Brussels, 24/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - It is now more than ten days since Poland was rocked by revelations in the weekly newspaper Wprost, which obtained secret recordings of conversations between several political figures. The future of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his government hangs in the balance. However, the implications of this scandal have also spread as far as Europe, given that Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski may become the next head of diplomacy of the EU, although this now seems considerably less likely.
The scandal has hit the entire Polish political scene, but Tusk's Liberal Conservative party (Civic Platform) hardest of all. The bugging, which was carried out without the knowledge of individuals who met several times in two top restaurants in Warsaw in 2013 and 2014, has revealed political horse trading, national and international political anecdotes and, in particular, the crude and, in some cases, vulgar language used in private by the highest ranking individuals in the state, including four ministers (internal affairs, foreign affairs, budget and finance), and the governor of the Polish central bank.
For example, when discussing the alliance between the United States and Poland, Sikorski allegedly (according to the transcript provided by the newspaper on Sunday 22 June) said that it is “worthless, even harmful, because it gives Poland a false sense of security”. He went on to say that it was “complete bullshit. We will end up in conflict with Germany and Russia and think that everything is great, because we've sucked America's dick. It's pure naïveté”. He went on to speculate that this naïveté stems from the ambient feeling in Poland of servility (“negritude”, in the Polish neologism).
Following the initial shock wave caused by the content of these conversations, it is now time for questions to be asked of those who commissioned the bugging and for criticism of the Polish intelligence and counterespionage services, which are accused of failing in their task. Tusk, who was speaking not long ago about the possibility of holding the forthcoming elections early, described the incident as an “attack on the state” to “destabilise the country and paralyse the government” - right when major decisions need to be taken in Brussels and with the crisis in Ukraine showing no signs of abating. The government's priority is now to identify the culprits. The possibility of the involvement of the Russian secret service has not been entirely ruled out, but there is no hard evidence of this as yet. Further after-shocks are likely over the next few days. Tusk will make a statement to the Polish parliament about the bugging on Wednesday 25 June, whilst Wprost may still have more conversations to reveal. (JK)