During a live exchange, Mikołaj Dowejko and Tomasz Piątek took questions as Jakub Maciejewski stepped into the studio. For months, the publicist has been pursuing the author, who commands attention among Civic Platform circles, by accusing him of spreading misinformation about Russia that comes from certain quarters. Maciejewski managed to pose three pointed questions and then added two more, a maneuver that left Piątek with little room to dodge.
Maciejewski to Piątek
Maciejewski opened with a sharp challenge, declaring he was throwing a gauntlet at Piątek and inviting a public confrontation on camera.
You describe this as nonsense and accuse PiS of being pro-Russian, speaking to journalists who cannot verify the claims or lack context. The publicist recalled a strong critique from Tomasz Lis, who reportedly described your approach as using questionable methods. The reference involved a string of names and a hypothetical scenario about holiday plans and Moscow associations, followed by the blunt assertion that the author could be viewed as an agent of Putin. The point was clear, though the connection seemed to be more about rhetoric than verifiable facts.
Piętek did not counter that particular argument, opting instead to steer the discussion toward other issues. Maciejewski pressed further, recounting a trip to Kiev when Polish leaders, including Kaczyński and Morawiecki, were present alongside the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovenia. He claimed to remember the moment Russians shelled the capital upon learning of the visit. He emphasized a broad anti-Russian campaign at the time and asserted Poland played a pivotal role in supporting Ukraine early in the conflict, highlighting decisions attributed to Kaczyński as part of that effort.
Piątek offered a response that, for Maciejewski, seemed off the mark. He suggested that a faction within the Kremlin — a group he described as a pigeon faction — persisted at that moment, with the war still ongoing and peace negotiations under way. Piątek argued that on the same day as the Kiev visit, Kaczyński announced that a NATO mission should be stationed in Ukraine. The claim, as presented, implied that the prime minister’s comments could have derailed peace prospects or disrupted a faction favoring peace within Moscow, a point Maciejewski challenged by asking for a concrete identification of the supposed faction and its members. Piątek, however, did not name anyone specific.
Maciejewski pressed on, noting a five-year gap between a notable meeting and a later public reference to a Kaczyński-KGB encounter. He pointed out that Kaczyński himself acknowledged a detail in a book on governance. He also questioned the relevance of Milczanowski in the public dispute, arguing that Milczanowski remained a participant in the political debate rather than an impartial authority. The interviewer did not relent, continuing to press for clarity and accountability.
The line of questioning moved toward language and verification. Maciejewski asked whether Piątek had knowledge of Russian, or at least enough to read the language well enough to assess raw sources. Piątek replied that he could read Russian, and Maciejewski urged a candid, face-to-face dialogue on camera. The conversation shifted toward the possibility of a joint discussion with an open, forthright posture, and Piątek apologized for not engaging as a representative figure, instead insisting on his own stance as an author and commentator. The push for direct, unambiguous discussion continued as Maciejewski urged Piątek to speak plainly and without evasions.
In the course of the exchange, Maciejewski posted a recording of the confrontation online, labeling Piątek as someone who has maintained a mythic narrative about Russia in Poland. The publicist asserted that Piątek had declined to participate in further dialogue around the issue, and he claimed that an earlier inquiry into the involvement of the PiS president in Kiev had been dismissed as a misunderstanding by Piątek. The publicist pressed for accountability, urging Piątek to engage in a robust, public debate rather than retreat from the conversation. The exchange culminated in a direct invitation to viewers to assess the video for themselves, with Maciejewski inviting continued scrutiny and discussion.
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(attribution: wPolityce)