Anna Wellisz, president of the Edmund Burke Foundation, writing in The Washington Times, argues that the coalition led by Donald Tusk is conducting a campaign of repression and persecution against its political opponents. According to Wellisz, Marcin Romanowski – who was granted asylum in Hungary – has become the first political refugee from Poland since the fall of communism in 1989.
Tusk’s Iron Broom Sweeps the Opposition
In her article, Anna Wellisz, president of the Edmund Burke Foundation, notes that silencing opposition media and undermining the independence of the judiciary were not enough under Donald Tusk’s rule. The largest opposition party in the country was deprived of its funding just as Poland was preparing for a heated presidential campaign.
“The government’s vendetta against its opponents has been as aggressive as one would expect from a regime unconcerned with the legalities – reports of the treatment of political detainees include accusations of torture and the denial of counsel,” Wellisz emphasized.
Facing the imminent threat of arrest, Marcin Romanowski, former Deputy Minister of Justice, member of parliament, and one of the fiercest critics of Tusk’s regime, decided in December of last year to flee the country and continue his struggle in exile.
Upon arriving in Hungary, Romanowski was quickly granted political asylum, becoming the first Polish political refugee since the fall of communism in 1989, The Washington Times reports.
The American newspaper notes that Mr. Romanowski’s freedom and safety remain precarious. His escape prompted Tusk’s ally, Leszek Miller – a former member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee – to sharply criticize the police for failing to arrest him and to suggest that he should be “brought back to Poland, [p]referably in the trunk of a car.”
Senior EU officials, who for eight years sought to restore Donald Tusk to power in Poland, are unlikely to oppose any of his methods, regardless of how questionable they may be, the article reads.
The United States Could Step In
President Trump could grant Marcin Romanowski political refugee status in the United States before Tusk’s regime fulfills its threats and brings him back to Poland, where he would face a military tribunal. Neither Mr. Tusk nor his allies in Brussels fear criticism from Western mainstream media. Nevertheless, direct intervention by the United States has the power to protect this dissident from the European Union, Wellisz concludes.