Polish government faces backlash over pro-Russian activities inquiry

The Polish government is facing a growing public backlash against plans to investigate pro-Russia activities and ban politicians, potentially including former premier Donald Tusk, from running for office.

The commission, whose creation was signed into law this week by Polish president Andrzej Duda ahead of general elections in autumn, was cast by the rightwing government led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party as an important tool to stop Moscow meddling in Polish politics amid the war in Ukraine. The commission could also investigate businesspeople and journalists for allegedly helping Russia.

But almost half of Poles consider the commission to be a serious threat to democracy, according to a survey from research consultancy UCE and published on Thursday by Polish media Onet.

The law has been dubbed “Lex Tusk” by its critics because its highest profile target could be Tusk, who has repeatedly been accused by PiS politicians, notably party founder Jarosław Kaczyński, of being too friendly to Moscow. 

“The very structure of the commission, the fact that it takes over the competences of the court, the police, the prosecutor’s office and secret services, means that we are talking here about a purely political action,” said Jan Grabiec, a lawmaker and spokesman for Tusk’s centre-right Civic Platform party.

Grabiec noted that no charges had been brought against Tusk in the eight years since Kaczyński’s party took office, despite their repeated claims that Tusk helped Russia — including when Tusk was head of the European Council and Russia built its Nord Stream gas pipeline network.

“We are convinced that this idea of distorting the election results will turn against the authors of this idea,” Grabiec said.

Kaczyński has harboured resentment against Tusk since 2010 when Kaczyński’s twin brother, Lech, who was president at the time, died in a plane crash in Russia. An inquiry carried out while Tusk was prime minister found no evidence of foul play or Russian meddling, but the PiS government has repeatedly sought to establish a link between Tusk and an alleged Russian plot to bring the plane down.

Opposition parties have convened a pro-democracy rally in Warsaw on Sunday.

Krzysztof Gawkowski, leader of the smaller, leftwing Lewica party, called on all opposition forces to refuse to nominate members to the new commission and boycott its functioning. “By flagrantly violating the constitution, they want to win the elections,” he said. “This will not end well for them,” referring to the ruling parties.

The law has also sparked concerns in Brussels, which continues to withhold payments of billions of euros in EU post-pandemic recovery funds and regional aid over concerns about the Polish government having weakened the independence of the judiciary.

EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders said the Polish law could be in breach of the bloc’s rules and warned the government on Wednesday he would “not hesitate to take immediate action as necessary”.

Duda, even as he signed the law allowing it to come into effect, also referred it to the constitutional court — a decision which dumbfounded some legal experts. “The president is the guardian of the constitution, so if he has any doubts, he should not sign (a law),” said jurist Marek Chmaj. “If he signs it and then sends it to the constitutional tribunal, he is not a guardian of the constitution.”

The government’s chances of re-election have been dimmed by the impact of the Ukraine war on Poland’s economy, which triggered an energy crisis and sent inflation soaring to a 25-year high. PiS has also seen its rural power base eroded by farmers protesting against the decision to allow Ukraine to export its cheaper grain and other farm products, which was initially promoted by Warsaw as part of its efforts to sustain Ukraine’s economy and help Kyiv win the war. 

Poland’s new commission “will pose a significant threat to all persons and entities participating in public life,” the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights warned this week. It “opens the door to a serious distortion of the entire democratic process during the election period.”