic conservatism, and a more liberal mindset fostered by increasing links with the rest of Europe though at least one confesses that it's largely due to parental pressure and they all concur that among their contemporaries They unanimously endorse Poland's strict abortion laws (it's permitted only in cases of rape but are divided 50/50 on the idea of allowing gay marriage: its most vehement opponent today is Maciej Buklanda whose long hair and grunge-esque casualwear do not quite chime with his illiberal opinions "I don't believe in love between people of the same sex." I don't want to look at it … but it's not an illness guilty of "just arguing with each other" and feathering their own nests: they all say they'll probably vote at the next election but seem to have no idea of which candidate to choose They mention the ubiquity of the Polish black market There is a surge of chat about graduate unemployment an increasing problem in a country in which almost half of young people go to university and there is unease about whether higher education meets the country's economic needs In today's edition of the regional newspaper Dziennik Polski there are shades of an article I've brought with me in which a Polish social psychologist rather sniffily sums up young Poles as "predominantly materialistic hedonists" "You have to have a lot of money," says Lucjan Karolina dispenses an answer that ends with the possibility of "some of my dreams coming true" and I wonder: is she optimistic about that happening "I'm not optimistic at all," she says Round the corner is the Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcacych i Zawodowych a vocational secondary school which is privately owned and run We're here to talk to an IT class; rather disconcertingly today's lesson is focused on how to work a till a dozen or so of which are arranged around the desks The entire class is female; their ambitions seem much more uncertain than in the last school they speak to me in Polish rather than English and only half say they aim to go to university whereas gay marriage splits them in half (with the caveat that even for those in favour The mention of politics draws a series of bemused blanks Six out of eight have siblings working abroad and when I ask if they're minded to follow their example the usual flurry of countries comes back in a flash: Germany One question demands to be asked: what would have to change to keep their generation not just in Limanowa They mention what they understand as middling monthly earnings among the young adults they know – only PLN 1,500 "We need more jobs," says Marzena Banach 1) 0ms,border-color 250ms cubic-bezier(0.4 1) 0ms;transition:background-color 250ms cubic-bezier(0.4 1) 0ms;color:#1976d2;padding:0px;min-width:0;}.css-1sgza6o:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;background-color:rgba(25 0.04);}@media (hover: none){.css-1sgza6o:hover{background-color:transparent;}}.css-1sgza6o.Mui-disabled{color:rgba(0 1) 0ms;color:#1976d2;padding:0px;min-width:0;}.css-w5p45x::-moz-focus-inner{border-style:none;}.css-w5p45x.Mui-disabled{pointer-events:none;cursor:default;}@media print{.css-w5p45x{-webkit-print-color-adjust:exact;color-adjust:exact;}}.css-w5p45x:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;background-color:rgba(25 0.04);}@media (hover: none){.css-w5p45x:hover{background-color:transparent;}}.css-w5p45x.Mui-disabled{color:rgba(0 0.26);}PrintShareSaveThe death has occurred of Teresa passed away unexpectedly at her home in Kenmare Sadly missed and dearly loved by her partner relatives and her many friends in both Ireland and Poland May Her Kind and Gentle Soul Rest In Eternal Peace Reposing at O' Connor's Funeral Home, Kenmare on Wednesday evening (July 17th) from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Requiem Mass for Teresa will take place on Thursday morning (July 18th) at 11.00am in Holy Cross Church, Kenmare which will be live streamed on http://kenmareparish.ie/ followed by Cremation at the Island Crematorium, Cork. Please use the online condolence book below as an option to offer your sympathies. Teresa's family would like to thank you for your support and understanding at this difficult time. Funeral Service.css-h76uj{display:inherit;margin-right:-4px;margin-left:8px;}Date Published: CondolencesDonate to CharityWould you like to mark a birthday memorial mass or anniversary for a Loved One?You can now create a family notice on RIP.ie to remember your loved one a large number of pilgrims from the St Stanislaus Kostka parish of Dębniki completed the XIII Pilgrimage in the footsteps of Karol Wojtyła The faithful walked the streets from the Salesian Church of St Stanislaus Kostka which was attended by Karol Wojtyła during his stay in Dębniki in the years 1938-1944 when he was a student and worked in the stone quarries of "Solvay" where the Eucharist was presided over by Fr Tadeusz Rozmus Regional Councilor for Central and North Europe ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007 This site also uses third-party cookies to improve user experience and for statistical purposes By scrolling through this page or by clicking on any of its elements We are delighted to confirm that talented youngster Fran Franczak has earned a call-up to Poland’s under-18 national team Fran is set to join up with the squad for a training camp and friendly tournament in Croatia from September 4-10 the United Arab Emirates U20 and South Korea was born in Limanowa and grew up in Laskowa before moving to Perthshire at the age of five Fran said: “It means a lot to me and it is a dream to play for the national team The first thing I did was phone my mum and dad – they are very proud of me “It will be a very good experience and I’ll be playing with new players and getting to find out different styles “The past year has gone well for me and I feel I am making the right steps.” Our newsletterStay up to date with all things SaintsSign up to receive our newsletter to get our latest news and offers Mar 11, 2024 | Business, Society A contract has been signed to build what will be Poland’s longest tunnel stretching almost 3.8 km (2.4 miles) through part of the Western Beskids mountains in the south of the country the tunnel and related rail modernisation will cut the train journey time between Kraków The broader investment programme it is part of which is financed by the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund will also slash travel times between Kraków and the mountain resort town of Zakopane — PKP PLK SA (@PKP_PLK_SA) March 8, 2024 Poland’s state rail infrastructure firm announced that it had signed a 1.9 billion zloty (€444 million) contract for modernisation of the section of rail running between Nowy Sącz and the village of Chabówka both located in the southern province of Małopolska that is centred around Kraków The section of track will include the new tunnel, which will be the longest single transport tunnel of any kind – road or rail – in the country The work will be carried out by a consortium comprised of Budimex which specialises in rail transport infrastructure will upgrade infrastructure built almost 150 years ago said deputy infrastructure minister Piotr Malepszak He added that it would cut travel times from Kraków to Nowy Sącz from around three hours to just one the fastest train connections between the two stand at around 2 hours and 40 minutes with Malepszak noting that trains often travel at speeds of up to 60km/h (37mph) speeds will increase to up to a maximum of 160km/h (99mph) Poland’s rail network is expanding and modernising However, more needs to be done to integrate it with other elements of the transport system, writes @MarcinZyla https://t.co/I3AnCXgBsh — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 11, 2022 The improvements between Nowy Sącz and Chabówka are part of a broader programme to improve rail infrastructure in the region including a new line connecting Kraków with the Podhale and Sądecczyzna regions that lie along the mountainous border with Slovakia will cut train journey times between Kraków and Zakopane to 90 minutes the fastest connection is around 2 hours and 20 minutes The plans also encompass improvements to station infrastructure, including creating platforms that will be fully accessible to people with reduced mobility Less than 6% of train stations in Poland are fully adapted to the needs of disabled people It comes after a video showed how markings outside one station lead blind people into a wall rather than the entrance https://t.co/Vnfeyc9jvf — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 14, 2021 The investment is being carried out as part of Poland’s so-called National Reconstruction Plan (KPO) which is the name given to the billions of euros in spending financed by the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund Those funds were previously frozen by the European Commission due to concerns over the rule of law under Poland’s former Law and Justice (PiS) government. However, following the arrival of a new ruling coalition led by Donald Tusk, Brussels announced last month that it would unlock all of Poland’s funds Last year, head of the EU’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport declared that Poland’s plans to develop its rail network could see it surpass many western European countries within the next two decades Poland’s rail network may be better than western Europe's within 20 years and could be the most modern on the continent He also notes Poland will play a key role in integrating Ukraine into the EU's transport system https://t.co/LyWIy7whd4 — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 19, 2023 Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland , , Karol Nawrocki even suggested that the state security services were involved in creating the scandal , , The 1,200 square metre national symbol was unfurled on the beach in Międzyzdroje , , The proportion of Poles saying the US has a positive influence on the world has also fallen to its lowest recorded level Górno reservoir is the first such object for storing water Located in Głogów Forest District it is one of several hundred reservoirs that will be built in forests This reservoir covers an area of 2.6 ha and was commissioned along with related facilities such as drainage ditch and monk (the mechanism regulating water level) The object’s capacity and the volume of water it can store equals up to 30 000 m3 The total cost of reservoir construction accounted for 1.6 million PLN Almost 70% of this amount was reimbursed by the EU funds It is worth mentioning that each implementation of such a project is a time consuming and complex process The projects involving forest and forestry adaptation to climate changes within the scope of small-scale water retention and counteracting hydric erosion within lowland and highland areas Construction and modernization of any hydro-technical object involve obtaining numerous acceptances and permissions not only construction permit but also acceptance of the possible impact of an object on the environment It is very crucial if the investment is being constructed in an environmentally precious area its location was within protected landscape area where protected orchid species occur The implementation of project required the relocation of plants to a new site which was successfully performed under the supervision of a botanist another one  is to find the company which will be responsible for commissioned construction works finding appropriate contractors is one of the biggest challenges within the project’ said Marta Mikulska the head of the department coordinating both water retention projects in the Coordination Center for Environmental Projects (CKPŚ) the labour market is suffering from the shortage of properly qualified employees and hydro-technical and environmental knowledge which would allow designing devices that fulfill the aims and assumptions of projects the lack of companies that can perform designed projects on a best effort basis is becoming really perceptible’  she adds Despite the above mentioned difficulties the majority of forest districts have already completed the project documentation development stage and now move to the implementation stage First such objects were successfully accepted in highland forest districts at the end of 2018 including: culvert reconstruction in the Sucha Forest District by increasing its intersection modernization of three fords (passage through stream) in the Bielsko Forest District construction of a dozen of wooden roads on wetland skid tracks and roads in the Baligród the Jeleśnia and the Limanowa forest districts Why is the forest water retention called ’small scale’ in order to distinguish it from large artificial reservoirs generally associated with retention such as Lake Solina or Otmuchów Lake Small-scale water retention include hundreds or even thousands of small reservoirs and ponds scattered across Polish forests On a national scale they are not very significant as far as flood protection is concerned they are very important locally because they improve humidity conditions and store water resources Górno reservoir is the first out of 400 small-scale water retention reservoirs that are to be constructed or modernized within the area of the State Forests by 2022 and will retain about 2.5 million m³ of water (data for both projects implemented within highland and lowland areas) other infrastructure elements related to water will be constructed in forests fords or large culverts enabling migration of water organisms and easy transportation of river bed debris Activities involving reestablishing of swamp proper condition that were dehumidified during previous land developments and areas adjusted to agricultural purposes (about 300 complex activities) play a crucial role in projects implemented especially in lowlands the activities performed in mountainous areas more often are focused on preventing erosion and involve the slowdown of rapid water drain from roads and skid tracks (intended for wood logging) The Polish Armed Forces are a reflection of the entire society candidates for soldiers must have certain characteristics and predispositions military service for your country is a constant you are a Polish soldier on and off service From the moment the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) (Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej and military service doesn’t mean you have to give up your professional career We need to create new ones and encourage young people to enter service Increasing the numerical strength of the army is my priority we successfully created and certified the 18th Mechanized Division where old units are being developed and new ones are gradually formed The army is returning to places where it used to be stationed years ago as the formation already counts almost 30,000 soldiers New brigades and battalions are created all the time there is a ceremony during which the TDF troops take their oath of enlistment People simply want to be a part of the army in their own local environements I guarantee that everyone who wants to join the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces and meets the requirements will definitely be given such an opportunity I constantly encourage people to take this step We have successfully recruited many volunteers for military service the results of the “Become a Polish Soldier” campaign are so promising that we are going to consistently develop the project The things that used to scare them off – several months of waiting for decisions in addition to often over a dozen visits to the Military Replenishment Council psychologists – have been replaced with a modern We have a pro-active network of places with a ready offer of service we’ve introduced electronic transfer of documents We’ve created a recruitment website and an application – zostanzolnierzem.pl Over 26,000 candidates have already registered there The whole system is currently much better and much more efficient The recruitment process is 140 days shorter there is a possibility to apply for the Polish Armed Forces online and there are military recruitment centers where candidates can handle all necessary formalities in one day – all this makes the recruitment process really easy and simple We put every effort to make sure that the shorter training doesn’t lose any of its quality and substance The goal of basic training is to build a soldier – create a service ethos Specialist training takes place already in the target military unit The important thing is that due to these trainings we are rebuilding the potential of our reserves this area had been neglected for many years It won’t be a surprise if I say that it is a calling A military uniform is an ennoblement and an obligation Young people want to have influence on important matters and our common security is undoubtedly one of such matters Military service gives them such an opportunity The army guarantees financial stability and a high standard of life I have given two substantial raises to soldiers after which the average salary is over PLN 6,153 – almost 2,000 more than in 2015 I’ve also made sure pension rights are no longer a subject of discussion or speculation Soldiers can feel secure and look into their future with optimism the TDF troops had to pass the most challenging test some of its brigades and battalions are still in preparation and the troops were already forced to go out on the streets and to hospitals to provide assistance and help I must say they handled things incredibly well being constantly available and ready to help They became an essential element of the national system developed to fight with the coronavirus operational forces also worked with full dedication to support local authorities when the number of infections was the highest several thousand troops set off to execute tasks connected with fighting the pandemic but also supported the Police and the Border Guard They were an important binding element in the system during all the waves of the pandemic The soldiers proved their worth in the time of need As much as 83% of Polish people trust the military It is the highest score among all public institutions and a very pleasing result which proves that hard and honest work pays off They must know someone is on duty and will react if need be when we constantly have to increase our defense capabilities when we need to step outside our units to help in nearby hospitals the key is people’s certainty that the system will work efficiently and without delay The stakes are too high to give anything up or lower the standards it was a natural reaction to adjust to the requirements of the epidemic situation we managed to carry out two incredibly important military exercises – NATO Exercise Defender last year and Exercise Dragon certifying the 18th Mechanized Division in the middle of this year Exercises and trainings executed during the epidemic additionally tested activity of commands and armed forces in circumstances of unplanned limitations and changes and I hear that the epidemic hadn’t defeated us that we had survived and came out stronger I can promise you our soldiers will be ready The epidemic had some influence on the Polish Military Contingent Our activity as such was modified to adhere to the reality of the epidemic – we introduced restrictions also regarding contacts with local communities we suspended our advisory activity in Afghanistan and Iraq as it was connected with high risk of COVID-19 transmission our contingents maintained their capabilities and required readiness It was a decision taken by the North Atlantic Treaty NATO has to be a collective body and act in solidarity It has to work the same way when we withdraw the forces This is the only way you can build a strong and solid alliance Polish soldiers executed their tasks with great professionalism and returned home with pride and Polish soldiers will be present in Iraq These 20 years of Polish presence in Afghanistan is a story of heroism and brotherhood on the battlefield but also of the necessity to quickly adjust and operate in entirely new conditions at the same time maintaining a high level of readiness This mission is also a story of modernizing the army and introducing changes in training we can certainly say our armed forces are operational on an entirely new level which was clearly confirmed when a US battalion was put under Polish command during the mission Americans do things like that only if they have full trust in their ally The mission in Afghanistan brought us closer to our strongest allies We became familiar with their procedures and transferred these experiences to improve our army It was also necessary to adjust to the level of our Allies as regards equipment The evolution took place in virtually every aspect as regards equipment and armament Our army has more and more NATO-related obligations Polish soldiers have been stationing in Turkey Within the frame of that assurance mission our contingent is operating in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea region Polish soldiers are cooperating with NATO Standing Naval Groups This mission is another proof that our soldiers are appreciated and highly regarded particularly when we consider the fact it is executed in the vicinity of unstable borders We were given another responsible task by NATO due to our growing importance in the North Atlantic Alliance Sie haben erfolgreich Ihre Einwilligung in die Nutzung von Transfermarkt mit Tracking und Cookies widerrufen Sie können sich jetzt zwischen dem Contentpass-Abo und der Nutzung mit personalisierter Werbung