Page 34 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine April 2025

34 I Central Europe bne April 2025
chip in talks with rebelling legislators from the ruling coalition parties.
Pellegrini signed in far-right nationalist Rudolf Huliak as Minister of Tourism and Sport following Fico’s nomination. Huliak, who was elected on the SNS list to the National Council (Parliament), and two other legislators left the SNS parlia- mentary grouping last autumn, but are expected to restore a possible majority of
76 for Fico in the parliament of 150.
During Saturday’s STVR political programme, Fico said that the new Minister of Investments will likely be one of the three remaining rebelling legislators – Ján Ferenčák, Samuel Migal‘ and Radomír Šalitroš.
“Either one of the legislators who left from Hlas will get this position, or these
legislators will send forth a nominee with relevant qualification,” Fico stated, adding that he wants to “restart” the 79 majority in the parliament.
Fico wants to have the majority restored before the regular parliamentary session on March 25 and hinted that early elections possibility is decreasing, saying “at this moment we are only as far from early elections as it will be necessary.”
Wild boars unearth World War 2 mortar
shells in Polish forest
bne IntelliNews
Agroup of wild boars dug up 21 unexploded mortar shells from World War 2 in a forest near the village of Bięcino in northern Poland, local police in Słupsk said on 17 March.
The ordnance has since been removed without injury to people or animals, police said, while warning that such discoveries pose a “threat to health and lives.”
Officers stated that forest rangers had first spotted the shells and reported them to the authorities, who determined that the munitions had been unearthed by the animals. Specialists later confirmed that the mortar rounds dated back to World War 2.
Military sappers were deployed to the site and secured the shells within hours. Officials have not disclosed further details regarding the ammunition’s type or origin.
Discoveries of wartime explosives remain frequent in Poland, which saw intense combat after being invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.
The Słupsk region, which was part of Germany before 1945, experienced particularly fierce battles during the war’s final months, during German forces' final attempts to halt the Soviet advance into what was East Prussia back
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then. Decades later, remnants of the conflict continue to emerge.
In July 2023, construction workers renovating a primary school in central Poland found dozens of unexploded artillery shells from the war, Notes from Poland, a news website, reports. The following month, nearly 14,000 Lublin residents were advised to evacuate while army sappers removed a 250kg aerial bomb uncovered during construction.
Unexploded ordnance is also frequently
found in Warsaw, which was nearly completely destroyed in 1944. Despite the gargantuan effort to clean up and rebuild the city, dangerous discoveries happen to this day.
Sappers in the capital and surrounding areas respond to over 300 call-outs annually, according to Poland’s public broadcaster TVP. The most recent incident in Warsaw was the discovery of an unexploded 75mm anti-tank shell at a construction site for a new housing estate in February.
Wild boars (Sus scrofa) unearth World War 2 mortar shells in Polish forest. / Creative Commons / Jakub Halun