Politicians from Law and Justice (PiS) have been repeating for months that Poland is governed by an external party. Since 2023, Donald Tusk and his circle – day after day – have been showing their pro-German face.
“Editor, there is no chance of blocking the Mercosur agreement. The Germans do not want it blocked, and if they do not want it, that means Poland will take no effective action,” such voices have been heard from Law and Justice (PiS) politicians in recent months. Whenever even a glimmer of hope appeared, the right had no real illusions. In the end, it turned out they were right, because the agreement was signed.
The Mercosur case
It has long been known that the Mercosur agreement is a matter of vital importance for Germany. As the European Commission calculates, in 2024 the value of exports from our western neighbor to South America amounted to €28 billion. The largest trade concerned machinery and electrical equipment (€5.1 billion), but also chemicals (€4.1 billion). Above all, the countries that have been investing in Mercosur states for years are benefiting. European enterprises and corporations have long been present there. They are the largest investors in that part of the world, with investment capital totaling €390 billion.
In this race, Poland plays no role, and Polish farmers will pay the price, as they will have to compete on European markets with products from the Mercosur group. This primarily concerns poultry, beef, sugar, and honey. That is why farmers have been protesting from the very beginning. The Law and Justice (PiS) government, in turn, actively worked to block the agreement. That is why, even though negotiations ended in 2019, the signing was delayed by six years. Among other things, until the change of power in our country. For two years, Donald Tusk did not lift a finger to block the agreement. First, we completely wasted Poland’s EU presidency. Later, when the final negotiations were underway in the EU, he carried out a reshuffle at the Ministry of Agriculture and appointed Stefan Krajewski, who… did not manage to read the agreement for half a year. Now, efforts are underway to prepare a complaint to the Court of Justice of the EU. As if a motion to this politicized institution were going to change anything. The agreement is entering into force.
This is not the only failure in recent months. The Polish government also failed to block the migration pact. It did not block the tightening of climate policy and the increase in its ambitions either. Our country will therefore be squeezed by the Green Deal in every possible aspect. Systematically, we are being pushed into policies that will end with purchasing technologies from our western neighbor.
Railways
And they are becoming more and more brazen with each passing month. They do not hide the fact that Poland today is their sphere of influence. The government in Warsaw is paving their future with its decisions. Recently, there has been a lively discussion in our country about who will benefit from the government’s decision to increase speeds in railway investments from 250 to 320 km/h. Many commentators emphasized that by making this strategic decision, we are effectively eliminating Polish companies from the game. When PKP Intercity announced the tender on December 30, the German embassy expressed its joy.
“We are very pleased with the news from PKP Intercity, which has announced a tender for high-speed trains capable of reaching speeds of up to 320 km/h. The new trains are not only to revolutionize long-distance transport in Poland but also strengthen international connections, including those on routes to Germany. Fantastic news!” wrote representatives of the embassy. Many commentators interpreted this clearly: German train manufacturers already have the victory in their pocket. The path is already open, because recently PKP Intercity bought used railcars in Germany. In this case, we are talking about relatively small amounts, as we are speaking of 50 cars purchased for about PLN 1 million each. The railway market happens to be the apple of our western neighbors’ eye. Railway trade unions have been repeating for months that the problems of PKP Cargo, driven by government decisions, are in fact support for its competitors from Germany.
The fall of one will mean the rise of the other.
Investments
“A journalist from Deutsche Welle asked me what I meant when I said that Donald Tusk is pro-German. I gave him the example of the energy hub, the gas hub, and the nuclear hub. We wanted to develop these projects when I was prime minister. Donald Tusk’s first decision was to stop and shelve the project of small nuclear reactors. Then came negative opinions about the Central Communication Port. (…) these are proofs, not just rhetoric,” said Mateusz Morawiecki several months ago.
Looking at the pace of work on key investments in Poland, it is impossible not to notice that wherever German interests might be affected, there is a halt, delay, or withdrawal from projects. This playing for time can be seen, among other things, in the case of the nuclear power plant. Last week, it was announced that talks had begun… about financing. Earlier, it was announced that the investment had “a green light” from the European Commission.
Still, no implementation has begun. If everything goes according to Tusk’s plan, the first actions will not be taken until 2028. Everything is therefore moving at a snail’s pace. A similar situation applies to the Central Communication Port (CPK). In practice, the only concrete decision that has been made is the change of the name from CPK to Port Polska. Theoretically, the tender for the general contract engineer is now being decided. However, other agreements are being concluded that seem to run ahead of the facts, such as those signed with the Academy of Fine Arts and the Poznań University of Technology. In both cases, there are many words, but few specifics.
The real frenzy, however, seizes those in power every time port expansion is mentioned. Here, our competition with Germany is already direct. Tusk’s government has turned the idea of building a container port in Świnoujście upside down. To further torment this region, the government is forcibly pushing through a National Park on the Oder. When it failed to pass one law, it is already proposing another. Last week, there was frenzy over the idea of building a port in Choczewo. Even the mere idea of constructing a ro-ro port was met with a wave of attacks. As if we were not even allowed to think about sovereignty. Let us add to this that difficulties are already beginning with investments that have started. The first problems have affected the construction of the FSRU gas terminal in Gdańsk. It will certainly be a long story. The previous terminal was built by Tusk’s government for eight years and was not built. Ultimately, gas deliveries began after the change of power.
Reparations and services
The image of total servility is also made up of a series of small things. Sometimes unnoticeable, which are not stored in memory. Does anyone still remember the searches of the home of a Ukrainian citizen suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, carried out by German services on Polish territory? For months, there were actions of “dumping” migrants onto our country by the Germans. Practically without reaction from Polish services, but with a hysterical response to the obvious statement that the western border also needs to be protected. The government does not react particularly to symbolic humiliations either. One such case was certainly the stone in Berlin. Ultimately, however, Donald Tusk raised his hands in the matter of reparations. The Polish prime minister fully followed the German line on this issue. He stated that since Germany does not want to pay compensation to the victims of World War II, in 2026 he will consider a decision that Poland will fill this need from its own funds. “I do not want to talk about this anymore,” he concluded.
The proposal to repay, with Polish taxpayers’ money, the wrongs inflicted by Germany shocked commentators. However, this was only a supplement to the stance. During his first visit to Germany, Donald Tusk declared the issue of reparations closed. In line with the narrative of our western neighbors. And this has been going on for over two years now. Step by step. Even in the smallest matter, we adopt the German agenda.