“I was already warning about the threat from the east when the Prime Minister was strolling along the pier and cuddling Russia as it is,” replied President Karol Nawrocki in response to jabs from both Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski. Members of the ruling camp were stirred by the content of the president’s address delivered during the anniversary of the outbreak of the Greater Poland Uprising.
Saturday marked the 107th anniversary of the outbreak of the Greater Poland Uprising, which aimed to return Greater Poland to the Republic of Poland after 123 years of partitions.
Speaking yesterday during the anniversary commemorations, President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki emphasized how important this event was.
“It is impossible to fully understand and grasp the phenomenon of the victorious Greater Poland Uprising without an awareness of the history of this land – the Land of Greater Poland – and of what the Land of Greater Poland means to Poles. For it is, in essence, the cradle of Polish statehood, the source from which the entire Republic was born, because it was here, in the Land of Greater Poland, that a thousand years ago the great king Bolesław the Brave accepted the crown that is still with us in the 21st century. A crown that is a symbol of the sovereignty and independence of the Polish state, a victorious symbol of the Republic. But also a crown that says so much about our national community. Open to the West, yet ready to defend the western border of the Republic as well – something the Greater Poland insurgents knew well…” said Karol Nawrocki.
The ruling camp against the president
Karol Nawrocki’s words also displeased members of the December 13 Coalition government.
“I wish to reassure the President that as long as Germany is in NATO and the EU, and is governed by Christian or Social Democrats, the threat to our western border is nonexistent. It could arise only if europhobic nationalists took power across the Oder,” wrote Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. In a subsequent post, he addressed “our nationalists”
The head of government also did not miss the opportunity to criticize the president. Prime Minister Donald Tusk attempted to outline the axis of the dispute, invoking the phrase “cuddling Russia as it is.”
The president responded to the jabs. “Prime Minister, it is hard to believe that we graduated from the same faculty – history. Do you hold it against Bolesław the Brave that he fought in the east and the west, and against the Greater Poland insurgents that they fought Germany for Poland (which is also the West)?” he wrote.
“The essence of the dispute is rather that the Prime Minister is unable to listen with understanding, or deliberately seeks conflict, because his budget, healthcare system, etc., do not add up,” Nawrocki assessed.
He added: “I was already warning about the threat from the east when the Prime Minister was strolling along the pier and cuddling Russia as it is 😉 And I continue to warn – but not on the occasion of the Greater Poland Uprising; that is not the right context.”
The attack was also repelled by the president’s spokesperson, Rafał Leśkiewicz.