Remix News

Tag: Ukraine

  • Poland in need of foreign workers

    The newest data confirms what was known a year ago. The tightening of the system of drawing workers from the East since early 2018, relying on distributing worker’s permits for a maximum of six months over the course of a year has taken its toll on statistics.

    The rising number of invitations in previous years to workers mainly from Ukraine, but also Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia raised concerns not only in the Polish government but also in the EU, which forced changes in terms on which seasonal workers were employed. 

    Construction is in need of over 100,000 workers. Several hundred thousand hands are needed in trade, services and industry

    In addition, the government introduced a system of registering the start and end of work by foreigners in Poland, so that they could not use the ability to enter Poland as a way to further escape into the West. The compensation for this tightening of the system was to be the facilitation of the ability for foreigners to gain permits to live and work in Poland for up to three years. 

    Bureaucracy clogged the Voivodship offices considering applications for permits. Meanwhile, construction is in need of over 100,000 workers. Several hundred thousand hands are needed in trade, services and industry.

    We must finally ask ourselves the question, whether we want Ukrainians to build Poland just like Poles built Germany several years ago

    Meanwhile, the current government is delaying in adopting a clear migration policy. The great announcements of the facilitation of invitations for Poles from the East to return to the country ended at nothing. The same goes for bringing the masses over from the Philippines.

    The only thing that remains is to hope that a hard Brexit will force the return of Poles from the United Kingdom, who will be complimented by Ukrainians who cannot go to Germany due to cultural and language barriers. Meanwhile, Germany and the Czech Republic are inviting more and more workers from the East. 

    And in Poland? The deputy minister of economic development lost his job when he outright stated that without foreigners, Poland’s economy will slow down. 

  • Czech Chamber of Commerce opposes higher wages for Ukrainians

    According to the proposal, Ukrainians should earn at least the median of their profession or a 1.2 multiple of the guaranteed wage. According to the Chamber, this intention goes against the principle of equal conditions and favors the Ukrainian workers.

    The proposal to extend the recruitment program from Ukraine, according to which the Czech Republic should gain 40.000 Ukrainian workers annually (compared to 19,600 workers it currently gets), also includes wage setting in two variants. According to the first one, Ukraine’s employees should earn at least the median of their profession. According to the second option, their wage should be at least between CZK 16,020 and 32,040 this year, i.e., 1.2 times the guaranteed wage. Thus, Ukrainian workers would earn more than Czechs, the Chamber said.

    “We have demanded the introduction of a government-regulated regime for the accelerated employment of workers from Ukraine to help employers address the acute shortage of workers. However, with the intention of wage-favoring these workers over Czech employees, we do not agree. There should be equal conditions at the workplaces for the workers, no matter where they come from,” said Vladimír Dlouhý, President of the Chamber.

    On the other hand, the trade unions agree with a wage criterion. They would prefer the median option. According to the chairman of The Czech and Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, Josef Středula, the wage criterion is to prevent the abuse of Ukrainian workers.

    In 2017, according to expert estimates, 472,400 foreigners were employed in the Czech Republic, of which over 80,000 were Ukrainians. Men work mainly in industry and construction, women in commerce, healthcare, and services.

    The Czech Republic has record low unemployment. Companies complain that they cannot find workers and some have to limit production. According to the Chamber, 440,000 employees lack staff.

    The Chamber is negotiating with the government to increase the annual quota of Ukrainian workers to 40,000. The cost is estimated at CZK 100 million per year. According to the Chamber’s calculations, however, the state’s income from taxes and levies would increase at least a hundredfold, i.e., by 10 billion crowns per year.

  • Why does Warsaw support Kiev?

    Poland’s FM Jacek Czaputowicz has proposed sending a special emissary of the UN Secretary General and the widening of the Normandy format with the US and the EU. The minister’s initiative has been received with interest in Kiev. 

    According to Ukrainian experts surveyed by the “Ukrinform” agency, Poland like the Baltic states wants to help Ukraine for the sake of its own security. Poland also wants to take advantage of the fact that France and Germany do not have a mandate to lead the EU, and Warsaw is entitled to present its own initiative. 

    Poland wants to take advantage of the fact that France and Germany do not have a mandate to lead the EU and Warsaw is entitled to present its own initiative

    One of the experts interpreted this as Poland being keen to challenge German supremacy using its own influence in the EU. However his assertion that one of those Polish agents of influence is Donald Tusk, which flies in the face of the reality that the current President of the European Council is not working with Poland.

    Bohdan Yaremenko one of the experts from the “Majdan foreign affairs” foundation is skeptical about the Polish proposals. “It’s obvious that the Kremlin wants to continue its aggression and that in the EU there is no will to stop Moscow”. He is convinced that as a result of economic interests the key players in the EU do not feel that it is worth their while to take decisive action against Russia. 

  • New Central European bloc may emerge in addition to V4 and Three Seas Initiative

    A visit to the countries of the Three Seas Initiative which contains meetings with politicians, journalists and civil society activists shows there is much interest in cooperation between countries that lie between Germany and Russia. Cooperation that would primarily be economic on the North-South axis in terms of transport and energy infrastructure. 

    However, not many people feel that the initiative has any potential to tackle German hegemony in the EU nor for enhancing security from threats in the East. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia do not perceive Russia to be a threat to their security.

    Countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia do not perceive Russia to be a threat to their security

    The countries which share Poland’s security perspective are the Baltic states, Romania and Ukraine. These are the countries which view Russia as a threat and are most pro-American, wanting to see a US military presence on their territories rather than projects for the creation of a European army. 

    The “S” format

    Poland, Romania and Ukraine also happen to be the largest of the Three Seas countries in terms of territory and population. They happen to lie in a corridor between the Baltic and the Black Sea which is important for Europe’s security. 

    The current US administration is well aware of this. That is why apart from giving encouragement to the Three Seas initiative it is also willing to support the “S” format of states that lie on a S shaped route from Estonia through Poland and Ukraine to Romania. This is about securing the eastern flank of NATO. It is likely than that we shall soon be hearing much more about initiatives on an axis between Warsaw, Kiev and Bucharest.

  • How Kozlovska stole Christmas

    Both Kozlovska and Orzechowski were taking part in a Christmas party organized by the East Poland House. The organizers underlined that Kozlovska had not been invited, but was a plus one. 

    Kozlovska posted the photo (above) with the ambassador on her twitter account:

    “It was nice to meet the Ambassador of Poland to Belgium Artur Orzechowski and sing carols with him. I join the Ambassador’s wishes, for Poland to be safe. I hope that without the threat that I supposedly create, Poland is a step closer to that safety. Merry Christmas, and to the Polish government as well!”

    Internauts immediately voiced their outrage at Kozlovska, also by pointing out, that Carols should be sung during Christmas, which starts on the 24thof December in Poland. “Christmas is in two weeks. I think you’ve made a mistake,” wrote journalist Marcin Mamoń.

    Polish embassy “seeks answers”

    The embassy immediately emphasizes that the event was not organized by them, but by the East Poland House. The embassy also “seeks answers as to how activists of compromised non-government organizations, who use photos to falsely manipulate the image of a Polish diplomat, took part in the party?”

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    Kozlovska had been deported from the European Union to Kiev on August 14th 2018. This was due to an alert inserted by Polish authorities into the Schengen Information System (SIS). The reason was that Polish special services had “serious doubts” concerning the source of financing of Kozlovska’s foundation. Since then she has travelled several times to Brussels and Berlin on special visas issued by Belgium and Germany.

  • Foreign ministers of the V4 address Libya and Ukraine

    The former head of Slovak diplomacy Miroslav Lajčák said that ministers had praised the existing cooperation of the V4, for example in the field of migration. He stressed that support for Libya is a specific activity through which the V4 contributes to dealing with the causes of migration.

    Lajčák has confirmed that the V4 states will provide 35 million euros to strengthen, among other things, Libya’s coast guard capability, including the purchase and maintenance of four ships, as well as the marine coordination rescue center. Part of the special fund’s budget will be used to build the capacity on the western and southern borders of Libya.

    Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček welcomed the agreement on the projects that the European partners are jointly implementing in Libya because he believes they have an impact on the security and prosperity of European countries.

    Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjartó added that similarly to Libya, the V4 should also work with Tunisia.

    Petříček said that the V4 is also planning meetings with the Baltic and Nordic states. “I consider it a step towards strengthening the coalition potential of the V4 in the EU,” the Czech minister said.

    Ministers, regarding the current situation around the Kerch Strait, expressed their support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the EU’s common opinion condemning Russia’s conduct.

  • An invitation to the next Anschlusses

    Frederick the Great in his political testament wrote that Poland should be picked at “like an artichoke, leaf by leaf.” The Prussian king’s idea must have been picked up on by Vladimir Putin, because that is what he is doing to Ukraine. The blockade of the Kerch Strait has turned the Sea of Azov into Russia’s inner body of water.

    What’s more, the Ukrainian lands around the region must die out, therefore falling into Russian hands.

    Vladimir Putin should share his recent successes with Angela Merkel, because it was her actions that gave the Russians an invitation on handmade paper to further Anschlusses

    The world has proclaimed many bold resolutions, which don’t really matter. Maybe they’ll even decide to cancel a few meetings and dinners with today’s Imperator of Russia, but let’s not kid ourselves, the lord of the Kremlin has got what he wanted. But only for now!

    The world’s powerlessness stems from the ethical and intellectual collapse of European elites, too busy chasing after their own interests. Meanwhile Germany, the only strong subject in Europe, has decided to fight for the German-Russian gas deal to every last living Ukrainian. 

    Vladimir Putin should share his recent successes with Angela Merkel, because it was her actions that gave the Russians an invitation on handmade paper to further Anschlusses. 

  • Polish general: Want to stop Putin? Act now!

    Polko has evaluated that President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of establishing a post-Soviet empire is effective. He believes that the EU and the USA are both proven to be powerless against Russian aggression, despite the strike on Ukraine being a very predictable move. 

    “I remind you of Lech Kaczyński’s words: first Georgia, then Ukraine, and then maybe Poland,” Polko said in an interview with TVP Info.

    Russia would lose a conflict in the style of World War 2. This is why Putin is using local conflicts, prejudices and emotions to his advantage

    Polko underlined that Putin does not understand the language of gestures, protests and annotation. “He understands the language of action. President Lech Kaczyński knew this perfectly, when in the face of a similar aggression in Georgia he gathered the presidents of smaller countries who felt threatened and spoke with a strong voice in the capital Tbilisi.”

    Polko urged the EU to do the same.

    The general also assured that Poland’s army is well prepared for battle. A situation in which Russia would conquer Warsaw in three days or the whole country in a matter of minutes is untrue. 

    Polko argued that Russia would lose a conflict in the style of World War 2. This is why Putin is using local conflicts, prejudices and emotions to his advantage. 

    “This is creating conflicts and barriers between countries in the EU and the conversation deliberately targeted at the EU’s particular member states and not the EU as a whole,” Polko said. As an example, he gave an example of pitting Poland against Germany with the Nord Stream projects.

  • Duda emergency talks with Poroshenko on Azov Sea crises

    Szczerski recounted the telephone conversation between President Poroshenko and President Duda. According to him, Poroshenko had told Duda about the Sunday events and proposed possible scenarios of action for the following days.

    “According to President Poroshenko, Russia’s actions have exhausted any nevi of aggression acts as defined by international law,” Szczerski said. The Ukrainian President explained that the Ukrainian vessels had been attacked when they were located in neutral waters. He claims that his country’s ships did not respond aggressively. 

    According to President Poroshenko, Russia’s actions have exhausted any nevi of aggression acts as defined by international law

    Martial law

    The two presidents also discussed Poroshenko’s notion to introduce martial law in ten of Ukraine’s regions bordering Russia. “The Ukrainian President assured that this is an extraordinary and limited measure and will not influence democratic procedures, including elections in Ukraine,” said Szczerski. 

    Szczerski assured that the current situation in Ukraine will not affect Poland’s security. He added, however, that after the annexation of Crimea the Azov Sea and Mariupol are “the next, very susceptible to danger region of Eastern Europe.” 

    On Sunday, Russian special forces fired upon and took over three Ukrainian navy vessels which were travelling from Odessa to Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Russia explained the attack by accusing the Ukrainian units of entering Russian territorial waters.

  • Poles: Do not remove those lion statues!

    “The statues of the lions at the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów must remain. We cannot imagine our memorial park without them,” Poles from Lwów who visited Łyczakowski Cemetery told PAP.

    Last week, the Ukrainian Lviv Oblast Council decreed that the two stone lions should be removed. Their reasoning was that the lions represent “Polish occupation of Lwów” and were constructed there illegally. 

    “This is not a good sign,” the chairman of the society of conservation of military cemeteries Janusz Balicki told PAP. “It has been three years since the lions returned, and there still hasn’t been a positive decision towards them.” 

    Balicki expressed hopes, however, that “human wisdom” will prevail and that all the issues will soon be resolved peacefully. “I hope that the lions will be accepted by Ukrainian authorities in their rightful places. This is the only possible solution that we see.”

    100 anniversary of the Lwów’s Eaglets’ fight

    The 31stof October marked the 100-year anniversary of the start of a dramatic three week struggle for Lwów between young Poles and Ukrainians in 1918. Out of more than 6,000 Polish defenders of Lwów, more than 1,400 were no older than 17. Over a hundred of them died. Eventually, the Poles managed to claim the city.

    The Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów is a separate part of the Łyczakowski Cemetery. Its Memorial of Glory was first revealed on the 11th of November 1934. It commemorated the young Polish heroes, the Lwów Eaglets, who fell in battle fighting for Lwów.

    In the 1970s, the Soviets bulldozered the graves and tombstones and tried to destroy the triumphal arch with tank-fire. What they could not destroy, they stole and hid. The reconstruction of the memorial park started in 1989 and was finally completed on the 24thof June 2005. 

  • Hundreds of thousands of foreigners receive Polish residence permits

    Last year, Poland issued 683,228 residence permits. Second is Germany (535,400), then Great Britain (517,000) and France (250,200). In 2017, 3.1 million permits had been issued in the whole of the EU, reports Eurostat.

    The majority of people receiving residency in Poland were Ukrainians. In 2017, they took up 85.7 percent (585, 439 people) of all the approved applications. Second were Belarusians (42, 756) and third were Moldavians (7,803).

    The majority of people receiving residency in Poland were Ukrainians

    Poland is third when it comes to permits issued per 1,000 citizens – 18.

    In comparison, the only countries to have given out more are Malta (23) and Cyprus (22). Both of those countries, however, find themselves directly on migration routes from North Africa and the Middle East.

    The most common reason for a permit to be given out in Poland is for work – 87 percent (59 percent of all the approved  permits in the EU are intended for that purpose). Italy, Spain and Belgium issue the majority of their permits due to family reasons – uniting couples and families, for example.

  • Ukraine’s Orthodox Church breaks ties with Moscow

    The direct result of the decision of the Patriarchate in Istanbul on Ukraine’s Church was the breaking of ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and Constantinople, which went unnoticed by the world and Poland. The Russian Orthodox Church lamented that this is the biggest split in Christianity in a thousand years.

    This religious struggle is an ideological defeat for Putin. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Putin used the argument of Russia’s old rights to the peninsula and Eastern Ukraine based on the Christianization of the region in 988.

    We don’t see the connection between religion and politics and therefore cannot see the importance of this conflict. After all, it is a part of Poland’s history and geopolitics

    However, the Ukrainian Orthodoxy fell under Moscow’s influence only in the 17th century, when the Cossack Uprising succeeded in defeating Poland. As a consequence, Poland was unable to make the Russian minority their citizens, which decided the country’s future fate, and the Eastern Orthodoxy became separated from the patriarchy in Constantinople.

    Constantinople annulling the subjection of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy to Russia shows, that despite Putin and Orban’s claims, Ukraine is not a failed state. Moreover, it is a state becoming increasingly more independent of Russia and a part of our Europe. Many Polish right-wing experts underestimate or ignore Ukraine when it comes to geopolitics. They focus on China, Russia or even Belarus.

    We don’t see the connection between religion and politics and therefore cannot see the importance of this conflict. After all, it is a part of Poland’s history and geopolitics.

    As it turns out, Ukraine is Poland’s biggest, undiagnosed future challenge.

  • Ukraine’s Orthodox Church breaks ties with Moscow

    The direct result of the decision of the Patriarchate in Istanbul on Ukraine’s Church was the breaking of ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and Constantinople, which went unnoticed by the world and Poland. The Russian Orthodox Church lamented that this is the biggest split in Christianity in a thousand years.

    This religious struggle is an ideological defeat for Putin. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Putin used the argument of Russia’s old rights to the peninsula and Eastern Ukraine based on the Christianization of the region in 988.

    We don’t see the connection between religion and politics and therefore cannot see the importance of this conflict. After all, it is a part of Poland’s history and geopolitics

    However, the Ukrainian Orthodoxy fell under Moscow’s influence only in the 17th century, when the Cossack Uprising succeeded in defeating Poland. As a consequence, Poland was unable to make the Russian minority their citizens, which decided the country’s future fate, and the Eastern Orthodoxy became separated from the patriarchy in Constantinople.

    Constantinople annulling the subjection of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy to Russia shows, that despite Putin and Orban’s claims, Ukraine is not a failed state. Moreover, it is a state becoming increasingly more independent of Russia and a part of our Europe. Many Polish right-wing experts underestimate or ignore Ukraine when it comes to geopolitics. They focus on China, Russia or even Belarus.

    We don’t see the connection between religion and politics and therefore cannot see the importance of this conflict. After all, it is a part of Poland’s history and geopolitics.

    As it turns out, Ukraine is Poland’s biggest, undiagnosed future challenge.

  • How does one deal with Kozlovska?

    “First of all, when it comes to Kozlovska, we’re dealing with information warfare,” said Polko. He criticized the Polish approach to the issue and argued, that perhaps if Poland had explained the situation better to Germany then things would have turned out differently.

    General Polko believes that it doesn’t matter whether Kozlovska is a foreign agent or not – the whole mess created by this situation is working in Putin’s favor anyway. The sole fact that Kozlvoska was let back into the EU is a scandal.

    What’s worse, in Polko’s opinion, is that “a person suspected of working against the interests of her country and other EU states, is being paraded under the banner of democracy.”

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    A person suspected of working against the interests of her country and other EU states, is being paraded under the banner of democracy

    “Kozlovska – according to internet media – has been turned into a tarnished defender of democracy. This assertion must be proven false,” he said.

    “Poland should have raised the issue on the international forum, especially as part of NATO structures,” Polko argued and questioned why the voice in defense of Polish interests and democracy was being ignored.

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    He underlined that the EU overall should improve its communication and not surrender to propaganda. Proof of the whole matter being unclear is the investigation being carried out by Ukrainian special services.

  • Czaputowicz: The wreckage of TU-154 divides Poland and Russia

    According to Jacek Czaputowicz one of the biggest unsolved issues between Poland and Russia is the yet to be returned Tu-154M plane wreckage from the Smoleńsk plane crash of April 2010. The minister underlined the gravity of human loss from the catastrophe and stated that: “Poland should decide where the wreckage should be because the plane is Polish property.”

    He evaluated that the whole issue could’ve been resolved by Russia seven years ago.

    Another point of conflict are Red Army statues in Poland. According to Polish estimates, more than one million Russian soldiers are buried on Polish soil. The government spends millions on protecting those graves. When it comes to the statues, however, Czaputowicz said: “the statues aside from burial grounds are not under this protection. Moreover, our legislation requires the demolishment of symbols of totalitarian regimes.”

    The Russians see their army as liberators from the Nazi occupation, whereas Stalin’s government later executed and tortured thousands of Poles

    The minister explained the dilemma of the Russian approach, as the Russians see their army as liberators from the Nazi occupation, whereas Stalin’s government later executed and tortured thousands of Poles.

    Czaputowicz also spoke of the proposed Fort Trump, a permanent American base stationed in Poland: “military-political issues are still to be discussed, as well as the direct area of operations.” He hopes that a final decision on Fort Trump will be made in Spring 2019. 

    Speaking about Ukraine the minister argued, that Russian sanctions should remain until Moscow does not change its policy towards Kiev.

    Other issues between Poland and Russia include Nord Stream 2: “We are negative towards the Nord Stream 2 project. We believe that it does not promote diversification and safety of energy for European countries and we’re not the only ones who think so: the European Commission has also deemed this project disadvantageous for Europe.”

    The minister also underlined that Russia as a partner will use gas to pile on the pressure and blackmail other countries.

  • Partition of Ukraine discussed on Russian TV

    In the program “60 minutes” aired on Russia 1, guests invited to the studio had to decide how to partition Ukraine between Poland and Russia, reports Rzeczpospolita.pl through Dialog.ua.

    Twitter user Ukr_Che posted a screenshot of the show on his twitter account. In it, one can see a map with the proposed division of Ukraine:

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    Ukraine’s Western territories, including the city of Lvov and the Eastern marches would go to Poland. Russia would get Odessa, Donetsk, Kharkov and Kherson.

    Dialog.ua states that Russian politicians and experts have previously claimed that Ukraine is doomed to fall apart. They proposed the following partitions: Eastern Ukraine to Russia and the West to Poland and Hungary.

    Ukrainian internauts are not amused and under Ukr_Che’s thread have posted, for example, pictures of the predicted future of Russian territories being broken apart and divided into sub-states:

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  • Drunken Ukrainian diplomat rams bus in Budapest

    According to police reports, the man was driving a Toyota RAV 4 SUV with diplomatic license plates and when police arrived at the scene, he refused to submit to an alcohol test and did not want to provide his diplomatic status. Police said the man was “behaving erratically” and was taken to a nearby hospital. Police subsequently found that the man is posted to the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest as the trade attaché.

    The incident comes fresh on the heels of a diplomatic row between Hungary and Ukraine.

    Recently, Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform released a hidden camera recording showing ethnic Hungarians from Ukraine taking their Hungarian citizenship oath at the Hungarian consulate in Beregszász (Beregovo, Ukraine). While Hungary grants easy access to citizenship for all ethnic Hungarians living abroad, Ukraine does not recognize dual citizenship. Ukraine is host to some 140,000 ethnic Hungarians.

    Klimkin said in an interview recently that he “does not exclude” the possibility that Ukraine will expel the Hungarian consul in Beregovo, adding in a later interview that Ukraine might do so if Hungary does not recall him.

    Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó said that should Ukraine expel a Hungarian consul, Hungary “will respond proportionately”.

  • Are Ukrainians being taken advantage of?

    Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian immigrants have come to Poland over the last few years. They are valued by Polish employers because of their higher work ethics and better abiding of safety regulations.

    Some employers take advantage of their enthusiasm, however, and pay them below the minimum wage – as low as PLN 9 (EUR 2) per hour.

    Many Ukrainians (38 percent) possess a higher education and feel exploited by having to work 60 hours a week in Warsaw and earn what are “starvation wages” in Poland. 

    We will not toil for Poles for the lowest of wages. Go get workers from India or Nepal

    “Ukrainian workers will not fix your economy. We will not toil for Poles for the lowest of wages. Go get workers from India or Nepal,” writes blogger Roman of web portal Bizemigrant. “I thought Poland was meant to be Europe. Nice jobs with advanced technologies and a modern lifestyle. When I worked in construction, I had to carry materials because the employer did not have a crane.”

    There are hundreds of bloggers like Roman. Some posts have reached even 2 million views. Eastern immigrants talk of not only exploiting employers, but also simple conmen who offer a few hundred PLN to find a job for Ukrainians, only to vanish with the money. Job agencies have also raised commissions due to high demand from employers.

    Ukrainians are a crafty lot, and so are Poles. It’s an explosive mixture

    “Why does a Polish agency want to take money from our salaries for mediation? Enough of this slyness. We can find an employer on our own,” writes Roman. He also stated that if it were possible, Ukrainians would work in Germany, not Poland.

    Ołeh, a Ukrainian who graduated in Poland, looks at the matter differently. He’s content with what he has, because he earns much more than he would back home in Tarnopol.

    “Polish employers using us is also our fault because we’re so desperate to find a job,” he says. “Ukrainians are a crafty lot, and so are Poles. It’s an explosive mixture, which is why these situations are happening. Your government offices have to work to stop this by making it easier for Ukrainians to get visas and work permits.”

  • Chairman of the Communists distorts history

    “No one will write that the whole idea is based on anti-Russian attitude. In the Soviet politburo, there was only one Russian in that time who voted against (invasion). Brezhnev was from Ukraine. The main force of invasion armies was the Ukrainians, “ stated Filip.

    The Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic named Filip’s statements as nonsense. Filip was further criticized, for instance, by deputy chairman of TOP 09 Markéta Adamová. “According to comrade Filip, Russians are not responsible for the invasion in 1968 because Brezhnev was a Ukrainian. Based on this logic, the Germans are not responsible for the World War because Hitler was an Austrian. The Slovaks brought about the normalization and Georgia is responsible for millions of dead people in the USSR since Stalin was born in Georgia,“ Adamová said.

    “The Communists have clear responsibility for August 1968 and consequent occupation of our country. And it does not matter whether Brezhnev was a Russian or a Ukrainian as well as it does not matter that KSČ was renamed to KSČM,“ added Zbyněk Stanjura /ODS/.

    President Miloš Zeman also opposed Filip’s statements. “Occupation was a crime, and the president’s opinion has been the same since 1968. Let us be happy that today we can freely say this truth,” the president’s spokesman Jiri Ovaccek wrote on Facebook yesterday.

    The others pointed out that it was Filip and his party that the current government relied on during the vote of confidence. “And such a whizz was chosen by the movement ANO as the first deputy chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, and the movement cheerfully governs with him. Better to honestly loose than to win with such teammates!,“ thinks Jan Bartošek /KDU-ČSL/.

  • Ukraine considers cutting railways to Russia

    Kiev’s minister of Infrastructure believes that cancelling railway connections between Ukraine and Russia will not cause any financial losses. Some alternative theories explain the planned shutdown by pointing out that this could be connected with plans to “nationalize” the lucrative railway company owned by the state and it is not motivated by political goals.

    According to Oleksiy Honcharenko, the chairman of Odessa Regional Council, the measure will complicate the life of hundreds of thousands who visit their relatives in Russia. According to official estimates nearly three million Ukrainians are working in Russia.

    The connection between Kiev and Moscow is the most profitable line of the Ukrzaliznytsia, the state-owned Ukrainian railway company. The annual profit of the line is estimated at US$5.8 billion annually, followed by the connection between Odessa and Moscow (US$3.7 billion).

    Honcharenko reminded that the line is used by ordinary people who would still travel to Russia frequently, only in a more complicated way.

    The call for restricting the connection between Russia and Ukraine is not unusual. Due to the initiative of Kiev from 2015 there is no direct airline between the two countries, the Russian cargo trains heading to the west are also avoiding Ukraine.

  • Ukrainian workers in Poland drawn to German money

    Eight out of ten Ukrainian workers are satisfied and speak positively about Polish terms of employment. However, they are becoming increasingly interested in the higher wages offered by Germany.

    “The fact that there is an influx of Ukrainian citizens into the Polish market, does not have to be a permanent phenomenon,” says a report published by the Polish Press Agency. If Germany were to open their labor market for them, they would seek better paid jobs in Germany. That is the opinion of 59 percent Ukrainians polled in Poland. 

    Only 6 percent of those polled would refuse to leave Poland.

    “This approach stems from the main reasons as to why Ukrainian citizens have decided to migrate in the first place. To them, higher salaries are key and Polish employers are in no position to compete with their German counterparts,” the report states.

    Almost three out of four Ukrainian workers, however, would like to stay in Poland for at least two to three years. The research was compiled using the responses from 303 subjects.

    According to the calculations of the National Polish Bank, there were on average nine hundred thousand Ukrainian citizens living in Poland in 2017.

    According to reports, by the end of 2018 more than two million Ukrainians will be working in Poland. Their average monthly salaries will be between PLN 2000-3000 (US$540-810). 

  • Kiev deceives Ukrainians fighting for survival with staged litigation

    While Ukraine is facing serious social and economical problems, former president Yanukovych is being sued for treason.

    The legal process is currently being held in Yanukovych’s absence after he left the country.

    The reason for the latest delay in the judicial process is that the judge was unwilling to listen to the defense’s witnesses, instead the attorney presented the accusations. Yanukovych was also unable to provide his confession in the form of a video speech. The former president’s representatives are asking the representatives of OSCE and the UN to monitor the situation due to the possible violation of human rights.

    Yanukovych was sued in June 2017, numerous allegations were made against the politician after the Maidan protests and the fall of the former Ukrainian regime. Leonid Kravchuk, Janukovych’s predecessor previously claimed that before the protests he received an anonymous telephone call which informed him about the intentions of killing the president, possibly with the assistance of Ukrainian radicals. The clarity of the process was questioned after the Ukrainian authorities leaked to the public the testimony of Janukovych’s helicopter pilot about the former president’s escape to Russia.

    The Pravda warns that in the middle of the trial the country is facing different problems. Gas prices are rising again due to the advice of experts from the IMF. According to Mikhail Pogrebinsky, the Ukrainians are getting more discontent with the current regime but the absence of capable activists and oppositional politicians is delaying the protests.