poland

Poland's president visits Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

2:24am April 18, 2024

by The Associated Press

Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as they brace for the possibility of a second Trump term.

People take a selfie with rainbow Pride flags before the start of the Equality Parade in Warsaw, Poland, in June 2023. The Equality Parade was celebrated under the slogan "We predict equality and beauty!"

World News

After years of legal discrimination, Poland's same-sex couples await civil union law

4:55pm March 08, 2024

by Rob Schmitz

The new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has promised to introduce legislation that would legalize civil unions in Poland, one of the few nations in Europe that doesn't recognize them.

Donald Tusk (center), then in the opposition, marches with Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski (left) and former President Lech Walesa (right) in a protest last year organized by Civil Platform, the coalition of political parties now running Poland's government.

World News

Poland's judiciary was a tool of its government. New leaders are trying to undo that

12:16pm February 26, 2024

by Rob Schmitz

Poland's far-right Law and Justice party spent eight years stacking the courts with allies, destroying the judiciary's independence. The new government is finding it's tough to undo the damage.

Supporters of the outgoing Law and Justice party protest outside the headquarters of Poland's state-owned TVP broadcaster after the new government took control last December.

World News

Poland's new government deprograms its once far-right public media

5:10am February 19, 2024

by Rob Schmitz

Under Poland's Law and Justice party, the country's public broadcaster was turned into a propaganda tool for the far-right government to use as it wished. That era has come to an end.

Ukrainian truck drivers stand near a long line of trucks as they wait for days at the Dorohusk border in Poland.

World News

20-mile backup as Polish truckers blockade border in standoff with Ukrainian drivers

9:37am January 07, 2024

by Elissa Nadworny

In a gesture of wartime support, the European Union has exempted Ukrainian truckers from EU limits on how many drivers can enter Europe. Polish truckers say that's destroying their businesses.

Hubert Sobecki is a spokesperson for Love Does Not Exclude, an association that represents Poland's LGBTQ+ community. Sobecki says while he's encouraged that Polish voters have rejected the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party, he's not convinced that Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition represents a big change for the LGBTQ+ community in Poland.

World News

As Europe applauds Poland's election results, civil rights groups prepare to fight

5:30pm October 21, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

LGBTQ+ and abortion rights advocates are thrilled Poland's ruling, right-wing Law and Justice party is unlikely to form Poland's next government. But they are skeptical of the commitment of who will.

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A woman casts her ballot during parliamentary elections in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. The outcome of the election will determine whether the right-wing Law and Justice party will win an unprecedented third straight term or whether a combined opposition can win enough support to oust it.

World News

Poland votes in an election seen as the most important of its 3-decade old democracy

3:23pm October 15, 2023

by The Associated Press

At stake are Poland's legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and the foreign alliances of a country that has been a crucial ally to Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

In the middle of Poland's Bialowieza Forest, one of Europe's oldest remaining forests, stands Europe's newest border wall: a 15-foot-high metal fence topped with razor wire and security cameras. Poland finished building this fence a year ago to try to stem an influx of migrants assisted to the border by Belarusian soldiers, whose government is trying to destabilize Europe.

World News

Poland's dangerous eastern border takes center stage in upcoming elections

5:26pm October 02, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

The NATO and EU member borders Belarus, the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and Ukraine — plus a strip of land connecting it to Lithuania. It is an unstable and volatile mix of frontiers.

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Supporters of Poland's opposition parties hold European Union, Polish flags and banners during a march organized by Civil Platform on June 4, in Warsaw, Poland.

World News

Poland's new Russian influence law gets flak as an attack on democracy

7:38am June 14, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

Critics of the law, including in Washington and the European Union, warn that Poland's right-wing populist leaders could use the law to block candidates ahead of elections later this year.

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China's leader Xi Jinping claps as he listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin via a video link, from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 2, 2019. Xi will meet Putin this week on a visit to Moscow.

Latest on Ukraine: Xi Jinping visits Moscow to meet Putin (March 20)

9:36am March 20, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.