In Sopot, the pledge was made that the day after the elections the funds from the National Reconstruction Plan would be released, and everyone would feel the impact, stated by Donald Tusk, the leader of the Civic Platform, on Sunday. He emphasized that Poland remains the only EU member where not a euro has yet moved from this money, not a single zloty appearing in the country’s accounts.
The Civic Platform head noted he walked along Sopot beach that Sunday morning and found it fairly quiet. He spoke with concern about conversations with city leaders, mayors, and city presidents who described their sales as down 20 to 40 percent and expressed worry that business conditions were deteriorating. Tusk said it is difficult for him to listen calmly to these complaints and anger during such times.
He pointed to numerous scandals and thefts and to the vast sums of Polish money blocked by the actions of leaders from the ruling camp. He argued that the money sent to Poland has not arrived yet, even though Polish taxpayers will ultimately repay it, with the EU borrowing the funds and states sharing the obligation.
According to him, Poland is the sole EU member where not a single euro or zloty has been disbursed. He accused the government of deception, stating that ministers who align with the coalition claim the money is already working while nothing is functioning under continued governance.
He noted that Italy has already spent and received a substantial portion of the EU funds, underscoring that a little goodwill and competence could unlock the money for ordinary Poles. The burdens of rising prices could be softened if the decision to unblock funds held in Brussels were made.
Appealing to his hometown audience, he pledged again that after the election victory he would begin releasing the funds and that the benefits would be felt nationwide.
In his remarks, Tusk also criticized state-owned enterprises appointed by the opposition, arguing that those who manage bakeries, farms, workshops, or hair salons know the effort required to earn each zloty, while some insiders profit easily from easier routes to wealth.
He reflected on a time when in summer, the seaside town buzzed from early morning to late at night, with beaches crowded and entertainment venues full. He suggested that such abundance reflected a reality many Poles could no longer enjoy, given today’s higher costs.
Tusk warned about the impact of the January 1 changes to social security and health insurance, noting that many people would have to pay nearly two thousand PLN each month even if they earned nothing, a situation he described as a nationwide concern rather than a Sopot issue. The problem, he said, affects the whole country from Zakopane to the Baltic coast.
There was a suggestion that the ongoing political strategy of presenting a traditional street and international line has yielded little tangible success for the opposition. The question remained whether the party’s leader would concede defeat or continue pressing the same political approach as a strategy. This assessment was attributed in part to coverage by press outlets and political commentators as cited by the reporting agency PAP, with the story originally published by wPolityce.
Source attribution: wPolityce [citation].