In a tweet, a former prime minister, Donald Tusk, weighed in on the referendum topic by urging that the question from the defense minister should address the construction of a genuine barrier on the border with Belarus. The defense minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, responded by turning the spotlight onto the opposition leader, saying that the barrier is real, that it functions at the border, and that the opposition has been seen promoting pizza in advertising bags during their campaigns.
Tusk on “Błaszczak’s fence”
It is worth recalling that the defense minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, had signaled that the fourth referendum question would be: Do you support removing the barrier on the border between Poland and Belarus? A short time after this outline appeared, Donald Tusk posted his thoughts on social media. He acknowledged that the barrier will not be raised in a year or three, and then the opposition leader, once again, mocked the project, dubbing it “Błaszczak’s wall” and suggesting that the question needed a change in wording.
With daily reports of migrants crossing the border, a practical question emerged: do you support building a real barrier on the border with Belarus?
– wrote the head of the opposition, Donald Tusk, on Twitter.
The head of the Defense Department replies to Tusk
The head of the Ministry of National Defense did not let the exchange pass without response. Minister Błaszczak challenged Tusk’s argument and asserted that the barrier is effective. He stated clearly that on the Belarusian side it stops large flows of illegal migrants, and on the Polish side it curtails political stunts by some opposition members carrying pizzas and advertising bags.
– the Minister of National Defense claimed.
In this ongoing debate, the core issue remains the purpose and future of the border barrier, along with how the referendum questions should reflect the real security concerns of the country.