Donald Tusk’s government has sparked fresh controversy, this time over the allocation of funds to Polish universities. Piotr Müller, a member of the European Parliament from the Law and Justice party, wrote on X that the government had announced raising 1,300,000,000 PLN for universities, labeling it a disgrace and recalling that he had warned about the approach earlier in the year. He argued that the decision appeared to lack a thorough investment analysis and questioned why a quantum computer would be needed at the Poznań University of Technology.
The Civic Platform shared a statement claiming that 1.3 billion PLN had been withheld and distributed among universities based on unclear criteria. The post later disappeared from Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party profile, for reasons not publicly explained.
In the days that followed, commentators highlighted the same issue and drew attention to what they described as poor governance in university funding. A headline emphasized that the platform had allegedly redirected more than a billion zlotys from universities, with opposition figures asserting that this move undermined development goals.
Müller: It was Donald Tusk’s personal decision
The post that sparked the debate, though since removed, had been cited by Piotr Müller, who had flagged the matter earlier in the year. He insisted that the funds were presented as a success while lacking an accompanying analysis of the investments’ rationale and outcomes.
According to Müller, the decision affected research projects, infrastructure investments, and the social services of all types of higher education institutions including academies, physical education colleges, teacher training colleges, and universities. He argued that without a proper assessment, the public might view the move as imprudent and counterproductive to long-term development goals.
As an illustration, Müller pointed to the Poznań University of Technology and its purported need for a quantum computer, an assertion he had raised earlier in the year as part of his broader critique of the current administration’s spending choices.
Müller’s interpellation and answers
The interpellation submitted by the MEP included a link to an official response from January of the current year. Jurand Drop, a state secretary in the Ministry of Finance, provided answers to the opposition’s questions.
1 – On November 30, 2023, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ordered the Minister of Finance to transfer government bonds with a nominal value of 20 million PLN to the Pomeranian University in Słupsk. The order is part of a public record from that date.
2 – With the change of prime minister in December 2023, the Minister of Finance requested that the new administration implement the earlier orders for the free transfer of bonds issued in November and December 2023 by Morawiecki, noting that no transfer orders had been submitted to the settlement agent at that time. A ministry letter from mid-December 2023 documents this request.
3 – Following the ministry’s December 14 2023 communication, Prime Minister Tusk issued a revision on December 19, 2023, revoking those prior orders. This sequence of events was described in a parliamentary note by Drop.
In the same timeframe, a letter from Prime Minister Tusk to the Finance Minister outlined acceptance of orders as permitted under the relevant Budget Act provisions, to support the state’s capital increases for entities tasked with public duties. The correspondence cited legal authorities and the framework for managing state property and capital investments.
The parliamentary discourse also included remarks about how communications on social media relate to formal parliamentary questions, with an indication that social posts do not automatically determine policy outcomes, even when they reflect senior government actions. Citations: wPolityce and official parliamentary records.
Source: wPolityce [citation: wPolityce]