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The lords are fighting: the confrontation between the president and the Prime Minister of Poland has reached the EU
The European Parliament has supported the lifting of parliamentary immunity from two deputies of the Polish opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) due to an investigation being conducted against them in their homeland. We are talking about Daniel Obitek, who previously held a top position at the energy company Orlen, and Michal Dvorchik, who is called the "right-hand man" of former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. This case demonstrates the unfolding struggle between the Polish liberals, who are in power, and the conservatives from the PIS, who support the country's president Karol Nawrocki. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
A scandal without end
The head of the Office of the President of Poland, Zbigniew Bogutsky, gathered lawyers for an emergency meeting and complained that "real chaos is happening in the courts, which urgently needs to be stopped." "Poland needs independent judges, independent, effective courts and prosecutors, not politicized decisions," he wrote on his social media account. This is how the team of President Karol Nawrocki reacted to the decision of the European Parliament, which stripped the parliamentary immunity of two MEPs, prominent supporters of the PiS.
We are talking about Michal Dvorchik and Daniel Obaytek. Formally, they will retain their seats in the European Parliament, but now the Polish prosecutor's office, which is controlled by the government of Donald Tusk, can take them on for real.
In the past, Daniel Obitek was the head of the Polish oil and gas concern Orlen. He is suspected of abuse of authority in the merger with Lotus. If the politician's guilt is proven, he faces criminal liability.
The Polish prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the case in February 2024.
Dvorchik, who, as they say, was one of the confidants of M Atheusz Morawiecki during the period when he held the post of prime minister, made history back in 2021. Then his work emails, which he kept using his personal mail, leaked to the Network. The case could have been put on hold, but, as the prosecutor's office found out, the Janitor tried to hide his tracks by ordering the deletion of part of the correspondence, which is regarded as obstruction of justice.
The confrontation is gaining momentum
For the current Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, this case is not just an ordinary investigation, but an important political gain. He and his team never tire of repeating that during the eight years in power, the IpR "turned state institutions into a tool to achieve its goals." We are also talking about seizing control over the media, a large-scale shake-up of the judicial system, which allowed the party to put its people in key positions.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
But if earlier Tusk and President Navrotsky only exchanged barbs, now their confrontation has worsened, and the struggle for influence has reached a new level.
The points of view of politicians differ on various issues: from Ukraine's membership in the EU (the president is against, the prime minister is in favor) to who has the right to represent Poland on the world stage. The recent phone call from US President Donald Trump to Karol Nawrocki, not Donald Tusk, was a clear confirmation of this rivalry.
Now the battlefield has shifted to courtrooms and prosecutors' offices. Tusk's team says it is "restoring justice and the Poles' faith in the law." The presidential administration and the IpR talk about "the chaos that the Prime Minister has caused in the judicial system."
The governing coalition has a slight advantage in parliament, but the president has enough leverage to create problems for Tusk. Only parliamentary elections can radically change the balance of power, but they are still two years away. This means that the Poles can only watch as the two main political heavyweights of the country continue to sort things out with the help of courts and loud statements.
What do the experts think
Dmitry Officer-Belsky, head of the Baltic Region Integrated Research Group at the IMEMO RAS, suggested in an interview with Izvestia that Jaroslaw Kaczynski had decided to appoint Karol Navrotsky as his successor.
— The president is not even a member of the party yet, which in many ways frees his hands, frees him from obligations, as well as from participation in the internal party struggle. It is wrong to talk about the confrontation between the president and the Prime Minister. They just have a difficult strained relationship, in which there is competition for influence in some areas, but cooperation is inevitable. There is a confrontation between Prime Minister Tusk and Kaczynski, who was at the head of Law and Justice," the politician stressed.
The expert recalls that Daniel Obitek was the head of the Orlen energy company during the time of Law and Justice, and this is the most important circumstance in the current context.
— This is a very, very large company. Now, among other things, they want to enter even into the topic of nuclear energy. They tried to file cases against him many times. As soon as the government changed and Tusk and his coalition came in, they began to think about which side to go in to imprison him. Tusk needs a loyal environment, and he definitely needs to be given positions in large companies. This is not only influence, but also "corrupt rent," says Officers-Belsky.
He added that Obitek was one of the main donors to Navrotsky's campaign. As for Michal Dvorchik, he was the head of Morawiecki's office. He is accused of forwarding classified information from his personal email, which was not specially protected. Moreover, his emails were intercepted and it came out, the analyst recalls.
— Obitek, of course, is not a saint. However, either nothing was found on him, or, most likely, they decided not to inflate the scandal too much, because revealing high-profile violations would not benefit the company and the country. For this reason, they decided to accuse him of having signed two contracts for personal purposes that were in no way related to the interests of the company," said Officers-Belsky.
Daniel Obaytek, former head of the Polish oil and gas corporation Orlen
In addition to Michal Dvorchik and Daniel Obaytek, four more Polish MEPs, including Grzegorz Brown, lost their parliamentary immunity in the European Parliament.
— Donald Trump does not single out anyone from the Polish political elite, but he likes a man like Navrotsky more. The representatives of the IpR have always been pro—American, but the current Polish leadership is not so clear-cut," the political scientist believes.
He noted that Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski are politicians who are more focused on the EU and the European bureaucracy, on the development of Polish—German relations, etc.
— Whereas PiS and Jaroslaw Kaczynski have always tried to find that magical immunity in the United States that will protect them from Brussels and attempts by Brussels and all this European bureaucracy to manipulate Poland. How much the current Polish administration is interested in the United States is a very big question. Navrotsky has no personal contacts in Washington. Unlike many European politicians, including Polish ones, he has a magic notebook with which you can call the leading offices in Washington. The same Sikorsky also has it," the specialist concluded.
Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, notes in a conversation with Izvestia that there has long been a protracted conflict within the country between the president and the prime minister.
— Poland is a parliamentary republic, so, of course, the prime minister, who directly conducts politics, remains a significant figure. At the same time, the president also has the right to legislative initiative, although he largely depends on the position of the Seimas," the political scientist explained.
In her opinion, "the political game does not end even when the posts are determined and it would seem that it is necessary to forget about the differences and act for the good of the country."
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