The leader of Civic Platform visited Jelenia Góra on Thursday, June 22. The rally took place in the town square. In addition to Civic Platform supporters, Solidarity trade unionists also arrived, disrupting the meeting throughout. They did not stop even during the national anthem, drowning out the Polish patriotic song. After the anthem was sung, Donald Tusk responded:
– To those of you who are holding Solidarity flags today and, with Solidarity flags in your hands, boo, shout and whistle while Polish women and men sing the national anthem, I want to tell you that the real Solidarity has never seen anything like this – said Donald Tusk. – I no longer want to ask all those who support PiS and who were ready to come and disrupt our peaceful gathering of thousands today: Why did you remain silent when, in your town, the people who ruled Bogatynia on behalf of the ruling PiS party, some of whom later began running the largest energy company, including the Turów mine, why did you remain silent then? Why did we not hear your whistles and shouts then? Where were the Solidarity flags then? – the leader of Civic Platform asked rhetorically.
The Turów mine and Bogatynia
Donald Tusk blamed the politicians of Law and Justice, who have been in power for eight years, for the condition of the Turów mine.
– Aren’t you ashamed today that you were silent, cowardly witnesses to the evil that spread in Turów, in Bogatynia and, as we can see, throughout Poland? Lies, corruption, theft, abuse of positions – you saw all of this and did not raise an outcry then. Since it won the first election, PiS has been effectively destroying your mine and your power plant. It will depend on you, among other things, whether you allow them to continue destroying Polish industry, the future of your town, your power plant, your mine and your families for another four years – said Donald Tusk.
Migrants from Muslim countries
The leader of Civic Platform also raised the issue of migrants in Jelenia Góra, a subject recently emphasized by politicians from Law and Justice.
– Ask Morawiecki, because this is a matter of state security, a matter of the security of all of us: why did they allow the loss, the complete loss, of control over who comes to Poland and how many migrants come to Poland? I want you to know this and repeat it all around. And I am referring to data provided by the official statistics of the PiS government. In 2022 alone, 135,000 people were admitted to Poland with visas from Muslim countries. In the last year of our government, the figure from those countries was 3,300. I am not saying this because I have ever had anything against another religion, another race, another faith or another culture. We have always respected people, regardless of what they believe in, where they come from or the color of their skin. Because every human being deserves respect. I am saying this to finally expose Morawiecki’s lies about migration. To say loudly and clearly: I accuse the PiS government of bringing in an uncontrolled number of people whom nobody later looks after here in Poland. From Bangladesh alone – unfortunately, the name of that country has become so prominent in recent days – they brought in five times more migrants than my government did in an entire year from all those countries. PiS brought in migrants from Muslim countries – and I ask you now to really grasp this and take this truth, which is uncomfortable for PiS, as far as possible – they brought 50 times more migrants to Poland from Muslim countries than we did in the last year of the Civic Platform government. Not five times more, not 10 times more, but 50 times more. At the same time, they unleashed a disgusting campaign of contempt and stigmatization against these people. That is the essence of PiS rule: a lack of control over the borders, complete incompetence, corruption and scheming, followed by the stoking of conflict. Setting people against one another in order to rule through fear and lies – said Donald Tusk.
– I accuse you, gentlemen Kaczyński and Morawiecki, of complete neglect and of the total collapse of migration policy in Poland. You will answer for it as soon as you relinquish power. And you will relinquish it in the autumn. You will also answer for this, for this failure to act – Donald Tusk promised at the end of his speech.