At the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented the action plan for the Polish presidency, which assumed the EU presidency on January 1 for a six-month term. His speech was followed by a debate in which Patryk Jaki, co-chair of the ECR Group, clashed with the Polish prime minister, delivering a forceful speech in which he pointed out Tusk’s lies.
Patryk Jaki stated that “Poland has everything necessary to lead important processes in Europe.” He pointed out that its location in Central Europe gives it particularly significant geostrategic importance. “It can build major airports and logistics hubs, and it has the most coal, so it can have the cheapest energy,” he listed. He also noted that Poland has significant potential to become a tourism and trade powerhouse. “Poland is also the safest country in Europe and is building the largest army in the region, and over the past few decades it has been the fastest-growing country on the continent,” Jaki continued.
The MEP also referred to Poland’s impressive history, recalling that this year marks the 1,000th anniversary of the Kingdom of Poland, during which a state was built with the greatest political and religious freedom and Europe’s first constitution.
“We have everything we need, but we have one problem—a fraudulent prime minister who, just like you, speaks beautifully about everything, yet together with you does exactly the opposite,” commented the ECR co-chair.
Patryk Jaki, referring to Donald Tusk’s speech, listed the instances where the prime minister had strayed from the truth. The PiS MEP noted that Donald Tusk spoke of becoming independent from Russia, while last week the public learned that, thanks to a decision by one of the ministers, Russian gas worth 26 million was purchased in Warsaw. He also pointed out that a Gazprom partner had been removed from the sanctions list following a fictitious transaction worth 3 zlotys.
“Prime Minister Tusk talks about security and defending the borders against migration, yet he is implementing a migration pact with you and building 49 centers for illegal migrants in Poland to make the last safe place in Europe in your image and likeness,” — Jaki stated. He also noted that, after all, he himself had warned against this in his speech. The ECR MEP also reported that during the previous term of the European Parliament, in a vote on this matter, Donald Tusk’s party had demanded sanctions against Poland for defending its own borders against migration. “This is a disgrace and a shame!” he commented.
He also pointed out that “Tusk talks about innovation in the European Union, yet he dismantled outstanding teams working on artificial intelligence and Europe’s only third-generation nuclear reactor project.”
“Prime Minister Tusk talks about respect for freedom, yet he has drafted a bill that would allow his officials to remove any content from the Internet, just like the communists in China,” the MEP pointed out.
As another example of the Tusk government’s illegal actions, he cited the case of a Polish news outlet that the prime minister never allowed to attend his press conference. He added that there are open discussions within the government about how to revoke its license.
Patryk Jaki also mentioned the arrest of a person who was detained for criticizing the government’s ineptitude in providing aid to flood victims. “That’s how much he loves the freedom he was talking about,” he commented on the prime minister’s actions.
The ECR MEP also addressed the prime minister’s remarks regarding the economy’s competitiveness. “Donald Tusk is implementing a green ideology with you that has led to us having the highest energy prices in Europe. On top of that, he doesn’t have the courage to do what Slovakia, for example, has done and suspend ETS-2. It’s not enough just to speak eloquently; we must use the Polish presidency to do something good for Poles and for Europeans,” he stated.
The Polish politician pointed out that there is a problem with the rule of law in Poland—“the law that Tusk used to wipe his shoes.” “The current prime minister spoke eloquently today about the need for unity, which in Poland looks like this: he has declared a ‘Nuremberg’ for his political rivals,” said Patryk Jaki. He emphasized that these were his exact words and recalled that Nazis were hanged in Nuremberg.
The Member of the European Parliament stated that Tusk’s government had forcibly taken control of the Polish Prosecutor’s Office. He explained that under the Polish system, the president’s consent is required to replace the National Prosecutor. He noted that Tusk “didn’t care about this at all; he didn’t even ask the president, but simply used force—and did exactly the same thing with the public media.”
“The Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal ordered the prime minister to reinstate the legitimate National Prosecutor, but he disregarded those rulings,” said Patryk Jaki. To back up his point, the MEP quoted Donald Tusk as saying: “We will take actions that, according to some legal authorities, will be inconsistent or not entirely consistent with the letter of the law. However, I will undertake them with the full awareness that not all of them will meet the criteria of the rule of law.” “Do you know of any other prime minister in Europe who says quite bluntly that he is breaking the law and will continue to do so?” asked the PiS MEP in this context.
Jaki listed examples, stating that Tusk arrests people without respecting their right to a fair trial, disregards immunities, arrested two members of parliament at the Presidential Palace, and did the same to a member of parliament who held Council of Europe immunity. “The last person to do this before him was Vladimir Putin,” he stated. He also reported that the arrested female officials were abused to force them to make confessions and were labeled “dangerous,” just like terrorists, even though they had never been convicted of any crime. He added that these women were also “stripped and watched while bathing.” “This is a disgrace, and the Ombudsman confirmed this in a special report,” Jaki commented, wondering where the defenders of women’s rights were.
The Member of the European Parliament pointed out that in Poland, political parties are funded with money from the budget. “The prime minister took all the money from his main rivals, so in the presidential election, his party will receive about 50 million, while his rivals—who are larger than his party—will get absolutely nothing,” he said. He noted that the courts have ruled this to be a violation of the law and ordered the funds to be paid to the opposition, but “Tusk says he won’t do it and is disregarding the court rulings.”
“Generally speaking, Tusk’s governments are a daily crime report,” — stated the co-chair of the ECR Group. He pointed out that the abuse of power, disregard for the law, and failure to comply with court rulings in no way prevent him from “dressing up as a guardian of the law every day.” “Tusk learned this right here, from Mr. Reynders, who, as it turned out today, went to launder money in the morning so he could lecture Poland in the afternoon on how to obey the law,” Jaki commented.
The MEP emphasized that the European Union has no jurisdiction in this matter and does not expect any intervention. “I just want people to know what hypocrites you are. I want them to hear about your double standards,” said the Polish politician.
Patryk Jaki also addressed remarks by EPP leader Manfred Weber, who stated that Jarosław Kaczyński might be ready for political retirement. “Speaking of who should retire—if we want to make Europe great again, it’s you who need to be sent into retirement,” the Polish politician concluded.
