Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Become President of European Council

Mr Tusk will succeed Herman Van Rompuy, leaving Poland’s governing Civic Platform party (PO) to choose a new leader ahead of next year’s general election.

Mr Tusk said that disciplined economic growth would be among his priorities as EC president. He is also expected to take a reformist role, addressing the concerns of the UK and some EU MPs, who fear that Europe is moving too much towards federalism.

Addressing the external challenges facing the EU, such as the Ukraine crisis, and conflict in Syria, Mr Tusk said European solidarity was vital.

He added: “We can help Ukraine, we will help our neighbours in the south, only when we are able to build a common, unambiguous point of view. We need to be both courageous and responsible, using imagination and common sense together.”

Opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński (Law and Justice – PiS) said that the election of Mr Tusk would give Poland a more prominent position in the EU. (Source: http://inside-poland.com)

Silly Season: Poland, Home of the Longest Sausage in the World

The kaszanka, a mix of buckwheat, wobbly bits, and, yes, blood, flavoured with a selection of mild herbs, was created in Radomyśl Wielki in Podkarpackie, south-eastern Poland.

It measured 226 metres, and weighed 335 kg, and was devoured by locals once the world record had been approved.

The previous holder – according to TheNews.pl, which first reported the story – was Burgos in Spain. But their attempt measured just 175 metres.

So famed is kaszanka in Poland, that it even has its own version of the European Football Champions League theme:

nd, in English

Silly Season: Poland, Home of the Longest Sausage in the World

July 21, 2014 · by Inside Poland · in Latest news

Hold the silly season front page – Poland now holds the world record for the longest blood sausage in the world.

The kaszanka, a mix of buckwheat, wobbly bits, and, yes, blood, flavoured with a selection of mild herbs, was created in Radomyśl Wielki in Podkarpackie, south-eastern Poland.

It measured 226 metres, and weighed 335 kg, and was devoured by locals once the world record had been approved.

The previous holder – according to TheNews.pl, which first reported the story – was Burgos in Spain. But their attempt measured just 175 metres.

So famed is kaszanka in Poland, that it even has its own version of the European Football Champions League theme:

Summer seems a good time for breaking culinary records in Poland. In August 2010, the world’s longest pizza (1,100 metres) was created in the city of Kraków. (Source: http://inside-poland.com)

Politics without Tusk

DONALD TUSK’s elevation to president of the European Council, the most prestigious job for a Pole since Karol Wojtyla became John Paul II, has left a gaping hole at the heart of Polish politics. How will it be filled? The answer will determine whether the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party can hang on to power and win a third parliamentary term next year.

Mr Tusk has dominated Poland’s political scene ever since he became prime minister in 2007. In his long years in power he has stamped his authority on PO, and winnowed out any unruly barons who threatened his rule. Underneath the shy demeanour, and the winning smile that charmed fellow European leaders, is a tough political player.

The two men who co-founded PO with him in 2001 have long since been pushed aside. Rivals who dared challenge him, among them Grzegorz Schetyna, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister and once one of Mr Tusk's closest friends, have been consigned to the back benches of parliament or ejected from the party.

That leaves Mr Tusk with the decisive voice in choosing a successor. He takes up his new post in Brussels in December. Once he resigns, Bronislaw Komorowski, the president and a Tusk ally, will have to appoint a new prime minister, who will then have two weeks to win the confidence of parliament. That should not be much of a challenge, as PO and their junior coalition partners from the Polish People's Party have a slim majority in the legislature.

The likeliest candidate to replace Mr Tusk is Ewa Kopacz, the speaker of parliament and former health minister who has become one of Mr Tusk's closest allies.“Ewa Kopacz owes her advance in the political hierarchy to Donald Tusk and to her loyalty to him,” writes Wojciech Szacki of Polityka Insight, a researcher . He adds that if she becomes prime minister then Mr Tusk will maintain influence over the new government, which will be likely to stick to most of his administration's policies.

Other possible candidates include Tomasz Siemoniak, the defence minister, and Elzbieta Bienkowska, the deputy prime minister in charge of spending the flood of EU funds pouring into Poland—although she may get the nod to take up Poland's slot as a European commissioner.

Although Mr Tusk's name had been bandied about for months as a possible European Council president, the prime minister had been reluctant to go, worried that his party could splinter without his presence in Warsaw. PO has sagged in opinion polls over the past year, overtaken by the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a long-time foe of Mr Tusk. The prime minister has been further damaged by the “Waitergate” scandal, in which several senior ministers were recorded (apparently by waiters) having embarrassing conversations in fancy Warsaw restaurants. He was facing the prospect of a gruelling election campaign next year, followed by a best-case outcome of a very wobbly coalition of everybody but PiS.

Mr Tusk’s decision to go to Brussels seems to be giving his dispirited party a lift, at least in the short term. As he departs, PO feels it has a decent chance of winning November's local elections and is more optimistic about next year's parliamentary vote. When Mr Tusk appeared on a television interview programme earlier this week, he was even serenaded by the studio audience, thrilled by their country's achievement in securing such a prominent post. (Source: http://www.economist.com)

Mars Challenge in Poland!

Europe’s first competition of Mars rovers will be held in Poland in September 2014. It’s a mark of recognition for Polish students who have shot to fame as constructors of the world’s best robotic vehicles.

From 5 to 7 September 2014, Poland will host a highly interesting event: the European Rover Challenge, modelled on the annual University Rover Challenge in the US. The US-based event attracts scores of students from technical universities around the world, people who spend their free time putting together amazing robotic vehicles. The best robot stands a chance of taking part in a real mission to Mars. Magma White, one of the awarded Polish robots which was constructed by students from Torun, is currently taking part in equipment tests in the run-up to the ExoMars mission that will fly to the Red Planet in 2018.

It’s the first time a Mars rovers competition will be organised outside the United States. Thanks to efforts by Mars Society Polska, the European competition of robotic vehicles will be regularly taking place in Poland. A local branch of the Mars Society and the initiator of the event in Poland, Mars Society Polska is involved in global preparations for the manned mission to Mars.

The racetrack will be charted on the grounds of the Regional Science and Technology Centre in Chęciny, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Located in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains near a medieval royal castle, this picturesque venue will see a race of Mars rovers constructed by students from all over Europe. The event will be accompanied by a science picnic and an international conference hosted by Mars Society Polska. The conference will be addressed by Robert Zubrin, the famous founder of the Mars Society.

“The Mars rover rally will be organised in Poland because of the great interest the event has met with among Polish students,” Mars Society Polska’s Robert Lubański tells poland.gov.pl. “No other place in Europe can beat Polish universities when it comes to the number of  robotic vehicles being constructed. Space industry is still a novelty here, and the fascination with space re-emerged in Poland in 2012 when our country joined the European Space Agency. This also explains why so many people are enthusiastic about the rally."

So far, Polish students have been taking their machines to the US competition, where they have been very successful. They have been climbing the winners’ podium since 2010; in 2013 the Polish teams from the universities of technology in Bialystok and Wroclaw pulled off a spectacular coup, finishing first and second.

Although many more students volunteered for the contest, travel costs to the United States – oftentimes bigger than the actual cost of building a robot – proved a major obstacle. That is why the competition will now be held in Poland, which should also make it easier for students from our part of the world to participate in the event.

“We already have applications from Egypt, India, Germany and Colombia. Among the registered teams are three teams from Poland, too,” says Robert Lubański.

Organisers have already started plotting an obstacle course for rovers, which is supposed to simulate Martian conditions. Robots will have to collect soil samples, examine them for traces of life, and help a stranded astronaut.

The event is organised by Mars Society Polska in cooperation with ABM Space Education, the Austrian Space Forum, the Regional Science and Technology Centre in Chęciny, and the Marshal Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. (Source: http://en.polska.pl)