“It is also about delegitimising the Third Republic”
The Polish Special Commission to Investigate Russian Influences
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Polish government has created the legal foundations for the establishment of a special commission to investigate “Russian interference” in Polish politics. The executive body was supposed to have far-reaching powers and exclude politicians from political office. In the 2023 election year, the commission is an instrument for discrediting opposition leader Donald Tusk and driving polarisation further. Several hundred thousand people have taken to the streets in Warsaw to protest the law. Germany has shown restraint, but the United States has voiced sharp criticism and the European Commission immediately initiated infringement proceedings. All this has changed the government’s calculations; it now sees more costs than benefits. The law will come into force in a mitigated form.
(Osteuropa 5-6/2023, pp. 151–160)