In a shocking development, recordings obtained by Niezalezna.pl reveal that the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, Dariusz Wieczorek, pressured the rector of the Public University of Applied Sciences (PUZ) in Grudziądz, Bogusław Kopka, to resign immediately or face the closure of the university.
“This is playing with fire. If by tomorrow you haven’t submitted your resignation, we will have to approach the situation with this school differently,” Minister Wieczorek is heard saying in the recording. The exchange reportedly took place on February 19, 2024, in the ministry’s building, coinciding with the celebration of Polish Science Day.
In the audio, Minister Wieczorek and Marcin Czaja, a director at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, are heard coercing Kopka to step down by the end of that day. Otherwise, they threaten to liquidate the institution. Kopka, while promising to resign the next day through the government’s e-PUAP platform to allow time to say goodbye to staff, faced persistent pressure from Wieczorek to resign immediately.
“If you don’t submit your resignation, the university will be liquidated at the ministerial level,” one ministry director is heard saying on the recording. He continues, “There will be no more university. Let’s make this clear: the university will simply cease to exist.”
The director further explained that if Kopka resigned as demanded, the ministry would work to support the university’s survival, growth, and potentially the expansion of its educational offerings.