“The Tusk–Giertych tapes show who the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland really is. We are dealing with a man who says of himself, ‘I, a German.’ In any civilised country, such a declaration would be followed by an immediate resignation. I do not wish to have Donald Tusk—who identifies himself as ‘I, a German’—as head of government. I say this as a Pole,” said PiS MP Janusz Kowalski on the “Michał #Rachoń” programme on TV Republika.
The Tusk tapes
TV Republika on Saturday published the so-called “Tusk tapes”—recordings that could send shockwaves through Poland’s political scene. The excerpt released, featuring Roman Giertych and Donald Tusk, dates from 2019.
The conversation touched on, among other things:
- the dispute between attorney Giertych and then-Civic-Platform leader Grzegorz Schetyna,
- the hand-over of supporting signatures to Stanisław Gawłowski, and
- strategy for Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska’s presidential bid.
Offensive remarks were also made about right-wing voters and politicians, including members of Konfederacja. The men additionally discussed their own origins.
The tapes, revealed by the Free Speech Zone media group, were commented on today by PiS MP Janusz Kowalski in the “Michał #Rachoń” programme.
“The Tusk–Giertych tapes show who is Prime Minister today. He is a man who says of himself, ‘I, a German.’ In every civilised country, such a declaration would trigger an immediate resignation. I do not wish Donald Tusk, who identifies himself as ‘I, a German,’ to be head of government. I say this as a Pole. Donald Tusk is frank in this conversation with Giertych—and equally frank in real-world actions,” he stated.
Referring to Tusk’s words on the tapes, where he says of himself “I, a German,” Kowalski added that “politicians should not joke in such a way, even ironically, and certainly not to a colleague.”
“When I talk with PiS politicians, I don’t hear any stupid jokes about my homeland. Looking at what Donald Tusk has done since 13 December 2023—namely, pursuing German interests—I take his words very seriously, just as I take seriously his lack of reaction as a citizen to Roman Giertych’s information about a potential electoral scam involving lists of support signatures that Giertych passed to another politician. Tusk had a civic duty to notify law enforcement authorities,” he emphasised.
Kowalski also spoke more broadly about Giertych’s transfer of signatures to Gawłowski:
“Tusk and Giertych clearly cared a great deal about getting Gawłowski onto the ballot and into the Senate. It was a Civic Platform fix. In effect, not fielding a PO candidate in that district meant Gawłowski got into the Senate. The man later had considerable problems. In my view, this is PO’s DNA: when no one is looking, they cut deals, treating Polish law and the Polish state instrumentally. You can see an intent to form a circle of politicians who are allowed to do more and to do business among themselves. Supporting someone like Gawłowski is ethically and morally compromising in itself. It is evident that Roman Giertych and Stanisław Gawłowski are Donald Tusk’s closest entourage. If Tusk surrounds himself with such people, it shows he feels comfortable in their company,” he declared.