Government is “implementing Putin’s plan” by stoking division among Poles, says Tusk

Opposition leader Donald Tusk has accused the government of stirring up discord among Poles, warning that creating “political civil war” is especially dangerous at a time of “real war” occurring in Ukraine. Those who stoke such internal divisions within Poland and Europe are “implementing Putin’s plan”, he says.

Speaking at a conference of the national council of Civic Platform (PO), the party he heads, Tusk pledged that the opposition could guide Poland out of its current difficult situation. He outlined a “rescue package” of policies, including 20% pay increases for public sector employees and the freezing of interest rates.

“I sincerely appeal to the government: abandon these dangerous and idiotic ideas for setting Poles against each other,” said Tusk, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “Don’t create a political civil war, because that is the worst response to the real war happening in Ukraine.”

“Everyone who creates conflict, who wants to set us against each other, who wants to set Poland against the West, the rest of Europe, is actually implementing Putin’s plan,” he added.

As an example, Tusk pointed to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s rhetoric of recent days around the anniversary of the Smolensk air disaster. Leading figures, including PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński, have claimed the crash was deliberately caused by Russia and then covered up with the help of the then PO-led government.

PiS is “exploiting the memory of Poles, especially the families of those who died in the crash, insulting the memory of the victims, just to to inflame, provoke, start the next chapter in the political civil war”, said Tusk, describing the ruling party’s actions as “unacceptable” and “unforgivable”.

“The most important, indispensable and existential response of all Poles – including those in power – to war, to this deadly danger from the east that awaits Poland, Ukraine, and all of Europe, must be fundamental unity and peace here, within our borders,” he said, quoted by TVN24.

Asked to respond to Tusk’s accusations, government spokesman Piotr Müller said he would not comment as he does “not want to contribute to provoking this war that Donald Tusk would very much like to provoke”, reports Wprost. The disputes appear to exist “in Tusk’s dreams”, added Müller.

In his speech, Tusk declared that it was now the opposition’s job to “get Poland out of this tough, dangerous period in our history”.

Nowhere in Europe have the consequences of the pandemic been so dramatic, he argued, while inflation is at a level not seen for a quarter of a century. Dealing with the refugee crisis and the consequences of the war have made the situation even more challenging, Tusk added.

He praised ordinary Poles for their efforts in helping Ukrainian refugees, while criticising Adam Glapiński, a PiS appointee who has been nominated for a second term as governor of the National Bank of Poland, for his role in rising costs.

“Mr Glapiński earned a million zloty and paid himself a 600,000 zloty bonus – he has no idea what it means to live in a family where she is a nurse, he is a teacher, they have two children and without waiting for help from the government, took care of one or two Ukrainian families,” said Tusk.

PiS have often in the past made similar criticisms of Tusk, noting the millions he has earned as president of the European Council and subsequently chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP). They accuse him of being out of touch with the lives of ordinary Poles.

At today’s meeting, PO’s national council passed resolutions for bills that its MPs will prepare. These include a 20% pay rise for public sector workers and support for mortgage holders, including a freeze on interest rates, which the central bank has recently been increasing rapidly.

Main image credit: Adam Stepien / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.