Notes from Poland 🇵🇱

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Poland’s top administrative court has ordered the registry office to recognise a same-sex marriage conducted by two Polish men in Germany, a groundbreaking ruling in a country that currently does not allow any form of officially recognised same-sex unions notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/20/top…

Parliament will not proceed with work on a bill proposed by the president to use central bank profits for defence spending as an alternative to EU loans. The Sejm speaker says the plans may be unconstitutional and that there is no clear source of funds notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/20/par…

Poland has evacuated all of its military personnel who were stationed in Iraq. "The decision was made due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East" and to "ensure maximum safety for soldiers and staff", says the defence minister polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2026…

A representative of Lithuania’s government has demanded that Vilnius district municipality change the names of streets that continue to honour Polish Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz despite him being sanctioned by the Vatican following sexual abuse allegations notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/19/lit…

Poland’s new deposit-refund system has already doubled the proportion of plastic bottles being recycled, says the climate minister. However, she also acknowledged public criticism of how the system operates and pledged to make improvements notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/19/pol…

Poland’s main opposition, the national-conservative PiS, has expelled one of its senators after he criticised the party for moving in a “nationalist” direction and seeking to block €44 billion in EU loans for defence spending notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/19/pol…

Amid a spike in fuel prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, Poland has also seen larges numbers of drivers come from Germany to buy cheaper fuel at Polish petrol stations notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/12/ger…

Slovakia will set higher diesel prices for foreign vehicles in response to "fuel tourism" from neighbouring countries, including many Polish drivers from the north "Dozens of gas stations in northern Slovakia have literally dried ​up," says PM Robert Fico reuters.com/business/energ…

A Polish court has approved the extradition of a Russian archaeologist to Ukraine, which accuses him of carrying out illegal excavations in Russian-occupied Crimea. However, the suspect, who was detained in Warsaw last December, plans to appeal the ruling notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/18/pol…

Ratings agency Fitch has again warned that the "political gridlock" between Poland's government president - such as the current clash over EU defence loans - is hindering efforts to tackle "large fiscal deficits and rapidly rising debt" notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/18/pol…

Apple has acquired Polish firm MotionVFX, which creates visual-effects tools compatible with the US tech giant’s Final Cut Pro video-editing software notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/17/app…

The world's oldest poster museum has reopened in Warsaw after a five-year break for refurbishment. Its new exhibition features 240 works showcasing 130 years of Poland's history, including from the world-renowned Polish Poster School notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/17/wor…

Last year, President Nawrocki vetoed a bill passed by parliament that would have recognised Wymysorys as an official regional language. For more, read our report from the time: notesfrompoland.com/2025/10/17/pre…

Deutsche Welle looks at efforts to save Wymysorys, a language spoken by fewer than 100 people in one small Polish town, and how it has been dragged into Poland's political debate dw.com/en/poland-savi…