Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Platform, at a meeting in Nakło nad Notecią. He answered questions, among others about the Polish Order and the plans of the Civic Platform

On Wednesday, in Nakło nad Notecią (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), a meeting with Donald Tusk, acting chairman of the Civic Platform, took place. The event was open-ended and the present guests were asking questions to the former head of the European Council and the former prime minister.

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The leader of the Civic Platform was asked, inter alia, if what his party could offer to entrepreneurs today. – I have just finished the meeting with local government officials. In the coming days, in Warsaw, business organizations will visit me, we will discuss their fears, anxieties (…) related to (Mateusz) Morawiecki’s new order (Polish Order – ed.) – he said. He said that it would also be a conversation about tax proposals announced by PiS.

In his opinion, “it would be worth starting to talk about people’s interests again”. – And I do not think only about entrepreneurs, but about people who are willing, ready to work hard, are hardworking and creative – he pointed out.

The PO leader also assessed that “anyone who has four thousand (PLN a month – ed.) Or more, will de facto lose on the Polish Lada”. – With this inflation, at this high price, four thousand will become the norm, but much less will be available for purchase – he said. – I would watch over the authorities so that they do not arrange our reality according to their own opinion, but that it recognizes, as we once believed, that if a man is entrepreneurial, it is okay, he does not punish himself for it – added Tusk.

He also talked about the effect of his return to Polish politics. – I am very happy that what the media – some with laughter, some with anger – has been called the Tusk effect. Such energy came back, the belief that elections can be won, that not all is lost – he said. “I am really glad that I managed to make it somehow move again, get some vigor again,” he added.

The old-new leader of the PO stipulated that he had experienced too much in his life to believe in his omnipotency. – That I am capable of anything and that it depends only on me whether we will manage to change the course of things in Poland and win the future elections – he explained. “Of course, I don’t stand a chance myself,” he said.

Tusk admitted that he had been preparing for his return for a long time. – I wanted it to be a deliberate political process. So I realize that I will not encourage a significant part of the public opinion in Poland, especially the loyal PiS voters, to change their views. I know. Therefore, it is a task for other politicians as well. Because PiS’s policy is going bankrupt in many dimensions today and PiS voters also see it, he assessed.

Tusk also assessed that in Poland a large part of the Church has turned into a part of a political party. In his opinion, in the villages the influence of the Church on political decisions is greater than in the cities. – Right now, I don’t know what to do with it. I would very much like to find partners on the church side, because I believe – and I say this with conviction – that PiS, in some sense, engaging the Church on one side of the political barricade, politicizing the Church so much, is doing a great harm to all the faithful – he said.

The PO leader said that he wanted to “go to a church where I do not want to listen to a repetition of (Jarosław) Kaczyński’s speech”. Tusk emphasized that he is a Catholic and in the times of the People’s Republic of Poland he found support in the Church for free thinking. – We learned in a sense in the Church, one could say, if the word does not sound too scary, liberalism, respect for another person, tolerance, freedom. I remember it clearly, priests taught me it. Where did it evaporate? – added Tusk.