Interview: Poland's Jaruzelski Again Denies Seeking Soviet Intervention Against Solidarity

Radio Free Europe
A document recently appeared in Poland purportedly containing a transcript of a December 1981 conversation between Soviet Marshal Viktor Kulikov and Polish communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski.

The two men discussed the tense political situation in Poland, the need to declare martial law, and the possibility of a Soviet military intervention. The document seems to show that Jaruzelski requested Soviet military aid, which he has always denied.

RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Yelena Vlasenko spoke with the 87-year-old general to get his reaction to the fresh document.

RFE/RL: Where did the stenograph that was published in the bulletin of the National Memory Institute come from?

Wojciech Jaruzelski: I was recently on a well-known program on Polish television moderated by a well-known journalist, and I spoke in detail about this topic.


http://www.rferl.org/content/Interview_Polands_Jaruzelski_Again_Denies_Seeking_Soviet_Intervention_Against_Solidarity/1902431.html

Poland, U.S. sign deal on troop deployments

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland and the United States signed a deal on Friday that paves the way for the stationing of U.S. troops on the territory of its east European NATO ally.
The "status of forces" accord (SOFA), a technical document tentatively approved in November after 15 months of talks, also makes possible deployments of a U.S. Patriot missile battery in Poland next year as part of plans to upgrade its air defences.
"This agreement is a good basis for cooperation between the U.S. and Polish armed forces in the future," Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich told reporters at the signing ceremony.
"For Poland, this signifies a strengthening of our national security."
Poland, perturbed by Russia's more assertive foreign policy, has long complained that it hosts no U.S. troops or major military installations 10 years after it joined NATO and despite a strong track record of sending troops to help in U.S.-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BA2Y920091211
 

Chevron to search for natural gas in Poland

The Polish Environment Ministry says it has authorized U.S. oil company Chevron to explore natural gas deposits in eastern Poland for the next five years.
The ministry said Friday that Poland's chief geologist, Henryk Jacek Jezierski, has signed the deal. It allows the second-largest U.S. oil company to search for shale gas deposits in eastern Poland and assess the difficulty of accessing them _ but not to extract the gas. No financial details were released.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1130381&lang=eng_news

Poland moves forward with electric cars

A German-Polish partnership has got the first charging point for electric vehicles in Poland up and running. This EU-funded research project between the German integrated energy company RWE, the Polish group Green Stream Polska and the City of Warsaw targets the launching of 130 charging points by June 2010.
The project partners also seek to develop a functional and user-friendly system that would effectively fuel electric mobility in the Polish capital of Warsaw. Under the pilot programme, which is based on the international experience of the partners in this area, the City Hall of Warsaw will receive five electric cars. The work involved in this research will also be used to expand the network in the future.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_09_12_11_en.html

Poland and Russia agree on new gas deal

WARSAW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Poland and Russia agreed on a new gas deal ending months of negotiations over extended supplies of natural gas to Poland starting in 2010, Poland's economy ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"The intergovernment agreement on gas supplies for Poland is a result of negotiations that took place in Moscow," the ministry said in the statement.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKGEE5B929320091210

NATO conference on proliferation of mass destructive weapons starts in Warsaw

WARSAW, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 representatives of states from five continents, international organizations and universities meet in Warsaw on Thursday to attend a NATO conference devoted to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
    
The two-day conference, held under the auspices of Poland's Foreign Ministry, will center on the future of multilateral non-proliferation regimes, current threats related with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, disarmament and the threat of weapons of mass destruction in view of terrorism, according to the Polish news agency PAP. 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/10/content_12622257.htm

Poland's Jaruzelski rejects claim he called for invasion

Poland’s last communist leader dismissed as untrue allegations made by the state archives institute yesterday that he had called for a Soviet invasion of his country in 1981 to help crush striking workers.
In a statement sent to the state news agency PAP, Gen Wojciech Jaruzelski branded the claims “illogical” and said the Soviet general named in the memo had often denied suggestions that the Polish communists had requested a Soviet invasion.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/1210/1224260425703.html

Sins of Emission

In 2008, the European Union agreed to a plan to reduce its emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, with a provision that allowed EU leaders to commit to 30 percent reductions if other major emitters took ambitious action. Now a group of seven EU members—led by the United Kingdom and summit host Denmark—are pressing to take just that step in response to the American and Chinese moves. Some others, most notably Poland, are considerably less interested in deeper emissions cuts.

http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=22580

Police use of Taser on Polish traveler 'inappropriate': probe

VANCOUVER, Canada — Canadian police acted lawfully but fell short of professional expectations in confronting a Polish traveler who died at the airport here after he was stunned with Taser guns, a commission said Tuesday.
Robert Dziekanski, 40, died in late 2007 minutes after four policemen stunned him five times with a Taser and then physically restrained him.
The case caused international shock waves after an amateur video of the violent arrest, after which he fell silent and died, was distributed by news agencies and over the Internet.
The report by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the four officers who confronted Dziekanski "failed to adopt a measured, coordinated and appropriate response," while the senior officer "failed to take charge."
"No meaningful attempt was made to de-escalate the situation," said the commission, while "no warning -- visual or otherwise -- was given to Mr. Dziekanski" before he was hit five times with a stun gun.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hz5pMb_L5v4U2TmVPssPgB8l9UfA

Polish-Russian gas talks to begin on Thursday

 WARSAW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Polish-Russian intergovernmental talks on additional deliveries of natural gas to Poland will start in Moscow on Thursday, Maciej Kaliski of the Economy Ministry told the Polish news agency PAP on Tuesday. 

    Contrary to expectations, an intergovernmental agreement on additional deliveries was not signed on Nov. 26 in Warsaw. At that time, Deputy Economy Minister Joanna Strzelec-Lobodzinska envisaging another round of talks expressed hope that she would manage to close the deal after Dec. 5. She said that left to be discussed are purely technical matters. 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/09/content_12614218.htm

Poland's Jaruzelski Wanted Soviet Invasion

Radio Free Europe
WARSAW (Reuters) -- Poland's last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, wanted Soviet troops to invade his country in 1981 to help crush striking workers, according to a document published today by the state archives institute.

Jaruzelski, now 86, has always insisted that he declared martial law in December 1981 precisely to avert the kind of Soviet military intervention that had crushed pro-democracy supporters in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968.


http://www.rferl.org/content/Memo_Polands_Jaruzelski_Wanted_Soviet_Invasion/1898751.html

Moody's says Poland bond ratings “strong”

Poland's A2 government bond ratings are supported by high economic, institutional and government financial strength, Moody's Investors Service said in its new sovereign credit report on Poland. The rating outlook is stable, although the report expresses concerns surrounding steeply rising fiscal deficits and deteriorating government debt metrics in the aftermath of the economic crisis, as well as slowed economic growth potential.
"Poland's economy amply demonstrated its resiliency through the global economic crisis," said Kenneth Orchard, Senior Credit Officer in Moody's Sovereign Risk Group. "After expanding by 5% in 2008, real GDP growth is expected to be over 1% in 2009, making Poland the only country in the EU able to avoid a recession."

http://www.financialmirror.com/News/Business_and_Finance/18577

Poland's Environment Minister Resigns

(RTTNews) - Poland's environment minister Maciej Nowicki announced Tuesday that he has resigned from the post, describing his ministerial job as "difficult and thankless."

Nowicki told reporters in Warsaw on Tuesday that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accepted his resignation, adding that his replacement to the post will be announced soon.

"After two years I was able to tell Prime Minister Donald Tusk 'mission accomplished'. We had agreed I would not serve a full term but carry out certain tasks which are now completed. These have been two very tiring years," Nowicki said.

http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1151195&SMap=1

FRANCE: More than one party interested in Renault F1 team

www.just-auto.com
Renault has signed Poland's Robert Kubica as a driver for the 2010 season but has yet to confirm his team mate. Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who won two titles with the French carmaker, has joined Ferrari.

http://www.just-auto.com/article.aspx?id=102363 

Warsaw expects SOFA security pact signed with U.S. this week

WARSAW, December 7 (RIA Novosti) - An agreement on the status of U.S. troops on Polish soil, known as the SOFA deal, will be signed on December 10 in Warsaw, a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

According to the Status of Forces Agreement, U.S. troops will service Patriot missiles that are to be integrated into Poland's national security system.

"The U.S.-Polish SOFA accord will be signed in Warsaw and not in Washington. The last preparations for signing the document are underway," Piotr Paszkowski told journalists.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20091207/157146868.html

Poland hosts NATO summit on WMD

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Foreign officials descend on Poland on Thursday for a two-day summit on a weapons-of-mass-destruction policy adopted by NATO, the 28-member alliance announced.

Warsaw, Poland, hosts the annual NATO conference on WMD, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. NATO said it expects more than 100 top international officials to discuss the non-proliferation regime, disarmament and terrorism.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/12/07/Poland-hosts-NATO-summit-on-WMD/UPI-41791260210339/

Mouthpiece of communist Poland falls prey to market

WARSAW (Reuters Life!) - The once-powerful mouthpiece of Poland's communist party fell silent on Monday, bowing to the demands of the free market 20 years after the advent of democracy in eastern Europe.


Trybuna, direct successor to the influential communist-era 'Trybuna Ludu' paper, carried the torch for Poles nostalgic for socialism after 1990, but steadily lost readers.

"Dear readers, from the weekend Trybuna is no longer available at newsstands. The publisher of our newspaper took the decision to suspend publication due to the difficult material situation," Trybuna said in a short note on its website.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5B62P220091207

Sorry, Poland

Under the Nazis Poland became a prison where the Germans created their ‘largest camps of annihilation’

I called the ambassador, Piotr Ogrodzinski, who is leaving Ottawa this week after five extraordinarily productive years here. During that time he successfully urged Canada to remove visa restrictions on visitors from Poland, strengthened military and economic co-operation between our two countries, and wrote perhaps 30 letters of complaint to news outlets that had not made the Nazi origin of the death camps clear.
Poland has hardly been innocent of anti-Semitism, Ogrodzinski told me. “It is a fact that there was a very strong anti-Semitism in the interwar period and it continued during the [Second World] war,” he said. But the camps were a different story. “It’s absolutely false that Poles had anything to do with concentration camps, with the exception that they were the first prisoners.”
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/20/sorry-poland/

Who Wants What in Copenhagen

Wall Street Journal
This week, officials from 192 countries will meet in Copenhagen to tackle global climate change, seeking a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Even if they can't negotiate a binding agreement, many countries hope at least to work out commitments to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions and provide assistance to poorer countries likely to be hardest hit by the effects of global warming.
Poland
Poland and other Eastern European nations want a deal that isn't too economically burdensome. The issue is how financial support for developing countries should be shared by EU members
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704533904574548141677888208.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

'Red Baron' death certificate turns up in Poland

Ninety-one years after Von Richthofen died after being shot down near the River Somme in France Maciej Kowalczyk, a genealogist, found the document in archives belonging to the western Polish town of Ostrow Wielkopolski.

Mr Kowalczyk explained that the town, which in 1918 was part of Germany, issued the death notice in accordance to German law.

"Imperial regulations from 1879, relating to military personnel, who had left their permanent residence on mobilisation and were later killed, dictated that their death was registered at their last residence before heading to the front," he told the PAP news agency.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/6742769/Red-Baron-death-certificate-turns-up-in-Poland.html

Poland's internal swine flu fight

WARSAW, Poland — Poland is standing alone against the swine flu, as one of the only European Union member states to refuse to place orders for the H1N1 virus vaccine because of the health minister's concerns about its safety.

But now the country’s human rights ombudsman is threatening the health minister, Ewa Kopacz, with prosecution unless she moves on the vaccine.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/poland/091203/poland-swine-flu

Poland wants to buy vaccine from Sweden

Poland has not imported any vaccine since it claimed that it was not tested enough. But now the swine flu has broken out in Poland and according to Swedish Radio programme Ekot, Poland has secretly asked Sweden for vaccine.

The issue is sensitive since the Polish government has been criticised for not importing the vaccine early enough.

According to Ekot, Polands bid for Swedish vaccine, happened when Sweden´s Minister for Social Affairs, Göran Hägglund, visited Warsaw some weeks ago. Hägglund went there to try to persuade the Polish government to take back its no to EU´s directive on free movement for patients.
http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=4449