“Donald Tusk is the last person who should be pinning medals on himself. Our project envisaged the construction of four ferries. This is the only one of our investments that Tusk neither struck off nor blocked. He didn’t dare sink this hull,” said Marek Gróbarczyk, former Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, on TV Republika.
Tusk boasts about a ferry whose construction was started by PiS
Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted a video a few days ago in which he boasted about the ferry Jantar Unity, which will soon operate on the Świnoujście-Trelleborg route. Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchewka stressed that the ferry “is a sign that Poland is boldly investing in its future on the Baltic Sea.”
The investment was launched in 2017 by the government of the United Right Politicians from the parties that currently form the December 13 Coalition had repeatedly criticized the project in the past, and Minister Marchewka had even spoken at the time of “sunk millions.”
Marek Gróbarczyk, former Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation in the PiS government, commented on the actions of representatives of the December 13 Coalition government in the context of the Jantar ferry.
“In Donald Tusk’s view everything looks different. I think the facts that point to a completely different reality confirm that he is the last person who should be pinning medals on himself. Our project envisaged the construction of four ferries. This is the only one of our investments that Tusk neither struck off nor blocked. He didn’t dare sink this hull and say that it was a ‘PiS hull’; thanks to that, the shipyard was able to complete its construction. It is very good that this topic is being articulated so strongly,” he said.
He recalled that in 2008 Donald Tusk “liquidated the shipbuilding industry – it was one of the last shipyards capable of building something like this.”
“The process began in 2017, when we decided to rebuild this sector and placed emphasis on shipping and port policy. Shipping lines to Sweden are among the most profitable in the world,” he pointed out.
He emphasized that “the same people who today puff out their chests for medals criticized this investment, saying it was ‘money thrown down the drain’.” He also pointed to other harmful actions of the December 13 Coalition.
“Decisions regarding the terminal in Świnoujście were blocked. This is a solution imposed on Tusk by the German side. First, all investments on the Oder related to hydrotechnical, flood-protection, and drought-prevention infrastructure were cancelled. The construction of retention reservoirs was halted. There was an attempt to establish the Lower Oder Valley National Park,” he stated.