The leader of the Polish opposition, former Prime Minister and head of the European Council Donald Tusk is under state protection because, according to police, he is in danger. This was reported today by the Polish media, the information was confirmed by Tusk’s political party Civic Platform (PO). “The police told me that the danger of an assassination attempt was more real than ever,” the politician himself later explained.
“Every week in letters and on social networks I find threats against loved ones, death sentences and promises to kill me. This month, the police informed me that the threat of murder was more real and concrete than ever. Hence the request for protection. Tusk announced this on Twitter.
PA spokesman Jan Grabec previously told TVN 24 that, in addition to the information, there were also specific events indicating the risk of a “physical threat” that the party had informed the police and relevant services about.. Last time, the police provided information that Tusk was threatened by a specific threat, and this served as the basis for the decision of the authorities to appoint guards.
“Threats are a constant, one might say, an integral part of politics. Unfortunately, in Poland the dispute has reached the point where the threats concern almost everyone. But here we are talking about a specific situation and a specific threat, which the police regarded as a situation requiring intervention.” he added.
The Minister of the Interior decides on the appointment of members of the State Security Service (SOP). Minister Mariusz Kaminsky had to decide on the protection of Tusk, TVN 24 reports.
By law, the SOP protects the president and former presidents, the prime minister and vice-premier, as well as the heads of both houses of parliament, that is, the marshals of the Sejm and the Senate, as well as the ministers of the interior and foreign affairs. . But the tasks of the SOP also include the protection of other persons in the interests of the state. The President of the Constitutional Court has also been appointed SOP-guard, writes Gazeta Wyborcza.
He recalled that talks about protecting Tusk began in connection with the politician’s trip to Poland to meet with voters. At the same time, the openness and accessibility of the opposition leader contrasted with the approach of the head of the ruling party, Yaroslav Kaczynski, protected by a cordon of bodyguards and inaccessible to people on the street. However, even Tusk had a bodyguard, but so far from a private company.
The newspaper linked the appointment of state guards with the murder of the mayor of Gdansk three years ago: on January 13, 2019, a 27-year-old attacker attacked 53-year-old Pavel Adamovich and stabbed him right on the TV camera stage during a charity concert. whom they arrested on the spot. A day later, Adamowicz, who had run a port city in northern Poland for more than 20 years, died from his injuries.
The widow immediately accused the public television channel TVP, controlled by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), of being indirectly involved in her husband’s murder. “The words killed my man” said Magdalena Adamowicz, who said the killer chose his victim because of “hate speech” directed at opposition politicians on pro-government television.
Tusk, who is seen as Kaczynski’s main opponent, also complains about the constant attacks on pro-government television. At one time, he was able to defeat him in the elections.
Source: Blesk