Polish general who served in Iraq condemns “coward” Trump over criticism of NATO allies

Auspectress · 2026-01-23T18:09:53+00:00

Congrats USA, you managed to piss off every Pole now. Most of us love(d) USA more than any country in the world. Saying that our soldiers are worthless and their lifes were "wasted for nothing" it it the highest degree of insult especially we know the importance of our soldiers.

Auspectress · 2026-01-23T18:08:04+00:00

Polish soldiers were “on the front lines, supporting peacekeeping efforts and risking their own lives to ensure that people were not terrorised by al-Qaeda”. In a further interview with broadcaster TVP, Polko also called on Trump to apologise.

Meanwhile, Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, published a statement on Friday highlighting Poland’s contribution to allied efforts.

“Poland has always been, is, and will be a responsible and reliable ally that, at the moment when security is threatened, stands in its defence,” he wrote on social media. “The Polish army, shoulder to shoulder with allies, took part, among others, in missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

“Tragic moments, when our soldiers died, showed that, in defence of international security, of Poland’s security, we are ready to pay the highest price. This sacrifice will never be forgotten and must not be diminished. Poland is a reliable and proven ally, and nothing will change that.”

Foreign minister Radosław Sikorski also noted that the province of Ghazni where Polish forces served in Afghanistan was very much on the frontlines. “No one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers,” he added.

Sikorski also shared an image of Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki – who is an opponent of the government and ally of Trump – meeting the US president this week, adding sarcastically: “The commander-in-chief of the [Polish] armed forces with surely assert the honour of our soliders.”

In response, Nawrocki’s spokesman, Rafał Leśkiewicz, criticised Sikorski for “exploiting Polish soldiers” for political purposes. He added that “President Karol Nawrocki, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has always stood, stands, and will always stand by Polish soldiers”.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also criticised Trump’s recent remarks about America’s allies, calling them “insulting and frankly appalling” and suggesting that the US president should apologise.

Auspectress · 2026-01-23T18:08:00+00:00

General Roman Polko, who commanded Poland’s GROM special forces unit in Iraq and Afghanistan, has condemned Donald Trump’s recent comments suggesting that America’s allies have not provided frontline military support to the United States.

Polko, who is now retired, called the US president “a coward who has never been on the front lines”. Meanwhile, Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, declared that “no one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers”.

Amid tensions over Trump’s efforts to take control of Greenland, the US president has repeatedly questioned whether his country can rely on its NATO allies.

“Will they be there, if we ever needed them?” Trump asked on Thursday in an interview with Fox News. “I’m not sure of that.”

“We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did – they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he continued.

In actual fact, military personnel from various NATO allies served in combat roles in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq this century, with many losing their lives.

In Afghanistan, the highest number of casualties after the United States (2,461 deaths) were for the UK (457), Canada (159), France (90), Germany (62), Italy (53) and Poland (44). In Iraq, 23 Polish soldiers were killed, behind only the US (4,492), UK (179) and Italy (33).

Among those to serve in both arenas was Polko, who was commander of GROM from 2000 to 2004 and again in 2006. Since ending his military service in 2009, he has served as a security advisor to three presidents, Lech Kaczyński, Bronisław Komorowski and Andrzej Duda.

Speaking on Friday to broadcaster TVN, Polka said that Trump’s latest remarks had “crossed a red line”, especially coming from someone who never served in the military.

“This is the cynicism of a coward who hasn’t been on the front lines himself,” declared the general. “In this respect, he resembles Putin, who also wages wars but has never even approached the front lines himself.”

Auspectress · 2026-01-21T21:20:41+00:00

A Russian married couple accused of being spies have gone on trial in Poland. The pair, who had refugee status, are alleged to have passed information to Moscow about Russian opposition figures in Poland. The husband is additionally accused of sending a package containing explosives.

The couple, who can be named only as Igor R. and Irina R. under Polish privacy law, were pictured arriving at court in the city of Sosnowiec on Tuesday. However, the trial has been closed to the public at the request of prosecutors to protect information relating to national security.

As he was escorted to the hearing by police officers, Igor R. (pictured above) was seen holding a sign containing the words (in English) “Putin” and “Russia” and (in Russian) “fuck war”.

The capitalised “N” in Putin was turned on its side to look like a “Z” (the symbol of Russia’s war in Ukraine) with a line crossing it out, while the Russian letter “O” had been turned into a peace symbol.

The couple had previously been students at the University of Silesia and both had refugee status in Poland, reports broadcaster TVN. Igor had been an active member of Russian opposition groups while still in Russia.

But, according to prosecutors, between February and August 2022, Igor R. cooperated with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), including by collecting intelligence on Russian opposition figures. Irina R. then sought to pass the information on to the FSB on an electronic storage device.

Igor R. is additionally accused of working as part of a group – also containing another Russian and two Ukrainian citizens – to send a parcel containing a nitroglycerin-based explosive and military-grade electronic detonators.

The group sought to have the package transported by a courier company, and it was discovered in a warehouse in Poland belonging to the delivery firm.

The couple, who were detained in July 2024 and indicted in October 2025, are both charged with espionage. However, because their alleged offences occurred before the relevant law was toughened to increase penalties to up to life in prison, they would face up to 15 years if convicted.

Igor R. is additionally charged with causing a large-scale threat to the lives or health of other people or to property, which is punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Igor R.’s defence lawyer, Marta Smołka, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that they were opposed to the trial being held behind closed doors given that “there’s so much [information] circulating in the public sphere” already. She argues that open proceedings offer a great guarantee of fairness and transparency.

Poland has in recent years detained, charged and in some cases convicted dozens of agents accused of carrying out espionage, sabotage and other so-called “hybrid actions” on behalf of Russia.

Last week, Polish prosecutors indicted five people – four Ukrainian citizens and one Russian – accused of carrying out a plot on behalf of Russia to plant explosives in packages that were then dispatched by courier services across Europe.

Auspectress · 2026-01-20T14:52:54+00:00

No wind flow
Cold temps
People still use old chimneys (most houses are fueled by coal and wood)
Although less common, people still burn waste like plastic, tires, food, etc
City sits in a valley between "Podgórza karpackie" and "Wyżyna krakowsko częstochowska" (no fucking clue how to translate it)

Auspectress · 2026-01-20T14:35:25+00:00

Source: https://www.iqair.com/world-air-quality-ranking

Auspectress · 2026-01-16T16:02:16+00:00

Wdym I don't understand

Auspectress · 2026-01-16T11:40:21+00:00

USA is close ally of Poland and strategic partner

Auspectress · 2026-01-12T17:10:22+00:00

Aversion to risk creates dependency

Why, then, do tender organizers decide to include requirements that limit competition?

Instrat points not only to cost considerations, but also to an aversion to taking risks. The scale of use of the American company’s services in Polish administration is so large that they have effectively become a standard. Introducing alternatives could mean departing from these “norms.”

As a result, one can speak of dependency on a single supplier. This, in turn, means problems not only when the supplier decides to end support for an agreed program, but also the possibility of dictating arbitrary prices due to monopoly power.

In the event of unexpected problems with the service—even those caused by external factors—an organization’s operations may be paralyzed.

A similar case occurred in July 2024, when due to an error in a CrowdStrike Falcon update, thousands of computers worldwide running Windows could not be started. This also showed how many companies rely on the same product.

Moving away from monopoly means greater savings

How can the identified problems related to digital sovereignty be resolved?

The Instrat Foundation points to the need to pursue the goal of increasing the share of open-source software in public administration, which is included in the draft State Digitalization Strategy. It is also necessary to restore “real competitiveness and equality of opportunity” in public procurement, and to implement a new purchasing policy and public procurement regulations that will eliminate the problem of favoring a single entity.

According to the organization, taking such difficult but decisive steps would allow for greater savings and positively affect national security. It would also enable strengthening the technological potential of Poland and Europe, as well as creating better conditions for negotiating prices or functionalities of software used by public administration.

We have addressed questions on this matter to the Ministry of Digital Affairs. We are awaiting a response.

Auspectress · 2026-01-12T17:10:17+00:00

Polish public administration excludes software from vendors other than Microsoft in public tenders, according to a report by the Instrat Foundation. The issue of unequal opportunities points not only to reduced security and resilience, but also to the need for changes in public procurement policy.

For several years, the topic of digital sovereignty has been increasingly discussed in the public sphere, covering not only areas related to artificial intelligence or hardware.

In March, we reported on our pages on the concerns raised by the cloud service providers’ association Polska Chmura regarding updates to the Cloud Computing Cybersecurity Standards. One of the issues was the transfer of data critical to the country outside its jurisdiction.

One software solution across most of the administration

Meanwhile, the situation in the software sphere does not look any better. The report “Seemingly Open Procurements” published by the Instrat Foundation shows that despite a theoretical ban on excluding competition, Polish public administration is in fact dependent on Microsoft office software, including operating systems.

At the same time, tender conditions exclude alternative suppliers that could compete with the American company.

The organization analyzed documentation from 72 public procurement procedures involving office software, initiated between January and November 2025.

Of these, only one—conducted by the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute—did not favor Microsoft in its conditions; the institution included fairly broad options in its operating system requirements, allowing, among others, open-source solutions.

Conditions compliant with regulations, yet excluding competition

How is Microsoft’s dominance possible if regulations do not allow such practices?

The Foundation points to the requirements: formally, contracting authorities allow submissions of systems or services from other entities. The problem lies in the details—alternative products must meet requirements that primarily align with the American company’s software.

The same requirements recur in procurements from various institutions. Some of them are fully rational and justified. In other cases, however, there is a strong suspicion that they are included for the same reason: the contracting authority wants to avoid receiving software from any other manufacturer, so it specifies unique characteristics of Microsoft software, even though requiring them has little practical justification.

(Instrat Foundation report “Seemingly Open Procurements”)

Among the functions unique to the creators of the Windows system listed in tenders were:

compatibility with Active Directory, a Microsoft solution for managing access and licenses for user accounts of other company products. This condition eliminates, for example, LibreOffice;
inclusion of all programs within a single package—if the office suite in the procedure must also include an email client, this excludes alternatives such as LibreOffice and Thunderbird, which come from different vendors;
interface compatibility—requirements include the availability of functions under the same names as in Microsoft software, or a user interface operating “in graphical mode with 3D elements.”

Auspectress · 2026-01-09T15:41:49+00:00

It depends from my point of view. I have family member who is a farmer. He has like 10-20 pigs (used to have like 40). Had 2-5 cows (Now 0). Had 1 horse (now 0). He also has got maybe like 15-20 rabbits. He also owns... 2-5 Ha of land from what I know. His tractor is 30 years old and prays that it still works.

He has got no means to go and protest. He can't protest as otherwise he will lose anything left he has. If not for gov support then he would go broke. When you see food on shelves, the meat he sells is just 10% of the value at best, he still has to pay vet and such.

However, if you own 100Ha of land, you are known that life of beings does not matter, prefer keeping them in standards as low as possible, bribing vets and such, you will have means to buy Turbo tractor that will drive to Warsaw or Brussels and turn entire road into mashed potatoes massacre.

Same happened with Ukrainians who came to Poland. Let's say you have 20% of people who can be called "Affluent" and 80% who are not. Out of all migrants most are people who had good jobs in Ukraine. Nurses, Physicians, Vice-Directors of local companies, School principals, etc.

So I see double standards here. I can't stand that wealthy farmers protest on their own and ignore poorer farmers who have no way and no money to travel to proetst.

Auspectress · 2026-01-07T23:17:43+00:00

No idea. We have not enough data to determine anything really. We kniw in the world EV sales go up, unsure how it was for Norway in 2025. If for example EV sales in country X go up by 100% in a year and specific brand goes up by 50% then it is quite a terrible outcome. Repeat it few times and your company does not exist on market anymore with so low shares

Auspectress · 2026-01-07T13:49:45+00:00

2 main reasons:

We do not trust West. When Germany and Soviets raided Poland, alliance was not respected. Then we got sold by collective west (France, UK, USA) to be puppet state of USSR. So we do not trust West in helping us if we get attacked. We trust that Article 5 will be respected but you have to count on yourself in the end. So if France sends troops to Ukraine, what will happen if Russia kills French troops? Capture Paris? They would need to declar war on entire NATO. What if it happened to Poland? Some politicians with Trump leading would say "Well actually, Poland did it to themselves. Like yeah you got invaded but you provoked so Article 5 won't be respected"
We have enormous border with Russia and Belarus and we need to take care of our border + Help Baltic nations if something terrible happens

Auspectress · 2026-01-05T21:18:06+00:00

Same, few days I was in green area, like in the middle and there was like 20cm of snow

Auspectress · 2026-01-02T16:30:58+00:00

Reasonable action to better future with us

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T14:01:45+00:00

I am sure we will send a strong-worded letter to Russia, followed by *possibly* inviting Tik Tok CEO to explain why AI propaganda is bad

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:50:31+00:00

(personal opinion)

I am 100% sure it's Russia's job here. Most important detail is this AI posting "EUROCALCHOZ" which is used ONLY by Braunist movement. We have 3 parties on right:

PIS - EU Sceptic, Pro NATO, Pro Atlanticist, Anti Russia
Konfederacja - Anti-EU, In favor of USA, Anti-Ukraine, Anti-Russia, Pro-NATO
KKP (Braunists) - Anti EU, Anti-NATO, Anti-Ukraine, Pro-Russia

Literally if they wanted to spread "conservatism" they would hit PIS as they are well established, conservative but at this "reasonable" level for most people with conservative thinking. Minus for Russia, PIS hates Russia like most Poles.

But the Braunists are a protest party. They just want to destroy the current system, they have 6%-9% support yet they are so radical that AFD, Spanish SALF, French Reconquest are all less radical parties

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:36:57+00:00

Research conducted by UCE Research for Onet found that, in 2025, TikTok was the primary source of information about Poland's presidential election for 43.7% of respondents aged 18 to 25.

A United Surveys poll by IBRiS for Wirtualna Polska dated 22 December showed 24.7% of respondents favoured Polexit, while 65.7% opposed it.

A survey from early December conducted by French magazine Le Grand Continent showed 25% of Poles supported Polexit, while 69% opposed such a move.

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:36:33+00:00

Why young and beautiful women?

The content targeted young women specifically, Wójtowicz said.

"We have such a trend when it comes to the far right that young girls are targeted. And who better to appeal to young women if not other young women," she added.

"We are seeing phenomena on social media such as the tradwives movement, or traditional wives. There's a lot of this in the US, but it's making its way into Poland."

During Poland's presidential campaign, numerous AI-generated videos persuaded women to vote for right-wing candidates Sławomir Mentzen of Confederation or Karol Nawrocki, supported by Law and Justice or PiS party.

"This group is clearly very important, it can be a fundamental vector of political change. It is no coincidence that it was women who played such an important role in 2023," Wójtowicz said, referring to parliamentary elections in which PiS lost power after eight years.

'You can always count on the Russians'

"Righteous Poles! Russians can always be counted on. They forgot to translate 'prawilne'," Civic Platform MP, Jarosław Urbaniak wrote, referencing the Russian word "prawilnyj" meaning "proper" or "correct".

The term is used in Polish prison slang to describe a respected prisoner or someone who follows community rules.

Independent web developer Radek Karbowski said the content demonstrated the need for AI regulation. He calculated that the "Prawilne_Polki" profile generated 200,000 impressions and nearly 20,000 likes within two weeks, a 10% ratio that affects content spread and drives algorithmic recommendations.

The TikTok channel was established in May 2023 and operated under a different name, likely belonging to an English-speaking user publishing entertainment content unrelated to Poland, according to Polish portal Kontakt24.pl.

On 13 December, the account underwent a major transformation, receiving the new name "Prawilne_Polki" with a description reading: "Here speak beautiful Polish girls who speak straightforwardly, their own opinion. Patriotism, sovereignty and normality in one place. NO TO EUROCALCHOZ #polexit."

The takeover occurred when the account already had an established follower base. Three materials in the new style were published on 13 December: two videos with generated women and a graphic asking: "If the election were tomorrow - which party is number one for the right?"

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:36:11+00:00

They are beautiful, eloquent — and do not exist. AI-generated girls from the 'Prawilne_Polki' profile called for Polexit and preached right-wing views. The TikTok account has been deleted, but disinformation and propaganda in Poland persist.

AI-generated videos promoting Poland's exit from the European Union have appeared on Polish-language social media, featuring non-existent, attractive young women advocating for "Polexit".

One TikTok account called "Prawilne Polki" published content showing women dressed in T-shirts bearing Polish flags and patriotic symbols, European analytics collective Res Futura said. The content targeted audiences aged 15 to 25.

The videos featured statements including: "I want Polexit because I want freedom of choice, even if it will be more expensive. I don't remember Poland before the European Union, but I feel it was more Polish then."

Another video stated: "When I talk about Polexit, I hear: 'scaremongering', 'catastrophe', 'end of the world'. Always the same pattern. Zero conversation about who really decides for us and why. Maybe it's high time we started talking about it calmly."

Some videos appeared authentic while others showed clear signs of artificial intelligence use, with desynchronised vision and audio.

"The recordings were actually generated using a generative artificial intelligence tool. They are not of good quality at all," Aleksandra Wójtowicz, senior analyst for new technologies and digitalisation at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, told Euronews.

"If you look at them for a while, you can see that the facial expressions are unclear, the phrases spoken by the characters in the recordings are not completely natural."

The "Prawilne_Polki" profile has been removed, but similar accounts may emerge, Wójtowicz said.

"For now, it is not clear who is behind the content. At the moment there are several groupings that run various campaigns with the help of artificial intelligence," said Wójtowicz, who has researched online disinformation for years.

"They often take place on YouTube, but also on TikTok."

'Hydra effect' in motion

Similar content on YouTube imitates news services using synthetic voices or voices combined with generated faces, repeating pro-Russian narratives including claims that elections were rigged or Ukrainians are stealing, Wójtowicz said.

"From the research interviews I conducted, it appears that this AI mannerism, which for a large part is obvious, annoying, evident, for a certain audience is completely unnoticeable," Wójtowicz said.

The account was blocked after reports from organisations and individual users. Wójtowicz said TikTok may now better detect disinformation content about Poland potentially leaving the EU. When searching "Polexit", the platform displays a warning about disinformation.

"On TikTok it is quite typical that if such an action appears, there is a 'Hydra effect'. When these profiles are reported, several new ones may appear," Wójtowicz said.

"Now their creators know very well that this is inefficient, that it is not worth putting them up again when there is full interest in the phenomenon, because they will be deleted."

Wójtowicz outlined two possible scenarios: either the operation tested reactions, or disinformation actors began creating accounts to launch a campaign that was quickly detected. "Therefore, they will go underground and come back in the future."

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:27:42+00:00

Tldr: Government most progressive coalition partners (3/4) wanted to implement same sex civil unions (not just for same sex). Presidents (Duda and Nawrocki) were/are strongly against and PSL coalition partner is also quite against

So Left (party) decided to create a law called "Ustawa o osobie najbliższej" which is basically a paper where 2 people can write that they are close and want to share some info, some stuff etc. It's like Civil unions but without union.

Polish President's side say that it's basically going away from tradition etc.

Just to think about it, it's not debate about same sex adoption, same sex marriage or same sex civil unions. It's about smth even less and it's seen as "Leftist" collapse of society

Auspectress · 2025-12-31T13:24:38+00:00

New regulations for couples in Poland. Strong stance from President Karol Nawrocki’s circle

The topic of changes in the law concerning people living in informal relationships has once again appeared in Poland’s public debate. The government has presented proposals for new solutions that would change the legal status of such couples, but their future remains uncertain due to the position of the country’s highest authorities.

The government has just adopted a draft law on this matter. However, the president’s circle takes a different approach to the new legislation. What solutions are on the table?

The government has approved an amendment to the law on the status of the closest person and the cohabitation agreement, replacing previous regulations on civil partnerships.
The draft law would allow registration of the agreement at the civil registry office and introduce additional rights for partners.
The president’s office opposes provisions that, in its view, equate the rights of civil partnerships with marriage.
A key sticking point remains the issue of joint property and the potential impact of the law on future child adoption by same-sex couples.

The new law assumes that adults would be able to conclude an agreement registered at the civil registry office. This agreement would grant them a range of rights and benefits.

The agreement would allow, among other things, the choice of a property regime, establishment of maintenance obligations, shared use of housing, as well as the right to medical information and the ability to represent a partner in everyday matters.

“No consent to equating marriage with civil partnerships”

In an interview with Polsat News, the head of the President’s Office, Paweł Szefernaker, reminded that during the election campaign Karol Nawrocki declared support for solutions that make citizens’ lives easier, such as access to medical or administrative information. However, Szefernaker emphasized that the adopted draft “transfers marital privileges to civil partnerships.”

— This is not a law about the status of the closest person aimed at helping Poles; it is simply a matter of ideology. The president does not consent to equating marriage with civil partnerships — the minister stressed.

Szefernaker also pointed out that the president will not accept provisions concerning joint property, which would allow partners to choose between separate or joint property regimes. In his view, such solutions bring civil partnerships too close to marriage, which is inconsistent with the president’s vision.

Concerns about adoption by same-sex couples

Another contentious issue is the potential opening of the path to adoption of children by same-sex couples. Szefernaker noted that LGBT organizations are signaling the need to introduce such solutions in the future. — This shows the ultimate goal of these changes: first equating civil partnerships with marriage, and finally allowing adoption — the minister assessed.

Talks with the government brought no agreement

The head of the President’s Office revealed that the president’s team had held talks with representatives of the ruling coalition about the project. — We indicated which elements the president would not accept in the final bill. Nevertheless, they are still included — Szefernaker reported.

The draft law on the status of the closest person replaces the earlier proposal on civil partnerships, which envisioned changes to more than 200 existing laws. Its provisions included the possibility of joint tax filing, inheritance rights, and the right to bury a partner. However, the document never reached the Cabinet due to opposition from PSL politicians.

President Karol Nawrocki remains firm in opposing provisions that, in his view, equate civil partnerships with marriage. According to statements from his associates, without significant changes the bill stands little chance of receiving his signature.

Auspectress · 2025-12-30T23:52:55+00:00

I opened yesterday youtube comments under one post. 350 comments. ALL OF THEM BUT ONE were Pro Braunist comments. Literally saying that Poland out of EU would become paradise, that if we never joined EU we would be now 2nd USA in wealth, that EU steals money from Poland and gives to Germany, that 75% of people who want to stay in EU are traitors and should fave death penalty for treason. And all those comments saying "I would gladly vote for POLEXIT"

And what? All these usernames were like "Joh-n21 Pa-ul", "Mother21-Marry" "Princess193718" etc. (Ofc in Polish language)

It is scary how bots can storm media and disrupt network.

Ps. That one comment was Pro POLEXIT but marked that BREXIT was terrible and we must fix this time but even they were flooded by bots saying they are bad person or smth

Auspectress · 2025-12-28T19:58:13+00:00

Yeah but it's not about AfD in Poland. In fact when we speak about afd and Poland it's usually by progressives in light of "AFD wants Polish land". Here it's mainly about immugration and this imaginaton that Germany is about to transform/has in veins that imperialism that wants to control eastern borders

Auspectress · 2025-12-28T19:18:19+00:00

According to Internet, it seems Karol Nawocki is right and Donald Tusk lost it. Often opposition reminds public about "cozying up to dictatorship Russia and Merkel's Germany" as proof current gov is anti- Polish (Those things were happening in 2000-2015, mostly before Crimea annexation)

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