Polish Language Blog

We all know what happened on April 15th 2013 in Boston:( Very sad and scary story! It had huge impact on USA and citizens, but it also made some changes in Europe…Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, two brothers with Chechen origins stood behind the bombing.

The Boston bombing has triggered a wave of Chechen immigration into Poland (Czeczeńska imigracja do Polski) owing to fears the attack during the marathon could prompt the EU to harden its borders.

In the first weeks of May alone 1,943 Chechens applied for refugee status (status uchodźcy) in Poland compared to just 616 in January. Officials estimate that if the trend continues by the end of the year the number of refugees could jump by 30 per cent to 24,000.

Polish officials say the bloodletting and consequent damage to the Chechen reputation has fuelled fears in the war-torn country that the EU will tighten restrictions on Chechen immigration.

On top of that increasing anti-Chechen sentiment in Russia (nastroje anty-Czeczeńskie w Rosji), and more advanced people-smuggling operations have also contributed to the growing number of Chechens fleeing westwards.

An increase in the number of Chechen refugees in Poland could also lead to more illegal migration (nielegalna migracja) in Europe. Under EU regulations asylum seekers (ubiegający się o azyl) must remain in the country where they have applied for refugee status, only 20-30 per cent of those who apply in Poland stay in Poland. The rest disperse across the EU, with the majority going to Germany. Official Polish figures show that of the 2,060 requests by foreign countries to return illegal Chechen migrants to Poland 1,400 of them came from Germany.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Pope Benedict XVI thanked Poles on Wednesday for the “warm reception” he received when he visited Poland in 2006 and asked for their prayers on his retirement.

“I thank you for your presence here in Rome over all these years, for your prayers and tokens of sympathy,” Pope Benedict XVI said during his last General Audience to around 150,000 of the Roman Catholic faithful in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

“I thank you for my pilgrimage to Poland at the start of my pontificate and the warm reception during that visit. Having the great advocate in the person of the Blessed John Paul II, you remain firmly in faith. I ask you for prayers for me and for the Church,” he added.

In a sometimes emotional speech, Pope Benedict XVI referred to “rough seas” he has travelled during his pontificate.

“There were moments of joy and light but also moments that were not easy [...] there were moments, as there were throughout the history of the Church, when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the Lord was sleeping,” he said.

In his eight years as Pontiff, the Pope visited more than 20 countries. One of the first was to Poland, in May 2006, the homeland of his predecessor, John Paul II.

As a former member of the Hitler Youth, he visited the site of the German Nazi Auschwitz death camp, and called himself “a son of the German people,” asking: “Where was God in those days?”

Pope Benedict XVI  becomed ‘Pope Emeritus’ when his pontificate ended after becoming the first pope to stand down in over 600 years.

Four Poles are to be among the College of Cardinals in March to choose a new head of the Roman Catholic church, including Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko and Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Most of you who love fashion probably know her…Anja Rubik was born in Rzeszów, Poland. Growing up, Anja lived in Greece, Canada, and South Africa and began modeling full- time after graduating from a British high school in Paris. Rubik can be seen in numerous editorials for Vogue, Numero, Harper’s Bazaar, etc. More information and photographs of Anja can be found on her website: AnjaRubik.com

Polish supermodel Anja Rubik has teamed up with renowned Italian shoe designer to launch the Giuseppe for Anja Rubik collection.

She has been hard at work with Italian shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti on a new capsule collection of footwear and accessories.

The ‘Giuseppe for Anja Rubik’ collection is set to debut at the beginning of March and expected to retail at an average price of £790. The pair have been friends since Rubik first starred as the face (and Bambi-esque legs) of Zanotti’s eponymous line.

In 2011, the designer teamed up with Chopard to produce a pair of pink sapphire, diamond and ruby-encrusted shoes for Rubik to wear to the Cannes Film Festival which Rubik then auctioned in front of a celebrity-packed crowd to raise £125,000 for AIDS charity amfAR.

The supermodel likes to flex her creative muscles. Last year she relaunched 25 Magazine with her husband, Sasha Knezevic, ringing in fashion favours from fellow models including Karlie Kloss and Abbey Lee Kershaw for the erotically-themed issue.

Take a look at this video to get a glimpse behind the scenes as the model is photographed brandishing her new shoes and accessories, and posing alongside Zanotti (you have to click on the link – video is unlisted and you can only view it through the link).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wr8lJsH2GzE

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)