Tusk says Russian bot army aids opponents in tribunal dispute

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an address to the nation that forces undermining democracy in Poland receive support from pro-Russian forces worldwide and that a Russian internet bot army is helping them in the conflict over the Constitutional Tribunal.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivered a video address on Saturday evening about the crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal. He devoted a significant part of his speech to the Russian connection in the conflict.

“Let us call things by their names. For many years, Poland has had organizations and politicians who want to destroy democracy and the rule of law,” Tusk said. He said assessing their motives was not his task today: “Whether it is greed, stupidity or treason, the end result is the same.”

“Compliments from the Kremlin’s chief ideologue”

“It is no coincidence that they find support among pro-Russian forces around the world. Today, a Russian internet bot army is helping them in this conflict. They have even received public compliments from the Kremlin’s chief ideologue,” the prime minister said.

Tusk called the events that occurred outside the tribunal building the previous day “shameful” and stressed that the path to peace cannot lie in concessions to lawlessness and violence, while a democratic state must be strong.

The prime minister described the attack on the tribunal and its judges as another stage in the destruction of the rule-of-law state by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and Presidents Andrzej Duda and Karol Nawrocki. He said the police were responding to all acts of aggression “very calmly but firmly.”

A thief and an elderly woman’s bag

Tusk recalled that, together with the parliamentary majority, he had tried to “repair” the tribunal, which, in the form imposed by PiS, was not a genuine court, in the view of international institutions, Polish lawyers and society.

He compared the situation to a thief snatching a bag from an elderly woman and then, after being caught, shouting that violence was being used against him. The prime minister criticized those who suggest splitting the contents of the bag equally between the thief and the victim.

The crisis began on October 30, when Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, a judge elected by the Sejm but not sworn in, suspended Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański for one month. President Nawrocki cut short his visit to Senegal and arrived at the tribunal during the night.

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