Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking before the vote on overturning the presidential veto of the cryptocurrency bill, attacked the opposition. His speech was filled with insinuations. He spoke, among other things, about “Russian influence,” a “Russian mafia,” and insisted that “some politicians in Poland, representing the right side and holding very serious offices, know too much about cryptocurrencies.”
Attack on Republika
According to unofficial findings by the portal Niezalezna.pl, during the closed session of the Sejm, Prime Minister Donald Tusk raised, among other topics, the issue of funding the CPAC Poland event by the company Zondacrypto. He reportedly also referred several times—based on absurd suggestions—to Telewizja Republika.
After the non-public portion of the proceedings ended, PiS MP Bartosz Kownacki stated that the president of Telewizja Republika, Tomasz Sakiewicz, “is being surveilled by the security services,” adding that he had no doubt about it.
Tusk’s insinuations
The open session of the Sejm then began, during which Donald Tusk again spoke. This time he attacked the opposition and President Karol Nawrocki, referring to his veto of the cryptocurrency bill. MPs are expected to vote today on overturning that veto.
“We are here today to resolve an issue that directly concerns the security of the state, investors, and citizens. I spoke about this in detail, presenting names, figures, company names, dates—partly in the classified, secret portion—and of course I cannot repeat such information openly. But as for the mechanism and the intent of this vote, I will say a few sentences,” said Tusk.
The prime minister claimed that “everything indicates that some politicians in Poland, representing the right side and holding very serious offices, know too much about cryptocurrencies, are too well informed about what happens on the cryptocurrency market—one might say professionally—and that is a problem.”
“I ask you to overturn the president’s veto, because the bill will give us tools to monitor that segment of the cryptocurrency market which is clearly—something I documented during the classified briefing, to the extent authorized by the prosecutor general and our services—substantially infiltrated and exploited by Russian and Belarusian entities, as well as entities from other former Soviet states. There are several hundred such entities,” he continued.
Turning to opposition MPs, he then asked:
“Do you understand that a company with missing persons in the background, money laundering, Russian influence, Russian cash outright—that this company is simultaneously a sponsor of activities involving the highest party officials and public opinion leaders on the right? This is not fiction—you know it well. And now the question is: why do we have the president’s veto? This is crucial from the perspective of the state’s interests.”
“You don’t want to understand why, despite having a bill designed to protect the Polish market and Polish clients, the president vetoes it—and we know he is doing so in the interest of a company whose origins are criminal, where Russian infiltration is obvious, and where its influence within the right-wing camp is also obvious, spectacular, and openly manifested. Decide whom you want to protect in Poland. People’s money, their interests, small investors, the security of the state—or the Russian mafia that invests in these ventures? Whom do you want to protect? That is what this vote is about—nothing else,” Tusk continued attacking.