Poland’s “Lex Tusk” Law: A Threat to Democracy and Western Security

The Law and Justice party should not avoid questions about the fact that it has imitated Russia’s narrative and interests with some of its policies. This is exactly how the shameful “Lex Tusk” law, which was adopted on May 26 and signed by the Polish president, should be interpreted.

More than just a retreat from democracy

On May 26, Poland’s parliament, controlled by the Law and Justice party, passed a law dubbed “Lex Tusk” that would create a special parliamentary commission to investigate and suspend the public liberties of citizens suspected of “serving Moscow’s interests.”

These individuals would be disqualified from public office without due process of law.

After Poland’s president signs the new law, the government will begin a politically controlled administrative process to remove from the election race those it accuses of colluding with Russia, namely opposition leader Donald Tusk.

[Redakcijas piezīme: Pēc plašas kritikas un Rietumu sabiedroto iebildumiem Polijas prezidents Andžejs Duda 2.jūnijā – jau pēc šī raksta tapšanas – piekāpās attiecībā uz jauno likumu, paziņojot, ka ierosinās grozījumu, kas neļaus komisijai piemērot bargus sodus personām, kuru darbību tā izmeklē. Tā vietā komisija tikai nāktu klajā ar paziņojumu, kurā norādītu, ka persona ir padevusies Krievijas ietekmei un nav garantiju, ka tā pienācīgi strādās sabiedrības interesēs.]

Paradoxically, suspicions of concessions to Russian interests have recently mostly fallen on the political steps of Warsaw, which are now overshadowed by this frankly scandalous law.

Law and Justice and its leader, Jaroslav Kaczynski, may be trying to use this ploy to deflect from the unpleasant reality that many of its policies are at least tailored to, if not inspired by, the Kremlin. This is not a simple retreat from democracy, but a deliberate political innovation to subvert democracy.

Media, energy and democratic security

The Kremlin’s playbook consists of policy initiatives that are implemented in a series of small, calculated legislative steps; these seemingly unrelated changes eventually lead to major shifts in political direction.

These changes in laws are just another form of hybrid operations against the democratic establishment, disguised as enemy identification.

In Hungary, supposedly minor legislative measures against the press suppressed the independent media. In Poland, state oil company PKN Orlen, whose CEO Daniel Objtek is a close ally of Kaczynski, bought 20 of the 24 regional newspapers and has a broad media portfolio across the region.

The same company transferred fuel depots (critical infrastructure) to their owners from Saudi Arabia, with no guarantees that these assets would not be transferred to Russia or other potentially malicious countries. This is particularly important as the government is currently drafting a new law that could transfer full ownership of such energy supplies to foreign players. US Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski sent a letter to the government highlighting the potential problems with such a move, which was highlighted by Gazeta Wyborcza on the day Lex Tusk was adopted.

It is no secret that controlling energy resources and investigating Russian interference is critical to the security of democracy in all NATO and European Union (EU) countries. In Poland, the idea to track Russian election meddling actually came from Donald Tusk himself.

In autumn 2022, Tusk proposed that a special parliamentary team investigate Moscow’s influence on the Polish fossil fuel market. He said that the influence of the Russian services on the energy policy of “Law and Justice” can be ascertained only by an investigative commission.

Just a month before, Kaczynski said that the official diplomatic contacts are just a conspiracy against Poland: “Civil platforms” [valdība] conceded to Russia.” The main message was that “Donald Tusk wants to communicate with Russia.” This must have sounded like treason to the “law and justice” isolationist voters.

Tusk expressed concern about Russian interference in the previous election and during both Law and Justice terms. The Kremlin’s interest in meddling in Polish politics is a valid concern, and there is other political evidence for this.

Despite warnings from the US intelligence services about the impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki signed the Warsaw Summit Pact two months before with such openly pro-Russian parties as Austria’s Freedom Party, French politician Marine Le Pen’s National Union and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz.

The collapse of democratic governance

Even in this context, it is clear that the leader of “Law and Justice” is using the strong anti-Russian feelings to cover the upcoming elections under false cover.

In a country that is so afraid of Russia’s long shadow, this is relatively easy, because the mere suspicion of talking to Kremlin officials undermines public trust.

Pointing the finger at opponents to avoid suspicion is Soviet-style cotton candy.

A Polish parliamentary commission against Russian influence would effectively legitimize itself with… the Kremlin’s subversive narrative. Remember the main slogan of the RT channel “Ask more”.

This would be enough for “Law and Justice” to push aside Tusk at the expense of the country’s democratic security. In effect, votes that could be cast for the opposition leader(s) would be lost.

This is not just a Polish problem, but a highly contagious deliberate practice that threatens democracies around the world.

Early last year, Recep Tayyip Erdogan realized his re-election was in jeopardy, so his government jailed his main rival and, more importantly, kicked him out of the race.

Although Erdogan and Kaczynski use different legal instruments, the goal of their governments is the same. In fact, they further falsify the democratic process.

Two critical NATO countries are creating a sticky practice that should worry all allies in light of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has rightly made Poland a cornerstone of Western support for Kyiv. Now the “Law and Justice” government believes it can hide its previously adopted autocratic policies and anti-Western narrative that reflected Kremlin propaganda.

Poland will hold parliamentary elections in November, and the right-wing government is showing serious signs of weakness.

Despite being in power for the past eight years, the Polish government has failed to dominate social media; it has been able to maintain its 30-35% support, but has not been able to expand its influence among undecided voters.

Although the main opposition party lags behind them by around 10 percentage points, Tusk has been able to beat several of his rivals’ initiatives.

When the leaders of two key NATO countries promise security first, but never democracy, the other allies must not turn their backs.

The autocrats of Ankara and Warsaw are deliberately dismantling the democratic process in the hope that defense-induced demand for security in Central and Eastern European countries will be sufficient justification.

In this context, the security of democracy is at stake.

In fact, Poland is turning from a cornerstone of NATO into another problematic member state – an undemocratic country that is rapidly advancing militarism.