Shops in the regions near Poland’s border with Ukraine were allowed to open yesterday despite the country’s Sunday trading ban, the government spokesman announced.
With hundreds of thousands of refugees continuing to cross the border, the law will be amended shortly to clarify the situations in which exceptions can be made to the Sunday trading ban, he promised.
🇵🇱🇺🇦Almost 100,000 people crossed the 🇵🇱 border yesterday. As of 7 a.m. today, another 27,000 those in need have entered Poland. Since the beginning of the war, 🇵🇱 officers have cleared more than 281,000 people fleeing war-torn #Ukraine. #PolandFirstToHelp #SolidarityWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/Wk3FQ5U59M
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) February 28, 2022
“We want to give a clear signal that if shops in these places that should be closed on Sundays are open, such activity will not be punished,” said government spokesman Piotr Müller.
The places in question are the regions close to the Poland-Ukraine border, which more than 281,000 refugees have now crossed since the beginning of the Russian invasion on Thursday.
“Especially in the Podkarpackie and Lublin Provinces, and especially on routes people used by people travelling from Ukraine, it is possible to open shops on Sunday,” Müller said, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
This exception to the law is permitted if a person opening a shop on a Sunday is “acting to avoid a direct danger protecting the legally protected good” if that danger cannot be avoided in any other way, he explained.
In the current situation there is no doubt that “with refugees leaving Ukraine, fleeing from war”, opening a shop in these provinces on a Sunday is clearly “in the greater good”, Müller continued.
He also promised that there will shortly be a change to the law on Sunday trading “in such a way that it will not be necessary to invoke the general clause”. “Any moment now the law will be regulated to remove any doubt,” he said.
Marlena Maląg, the minister for labour, families and social policy, also appealed to shops in the border provinces to open, noting that she was in touch with the chief labour inspector and noting that appropriate legal regulations will be implemented.
A ban on trading on Sundays has been in place in Poland since 2018. Loopholes being used by some businesses to stay open on Sundays have recently been closed.
Ze względu na stan wyższej konieczności apeluję o otwarcie sklepów w województwie podkarpackim i lubelskim. Jestem w kontakcie z @g_hrycko, @pipgip. Wprowadzimy w tym zakresie odpowiednie regulacje prawne. #SolidarnizUkraina
— Marlena Maląg (@MarlenaMalag) February 27, 2022
Poland has set up eight reception points for refugees arriving from Ukraine, which are providing food, medical aid and information to those displaced. A helpline has also been set up (+48 22 523 88 80 for Polish citizens and those with a Pole’s Card (Karta Polaka) and +48 47 721 75 75 for citizens of Ukraine) as well as online resources for those seeking assistance.
Municipalities around Poland have declared their willingness to host refugees, and a number of aid organisations, including the Polish Red Cross (PCK) and the Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM), have launched fundraising campaigns to help Ukraine and its people.
Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
