Following the nighttime intervention by emergency services at the family home of President Karol Nawrocki, some mainstream media journalists began to play down the incident, questioning its significance and criticizing the reactions of opposition politicians. Posts by commentators from Gazeta Wyborcza triggered a storm online, all the more so because their narrative at times even contradicts the earlier stance of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Yesterday evening, a scandalous and unprecedented situation occurred. Following anonymous reports of a possible fire and a threat to the lives of those inside, emergency services – the fire brigade and the police – forcibly entered, breaking down the door, into the family home of President Karol Nawrocki in Gdańsk.
As established, the intervention lasted several minutes. The apartment was empty. As Brigadier Jacek Jakóbczyk from the Gdańsk fire brigade told niezalezna.pl, the services attempted to call back the number from which the report had been made, but no one answered. Nevertheless, due to the potential threat to life, a decision was made to intervene immediately.
This morning, a statement was issued by the Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Gdańsk. It confirms the fire brigade’s information about two reports concerning “a fire and a threat to life and health in one of the apartments in Gdańsk”, which were received after 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Although opposition politicians immediately linked the incident to a series of attacks ongoing for several days targeting the Law and Justice (PiS) environment – including journalists and commentators associated with TV Republika – Donald Tusk, even before a briefing at the Government Security Centre, adopted a critical tone toward right-wing circles, stating that “the second reason we must act very quickly here is the creation of a wave of purely political and conspiracy-driven speculation. Some are more absurd than others, but unfortunately they are very strong”.
Mainstream downplays the case
Since the morning, mainstream journalists have been highly active in the media space, effectively competing in attempts to diminish the significance of the incident. This approach has been taken, among others, by employees of Gazeta Wyborcza. Interestingly, their posts clash even with the narrative presented by Donald Tusk himself. The Prime Minister wrote yesterday evening on X:
“Another telephone provocation! This time, the fire brigade received information about a fire in the family apartment of President Nawrocki in Gdańsk. I am in constant contact with ministers and services, and I have also expressed my solidarity with the President. I have convened a government briefing for tomorrow morning. The actions of the provocateurs are aimed at the security of the state. At all of us. We will use all available methods to identify and apprehend the saboteurs, regardless of where they come from and who is directing them.”
Bartosz Wieliński from Gazeta Wyborcza has for several hours been publishing posts that undermine the importance of the recent events – including the forced entry by services into the family apartment of the President of Poland:
“It’s only 9 a.m., and so much has already been clarified Not the president’s apartment, but his family’s apartment standing empty after a false report It wasn’t the services, but the fire brigade that entered Increasingly absurd these new Smolensk lies, and increasingly ineffective”, he wrote.
“Cenckiewicz is lying First, it wasn’t the police but the fire brigade Second, not the president’s apartment but an empty apartment belonging to a family member As you can see, Cenckiewicz’s downfall continues”, he added, referring to Sławomir Cenckiewicz.
“Another liar from PiS Not a family home, but an empty apartment belonging to a family member Not services (implying special services), but firefighters falsely alerted Błaszczak has been at the bottom for a long time, and yet keeps sinking deeper”, he continued, referring to Mariusz Błaszczak.
“Changes to the 112 emergency number system are necessary Upon receiving a report, the operator should first check land registers to see whether the property belongs to – K. Nawrocki – another PiS politician or a party-affiliated media employee – whether it is not a secret office of TV Republika with an assistant”.
“They show no restraint in whipping up hysteria They are so afraid of something that they spit on the work of 30,000 professional firefighters and 295,000 volunteer firefighters”.
A similar line was taken by Dominika Wielichowska from the same outlet:
“PiS is outraged that the state does not ensure the safety of the president’s family in connection with a false fire alarm. For the full picture: under PiS rule, there was an attack on the apartment of Michał Tusk. The perpetrators threw stones, smashing windows. Michał Tusk’s family was inside, including Donald Tusk’s grandchildren. The perpetrators were not punished. And one more thing: under PiS rule, Michał Dworczyk’s email inbox was hacked, and services overseen by PiS did not find the perpetrators.”, she wrote on X.
However, she did not stop there: