We said goodbye to the old one and welcomed the new one – 2025. For many, it is a time of new resolutions or other changes. Some of them are already certain, such as the appearance of new cities on the map of the country.
After counting the last seconds to midnight, Poles said goodbye to 2024 and entered 2025. The first day of the calendar year is non-working in Poland.
TVN24 reporter Paweł Łukasik at Castle Square in Warsaw. Residents met there to celebrate togetherTVN24
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President Andrzej Duda delivered his New Year's messagein which he emphasized that “Poland still faces many challenges.” How we answer them will determine whether this good time for Poland will continue, he said.
Referring to next year's presidential elections, he emphasized that “the security of our homeland must be the most important issue for the future president.” – Regardless of who we entrust with this office – he added.
What changes await us?
With the change of date, we will have a number of other news. New cities appear on the map of Poland: Końskowola, Kurów and Wąwolnica in the Puławy poviat in the province. Lublin Province; Kazanów in Zwoleń County, Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship; Kobylnica in Słupsk County in Pomerania; Sobków in the Jędrzejów district in the province of Świętokrzyskie; Zaniemyśl in Środa County in Greater Poland.
The minimum wage increases to PLN 4,666 gross. The hourly rate cannot be less than PLN 30.50 gross.
The A1 motorway will be tolled again. Drivers of passenger cars and motorcycles will have to pay again to use it.
From January 1 to June 30, 2025, Poland will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Representatives of the country holding the presidency, both at the ministerial and expert levels, are responsible for setting the agenda for meetings of individual bodies of the EU Council and conducting negotiations among the member states.
Not everyone celebrates at the same time
The earliest, at 11 a.m. Polish time on Tuesday, midnight struck on the island of Kiritimati, which belongs to the 33-island state of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. It lies almost on the equator, and the date line runs right next to it. On Kiritimati, one of the three inhabited settlements is Poland.
Australians were among the first to set off fireworks to welcome the New Year. One of the biggest events of New Year's Eve in Sydney is always a pyrotechnics show in front of the symbols of the tourist capital Australia – the opera house or the bridge over Port Jackson Bay.
The last to celebrate will be the Americans, who will celebrate it only on Wednesday morning, Polish time.
Main photo source: Leszek Szymański/PAP