So Far, So Close

NEED TO KNOW

So Far, So Close

POLAND

From the mid-16th Century to the late 18th Century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a European power that dominated Central and Northeastern Europe while pioneering democratic models of government.

Poland has been at odds with Russia ever since. In 1610, for example, Polish-Lithuanian forces occupied Moscow and engineered the appointment of a Polish-Lithuanian prince as the new Russian czar. In the late 18th Century, however, Austria, Prussia – the core of what later would become Germany – and Russia partitioned Poland, bringing the country’s golden age to an end.

The modern era hasn’t always been kind to Poland. Soviet forces invaded the country in the early 1920s, for example, in an attempt to export their communist revolution to Europe, York St John University historian Peter Whitewood wrote in the Conversation. They failed. But in World War II, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Poland. The Soviets then controlled the country until the Berlin Wall fell in the late 1980s. After that, and even after the country joined the European Union in 2004, its people have felt like second-class citizens on the continent.

This history explains why Poland is working hard to become a leading military power in Europe today.

In recent years, Poland has more than doubled its army from 95,000 to 200,000 soldiers, including almost 150,000 fighting personnel, and recruited almost 40,000 reservists who can fight in the event of war, reported the Times of London. The country aims to deploy 300,000 soldiers, which would become the largest land army in Europe. The Polish navy, which historically has been weak, is also expanding to become a force in the Baltic Sea and beyond, added the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Poland is also devoting 4 percent of its gross domestic product to defense, more than any other NATO member, while it has also served as a logistical hub for military and humanitarian aid shipments to Ukrainian forces across the border fighting Russia, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also been vocal about Europe moving too slowly to rearm in the face of Russian aggression, the Moscow Times reported. Further, he has been critical of Hungary and other friends of Russia in Europe for not supporting Ukraine enough, the Anadolu Agency wrote.

These defense policy changes come as Tusk has sought to reverse the domestic policies of his predecessors in the conservative Law and Justice political (PiS) party that ran the government before Tusk’s Civic Coalition won the elections late last year. As World Politics Review explained, PiS is a populist, anti-immigrant, pro-Catholic, Euroskeptic party while Tusk is a former president of the European Council, the policymaking branch of the European Union.

That means that currently, Poland’s main battles are at home. The transition from a right-wing populist government to a center-left government following October’s elections hasn’t been smooth, with a conservative president in power blocking legislation, missteps dismantling the controls put on media outlets and delays regarding the repeal of legislation passed by PiS that undermined the rule of law.

As Politico wrote, Tusk promised his backers a revolution, but it turns out that rapid change is hard in a deeply divided country: “Rhetoric, meet reality.”

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

‘From Darkness to Light’

NEW ZEALAND

An inquiry concluded Wednesday that over the last 70 years, one in three people receiving care in New Zealand – including children and people with disabilities – was abused, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Christopher Luton acknowledged more than 2,300 survivors who contributed to the probe. He apologized and promised to implement reforms following the report’s recommendations.

“This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand’s history as a society and as a state,” Luton said, adding that he will offer an official apology on Nov. 12.

The “Whanaketia – Through Pain and Trauma, from Darkness to Light” report delivered the findings of a six-year inquiry, the largest and most expensive ever held in New Zealand, 1News reported.

From 1950 to 2019, around 200,000 people were abused in care facilities belonging to the state or the clergy. The atrocities they suffered included physical and verbal abuse, rape, sterilization, and electric shocks.

The inquiry noted that children in foster care had been the most exposed to sexual abuse, the BBC reported. Indigenous Māoris and people with mental or physical disabilities were also highly vulnerable.

For decades, New Zealand has failed to deliver justice to the victims, many of whom have died since, as civil and religious leaders denied allegations and covered up abuse by moving perpetrators to other locations.

The report called it a “national disgrace.”

It issued 138 recommendations, including official apologies from the government and faith leaders.

“We will ensure that action follows our review of the inquiry’s findings,” the Catholic Church in New Zealand said. The Anglican Church took “full responsibility for our failures.”

Following the report’s recommendations, Luton promised reforms, while the opposition vowed to cooperate with the government.

The report also called for compensation amounting to $511,200 per survivor, many times the size of payments so far and which have been a fraction of those paid out in other countries, as well as payments for the descendants of victims because of the intergenerational trauma they carried on.

Luton said the total amount could be in the billions of dollars.

New Zealand’s inquiry is the latest in a series of probes into systemic abuse spanning two decades. Australia, Canada, the United States, England and Wales also led similar investigations, the Associated Press noted.

Never Safe

GEORGIA

Georgia’s security service on Wednesday launched an investigation into a plot to assassinate senior politicians from the country’s ruling party, including a former prime minister, amid allegations against the government of democratic backsliding, Politico reported.

The State Security Service of Georgia (SUS) announced it was looking into alleged “terrorist” activities that intended to “overthrow the government.” The plan included the assassination of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Ivanishvili became Georgia’s richest man after building up a fortune in Russia. Now the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, he was prime minister from October 2012 to November 2013, Reuters explained.

Incumbent Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the plot was hatched by unnamed forces that also tried to kill former US President Donald Trump and Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico in the past few weeks, Radio Free Europe reported.

The SUS itself did not name any suspect, but local media reported that at least six people were being questioned, most of whom had fought with Ukrainian forces against Russia.

Georgian authorities have repeatedly targeted nationals who went to support Ukraine’s war efforts. The SUS’s announcement came a day after the court hearing in Tbilisi of a Georgian who fought against Russian troops.

The security agency’s allegations are “absurd delusion and constant conspiracy theory” forged by Ivanishvili to help Georgian Dream win the upcoming national election this fall, said opposition leader Tinatin Bokuchava.

Bokuchava also told local media the reports amounted to “Russian-style propaganda.”

Georgian Dream was accused of regressing on human rights last month after it approved a Moscow-style law allowing the government to label non-governmental organizations receiving funds from abroad as “foreign agents.”

The law led the European Union to freeze negotiations for Georgia to join the bloc.

On Tuesday, Russia’s lower chamber of parliament doubled down on suppressing foreign entities – including state-owned organizations – by allowing them to be declared “undesirable,” Radio Free Europe reported.

All You May Eat

INDIA

India’s Supreme Court this week suspended measures in two northern states that had forced restaurants to display their owners’ names, an obligation critics said could fuel division and discrimination against the country’s Muslim minority, the BBC reported.

In Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, two states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), police issued orders requiring eateries along a Hindu pilgrimage road to write out the names of their owners on display boards.

State authorities explained the measure would help guarantee law and order, as well as prevent “confusion” among Hindu worshippers participating in the ‘Yanwar Yatra’ pilgrimage.

However, opposition parties and even BJP allies criticized the measures and filed petitions to the nation’s top court. On Monday, the Court handed petitioners a win, saying restaurants were only obliged to specify the food they serve.

Critics complained that the measures were “discriminatory on grounds of religion” because they would expose the Muslim names of some owners, in regions that have seen violent confrontations between Hindus and Muslims in the past.

In recent years, Yanwar Yatra has been marred by violence and vandalism.

During the annual pilgrimage, Hindu worshippers of the god Shiva travel to religious sites along the holy Ganges river, passing through the north of India.

During that period, devotees avoid eating meat and drinking alcohol. Some of them also stay clear of restaurants that serve meat, Reuters explained.

DISCOVERIES

A Little Help From Bees

Kenya’s coastline is rich in mangroves, trees that thrive in salt water, providing a breeding ground for fish, helping prevent erosion, offering protection from harsh weather, and food, medicine and wood for dwellings for local communities.

But mangroves, both in Kenya and worldwide, are under threat from excessive logging. A 2018 showed that 40 percent of Kenyan mangroves had been degraded.

“We knew loggers cut mangroves to get money but didn’t realize they are destroying mangroves in the process,” Zulfa Hassan, who works to protect her forest on Pate Island, told the Nature Conservancy.

In the port city of Mombasa, locals such as Peter Nyongesa have tried to stop the loggers – in vain. “They retort that the trees do not belong to anyone but God,” Nyongesa told the Associated Press.

In response, locals have hit upon a novel approach – getting a little help from bees to protect the trees.

They would place hives high up the trees so that loggers would not see them. “When the loggers start cutting down whichever tree, the bees will attack due to the noise,” conservation group leader Bibiana Nanjilula explained.

The stinging solution’s effects are hard to gauge, the group said, but it offered one bonanza. By pollinating the coastal forest’s flowers, the bees not only boost plant reproduction, they also make delicious honey that locals say has medicinal benefits.

In the Lamu region, bees have even become the livelihood of people who used to be loggers or fishermen – in effect curbing mangrove degradation and overfishing – Kenya’s Daily Nation reported.

“One (manmade) beehive, during a good harvesting season, can produce between 15 and 20 kilograms of honey. This has enabled us to sustain our families and forget about fishing or logging,” said fisherman-turned-beekeeper Mohamed Hassan.

Thank you for reading or listening to GlobalPost. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can become one by going to globalpost/subscribe.