Tusk fires official after bizarre series of vulgar tweets

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has fired a deputy provincial governor who posted a series of vulgar messages on social media over the weekend.

The posts by Jacek Protasiewicz, deputy governor of Lower Silesia province, included one suggesting that a young activist for the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party owed his position to providing sexual favours and another mocking the size of a journalist’s penis.

Late on Monday morning, the Government Information Centre (CIR) announced that Tusk had decided to dismiss Protasiewicz from his position. The statement gave no reason for the decision, stating only that the prime minister can do so at the request of the provincial governor.

On Sunday night, the Polish People’s Party (PSL), which is part of the ruling coalition led by Tusk, released a statement saying that it “firmly distanced ourselves from the inappropriate entries” made by the deputy governor, who is part of a group aligned with PSL.

That statement came after Protasiewicz had posted a series of unusual messages on X (formerly Twitter) throughout the weekend. It began on Saturday, when the politician engaged in discussion over the upcoming run-off election for mayor of Wrocław, which is the capital of Lower Silesia.

In a series of diatribes, Protasiewicz called other X users a “stinking coward” and “lousy bum”, among other insults.

On Sunday, his messages became increasingly bizarre, including pictures and videos of him spending the day and then night with Daria Brzezinska, a young activist from his party who is 30 years Protasiewicz’s junior.

In response to comments on his unusual behaviour, Protasiewicz began to make vulgar insinuations, including regarding the penis size of journalist Marcin Dobski.

The politician also suggested that PiS activist Oskar Szafarowicz’s “big and red lips” and “delicate mouth” had “made [his] career in PiS”.

Speaking today to broadcaster wPolsce, Szafarowicz revealed that he is considering taking legal action against Protasiewicz for his “vulgar, primitive, homophobic” remarks.

After PSL distanced itself from Protasiewicz’s remarks on Sunday night, he responded by writing that he will “do what I do on my own account”.

On Monday morning, his unusual messages continued, including sharing a photo of sandwiches he said he was bringing to Brzezinska in bed.

When contacted by broadcaster Polsat for comment, Protasiewicz asked them not to disturb him while he was getting dressed for work.

The provincial governor’s office in Lower Silesia, meanwhile, wrote on its own social media account that “the statements of Mr Jacek Protasiewicz posted on the internet are his private opinions and in no way express the position of the governor”.

After news of his dismissal by Tusk emerged, Protasiewicz took to X again to write: “Probably for the best, because…[Poland] is the most important.”

Protasiewicz was once a member of Tusk’s PO party but was expelled from it in 2015. He has previously served three terms as an MP, from 2001-4 and 2015-23, as well as three as an MEP, from 2004-14.

During the latter period, while serving as deputy president of the European Parliament, Protasiewicz drew controversy over an incident at an airport in Germany when he was reported to have drunkenly shouted “Heil Hitler” at an airport official

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Main image credit: Piotr Drabik/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.