Polish MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke has sparked controversy in Strasbourg once again by giving the Hitler salute while speaking in the European Parliament.

Korwin-Mikke, leader of fringe party the Coalition of Polish Republic’s Renewal Freedom and Hope, made the gesture in protest against a German-led bid to introduce integrated ticketing for travel across EU borders, including train and bus services.

As MEPs voted on a resolution in favour of the initiative, which advocates say would increase the use of public transport, Korwin-Mikke paraphased the Nazi German slogan of ein volk, ein reich, ein fuhrer (one people, one empire, One leader).

Addressing the chamber in English, he argued that in spite of frequent talk in the parliament about diversity, “all the time if there is voting, we are voting for the unification of everything.

“This time it is ein reich, ein volk, ein ticket,” he said, before raising his arm in the Nazi salute.

Since the May 2014 elections to the European Parliament, Korwin-Mikke has ruffled feathers in Strasbourg, once slapping a fellow Pole in the face and on another occasion referring to ”niggers” in a speech about unemployment.

The unemployment rate in June fell to 10.4 percent from 10.8 percent in May.

Employers publicised 117,000 new job offers in June, Minister of Labour Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

The minister added that the figures were a “record in these statistics, which have been compiled since 2011.”

The most offers were made in the Mazowsze region (15,000), Silesia (13,000) and 11,000 each in Lower Silesia and Wielkopolska.

„This means that the fall in unemployment is running alongside creation of new jobs,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

According to ministry estimates, the situation in all voivodships improved, with Warmińsko-Mazurski noting the largest rise, of 0.7 percentage points.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said single-digit unemployment could be seen in the next two months. In six voivodships it was already the case, he added: Pomorski, Wielkopolska, Mazowsze, Małopolska, Silesa and Lower Silesia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Tomasz Siemoniak has denied allegations of corruption in the latest development in the 'Waitergate’ wire-tapping scandal that has rocked the government.

Siemoniak has filed a complaint with the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, after weekly Do Rzeczy published fragments of what it claims is an illicitly recorded conversation between former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Democratic Left Alliance MP Ryszard Kalisz.

The excerpts include passages where Kalisz describes a meeting with former military counterintelligence chief General Janusz Nosek, in which the latter apparently claimed he had evidence of corruption, implicating Siemoniak.

“The published fragments strike at my good name, and material has reached the public which I cannot remain indifferent to,” Siemoniak has said.

“Never and in no way have I been associated with any matter of corruption or irregularities.
“I have never violated the law while carrying out the duties of the minister of defense,” he added.

Several ministers and other prominent members of Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz’s government were forced to resign last month when a 2014 wire-tapping scandal returned to haunt Kopacz’s Civic Platform party.

The illegal recordings were made at two Warsaw restaurants over a protracted period. An investigation is ongoing into who is was responsible for making the recordings.

Poland has started providing women in labour with anaesthetics paid for by the National Health Fund (NFZ).

From the beginning of July, the medicines will be given to all women who ask for them, even without a doctor’s recommendation.

NFZ will pay hospital an additional PLN 400 (EUR 95) with no limits imposed, writes daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

As a result, for standard labour practices, hospitals receive around PLN 2200 (EUR 523), compared to the previous PLN 1800 (EUR 428). For caesarean sections, hospital still only get PLN 1800.

This is an important change, experts say. Woman know that anaesthesia is available, even if they do not make use of it, said Daria Omulecka from the Foundation „Childbirth with Dignity”.

She added, that it’s important that doctors and midwives are informed about the consequences of anaesthesia.

The result of the referendum in Greece could affect the global stock markets and exchange rates, economists say.

On Sunday, the Greek people overwhelmingly decided that they do not accept the conditions of international financial assistance.

Andrzej Sadowski from the Adam Smith Institute said that any abnormal political situation often leads to speculation in financial markets.

He argued that exchange rates changed at any extended negotiations with international creditors of Greece. Sadowski added that the Polish złoty also lost ground against other currencies.

The expert noted, however, that fluctuations are not real, only virtual and transient.

On the other hand, Katarzyna Pisarska of the European Academy of Diplomacy said that the Greeks voted with their hearts, not reason. She added that the win for the YES camp is a great success for the Greek government and strengthens the negotiating position of the government.

On Monday, the charismatic Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis tendered his resignation.

President Bronisław Komorowski has said Poland will use the NATO summit in Warsaw in July to seek to strengthen the alliance’s presence on its eastern flank.

Komorowski said at a National Security Council meeting on Wednesday that from 2016 he wanted “NATO not only to maintain the rotating character of current NATO forces in Eastern Europe, but also to strengthen and make them permanent.”

The president said the key was armaments warehousing, enabling the alliance to shorten the preparation time for armed conflict in the event of a threat.

„This is a very important summit from Poland’s security point of view, for the issue of the alliances eastern flank and also for NATO’s strategic development,” Komorowski said.

Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict started in 2014 Poland has been pushing for NATO to have a bigger and stronger presence in the region.

Some 35 percent of Poles said they want a ‘first past the post’ electoral system.

A CBOS poll found that 14 percent were in favour of retaining the existing proportional representation system and 17 percent wanted a mixed system.

Asked if JOW, the single mandate system proposed by political newcomer Paweł Kukiz after the last presidential elections in which he finished third, should be introduced, 52 percent said yes, with 20 percent againt.

According to CBOS, 25 percent of those asked said the type of voting system had no significance, and nine percent said they were unable to choose. The poll also found that 44 percent of governing Civic Platform (PO) voters want JOW, 35 percent were against and 21 percent had no opinion. Some 52 percent of opposition Law and Justice (PiS) were for JOW and 22 percent against.

Meanwhile, 85 percent of Kukiz supporters said they wanted JOW introduced. The figures in support of changes to the system are slighly up on a 2007 poll conducted by CBOS.

Warsaw’s stock, bond and forex markets continued to fall on Monday with investors shipping out of emerging markets as the Greece crisis deepens.

Greece over the weekend imposed capital controls to stem a run on domestic banks, triggering fears across Europe that the country will fall out of the eurozone.

The Greek government said on Sunday night it had no other option after the European Central Bank froze its liquidity lifeline that had kept Greece going during the last six month run on deposits.

In London the FTSE 100 was down over 2 percent and French and German markets both fell 4 percemnt early on Monday. Banking shares were hardest hit, losing up to 10 percent.

Warsaw’s WIG20 index fell 2.4 percent to a five-month low of 2,276.85 at 9.30am, Bloomberg reported.

The zloty dropped 0.6 percent to 4.2008 to the euro, its weakest since 18 February, first thing on Monday. Against the dollar the zloty fell slightly to 3.78 and to the Swiss franc to 4.03 from 4.0 on Friday.

Meanwhile, the yield on benchmark 10-year zloty government notes jumped 13 basis points to 3.37 percent, the highest since last August.

On the equity markets last Friday the worst performers were Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), which fell 4.78 percent, power firm PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna, down 2.37 percent and Poland’s largest bank, PKO Bank Polski, which was down 2.30 percent.

„There is talk of going back to the negotiating table with Greece, but belief in this solution is not great,” independent analyst Roman Przasnyski told Onet.pl, adding that the longer-term prospects were very unclear.

“From the zloty’s point of view the events of the last 48 hours are not favourable, and it could also come under pressure due to its emerging market status,” Konrad Ryczko from the Banku Ochrony Środowiska brokerage house said.

“Looking ahead, the zloty should be helped by fundamentals, rising inflation and the finance ministry and NBP’s promises to intervene in the markets if necessary. This doesn’t change the fact though that in the nearest few days investors may see the Polish market through the prism of risk associated with specific assets,” Ryczko said.

“The Greek butterfly looks set to cause a tornado in financial markets,” Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets UK, told The Guardian. “In the process we could well also find out if this event turns out to be the equivalent of the butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico, going on to cause a hurricane in China.”

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has called for a referendum on Greece’s creditors’ demands, which led to eurozone finance ministers to cut the country’s five-year bailout by the International Monetary Fund, the ECB and the European commission. Tsipras said Saturday’s move by the eurozone’s finance ministers was unprecedented and called it “a denial of the Greek public’s right to reach a democratic decision.” In the early hours of Sunday, parliament voted 178 to 120 in favour of holding the referendum.

Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said that despite travel blacklists issued by the ministry, Poles will still travel to dangerous countries such as Tunisia.

A terrorist attack on Friday on a beach in the seaside resort of Sousse in Tunisia saw the deaths of around 39 people.

Minister Schetyna told Polish Radio that on Friday as many as 3,000 Polish tourists were vacationing in Tunisia. In March three Polish tourists were killed in another terrorist attack at the Bardo Museum in the country capital Tunis.

The Foreign Minister explained that the ministry cannot force people to leave the country, and the most it can do is suggest that people choose safer destinations for their holidays.

Meanwhile, Polish tourists have started returning from Tunisia. Some told Polish Radio that they would return to the country in the future, and they didn’t feel threatened. “After all,” some said, “terrorism happened all around the world.”

For a complete list of the blacklisted countries, click here.