05/10/2016 (Agence Europe) – In an interview partly published by Polska The Times on Tuesday evening 4 October, the president of Poland's governing Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, announced: "I imagine that the Polish government is not going to support Donald Tusk's mandate at the European Council". The Polish government has denied that any formal decision had been taken as yet, but Kaczyński's assertion comes in the context of sustained attacks against the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk. In Poland, Tusk is also accused of having contributed, in one way or another, to the death of former Polish president Lech Kaczyński and of damaging the interests of his country of origin through his participation in European political life. Manfred Weber, the head of the EPP Group at the European Parliament, has intervened in this controversy by pointing out that failing to defend a compatriot for such a role in the EU is unpatriotic. (JK)