Tusk’s anti-xenophobia speech was overshadowed by the anti-Semitic incident

As new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke out against xenophobia in his policy programme speech, a right-wing lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the corridor of the building, an incident condemned by almost the entire chamber.

After Tusk was appointed prime minister by the parliament on Monday, the following day, he delivered his programme speech and later passed the confidence vote.

In his programme speech, Tusk read out the letter of Piotr Szczęsny, who committed suicide by self-immolation in Warsaw’s Plac Defilad in 2017 in protest against the violation of civil liberties in Poland by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) government, which had ended its eight-year rule the day before.

“I protest against the authorities’ restriction of civil liberties. (…) I protest against the authorities’ violation of the law, particularly the Constitution of the Republic of Poland,” the letter reads.

Monday “will go down in history as the day of peaceful rebellion for freedom and democracy,” Tusk said about the day the PiS government was ousted and replaced by Tusk’s coalition.

Tusk’s new government will include three blocs: his Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/S&D), the Third Way alliance, consisting of centre-green Poland 2050 (Renew) and centre-agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL, EPP), and the Left (S&D/Left).

MP protests Hanukkah celebrations

In his speech, Tusk also spoke out against xenophobia in the context of the Muslim refugees who have been stationed on the Polish-Belarusian border since 2021, in what Poland believes to be a migration wave orchestrated by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

Displeased that Hanukkah was being celebrated in the Polish parliament, ultra-conservative MP Grzegorz Braun used a fire extinguisher to put out the Hanukkah candle.

Later, in parliament, he said that he was “restoring normality” by not allowing “a wild, Talmudic cult”, the meaning of which he says is lost on most lawmakers due to their ignorance.

“SHAME. A Polish Parliament member just did this. A few minutes after we celebrated Chanukah there,” Israel’s ambassador Yakov Livne wrote on X,” sharing the mentioned video from the incident.

Braun’s behaviour was condemned by nearly the whole house, including by many of his fellow Confederation MPs. “I condemn Grzegorz Braun’s act,” one of the party’s leaders, Sławomir Mentzen, wrote on X, announcing he would take consequences against Braun.

The other party leader, Krzysztof Bosak, who chaired the meeting as deputy speaker, was more tolerant, allowing Braun to speak from the rostrum immediately after the incident and shaking his hand afterwards.

“This is a disgrace”

By the speaker’s decision, Szymon Hołownia (Poland 2050), Braun was excluded from the session and deprived of half his salary for three months and the entire parliamentary diet for six months, the highest punishment that can be imposed in such a situation.

Hołownia also said a complaint would be filed with the prosecutor’s office against the MP.

“This is unacceptable. It can’t happen again. This is a disgrace,” said Tusk, while PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński called on Hołownia to resign for allowing such disorder in parliament.

Late in the evening, parliament finally passed a vote of confidence in Tusk’s government. The new cabinet will be sworn in on Wednesday.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)