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(Eurasia Review) One of the many knock-on impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine has been a surge in demand for military equipment and ammunition in Europe. Poland is one of several Central European countries whose arms industries have seen a marked increase in orders: from their national governments, from European allies buying materiel to give to Ukraine and to replenish their own stockpiles, and from Ukraine itself. Since February 2022, Poland has been among the top suppliers of major arms to Ukraine, not least because it held stocks of Soviet-era equipment that Ukraine’s armed forces still relied on in the first months after the invasion. Demand seems likely to remain high as, on top of the orders already placed, many European states have pledged to increase military spending in response to a heightened perceived threat from Russia.

This article looks at how Poland, which has the biggest domestic arms industry in Central Europe, is using this opportunity to pursue a long-held ambition to modernize its armed forces and grow its arms industry, targeting new markets, diversifying product portfolios and finally moving beyond its post-Soviet legacy.

WARSAW, Poland (AP via Courthouse News) — Polish and U.S. officials signed an agreement Wednesday in Warsaw to move forward with the construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant as part of an effort by the Central European nation to move away from polluting fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the deal to build the plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Pomerania region near the Baltic Sea the beginning of a new chapter for Poland, and described nuclear energy as a stable and clean energy source.

“The only clean, stable energy source that is technologically proven and verified in terms of safety is nuclear energy, which is having its big day today,” he said at the ceremony.

Morawiecki's government had announced last year that it had chosen the U.S. as its partner for the project.

A consortium made up of Westinghouse and Bechtel signed the agreement with the Polish state-owned utility overseeing the nuclear program, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ).

weatheriscool wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 7:57 pm

A nationalist candidate backed by Donald Trump won Poland’s presidential election, defeating the centrist mayor of Warsaw in a blow to the country’s pro-European Union government.

Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian and former boxer, won 50.9%, while Rafal Trzaskowski took 49.1%, according to Bloomberg News calculations based on data from 100% of precincts reported by the electoral commission.

In months of campaigning, the nationalist managed to close what had been a formidable lead by Trzaskowski in polls. The ballot is likely to determine whether one of the EU’s fastest-growing economies and one of NATO’s biggest defense spenders remains a reliable partner within the 27-member bloc, which is under mounting pressure from Trump’s tariffs and Russia’s threat to the east.

The narrow margin laid bare the polarization that’s gripped the nation of 37 million, with issues such as migration, abortion and European integration sharply dividing voters. Nawrocki dismissed an early exit poll that showed Trzaskowski in the lead.