Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]

I think that there is more that could be done to supplement video evidence....a change in the law and the will to change the current status quo will make a difference.....it really comes down to how badly people want this abuse problem in the church to be sorted out...if you have the will to do things (such as government, police and the prosecutors office) then a lot can be achieved but everyone needs to be on the right side....if there is no will then progress against abusers it will never happen....

Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]

Some of the stories and accounts of child abuse are truly shocking......and whilst it is important to promote the ongoing incidents of abuse, I think there really needs to be a more meaningful approach to deterring potential abuse crimes......prosecutors and police together with the government really need to take a more proactive role.....focused attention on abuse....increased prosecutor powers.....and a review of sentencing for offenders.....in this way it will send out a message to others and a 'get tough' approach will eventually filter through and hopefully reduce the number of incidents and clean up the church.

The clergy do have a lot of influence and this of course can be used to persuade families and children to do things that seem normal but later turns out to be a way to abuse the innocent. There really needs to be no 'safe haven' for the clergy and those responsible for covering up their abuse crimes should also be prosecuted and sentenced for this crime....(I presume that harbouring or facilitating a criminal is a crime in Poland?)

Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]

Merged:

University speech on child abuse

I understand from the news today that a speech was made recently at a university in Poland on the extent of child abuse and alleged cover up by the church. The story focused on a priest/bishop who recently died and had now been accused of abusing a number of children in the past. It would appear from this speech that such abuse amongst the clergy in Poland is extensive and that the alleged abusers have been moved around different churches in an effort to protect them and prevent them being investigated and prosecuted. The speaker made it very clear that he would continue to give speeches in the future on this topic and seemed very determined to bring pressure on those in a position of authority to take action.

This seems to be quite a worrying situation and I just wonder what efforts the prosecution authority and police are doing to bring those abusers to justice. Are there prosecution/police units set up specifically to deal with child abuse? Are there any initiatives in Poland's legal system which focus on targeting abusers and bringing them to justice? I am also concerned that this cover up has been allowed to continue for so long (of course not unusual in child abuse) I haven't seen much about this on the news and it would appear to me to be something that should receive much more news coverage.

Could anyone throw any light on this story as it would seem to be an important issue and one which those in authority should be openly addressing....also I think that the general public must be horrified at the consequences of children being influenced by the clergy and I am surprised that so little has been reported on this, or perhaps I am mistaken.

Work / Proofreading - What is the going rate in Warsaw? [40]

O WELL
Thank you for your posting, it is much appreciated.

Work / Proofreading - What is the going rate in Warsaw? [40]

Merged:

Proofreading rates?

Would anyone know what the rate could be for proofreading documents. I have been asked for a quote per 1800 characters with spaces. In time my proofreading job took me about 90 minutes for a page and a half. I have read historical postings on proofreading but just wanted to know what the most up to date rate could be and what is reasonable.

News / Coal-Powered Poland Refuses to "Go Green". EU Ain't Happy. [304]

Smog kills tens of thousands of Poles each year, yet environmental activists say the right-wing government of the coal-loving nation has been dragging its feet on combating air pollution. Millions of Poles heat their homes with often low-quality coal, which is the main source of air pollution ahead of cars and industry. The European Environmental Agency meanwhile blames air pollution for an estimated 50,000 premature deaths per year in the country of 38 million. While PM10 particle pollution is considered dangerous in Poland from 300 micrograms per cubic metre, the threshold is 80 micrograms in France.

I think that there are some valid points made from the above extract and yes 'the investment is worth it now'.... The extract really sums up the key issues which I feel are the ones the responsible government minister needs to address....whether he/she will is just a matter of time...in the meantime the people continue to live and breathe coal dust with the obvious consequences.....I cannot imagine how much it is costing Poland in healthcare relating to breathing conditions, cancer, etc

Of course people will say it will take time for change to take place but then again if the government really wanted to do something positive and long lasting they could.......no good talking about budgets etc, they could find the money to make changes as they have done from other initiatives such as the weekly 500 zl programme for family planning. At the end of the day the government will be judged on their performance....whether it is their strength or feebleness in doing something constructive for the Polish people.....

News / Coal-Powered Poland Refuses to "Go Green". EU Ain't Happy. [304]

Merged:

When will coal become a thing of the past......

This has probably been the biggest cover up ever, and to think that some people actually believe that burning coal is ok for the environment and people.....how wrong they are....do they not know that burning coal is incredibly bad for the environment, it is cancerous, causes all sorts of long term breathing problems, is terrible for people with breathing problems and generally really bad....time to end it I think....or is there someone who will try to convince us all that coal is good for everyone including the environment...just look at the smog and what its doing...it is so dangerous...and is a disgrace.....the government should be ashamed that it just hasn't bothered to do anything about it and really don't want to be seen to be doing anything for the people. Sad really as I thought the PIS were for the people..

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]


Ok thanks for the history behind this new law it is helpful.....so maybe it is predominately about compensation and how the new law could on one hand address the Polish concerns and in doing so cause difficulties and future changes to the payment of compensation....

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]

I am still unsure why after 60 years did the government feel it necessary to pass this new law.....has something really happened to make this all necessary and do the majority of people in Poland want this. There doesn't appear to have been much widespread discussion on this topic prior to the new law, so why was it necessary to introduce it?

It does seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest of discussion, accusations and shouting backwards and forwards.......I am not sure if the PIS really envisaged this backlash and probably regret their actions now. I think there are probably many other laws the PIS could introduce to address the needs of the Polish people but haven't yet. Unfortunately this will dominate politics for some time I am sure, which will of course push other important issues into the side lines.

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]

I must be missing a point but is the description 'Polish death camps' such a widespread problem that it is necessary to introduce a new law...I have never used the term 'Polish death camps' and have only used the terms 'concentration camps....Auschwitz'.....etc I have never heard other people use this term....but maybe the figures are much higher than we all think.

Are there that many people using the term 'Polish death camps' to make it necessary to introduce a new law, making this reference illegal...?

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]


Yes I would think it would be a widely accepted programme by many families but I read a moment ago from someone else on this page....(cannot find the post now and seems to have disappeared from this site) and agree that this programme is unsustainable and unlikely to fully reduce child poverty in the long run....and how are the PIS to continue with this level of payments which will probably be scrapped if and when they are re-elected at the next general election.

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]

WieliPolak.....

What you say is a fair point and I accept what you say....I just wish that the government will soon focus more on the needs of the voters rather than on issues which will not help the economy..

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]

Yes I agree about who would pay but this is what happens in most other democratic countries....there needs to be a starting point at which it becomes necessary for the public or government to pay a little more to introduce a new law which will benefit the majority otherwise the Polish economy will just not progress...yes there is a cost and I am sure that if the government really wants to make a difference to the lives of Polish people then they will find the money.....but at the moment it all seems like papering over the cracks and they are not really concerned with the lives of people but more with projecting some sort of image designed to tell the world how great Poland is.....sorry but the government need to get real and focus on domestic issues rather than international ones....they are not ready yet to enter the international arena and confront other nations with their ideas....credibility is a real issue.

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]


I am completely unaware of the background to this proposal to change the law as already discussed in the media, but is there a reason why after a period of 60 years Poland wants to make new laws relating to this terrible event in history. We all know about the atrocities carried out and that yes people did collaborate with the Germans during the war, which includes countries such as France and no doubt other countries..... but why introduce a new law when really the government would gain more credibility and would I am sure, be widely applauded if they introduced new laws on pollution...job creation...employment law...the health service...issues which matter to the Polish people.....

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


I think you will find that there will be rules/regulations in place to deal with Poland's refusal to comply with rules...and yes you may say that Poland invested the EU money wisely, but like a bank....the EU will be expecting to receive the money back at some time in the near future....if not...then the EU will take measures to retrieve the money from Poland....it doesn't matter how good Poland is at using the money, the EU will still want the money back....

It really doesn't matter about other countries like Hungary...who may sympathise with Poland, but really is not in a position to make a serious challenge to the EU. It just won't work.....Don't think that Poland will escape future financial penalties because of the B. Forest, because it is just a matter of time.....people need to wake up and realise how important it is to listen to the people who have helped Poland since they joined the EU. Some people appear to think that the EU can provide limitless supplies of cash....take the money and run type of approach...wake up and comply to the rules....then everyone will benefit and Poland will become stronger and wiser....don't waste this precious opportunity....

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

I don't think it is a matter of Poland being lectured at, it is more of the fact that Poland is not complying with the agreements they signed up to when they joined the EU. The EU is a bit like a club, where there are rules and regulations and that members (such as Poland) must follow. Poland cannot just change the rules as they go along....there is a protocol to follow...rules.....

Poland has received substantial funding since joining the EU which is benefiting the economy. This is why the EU is seeking financial penalties against Poland, because Poland has been given chance after chance to sort the B. Forest problem out but have instead chosen to not comply with the rules...(Poland cannot change the rules to suit themselves, no matter how much they want to)....but no it would seem that logging the protected forest is more important that using their energy to improve the economy....

There seems very little discussion or new ideas to show that the government are really tackling unemployment, wages, living conditions, employment law etc, which really are the main issues here. It seems that the politicians don't have any original ideas at all and seem more than happy to persue and blindly support the logging of the B. Forest..... Yes, Poland could leave the EU but they need to remember that they will have to repay all the money back to the EU. What a waste of effort it has been in the last year or so.....when more constructive and practical issues could have been addressed rather than all this backwards and forwards....will they ....won't they......please just grow up and stop being greedy and leave the B. Forest alone...its quite simple for most people to understand...why can't the politicians?

News / Poland's deputy minister Szmit resigns due to fatal road accident statistics... [11]

I also think that another potential cause for accidents which could and probably does result in occasional deaths are the location of zebra crossings.....why are they positioned so close to road junctions? I have seen 4 zebra crossings at crossroads and time after time when cars stop for pedestrians (sometimes suddenly as pedestrians do not always give advance notice of crossing)....the said cars are half on the main road and half in the side road waiting, so any cars coming up behind have to stop suddenly but also other cars from other directions often have to stop because another car is wanting to turn down the same street or another street.....etc...which often blocks the whole junction on busy days and is a recipe for a serious accident if just one driver is not particularly focused. All of the stopping and starting takes place at the main junction where two roads cross each other and would be better if this takes place away from the junction and therefore reduce the number of drivers affected by a pedestrian crossing a particular road.

I think it would be a lot safer and improve traffic control if the zebra crossings were located further away from the main junction. (just a few more metres would do...or at least a car/long vehicle length) Pedestrians would only have to walk a few more metres to use the zebra crossing. This would allow drivers to stop for pedestrians further down the road minimising the potential for accidents and thus allow traffic flow without backing up .....zebra crossings are necessary but they are too close to the actual junction.....

News / The Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz cuts down 150,000 trees in the Poland's capital. [84]

I was aware of the importance of protecting trees in Poland last year when I had to get permission from the local council to cut down a number of trees in my garden. The reason was to remove rotten and dangerous trees as well as trees obstructing the growth of others. The job was done and all went well. However recently I was aware of people removing trees in their gardens and then was told that from 1 January 2017 the law allowed people to cut down trees in their gardens without the need for permission from the local council. It also appears that this change of law is due to end on 16 June 2017.....not sure if this is correct but what is all this about.? It seems that the law is changing in fits and starts. I found an article in the Guardian newspaper on line which provided an interesting insight into the chaos surrounding tree felling which you may well have already read but thought that you may like to see it.

theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/07/polish-law-change-unleashes-massacre-of-trees


I am not familiar with politics in Poland or what the policies are on environmental issues, but it would seem to me that Jan Szyszko has quite a lot to answer for.....allowing the law to be abused in a reckless and unnecessary felling of trees some as old as 200 years old seems quite frankly criminal......presumably someone, somewhere has an ulterior motive for allowing this change in the law.....unbelievable when I would have thought that there are greater issues needed to be resolved in Poland....incredible.

Then on reading the article further I came across the following...


What on earth is a minister citing the book of 'Genesis' for....who is this person and why is he not quoting hard and fast reasons rather than referring to the book of Genesis...?...and is he still the environmental minister....how was it that he was able to get this law changed and what is happening about the further change to the tree felling law which I referred to above....is it happening and what has the environmental minster got to say about this.....will he change his mind again.....seems like a complete shambles......he should be promoting environmental issues and protecting things which are very special to Poland....ancient forests....etc.......doesn't sound very democratic to me.....time for the minister to step down I think (I presume that a few other people are as amazed as me at the sheer amateurish way in which this 'tree law' has been implemented....no records are even made the number of trees cut down...so absolutely no monitoring or record kept.....unbelievable........sounds like the dark ages....in 2017...what a joke.

Life / Ekogroszek/wood pellets or gas for heating in Poland? [9]

KPC21.....Thank you for your very helpful feedback and links, it has given me a good deal of useful information which will help me to decide on the way forward. I do like the idea of using wood pellets which would be a cleaner option but concerns over sufficient suppliers and perhaps having to use more than 'coal' would need to be considered. I do have a gas connection to the house (not used at present) but I am worried over potential cost and supplementary charges.

My thoughts at present are to perhaps go with a boiler which is capable of burning 'coal' and 'wood pellets' or at least has the ability to convert from one to the other. In this way it would help if legislation bans the use of coal or if I wanted to change the solid fuel if one or other becomes expensive.

Life / Ekogroszek/wood pellets or gas for heating in Poland? [9]

Thank you Terri for your thoughts on this....I personally would prefer to use wood pellets but I gather from other forums etc that I would be using many more bags to heat the house over the course of the year as compared to using coal.

However I feel that by having a boiler which can run on coal and wood pellets would give me a degree of flexibility if future legislation imposes a ban on using coal. Some people have said that this type of 'uni' boiler is not as efficient as a boiler which solely runs on coal or solely runs on wood pellets, but maybe this is not such a problem as current boiler technology has improved greatly and there isn't perhaps such a difference between 'uni' boilers and those that use just one type of solid fuel.

I am quite interested in boilers provided by a company called 'Defro' and these seem to be quite popular. In particular I am looking at one called 'Defro Duo Uni' which would appear to meet my needs but it is early days. In any event I will need to decide soon before winter sets in.

I made a mistake...my possible choice of boiler should be the 'Defro Sigma Uni' 5 Klasa.....not the Defro Duo Uni..

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Polishinvestor - Thank you very much for your detailed response which is of course really helpful and gives me a better idea on what to expect and general procedures.

Buggsey - Thank you again for your support and advice it is much appreciated.

I was just a little concerned that if having handed over the deposit to the seller he decides to pull out and the difficulty I may have in getting my deposit back....the courts are of course an option but this could take a long time to resolve and cost me more money. Perhaps this rarely happens and I am just looking too much into this. The seller seems to be decent enough in any event.

Thanks again.

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Merged: Procedures when buying property in Poland

I am in the process of buying a house and would be grateful for advice on how things are done. We have already agreed a price with the sellers and I have left a small deposit with the estate agent as requested.

1) When do banks normally formally approve a mortgage? (we have already had initial approval from a bank for a mortgage but we need to return with all the usual documents for formal approval)

2) I have read that the initial deposit (5-10%) is normally made to the seller which sort of worries me as I am used to giving the deposit to a neutral party eg. estate agent/notaire.

3) At what point is the final payment for the house made and who to? (I have also read that banks will not release the money until the final signing of the sale and that this payment is made direct to the seller. This also concerns me because I am not sure how long the seller will have to wait until the payment arrives in his account. In the meantime my wife and I plus dog/cat and a car full of belongings will be waiting to receive the keys to the house)

4) We intend to ask for some conditions to be placed in the first contract eg. subject to mortgage approval and permission from the government to buy the property and maybe subject to searches. (I am a UK citizen currently living permanently in Poland) Is this something that is normally acceptable?

Thank you for any help on this.

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Yosemite......This is PLN

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Dolnoslask

We are quite flexible on where we buy. We have just returned from our house viewing trip from the region south of Krakow, Tarnow Rzeszow etc. We saw quite a few properties but nothing we really felt excited about. It is of course a long process so we will continue. We would prefer to be within reasonable travelling distance of the mountains so would equally be happy to live near to Karpacz or surrounding area. (but not sure if this is still possible) We like Krakow as a place to visit and to have easy access to but we will probably have to look further afield. We are now looking at places in the North of Poland near to Koszalin, Szczecinek which gives access to the north of Poznan. We have a budget of about 300k and I think that to overcome any bureaucratic requirements I will obtain permission as an EU national from the relevant authorities to purchase a house with a garden (not farmland) which will circumnavigate my wife having to prove that our savings belong only to her. Permission will also hopefully allow us to supplement our savings with a small mortgage which is in both our names. (My pension will pay for the mortgage) So all in all I feel it would be much easier to obtain permission to buy a house using our savings and incorporating our mortgage.

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

WEEG....
Thank you for your information. My wife will be more than happy to purchase the property in her name and we would probably have something legally drawn up to allow me to continue living at the property in the event of her death and vice versa. (we have no children) As far as my wife having to prove that she owns our money and not myself would you be able to provide any suggestions on what evidence we can put forward to support this. (our savings are from the sale of our last house) Traditionally we have always bought our houses with the sale of the previous one.

WEEG...
I forgot to discuss the 2 May 2016 property reforms. Firstly do you know what the name is for the Statute or where I can find out more information on this. I am not sure what you mean when you mention this date....I presume that any Polish national can continue to buy farmland if they choose. Is this piece of legislation directed at European nationals such as myself and what are the proposed changes. I have read the link you provided and I have to confess it seems complicated. Thanks again.

Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Thank you all for your responses and advice it really is appreciated. We will be raising the issue on buying farmland/building land soon. We have seen one or two houses we like although it may be that a house we have seen is on building land and the rest of the garden/land is possibly farmland. It would seem that the estate agent in question and others state that it is ok for my wife who is Polish to buy a house and farmland but I am only able to buy a house which is declared a house as a building plot. Some of the properties we have seen may have one or two plots separately identified (farm land/building plot). I am happy for my wife to purchase a house and farmland in her name....no problem....but some also say that the money used for this transaction including a small mortgage should be my wife's money. The bank we have approached are fine with granting a mortgage in both our names....not possible for my wife to have a mortgage solely in her name because the monthly income paying this off will come from my pension. We will get to the bottom of this one day.

Thank you all again for your help and experiences they are very helpful.

Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]

Are you wanting more information on Romania to help you decide on whether to undertake your business opportunity? Not sure why it is necessary to know the difference between Poland and Romania? It may be worth speaking with people already in business in Romania in order to get a perspective on whether you feel that Romania is the right place for you to do business. Perhaps try speaking to a business action group or consult with ex pats already in business there. Have you tried speaking with a Romanian forum web site for help. Hope this helps.