Members of the United States House of Representatives have sent a letter to the European Commission warning that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government is violating the rights of opposition parties and its political opponents in general.
Signed by Republican congressmen Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, as well as fellow Republicans Darrel Issa, Chris Smith, Warren Davidson, and Andy Harris, the letter was sent to Michael McGrath, EU Commissioner for Justice and the Rule of Law.
The letter claims that the current authorities in Warsaw are using the justice system for political purposes, which in their opinion may threaten freedom of speech not only in Poland, but also in the United States.
“This apparent double standard raises concerns about the EU’s impartiality and its commitment to protecting fundamental rights across all member states. The EU’s silence may embolden the Tusk government’s censorship efforts, leading the Polish government to seek global removal of speech it disagrees with, which could ultimately result in the censorship of American speech,” it reads.
It further states that Tusk’s actions against the conservative Law & Justice party (PiS), its supporters, and members of the Catholic Church “appear designed to silence and damage its political opposition ahead of Poland’s 2025 presidential election.”
The letter touches upon how investigators under Tusk have “severely mistreated” those associated with PiS, including Barbara Skrzypek, the former director of PiS Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński’s office who died a few days after many hours of interrogation, as well as Father Olszewski who was “inhumanely treated” after his arrest, which was deemed by most as politically motivated.
It also questions Tusk’s actions against conservative media at odds with his government’s agenda, saying these “raise concerns about whether the Tusk government is upholding the EU’s democratic values and whether it will further attempt to silence its political rivals by using anti-democratic laws like the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) to censor speech that criticizes the Tusk government.”
The congressmen do not shy away from calling out the double standards seemingly in effect in Brussels, as while criticism of Poland under PiS was rife and the EP was happy to strip conservative MEPs of their immunity, no such bias nor criticisms seem to exist for Tusk and his team.
The congressmen called on Commissioner McGrath to organize a briefing on these matters “as soon as possible,” asking specifically “how the EU plans to implement a new European Democracy Shield, which will address so-called ‘misinformation’ in a manner that will not chill Americans’ free speech rights.”
This is not the first time that congressmen have publicly expressed concern about the situation in Poland, notes Salon24. Previously, back in 2021, Democratic representatives called for changes to the Code of Administrative Law in the field of restitution of property of Holocaust victims. In turn, the lex TVN project prompted both senators and representatives of the U.S. House of Representatives to write an appeal. The law was finally vetoed by President Andrzej Duda.
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