Socialist MEP accuses Tusk of turning into ‘Trump’

The Polish opposition should side with democracy and human dignity, socialist MEP Robert Biedroń (S&D) said about opposition leader Donald Tusk’s new election campaign spot, which he called ‘racist’ and ‘mindless’.

Tusk, head of the centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, tweeted a video in which he slammed the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government for letting in thousands of migrants “from Islamic countries” while opposing the EU relocations scheme as an alleged threat for Poland’s security.

His sharp tone surprised PiS and outraged many of his fellow opposition politicians. “As the opposition, we should always support democracy and human dignity and show that we want to combine Polish people’s security with the dignity of all humans,” Biedroń told EURACTIV.pl.

Poland and Hungary are the only EU countries to firmly oppose the proposed migration and asylum reform based on the mandatory solidarity rule, meaning that countries that refuse to accept asylum seekers should contribute financially or operationally to the EU’s migration management effort.

Still, hundreds of thousands of migrants are being admitted to Poland each year, including from the Middle East and African countries, according to media sources, citing the data from the government and state agencies.

‘Tusk turning into Trump’

In his video, entitled “Polish people must regain control over their country and its borders,” Tusk referred to the draft resolution he said was prepared by PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, that would facilitate acquiring visas to nationals of 21 countries, including several African and Middle East countries.

“Is it still Donald Tusk or maybe Donald Trump?”, tweeted Left MP Maciej Konieczny, calling Tusk’s short speech “madness.”

The PO leader mentioned the latest unrest in France after the police officers killed a teenager of Algerian origin. “We are shocked to observe the brutal riots in France, and meanwhile, Kaczyński is preparing a document that will make even more people come to Poland from Iran, Katar, IAE, Nigeria, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, among other countries,” he said.

Only last year 130 thousand people “from those countries” came to Poland, which he said was 50 times as many as in 2015, the year that his PO lost power to PiS, he said, accusing Kaczyński of attempts to cause a civil war and social unrest to secure its further rules.

Poland must oust the PiS government to deter the threat that is around the corner, Tusk concluded his speech that met a lot of criticism among other opposition parties that said the former European Council President joined PiS’ anti-immigrant narrative.

Opposition ‘should not compete in smear campaigns

“It was a mindless and disappointing decision” of Tusk and PO, a European People’s Party member, to publish the spot, Biedroń said, calling Tusk’s video “racist” and adding that “the hate campaign against migrants would definitely not help” the opposition.

PO’s changing its narrative for anti-immigrant is “a strange U-turn,” which the Left party, a member of the Socialist and Democrats group, does not understand and will not set its hand to, the MEP said.

The opposition parties will never be better than PiS (European Conservatives and Reformists) in smear campaigns, and there is no point in competing in hatred with the ruling camp, as PiS will always win, Biedroń stressed.

Last year, Poland issued labour permits to 365 thousand foreigners, according to the Family and Social Affairs Ministry. A quarter of them were Ukrainians, with India, Uzbekistan, Turkey, the Philippines and Bangladesh being the other countries where most economic migrants came from.

PiS has long accused the PO government of having accepted the EU migrant quotas shortly before its losing power in 2015. That year, Kaczyński threatened that the refugees may carry diseases already eradicated in Europe.

The Polish government wants a referendum on the country’s participation in the EU’s migrant relocation scheme, with voting most likely taking place alongside the parliamentary elections in October or early November.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Sonia Otfinowska | EURACTIV.pl)