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Poland’s Obstruction In Nord Stream Pipeline Probe Raises Alarm For Investigators

Poland’s Obstruction In Nord Stream Pipeline Probe Raises Alarm For Investigators

At this point, one might be forgiven for thinking that the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage is already ancient history. After all, mainstream media and prime time TV news coverage has by and large ‘moved on’ as soon as it became clear that Russia had nothing to do with it.

At this point, the consensus even among Moscow’s vehement enemies is that the September 26, 2022 series of blasts which disabled the Russia to Germany NS-1 and NS-2 natural gas pipelines had Ukrainian and/or Western involvement. While MSM sources have favored the theory that it was a mystery group of pro-Ukraine operatives on a small yacht, legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has reported that it was a CIA and US Navy special operation with help from Norwegian intelligence services.

Since then, the ongoing investigation by Germany, Denmark and Sweden into the details of what happened has continued to yield very interesting, incremental developments. The latest was revealed in a Wall Street Journal report this week, and involves apparent Polish obstruction of the probe, which has been deemed by officials to be highly suspicious.

Nord Stream 2/AP

Reports WSJ, “Polish officials have resisted cooperating with an international probe into the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines and failed to disclose potentially crucial evidence, according to European investigators working on the case.”

Cover-up?… you don’t say:

Those Polish officials have been slow to provide information and withheld key evidence about the alleged saboteurs’ movements on Polish soil, investigators said. They are now hoping the new government in Warsaw, which took office in December, will help shed light on the attack.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Is Washington’s Dangerous Ukraine Boondoggle Starting to Unravel?

Is Washington’s Dangerous Ukraine Boondoggle Starting to Unravel?

Last week the world stood on the very edge of a nuclear war, as Ukraine’s US-funded president, Vladimir Zelensky, urged NATO military action over a missile that landed on Polish soil. “This is a Russian missile attack on collective security! This is a really significant escalation. Action is needed,” said Zelensky immediately after the missile landed.

But there was a problem. The missile was fired from Ukraine – likely an accident in the fog of war. Was it actually a Russian missile, of course, that might mean World War III. But Zelensky didn’t seem to be bothered by the prospect of the world blown up, judging from his reckless rhetoric.

While Zelensky has been treated as a saint by the US media, the Biden Administration, and both parties in Congress, something unprecedented happened this time: the Biden Administration pushed back. According to press reports, several Zelensky calls to Biden or senior Biden Staff went unanswered.

When US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan finally returned Zelensky’s call, he is reported to have said, “tread carefully” on claims Russia was behind the missiles landing in Poland. The Biden Administration went on to publicly dispute Zelensky’s continued insistence that Russia shot missiles into NATO-Member Poland. After two days of Washington opposition to his claims, Zelensky finally, sort of, backed down.

We’ve heard rumors of President Biden’s frustration over Zelensky’s endless begging and ingratitude for the 60 or so billion dollars doled out to him by the US government, but this is the clearest public example of the Biden Administration’s acceptance that it has a “Zelensky problem.”

Zelensky must have understood that Washington and Brussels knew it was not a Russian missile….
…click on the above link to read the rest…

Poland’s central bank predicts double-digit inflation until 2024

Image: Poland’s central bank predicts double-digit inflation until 2024

(Natural News) The National Bank of Poland (NBP) has predicted that the Central European nation will be saddled with high inflation for the next two years.

According to the NBP, yearly inflation will hit 14.5 percent in 2022 and drop to 13.1 percent in 2023. Single-digit rates will only begin by 2024, when the country’s inflation is projected to decrease to 5.9 percent. The central bank’s inflation target of 2.5 percent is only expected to be accomplished in 2025.

Figures from Statistics Poland (GUS) showed that inflation in the country hit 17.2 percent in September, and increased to 17.9 percent in October.

The NBP also forecast a 0.7 percent growth in Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2022. Meanwhile, the GUS predicts a 1.4 percent GDP growth in 2023 and a flat two percent GDP growth in 2024.

Amid all these projections, economic activity in Poland is about to weaken because of the heightened uncertainty, a tightening of financing settings and the economy’s adjustment to higher commodity costs, according to the European Commission’s latest economic forecast.

“The Polish economy continued its upward trajectory in the first half of 2022, although a marked drop in inventories and investment led to a contraction in real GDP in the second quarter. Data on the real economy suggest that growth was at full steam in the third quarter, with industrial output and retail sales expanding at a solid pace. As a result, despite a deterioration in confidence indicators, the second half of the year is expected to see a relatively good performance, leaving annual real GDP growth in 2022 at a projected 4.0 percent,” the European Commission (EC) report said.

Increase in inflation due to rise in food and energy prices

As stated by the NBP’s November report on inflation, the present increase can be largely attributed to the rise in food and energy prices brought by the war in Ukraine and the enormous increase in money printing by global central banks during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic…

…click on the above link to read the rest…

The press are completely crazy and they are going to get us all killed

The press are completely crazy and they are going to get us all killed

Remarks on the rocket strike in Poland, and the heedless jingoistic war rhetoric of the German media

Yesterday, at around 3.40 in the afternoon, a rocket exploded in the Polish village of Przewodów. Two people died. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky immediately blamed Russia, later going so far as to characterise the alleged attack as a message from Putin to the G20 summit. Then the Associated Press reported that they had heard from “a senior U.S. intelligence official” claiming that “Russian missiles” were responsible for the attack, and thereafter the worst German journalistic actors embarked upon an evening of dark speculation about the proper NATO response to a Russian attack on Poland. Higher brow outlets, like ZDF, merely ran inflammatory headlines about Russian rockets, with the crucial information – that the rockets were Russian-made, while their immediate origins were unclear – buried in the body of the piece. Bild, on the other hand, went all-in, with this incredible rant from chief editor Johannes Boie:

The Russian army has bombed Poland, the AP news agency reports, citing a US intelligence official.

Two people are dead, murdered!

Accidental or not – this is an armed attack on NATO territory!

The two most likely possibilities are, first, that Putin’s soldiers hit Poland by mistake. They are often poorly trained and drunk. In this case, the tyrant must apologise formally, beg for forgiveness on bended knee, so to speak, while armed NATO fighter jets fly around his country.

He is not used to that. When his troops shot down a passenger plane in 2014, killing 298 people, there were no consequences.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Poland Begins Handing Out Iodine Pills On Fears Of Ukraine Nuclear Plant Meltdown

Poland Begins Handing Out Iodine Pills On Fears Of Ukraine Nuclear Plant Meltdown

Poland has begun a program of distributing iodine tablets to emergency workers and first responders, starting with regional fire departments – who can in turn hand them out to the general population – in the event of a possible radioactive disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

A Polish deputy minister first announced the plan on Thursday, warning of the possibility of dangerous radioactive exposure amid continued fighting in neighboring Ukraine, where technicians at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant continue to struggle to maintain safeguards.

“After the media reports about battles near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, we decided… ahead of time to take protective action to distribute iodine,” the Polish official, Blazej Pobozy, said in a national radio broadcast.

“I would like to reassure all citizens that these are routine, preemptive actions that are to protect us in the event of a situation which… I hope will not happen.” Iodine tablets can help protect against conditions associated with radioactive exposure such as thyroid cancer.

The plant has suffered frequently cut power cables, having been removed from the nation’s power grid multiple times and reverting to back-up measures, amid shelling in the area as some 500 Russian troops have occupied the complex since March.

Both sides have continued to blame the other for the deteriorating operating conditions, which earlier in the month caused plant operators to take a sixth reactor off the grid out of an abundance of caution while a power line was being restored after fire.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, “Due to Russian provocation, the Zaporizhzhya plant is one step away from a radiation disaster.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“This Is Beyond Imagination”: Polish Homeowners Line Up For Days To Buy Coal Ahead Of Winter

“This Is Beyond Imagination”: Polish Homeowners Line Up For Days To Buy Coal Ahead Of Winter

Several weeks ago we reported that amid Europe’s mindblowing gas and electricity prices, Deutsche Bank predicted that a growing number of German households will be using firewood for heating, a forecast which appears to have become self-fulfilling as German google searches for firewood (“brennholz”) had since exploded off the charts:

But while Germans are still “searching” merely in the virtual realm, for countless Poles the search is all too real.

According to Reuters, with Poland still basking in the late summer heat, hundreds of cars and trucks have already lined up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as householders fearful of winter shortages wait for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel ahead of the coming cold winter in queues reminiscent of communist times.

Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 km (18 miles) from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tonnes of coal for himself and his family.

“Toilets were put up today, but there’s no running water,” he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars. “This is beyond imagination, people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times but it didn’t cross my mind that we could return to something even worse.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Cash Delay” Deliveries Strike Polish ATMs As People Panic Hoard Amid Ukraine Crisis

“Cash Delay” Deliveries Strike Polish ATMs As People Panic Hoard Amid Ukraine Crisis

Russian forces continue to invade Ukraine for the second day, causing mass panic in neighboring countries. Poland, which has a 326-mile border with Ukraine, is bracing for a wave of refugees. The spillover of chaos is also causing Polish people to panic hoard cash on Friday as bank ATMs run out of money, according to Bloomberg.

The National Bank of Poland (NBP) released a statement Friday indicating it had enough cash reserves though increased demand for cash contributed to some ATMs running out of money.

Due to the increased demand for cash, Narodowy Bank Polski informs that it has sufficient reserves to fully cover the demand of bank customers for cash. All bank orders are carried out without value limits, in the full nominal structure, throughout the country.

Narodowy Bank Polski is in close cooperation with all entities servicing the cash market in Poland. Due to the increased scale of transactions, in some locations there may be delays in the delivery of cash to ATMs from the logistic centers of commercial banks and cash handling companies.

Poland’s unit of ING Groep NV reports a massive increase in demand for cash after the invasion of Ukraine, according to Business Insider.

The bank’s CEO Brunon Bartkiewicz said the cash crunch should dissipate in the coming days as Polish banks are stable and there’s is no risk to people’s savings.

Bloomberg points out, “another indication of tighter liquidity, the amount of surplus cash that Polish banks placed in 7-day bills at the central bank’s weekly auction dropped to 187 billion zloty ($45 billion) on Friday, the smallest amount in 2022 and 22% below this year’s average.” 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Nord Stream 2 Operator Warns Warships and Planes Threaten the Russia-Germany Pipeline Project

Nord Stream 2 Operator Warns Warships and Planes Threaten the Russia-Germany Pipeline Project

The US is trying to prevent the project from being completed through sanctions and pressure on Germany.

A senior official from Nord Stream 2 AG, the project company leading the Nord Stream 2 Russia to Germany natural gas pipeline project, has reported an uptick in “provocative” activity from warships and planes in the area where the pipeline is being built.

“Higher activity of naval vessels, airplanes and helicopters and civilian vessels of foreign states is observed in the work area after restarted construction of the offshore segment of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, whose actions are often clearly provocative,” said Nord Stream AG official Andrei Minin, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

Minin said a 1.5-mile safety zone is established around the construction area where vessels are not supposed to enter. “Nevertheless, naval vessels of foreign countries are constantly registered near service ships performing work,” he said, adding that a Polish antisubmarine warfare airplane is “regularly flying around the work area at a small height and closely to the pipelay vessel.”

Minin said in one provocation, an unidentified submarine was above surface within one mile of the pipeclay vessel Fortuna, a ship that was hit with US sanctions on January 19th. Minin said the activity indicates “obviously planned and prepared provocations.” Besides warships and planes, he said fishing vessels have also come dangerously close to the construction area.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been in the crosshairs of the US for years, but despite sanctions and threats, Nord Stream AG reported on Thursday that the project is now 95 percent complete. Construction restarted in December 2020 after being suspended due to threats of US sanctions.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

antiwar.com, nordstream 2, pipeline, germany, russia, united states, poland, dave decamp, economic sanctions

Gazprom Blasts $7.6BN Polish Antitrust Fine On NS2 Pipeline As Move To Kill It “By All Means”

Polish authorities have fined Russia’s Gazprom a whopping and unprecedented $7.6 billion (or 6.5 billion euros) for constructing the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

While Poland anti-trust authorities have claimed Nord Stream 2 is fundamentally a politically motivated attempt to punish Polish consumers while increasing European dependence on on Russian imports, Germany has stood by the project even amid the Navalny poisoning affair which has strained its relations with Russia over the past month.

Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection decision seeks to legally force the six companies jointly building and financing the project to cancel their contracts, despite the gas pipeline being in its final phase of development. This includes European investors OMV, Wintershall, Engie, Shell and Uniper.

NS2 pipeline construction in the Baltic, file image.

“Carrying out the project is tantamount to breaking the rules of law and of fair competition that will lead to an increased dependence of gas recipients on the internal market on one supplier – Gazprom,” the Polish antitrust office said.

It charged that if allowed to go live it will result in “serious consequences for Poland’s and the EU’s economy,” by restricting the range of supplies while inevitably increasing gas prices for consumers.

But no doubt defenders of NS2 also see this as part of Washington’s broader war on the project, which has included past sanctions on executive heads of European companies involved, given recent deepening US military ties to Poland.

State-owned Gazprom, meanwhile has denounced the “unprecendented fine” as unlawful and unjustified. The fine’s “unprecedented amount evidences the decision to oppose implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project by all means,” the statement said, according to TASS.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Not A Deterrent, But Massive Provocation: Russia Blasts US Ambassador’s ‘Move Nukes To Poland’ Remarks

Not A Deterrent, But Massive Provocation: Russia Blasts US Ambassador’s ‘Move Nukes To Poland’ Remarks

The deeply contentious issue of US and NATO nuclear weapons right on Russia’s European doorstep of Poland is front and center once again, as the redeployment of US nuclear weapons from Germany to Poland is said to actually be on the table following an ongoing fierce debate inside Germany’s coalition government over the possible removal of US nuclear weapons from their soil.   

It started with a hugely provocative statement from Rick Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany who is also the acting director of National Intelligence, who wrote last week, “The purpose of NATO’s nuclear share is to keep non-nuclear member states involved in the planning of NATO’s deterrence policy. Germany’s participation in nuclear share ensures that its voice matters.”  He followed up with what appears a threatening ultimatum to the allied country:

“Will Germany bear this responsibility, or will it sit back and simply enjoy the economic benefits of security provided by its other allies?”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell in Meseberg, Germany, July 6, 2018. WSJ/Reuters

Amb. Grenell’s words were posted the US Embassy in Germany’s website. On the heels of these statements came a Saturday tweet by US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, who went so far to boldly suggest that America’s European nuclear arsenal could be hosted in Poland

Needless to say this is about the most outlandishly hawkish take proposed in years, even by Cold War standards:


Georgette Mosbacher✔@USAmbPoland

If Germany wants to diminish nuclear capability and weaken NATO, perhaps Poland – which pays its fair share, understands the risks, and is on NATO’s eastern flank – could house the capabilities here: https://cutt.ly/SyWQERl A credible nuclear deterrent remains needed | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in GermanyBy Richard A. Grenell US Ambassador to Germany   Before the fall of the Iron Curtain, Germany sat on the front lines of a possible nuclear conflict. So Germany and its NATO Allies came together to…de.usembassy.gov


…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Poland: Zero Emissions Is A Trillion-Dollar Fantasy

Poland: Zero Emissions Is A Trillion-Dollar Fantasy

Coal plant

Reducing emissions in Poland to zero will cost the country between $760 and $980 billion (700-900 billion euro), said Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski, as quoted by Reuters.

“Of course, these costs would obviously be spread over years. But I treat it as a fantasy when someone says that Poland is able to reach the zero-emission goal by 2050,” Tchorzewski said, according to a report in Polish state news agency PAP.

Poland, along with Hungary and the Czech Republic, became the reason an ambitious emissions plan proposed by other EU members was dropped as a piece of binding legislation.

Later in the year, France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, criticized Poland specifically for still using a lot of fossil fuels—particularly coal—despite the EU’s climate change goals.

Ahead of the UN climate talks last month, Macron slammed Poland for not toeing the line: “Marching every Friday to say that the planet is burning, that’s nice, but that is not the problem,” the French president told media before going on to lash out at climate protesters in France, telling them that they should “go protest in Poland! Help me move those I cannot push forward.”

At the time, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister tried to soften the blow, and Macron himself added remarks to that effect.

“I’m not stigmatising anyone. But I want to convince our Polish friends that it’s good for them to move on this,” Macron said.

Poland is in fact not opposed to zero emissions. However, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in June, it will need a solid compensation package for its industry in exchange for a firm commitment to the EU’s ambitious climate change goals.

“Poland wants to catch up with Europe, not to perish. Each percent means huge costs,” Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski said, referring to the percentage of renewable energy in Poland.

Kremlin Vows “Retaliatory Steps” Against “Aggressive” US Troop, Drone Build-up In Poland

Kremlin Vows “Retaliatory Steps” Against “Aggressive” US Troop, Drone Build-up In Poland 

Russian lawmakers have said the new US-Poland joint declaration unveiled yesterday, which will see 1,000 more US troops sent to Poland from Germany along with military drones, will force the Kremlin to take “retaliatory steps” against what the Russian parliamentary statement called US “further large-scale deployments”.

One lawmaker went so far as to say the Russian military “would make Poland a target in the event of a conflict,” according to Reuters.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister also warned of Washington’s “aggressive intentions” following Trump’s pledge to Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday during a White House visit. 

One Russian official, identified as the deputy head of the upper house of parliament’s international affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency: “In the event of any conflict, God forbid, the territory of Poland would become a clear target for a retaliatory strike, if there was suddenly an attack on us,” as cited in Reuters, while others warned of a new Cuban missile crisis scenario but this time on Russia’s border. 

Per the Reuters report, one top parliamentary official went so far as to invoke a nuclear scenario

Another lawmaker, ex-commander of Russia’s special forces Vladimir Shamanov, who now runs the lower house of parliament’s defense committee, said he was concerned about the U.S. drones because of their potential to carry nuclear weapons.

“The world is gradually slipping toward a dangerous moment comparable to the Caribbean crisis,” Shamanov said, using the Russian expression for the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

“…We will be forced to take retaliatory measures and we have them in our armory,” Interfax cited him as saying.

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yellow Vest Movement Spreads to Australia & Poland

We are witnessing the Yellow Vest Movement now also spreading to Australia. We are seeing the rise there and in Canada also against Fake News that the media is desperately fighting Trump on who now label him an idiot in headlines. We are also witnessing a backlash against taking in the Muslim claimed refugees from Syria in Australia as well. It is not a matter of race, but culture. People who traveled to Paris from the USA this summer have often returned with horror stories of being robbed on the street, cell phones, jewelry, purses being stolen by people on motorcycles. Muslim women begging on every corner of the Champs-Élysées. The culture clash is the problem. These people cannot speak the language and lack skills for employment for the most part. Immigrants historically seek economic opportunity – not handouts. Last November, Merkel was offering cash to the refugees to leave Germany it was getting that bad. Now she is willing to pay one year’s rent back home to leave Germany.

The Green groups that have taken over the UN are frantic fearing that they want to avoid the violent clashes that have rocked France from becoming a “je suis Trump” (I’m Trump) moment for against climate change. It was the higher global warming fuel taxes and other environmental efforts that sparked the “yellow-vests” protests that have forced Pres­ident Emmanuel Macron into ­retreat. In Canada, the Yellow Vests are also growing over environmental sanctions that block pipelines and creating employment in the energy industry which is also lurking behind a growing separatist movement in Alberta.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Polish Government Issues Terrorism Alert in Katowice Days Before Start of UN Climate Talks

Polish Government Issues Terrorism Alert in Katowice Days Before Start of UN Climate Talks

The Polish government has implemented a terrorism alert in the province where the annual UN climate talks are about to start.

Climate campaigners are warning of a “tense atmosphere” in and around the city of Katowice in southern Poland, where the global climate negotiations, known as COP24, are due to kick off on Monday.

Katowice, a city of around 300,000 people — and the smallest city to host the UN climate talks yet — is about to welcome nearly 30,000 people for the climate conference, including heads of state, government representatives and UN officials.

Over the weekend, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has signed an order declaring an ALFA alert  — the first of four increasing terrorism security levels — across the entire southern province of Silesia, where Katowice is located, and the city of Krakow.

‘ALFA’ alert 

In a statement, the government confirmed the heightened security measures had been introduced in connection with COP24and will remain in force for the entire length of the talks, until December 15.

The heightened alert has seen increased controls implemented across the affected areas, with residents are asked to report any suspicious situation or individual.

It also means enhanced security forces will be deployed in cases of emergency and that officers can control and check vehicles as well as access private communications.

The Polish border police also confirmed that Poland’s borders with Germany, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia had temporarily been restored and that the border could only be crossed in designated areas, with further checks being carried out at ports and airports.

The measures are due to last for the entirety of the climate conference with random checks being carried out for people entering Poland.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Flight to Safety Accelerates, Hungary Increases Gold Holdings Ten Fold

The Flight to Safety Accelerates, Hungary Increases Gold Holdings Ten Fold

We’ve talked at length about how the geopolitical climate around the globe has ratcheted up in temperature over the past few years. The times are growing more and more uncertain as trade wars erupt and as the old global powers are seemingly losing control with each passing day.

This has led to countries such as Russia, and China, both of which are unarguably out of the “old” power structure and desperately want to increase their ground in the international game of finance and control.

Undoubtedly they are doing this and asserting themselves in any possible way that they can, suffering blow-backs and setbacks from the old power structure for each stride that they make.

One such tactic that they are using, and one that I have often highlighted, is their continued move away from US dollars as their reserve currency of choice. In its place, they are buying precious metals, most notably gold, at a feverish pace, exponentially increasingly their holdings as rapidly as they can.

Despite this fact, gold has suffered under intense artificial suppression, as a fat finger is kept on its price. The “canary in the coal mine”, as gold is often called, has been kept quiet, but for how much longer?

Increasingly, as the times become ever more precarious, with global leaders on edge, we are seeing more countries join the ranks of Russia and China, taking what they believe to be prudent steps and moving some of their reserves into precious metals.

Two such countries that have just recently increased their holdings of gold bullion, are Poland and Hungary, the former of which has been steadily doing so over the summer months and the later of which has just done so, in a massive way.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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