Russia has seized on Poland’s political turmoil to intensify attacks against Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his pro-European government, portraying a constitutional dispute as an alleged coup.
Police were sent late Friday to seal off Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal after right-wing protesters gathered outside to oppose the suspension of its chief justice, Bogdan Swieczkowski, an ally of the country’s former governing party, Law and Justice. The confrontation is part of a decade-long struggle over control of Poland’s judiciary.
Tusk’s opponents accused the government of staging a criminal “coup d’état.” Their claims were quickly echoed by Kremlin-aligned politicians and commentators in Europe, including France’s Marine Le Pen, Britain’s Nigel Farage and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders.
Dmitri Medvedev, Russia’s former president and current deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council, said Sunday that “a constitutional coup is underway in Poland.” Medvedev is also a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.
The dispute has also spread across social media and online forums. Supporters of the suspended chief justice, who continued to control the tribunal’s social media account over the weekend, accused their rivals of committing a putsch, a claim that was subsequently amplified on X, Telegram and internet bulletin boards.
Moscow’s intervention comes as Russia seeks to weaken European support for Ukraine. Tusk has long been a target of the Kremlin because of his strong backing for Kyiv.
Sources: The New York Times World.