“This is a battle of Karol Nawrocki and the citizens against everyone,” declared the civic presidential candidate, referring to the information disclosed on Thursday regarding the state research institute NASK and a hate campaign directed against him, which supported the deputy leader of Civic Platform, Rafał Trzaskowski. The President of the Institute of National Remembrance emphasized that this is not the first time government-affiliated entities have been used to attack him personally.
On Thursday, journalists from wp.pl revealed that the online smear campaign targeting Karol Nawrocki, among others, and supporting Rafał Trzaskowski, was orchestrated by the company Estratos, which had collaborated with the “Action Democracy” foundation. In the past, this organization organized protests against the reforms introduced by the United Right government. The head of the foundation is Jakub Kocjan, a former assistant to a Civic Coalition MP, who was awarded in 2020 by Warsaw’s Mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski. What is more, many individuals involved are directly connected to the Democratic Party, including former staffers from the Obama and Harris campaigns.
The information revealed by the journalists, along with a statement from Facebook’s parent company, META, contradicted the account provided by the state research institute NASK concerning the campaign. It appears that the governmental center, which should be combating disinformation, was itself spreading misinformation regarding connections that are politically inconvenient for the deputy leader of Civic Platform. Karol Nawrocki, the main challenger to Trzaskowski, addressed the matter on Thursday.
“I believe no one in Poland has any doubts now that Rafał Trzaskowski is a product of a political laboratory—an image constructed by segments of commercial television and by state television. He is not fit to serve as President of Poland. The Civic Platform itself is certainly aware of this, which is why he is being aided on the one hand by institutions of the Polish state, and on the other hand by state media,”
said the civic presidential candidate.
He recalled that “the intelligence services were also involved in this campaign,” referring to the release of secret documents from his “PPS” file. “Everyone is now engaged in saving the political project named Rafał Trzaskowski, while standing against him is a flesh-and-blood person—a representative of the citizens of the Polish state,” he pointed out.
“This information is simply another piece of evidence showing that an aggressive process of supporting Rafał Trzaskowski in this presidential race is and has been underway. We see that financial resources—from State Treasury companies and now also from foreign entities—are being used to rescue this project and to deprive the citizens of the Polish state of victory,”
he stated.
He added that he was not surprised by this turn of events. “In this electoral campaign, I have grown accustomed to operating without the subsidy of the party that supports me, namely Law and Justice—a subsidy that was unlawfully withdrawn. We are running a campaign in which institutions of the Polish state attack me, and now I see that foreign organizations are beginning to attack as well, through networks and social media,” he declared, emphasizing:
“The conclusion is optimistic—I intend to win this election. This is a battle of Karol Nawrocki and the citizens against everyone.”