BubsyFanboy

cross-posted from: https://szmer.info/post/7684008

cross-posted from: https://szmer.info/post/7674611

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced his support for conservative opposition Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki ahead of Sunday’s run-off election, in which Nawrocki is competing against government-aligned centrist Rafał Trzaskowski.

His endorsement comes two days after Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, also called on Poles to vote for Nawrocki and described Trzaskowski as “an absolute train wreck of a leader”.

Noem’s declaration of support came during CPAC Poland, the first time that the prominent US conservative conference has been held in the country. Orbán’s remarks came today at the Hungarian offshoot of CPAC.

“On Sunday, presidential elections will be held in Poland,” said Orbán, quoted by Polsat News. “Long live Nawrocki!”

The Hungarian leader then pointed to Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s former conservative prime minister, and said: “If you want to know what true liberal democracy looks like, ask him. Unheard-of things are happening in Poland. All European rules and principles are being trampled. And Brussels supports it.”

Morawiecki and his national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party have accused Poland’s current government, led by former European Council President Donald Tusk, of violating democracy and the rule of law.

Elsewhere in his speech, Orbán announced a “patriotic plan” to “transform” the European Union. “We want to take Europe back from migrants. We want a Christian culture, schools based on national principles,” he declared.

Orbán’s Fidesz party has long been closely aligned with PiS, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023 but is now in opposition. Though Nawrocki is technically an independent, PiS is supporting his presidential bid.

PiS’s relationship with Orbán has, however, faced some criticism in Poland, in particular due to the Hungarian leader’s close relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. That led relations between PiS and Fidesz to cool after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though they have subsequently warmed again.

After Orbán’s endorsement of Nawrocki today, a number of figures from Poland’s ruling coalition, which contains pro-EU parties ranging from left to centre-right, posted pictures on social media of Orbán and Putin together.

“Congratulations on the support from Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” foreign minister Radosław Sikorski wrote to Nawrocki, before asking: “Will you pursue a similar policy towards Putin and the European Union?”

Last week, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland accused Nawrocki of “playing into Russia’s hands” by declaring his opposition to Ukrainian membership of NATO.

Nawrocki has also called for measures to ensure that Poles receive preferential access to public services ahead of immigrants, the majority of whom are Ukrainians.

Polls suggest that Sunday’s presidential election run-off will be an extremely tight race between Trzaskowski and Nawrocki. The winner will succeed current President Duda when his second and final five-year term in office ends in August.

cross-posted from: https://szmer.info/post/7675906

Poland’s government has announced 230 million zloty (€54 million) in state support for the construction of what it says will be the world’s largest factory producing towers for offshore wind turbines.

The facility will be built by a Polish subsidiary of Spanish renewable energy company Windar Renovables and located on the northern Baltic Sea coast, where Poland is planning to develop its first offshore wind farms in the coming years.

“The Baltic Sea will be an example in the not-too-distant future of how clean, efficient and inexpensive green energy can be generated for Poland and for the whole of Europe,” said development minister Krzysztof Paszyk during yesterday’s signing of a financing agreement with Windar Polska.

The plant will be built on a 17-hectare site on the island of Ostrów Grabowski, in Szczecin harbour. The ministry says the location was chosen to allow direct sea transport of the massive steel towers, which can measure up to 10 metres in diameter, 50 metres in height, and weigh 450 tonnes.

“Such enormous dimensions make it impossible to transport these elements overland,” Paszyk told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

The factory is expected to produce up to 500 tower sections annually, equivalent to around 100 complete towers, depending on the model, each designed for turbines with a capacity of 14 megawatts. Total investment is expected to reach 880 million zloty, with Windar contributing 653 million zloty and the rest coming from state aid.

Construction of the plant will be carried out by a Polish subsidiary of the Australian PORR group. According to PORR’s statement, the facility will comprise four production lines housed in a 47,000-square-metre building, as well as a raw materials warehouse.

Yesterday, a symbolic foundation stone was laid for the factory, which is due to be completed in 2026 and reach full production capacity in early 2027, reports local newspaper Głos Szczeciński. It is expected to create nearly 500 jobs.

The development marks the latest in a series of investments by foreign firms in Poland’s growing wind turbine manufacturing sector. In early 2022, two Spanish companies, including Windar, announced plans to build wind turbine component factories.

Later that year, a Danish firm revealed it would construct a factory near Szczecin to assemble parts for wind turbines. That facility is scheduled to begin operations this year and to create 700 direct jobs.

Paszyk noted the 230 million zloty in public funding being granted to the new Windar facility is part of a broader 5 billion zloty package earmarked by the ministry for green investments, aimed at reducing Poland’s reliance on conventional energy sources.

The minister cited Baltic Towers, a Polish firm building another offshore wind tower production facility in Gdańsk, which has received more than 376 million zloty in aid.

Other government-backed ventures include SK Nexilis’s copper foil production plant in Stalowa Wola, which received over 545 million zloty in support, and IONWAY Poland’s cathode material factory for electric vehicle batteries near Nysa, supported with nearly 1.5 billion zloty.

“Increasing the share of cheap renewable energy in our energy mix will make it possible to reduce electricity prices,” Paszyk said, quoted by PAP.

Poland remains one of the most coal-dependent countries in the European Union. Although it has accelerated the development of renewables, coal still accounted for 56.7% of electricity generation in 2024. However, in April this year, coal’s share fell below 50% in a single month for the first time.

While Poland does not yet have an operational offshore wind farm, three projects are currently in development, including one that began to be constructed in February and another announced earlier this month.

Poland’s government has announced 230 million zloty (€54 million) in state support for the construction of what it says will be the world’s largest factory producing towers for offshore wind turbines.

The facility will be built by a Polish subsidiary of Spanish renewable energy company Windar Renovables and located on the northern Baltic Sea coast, where Poland is planning to develop its first offshore wind farms in the coming years.

“The Baltic Sea will be an example in the not-too-distant future of how clean, efficient and inexpensive green energy can be generated for Poland and for the whole of Europe,” said development minister Krzysztof Paszyk during yesterday’s signing of a financing agreement with Windar Polska.

The plant will be built on a 17-hectare site on the island of Ostrów Grabowski, in Szczecin harbour. The ministry says the location was chosen to allow direct sea transport of the massive steel towers, which can measure up to 10 metres in diameter, 50 metres in height, and weigh 450 tonnes.

“Such enormous dimensions make it impossible to transport these elements overland,” Paszyk told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

The factory is expected to produce up to 500 tower sections annually, equivalent to around 100 complete towers, depending on the model, each designed for turbines with a capacity of 14 megawatts. Total investment is expected to reach 880 million zloty, with Windar contributing 653 million zloty and the rest coming from state aid.

Construction of the plant will be carried out by a Polish subsidiary of the Australian PORR group. According to PORR’s statement, the facility will comprise four production lines housed in a 47,000-square-metre building, as well as a raw materials warehouse.

Yesterday, a symbolic foundation stone was laid for the factory, which is due to be completed in 2026 and reach full production capacity in early 2027, reports local newspaper Głos Szczeciński. It is expected to create nearly 500 jobs.

The development marks the latest in a series of investments by foreign firms in Poland’s growing wind turbine manufacturing sector. In early 2022, two Spanish companies, including Windar, announced plans to build wind turbine component factories.

Later that year, a Danish firm revealed it would construct a factory near Szczecin to assemble parts for wind turbines. That facility is scheduled to begin operations this year and to create 700 direct jobs.

Paszyk noted the 230 million zloty in public funding being granted to the new Windar facility is part of a broader 5 billion zloty package earmarked by the ministry for green investments, aimed at reducing Poland’s reliance on conventional energy sources.

The minister cited Baltic Towers, a Polish firm building another offshore wind tower production facility in Gdańsk, which has received more than 376 million zloty in aid.

Other government-backed ventures include SK Nexilis’s copper foil production plant in Stalowa Wola, which received over 545 million zloty in support, and IONWAY Poland’s cathode material factory for electric vehicle batteries near Nysa, supported with nearly 1.5 billion zloty.

“Increasing the share of cheap renewable energy in our energy mix will make it possible to reduce electricity prices,” Paszyk said, quoted by PAP.

Poland remains one of the most coal-dependent countries in the European Union. Although it has accelerated the development of renewables, coal still accounted for 56.7% of electricity generation in 2024. However, in April this year, coal’s share fell below 50% in a single month for the first time.

While Poland does not yet have an operational offshore wind farm, three projects are currently in development, including one that began to be constructed in February and another announced earlier this month.