Today, Donald Tusk chose to double down on his boorish remark about “blockheads” and published another post on social media. In response to the prime minister’s words, MEP Waldemar Buda filed a motion with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee seeking disciplinary action against him.
A nationwide debate is ongoing over the SAFE program. Opposition politicians and President Karol Nawrocki point out that the current draft legislation on SAFE does not provide for a dedicated, reinforced anti-corruption oversight mechanism commensurate with the financial scale and pace of the procurement process. Moreover, the largest grant is to go not to a state-owned entity but to the private company Polska Amunicja, whose CEO is Paweł Poncyljusz, a former politician of the Civic Coalition (KO).
In response, Tusk published a video on the X platform in which he stated that 20 billion zlotys from SAFE would go to Huta Stalowa Wola. However, what sparked the greatest controversy was the language he used when addressing the opposition and President Karol Nawrocki.
“I will try to explain this as simply as I can. Watch my lips. 20 billion just for this Huta Stalowa Wola, Podkarpacie, Poland. Got it, blockheads?” Tusk said in the recording.
The remarks triggered widespread outrage and astonishment at what many described as the continuing degradation of public debate by the current head of government. The statement was compared to the hate-driven slogans of the so-called street opposition during the years of Law and Justice (PiS) rule. “He has become one of the Strong Together.”
Today, Tusk decided to persist with his coarse statement.
“The term ‘blockheads’ referred to those who want to block funds for Poland due to a lack of competence or plain stupidity. Those who do so in the political or financial interests of foreign states, I would describe in much stronger terms,” the prime minister wrote.
“Stop explaining yourself, Donald. The language you use is only the final confirmation of what we have seen for a long time – in trying to please the Strong Together movement, at some point you became one of them,” commented former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
MEP Waldemar Buda of Law and Justice (PiS) has filed a motion with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee seeking that Donald Tusk be penalized over his remarks.