Polish-Israeli writer Halina Birenbaum has received the title of “Merited for Warsaw”.

Unconfirmed reports say that Korean tech giant Samsung may be considering relocating its European headquarters from London to the Polish capital, Warsaw, although the company has denied this.

On Tuesday, the Seoul-based Korea Herald reported that Samsung, one of the world’s largest electronics producers, was mulling the decision to move its base in Europe to Poland. The paper quoted industry insiders who confirmed that such a move was being considered, with one saying that Samsung was “laying off employees in Europe.

The relocation seems to be part of its business restructuring amid sluggish sales”. On Wednesday, the original story on the Korea Herald had been removed, with the company vehemently denying the story. Samsung already operates an R&D centre in Warsaw.

In recent months, a number of rumours have surfaced about the possibility of international conglomerates contemplating investment in Poland. These included carmaker Jaguar Land Rover which was considering opening a Polish plant, but instead decided to invest in Slovakia – which, along with other countries in CEE, has been offering numerous incentives for foreign investments. (rg/rk)

Polish film-makers have called on Russia to release Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who is awaiting trial having been charged with committing 'crimes of a terrorist nature.’

The protest letter has been signed by members of the European Film Academy, chaired by director Agnieszka Holland, together with the Polish Film Academy, and it has been addressed to Russian authorities including President Vladimir Putin and Prosecutor General Yuriy Yakovlevich Chaika.

“Having observed the trial and especially the fact that the key witness for the prosecution has retracted his testimony as 'given under pressure and duress’, we are shocked that the accusation of Oleg Sentsov having committed 'crimes of a terrorist nature’ is still being upheld,” the appeal stressed.

The signatories called on Russia to drop the charges and fully rehabilitate Senstov.

Senstov was originally arrested at his house in Simferopol, Crimea, on 11 May 2014 by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB).

He was held for over a year before the trial began.

Sentsov had supported the Kiev protests in Independence Square that brought down former president Viktor Yanukovych’s regime, and he later opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March.

The prosecutor in the case accused the director of preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea, storing weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Although the chief witness for the prosecution withdrew his testimony during the trial, the prosecution is still calling for a sentence of 23 years.

Besides Agnieszka Holland, signatories of the protest letter included European Film Academy members such as British director Ken Loach and German film-maker Wim Wenders.

Polish signatories included such internationally acclaimed filmmakers as Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy Skolimowski, this year’s foreign movie Academy Award winner Pawel Pawlikowski, Ryszard Bugajski and Małgorzata Szumowska.

The court judgement is due to be read out on 25 August.

A manhunt has been launched after a security officer failed to deliver sums of money he had collected in Warsaw.

According to police spokesperson Edyta Adamus, the suspect, who worked for a private security firm, had picked up money from various points across the capital.

The 41-year-old had been using a company car, which was later found abandoned in the city.

The precise amount of missing money has not been disclosed.

Copycat case?

On 10 July, another security guard disappeared after collecting close to PLN 11 million in Swarzędz, west central Poland.

Police discovered that the suspect, who had been hired a security company a few months prior to the theft, had been employed under a false name.

Officers are still trying to trace the man, and in early August they released an image of him from his time working with the company.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has appealed to the Senate to allow a second referendum on three “major issues” to be held on the same day as the general election, 25 October.

The announcement was made during a televised speech to the nation on the national TVP broadcaster.

“A few days ago I met with representatives of civic initiatives. They represent the six million Poles who signed the request for a referendum in three extremely important issues for the state and society – the possible abolition of compulsory schooling for six-year-olds, lowering the retirement age which was raised to 67 years, and the protection of state forests.”

President Duda said that the proposal to introduce changes to the schooling system was a controversial one. “Changes in the education system should be implemented while respecting the environment related to the school – teachers and professionals, but also parents who best know the individual needs and abilities of their children. The opinion of parents demanding the right to decide the shape of the education system in Poland must be heard.”

Duda also said that lowering the retirement age could have long term benefits for society. The retirement age was increased to 67 years by the governing Civic Platform (PO) party.

“Raising the retirement age to 67 years of age led to changes in the lives of all working people and their families, but also for future generations. It raised many doubts as to the merits of introducing such a regulation. […] Therefore, we should enable citizens to express themselves also in that which is so important for all of us.”

The final question to the referendum would deal with forested land owned by the state. “State Forests are one of the last not privatised national resources,” President Duda said on Thursday.

The issue of the sale of state-owned forests was one of the criticisms leveled towards former president Bronisław Komorowski.

President Duda stressed that the decision to hold a referendum on the same day as the general election (25 October) would not put any additional strain on the budget.

“I believe that the Nation is the supreme sovereign, and the voice of society – the voice of Poles – must be heard,” President Duda concluded in his first televised address since taking office on 6 August.

In a separate referendum on 6 September, Poles will be asked whether they approve of introducing single-member constituencies in elections to the lower house of Parliament, if they are in favour of changes in the current system of financing political parties from the state budget, and whether they are for introducing a presumption in favour of the taxpayer in disputes over the tax law.

Children in Poland are in the middle of the scale in terms of school satisfaction, a new study finds, with children in the UK among the unhappiest.

In terms of mean satisfaction, Polish children rated their school experience at 8.6 and 8.0 (on a scale of ten) for 10 year-old and 12 year-olds respectively. This puts the country’s students in a similar situation as those in Spain and South Africa, a new report by the UK-based Children’s Society said.

Polish boys rated the satisfaction with their body at 8.7, while girls rated theirs at 8.1. Children in Columbia were the most satisfied among those surveyed with 9.4 and 9.6 respectively.

Children’s Society said that “Children in England are unhappier with their school life than those in almost every country featured.”

However, these statistics need to be taken with a pinch of salt, the Society said. “Though it is easy to slip into a shorthand of happiness, well-being is about so much more than this. It is about how young people feel about their lives as a whole, how they feel about their relationships, the amount of choice that they have in their lives, and their future. Well-being matters as an end in itself, but also because it is correlated with other outcomes in life such as physical and mental health.”

The international research is based on a survey of 53,000 children aged 10 and 12 in the following countries: England, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Poland, Estonia, Spain, Turkey, Romania, Algeria, South Africa, Israel, Ethiopia, Colombia and Nepal.