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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s former health minister, Adam Niedzielski, has been attacked by two men who reportedly targeted him for his actions during the Covid pandemic.
Afterwards, Niedzielski blamed the current government for withdrawing his protection despite him regularly receiving threats. However, the interior minister denies that claim and accuses Niedzielski of trying to politicise the incident.
Niedzielski, who served as health minister from 2020 to 2023, was attacked by two men outside a restaurant in the city of Siedlce on Wednesday afternoon, with broadcaster RMF reporting that the assailants were criticising the decisions he made during the pandemic.
He was taken to a nearby hospital but later discharged as his injuries were not deemed serious. Later on Wednesday, police announced that they had detained the suspected assailants.
Sprawcy ataku na byłego Ministra Zdrowia są już w rękach siedleckich policjantów. W tej chwili trwają z nimi czynności. Więcej informacji na temat zatrzymanych i przebiegu zdarzenia przekażemy po zakończeniu czynności.@PolskaPolicja
— Policja Mazowsze (@PolicjaMazowsze) August 27, 2025
Subsequently, Niedzielski himself commented on the attack, saying that the perpetrators had shouted “death to traitors of the homeland”, a common slogan used by the far right in Poland. He said they had punched him in the face and then kicked him while he was on the ground before fleeing.
“This entire incident is the result of not only tolerating hate speech, but also of [Interior] Minister [Marcin] Kierwiński’s decision to strip me of my protection, despite numerous threats against me in public,” wrote Niedzielski.
However, in a statement on Thursday morning, Kierwiński said Niedzielski’s state protection had been withdrawn in December 2023, four months after he left government, and that the former minister had since then never filed a request for it to be restored nor reported any threats to police.
Kierwiński accused Niedzielski of “attempting to clumsily make politics out of this issue”, reports news website Wirtualna Polska.
Niedzielski served as health minister in the former government of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which is now in opposition. During that time, he became associated above all with overseeing Covid policy, including lockdown measures and vaccine rollout.
As a result, he received threats from anti-vaccine activists, including a prominent far-right leader, Grzegorz Braun, who warned Niedzielski that he “will hang” for what he had done. In response, the minister was provided with additional security in 2021.
Braun – who finished fourth in Poland’s recent presidential election, winning 6.3% of the vote – has continued to condemn those he sees as responsible for Covid policy, including Niedzielski. In June this year, he said that they were responsible for “crimes against humanity”.
In January 2023, another far-right activist was detained by police after making death threats against Niedzielski during an online broadcast. Such figures claim that Covid restrictions and vaccines were part of a conspiracy to restrict people’s freedoms and even threaten their lives.
Całkiem niedawno na antenie „wPolsce24” Grzegorz Braun bez skrępowania w swojej tyradzie dehumanizował Morawieckiego i Niedzielskiego, nazywał ich zbrodniarzami przeciwko ludności oraz przekonywał, że są gorsi od nazistów. I wszyscy udają, że tego programu nie było. pic.twitter.com/aP38W3541s
— Janusz Schwertner (@SchwertnerPL) August 27, 2025
Kierwiński pledged on Wednesday that those who attacked the former minister would be “held accountable” for their actions. The prime minister, Donald Tusk, also wrote on social media that there would be “no mercy” for those responsible.
However, a number of PiS figures blamed the government for leaving Niedzielski vulnerable to attack.
“Marcin Kierwiński took away Adam Niedzielski’s protection. He is directly responsible for every blow that fell on the former health minister in connection with his work for Poland,” wrote Janusz Ciesyński, who served as a minister in the former PiS government. He called on the interior minister to resign.
Ochronę Adamowi Niedzielskiemu odebrał @MKierwinski. To on bezpośrednio odpowiada za każdy cios który spadł na byłego ministra zdrowia w związku z jego pracą dla Polski.
Panie Kierwiński: albo dymisja jutro, albo wstyd na całe życie. pic.twitter.com/E0bhuUjLCl
— Janusz Cieszyński (@jciesz) August 27, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Adam Guz/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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.
