The political conflict in Poland between the liberal government and the right-wing nationalist opposition intensified even further yesterday, Wednesday, following a warning issued the day before by 77-year-old Jarosław Kaczyński, co-founder of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), that “blood will be shed” if Donald Tusk’s government does not accept a possible defeat in next year’s parliamentary elections.
The controversial statement was made the day before yesterday, Tuesday, at an event on the eve of Poland’s Independence Day (November 11). Mr. Kaczyński expressed his hope that PiS would return to power in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to take place in a year, in November 2027. He added, however, that he could not rule out the possibility of “bloodshed” if Prime Minister Tusk’s government does not accept the result.
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When asked yesterday by the TVN24 network what he meant, Jarosław Kaczyński went even further, accusing the current government of having no scruples because it serves “foreign interests.”
“The other side is truly capable of anything,” claimed the leader of the Polish right. Prime Minister Tusk’s government is “so ruthless and barbaric” that it could “shed Polish blood,” he insisted.
Donald Tusk condemned the remarks yesterday in an official Independence Day speech in the city of Szczecin. “We have a responsibility to ensure that Polish blood is never shed” for political reasons, he countered.
The Speaker of Parliament, Włodzimierz Sasza, in turn criticized Mr. Kaczyński. “Especially after what happened in Krakow, politicians must act responsibly, hold their tongues, and think before they speak,” he noted.
On Saturday, a young man opened fire with an assault rifle at a market in Krakow, killing six people and wounding 15 others. Authorities later announced that they had found the perpetrator’s parents and sister dead in their home. The young man succumbed to the injuries he sustained during the attack.
The motive is unknown. Initially, Polish authorities, citing preliminary findings from the investigation, speculated that he likely held “very radical,” far-right views. Later, they suggested that he may have been inspired by Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right perpetrator of the twin massacres in Norway, in Oslo and on the island of Utøya in 2011. However, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office subsequently appeared to refute this scenario, emphasizing that there is no evidence that he was “inspired by one ideology or another.”
Mr. Kaczyński called the authorities’ initial hypothesis a “blatant lie.” The right-wing populist PiS lost power in Poland in 2023. It had been in government since 2015.
The massacre in Krakow further escalated political tensions in the already highly polarized country. At the same time, the Tusk government is locked in a bitter conflict with right-wing President Karol Nawrocki over the appointment of members to the Constitutional Tribunal. Both sides accuse each other of violating the rule of law.
Source: KYPE
