|
Source: Polskie Radio (Warsaw)
Poland's lower house of Parliament (the Sejm) has passed a bill declaring a new, August 1st, national holiday, the National Day of Memory for the Warsaw Uprising (Narodowy Dzien Pamieci Powstania Warszawskiego).
The bill, introduced to the Sejm by Polish President Kaczynski last summer (31-Jul-2009), was approved by a vote of 397 in favour and six abstentions, but does not make August 1st a non-working public holiday.
Last month, a similar bill had been introduced, calling for September 17, the date of the 1939 invasion of Poland by Russia, to be made a national public holiday. This bill was not passed, mainly due to fears that it would pollute relations with Russia, as seems to also have been the case in the Bulgarian Parliament's recent rejection of a proposal to declare August 23 as an annual national public holiday and non-working day (09-Oct-2009).
If a new public holiday were to be declared in Poland, we expect it to be a restoration of the Epiphany public holiday (19-Apr-2009, 17-Oct-2008, 22-Sep-2008, and 27-Jun-2008), or the less likely declaration of April 2, the date of Pope John-Paul II's death, as an annual public holiday (07-Apr-2009).
Related links:
•
Poland bank holidays and public holidays (current
year)
• Poland bank holidays and public holidays (news and updates)
• Worldwide
bank holidays and public holidays news updates (October 2009)
|
Poland Votes New National Holiday