“The leader of the PO tries to please everyone, because he probably knows that Poles rate his credibility very low. If he wants to test his piarist tricks in Silesia, he’s in the wrong place. Silesians, and miners in particular, are people who do not tolerate lies,” said Izabela Kloc, MEP in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal.
wPolityce.pl: PO leader Donald Tusk wants to extract Polish coal. But did he do anything about it when he was in power in Poland?
Isabella Clock: While in the Silesian Voivodeship, Donald Tusk missed a good opportunity not to talk about coal and mining. Finally, Śląsk recalls his recent embarrassing words that he did not see a single injured miner during the brutal police intervention in February 2015 near Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa headquarters, when the PO-PSL coalition was in power. If he hasn’t seen it, have him open the internet and search for records of those dramatic events. Photos of wounded, beaten miners evoke the darkest times of the People’s Republic of Poland and the pacification of Silesian mines and factories during martial law. Moreover, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa is the best example of the economic damage that Tusk and the company have caused. Let me remind you that JSW is Europe’s largest producer of coking coal, which is always in demand. Such a company cannot go bankrupt and the PO-PSL coalition almost succeeded. It wasn’t until Law and Justice came to power that JSW got back on its feet and became one of the top Polish economic brands in Europe. In the case of coal, as well as the entire Polish energy sector, Tusk has done much wrong by basing national energy security on the supply of raw materials from Russia, which may have been beneficial for Germany, but dangerous for Poland.
Is the PO chairman trying to please the miners today?
The leader of the PO tries to please everyone, because he probably knows that Poles rate his credibility very low. If he wants to test his piarist tricks in Silesia, he’s in the wrong place. Silesians, especially miners, do not tolerate lies. Tusk and his Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) are in the mainstream of European politics, which has been green-red-rainbow for some time now. This group that holds power in the European institutions is determined to implement the Green Deal in the most radical way possible. They don’t want Polish coal. We must say it plainly: the Law and Justice government is fighting for Polish coal. PiS has a realistic plan to reconcile the European Union’s climate ambitions with Polish economic sovereignty. Hence eg a social contract signed by the government and unions about the future of mining. Tusk’s words about coal and mining are just words tailored to the election campaign. The PO-PSL coalition, even when in power, could not handle mining. After all, we all remember their internal disputes over the division of the loot. PSL ruled in the Ministry of Economy and PO in the Ministry of Finance. At the crossroads of these ministries was mining, torn by conflicting decisions and personnel carousel as both Tusk and Pawlak wanted their own people in the companies.
How does Tusk’s statement today compare to previous statements by politicians from various opposition groups on the need to abandon coal?
Tusk and other opposition politicians dance as they are played in Brussels or Berlin. Let me remind you of one, but probably all-encompassing statement by Donald Tusk while promoting his book “Honestly”. It happened just after the famous European Union summit, when all EU leaders declared to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and only Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki determined that Poland could not commit to this goal, at least for the time being. Tusk responded as follows: delaying the process of moving away from coal means the death of thousands more Polish children. So now that the PO leader has made a 180-degree turn and wants to win Polish coal, is it worth asking him if his opinion of children has also changed?
Can Donald Tusk’s mining announcements be treated credibly in any way?
No statement from Donald Tusk can be treated credibly let alone about mining. Silesia has very bad experiences with liberal formations ruling Poland from time to time. The Balcerowicz plan, the achievements of which the PO refers, led to the downfall of a significant part of the Silesian economy. What they couldn’t sell, they liquidated. Many Silesian towns have still not recovered from the shock therapy financed by Balcerowicz. It was similar to Jerzy Buzek, who is still an idol for PO supporters. Silesians, however, remember that when he was prime minister on behalf of AWS, he liquidated 22 mines. The PO-PSL line isn’t even worth mentioning, as it was a series of failures and omissions that most retaliated against Silesia. This is not even about Tusk himself, but about all the politicians in his formation. They are not and will not be credible in Silesia. Miners are tough, brave and honest people. They can forgive a lot, but they never forget anything.
Thank you very much for the interview.
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-Miserable! Miners were shot at during PO rule, now Tusk is trying to flatter them: “We want to extract Polish coal”
– WE REVEAL. No injured miners? We have a list of victims. “They congratulated me ‘lucky’ to have an eye!”
JJ
Source: wPolityce