We support local governments throughout Poland. Thanks to government programmes, funds flow to all municipalities, cities and smaller towns. As part of the Government Fund for Local Investments, funds go to investments that are close to the people. These include the reconstruction of nearby roads, the retrofitting of hospitals, the construction of nurseries or the renovation of libraries. PLN 13.2 billion has already been allocated for this purpose. To date, there have also been five editions of the Government Strategic Investment Programme – a total of PLN 63.4 billion has been allocated for non-returnable co-financing of investments. Additional funds are also granted to large cities, such as Warsaw, Gdańsk and Kraków.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. The leaders touched on current issues concerning bilateral Polish-French cooperation and cooperation within the EU. They also discussed, among other things, joint activities related to aid for Ukraine.

At a press conference, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki shared his initial findings on the current situation in Croatia. On 1 January 2023, Croatia joined not only the Schengen area but also the euro area. The change of currency, from the Croatian kuna to the euro, is currently causing great turmoil - the prices of many services and goods have risen dramatically in a short period and the Croatian government has to intervene. We can clearly see that in a time of global crisis, such a step as the change of currency has compounded many negative effects within the economy - most notably inflation. In Poland, the government is working to bring the wages of Poles up to the standard of richer Western European countries. Only then will it be possible to possibly discuss the adoption of the European currency in our country.

The labour market is changing, and the needs of employees and employers are also changing rapidly. Therefore, we must also transform our regulations that protect the labour market and, above all, the employee. The Council of Ministers has adopted a draft amendment to the Labour Code. This concerns, among other things, unpaid care leave, which will amount to five days per year, and the extension of parental leave.

The end of the 20th century brought Europe a victory of freedom and democracy over the communist tyranny imposed by Moscow. Almost simultaneously with Poland's transformation, political changes also arrived in former Czechoslovakia. The overthrow of communist rule and subsequently the formation of two independent states in 1993 sealed the wind of change in our part of Europe. Today, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met in Bratislava with Prime Minister Eduard Heger of Slovakia to jointly celebrate the 30th anniversary of the independence of Slovakia. This is an extremely important day for our neighbours - a shared history builds shared perspectives in the present day.

Ukraine has been under Russian attack for more than ten months. The destruction, as a result of Russian attacks, is significant. The Kremlin continues its efforts to cut off defenceless civilians from electricity, heat, food or running water. Poland is determined to continue its support to the fighting Ukraine. Thanks to our international efforts, Patriot systems will be delivered to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced.

The Chancellery of the Prime Minister hosted a meeting between the head of the Polish government and the EU Commissioner for Internal Market. The talks concerned the current work of the European Commission on the European Sovereignty Fund. The Prime Minister presented Poland's position and called for an in-depth analysis of the long-term effects of the proposed instruments. It is important to focus on the effective use of existing EU instruments and on adhering to the fundamental principles of the EU single market.

The Chancellery of the Prime Minister hosted another meeting of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki with ministers, provincial governors and company presidents on coal distribution. The main topic of the meeting was the coordination of tasks between the national and local government bodies to facilitate access to the commodity for citizens. Plans for the coming months were also discussed.

The government wants to improve access to oncology treatment. Hospitals that meet the eligibility criteria will form a National Cancer Network (NCN). The government is allocating more and more resources to the treatment of all oncological diseases. It plans to spend more than PLN 5 billion on the National Oncology Strategy between 2020 and 2030. "We will do everything in our power to implement the next stages of these solutions as soon as possible," indicated the Prime Minister.

We know that pensioners deserve better, which is why we have been consistently developing our senior policy. So far, we have made many important improvements - we have rolled back the harmful pension age reform, introduced end-of-year bonuses (13th and 14th pension), added a tax-free pension and PIT-0 for working seniors. From 1 March 2023, the minimum pension will be as high as PLN 1,588.44 - a record 77% increase compared to 2015. This is also a benefit increase of at least PLN 250 (no less than 13.8 per cent). In parallel, we have developed a number of activation programmes for seniors. Social solidarity is a value we understand.