Warsaw, Poland. In lengthy testimony, Polish EU leader Donald Tusk has been shown to be considered a Russian intelligence operative by his own nation. Polish authorities are trying to arrest Tusk for treason in connection with the 2010 death of Poland’s then President Kaczynski.
European Council President Donald Tusk testified for eight hours on Wednesday in a Polish intelligence probe by Warsaw’s right-wing government that he described as a smear campaign to discredit him, but those close to the case sat Tusk is in serious trouble.
Tusk was called as a witness in an investigation into former heads of military counter-intelligence suspected of cooperating with foreign intelligence services without Polish official permission.
A former Polish intelligence head has said that Tusk, who was Poland’s prime minister at the time and thus ultimately responsible for the intelligence service, was fully aware of the cooperation with Russia and had authorized it.
Tusk was visibly shaken afterwards, said that he was barred by law from providing any details about the probe. “I have come here because of respect for the Polish state,” he pleaded desperately.
He said he would invoke his immunity as European Council president if he felt prosecutors were trying to make it impossible for him to perform his duties in Brussels. They could do that, for example, by repeatedly summoning him to testify in Warsaw. “I hope it will not come to this, but if it does I will not hesitate,” he said.
Donald Tusk’s lawyer Roman Giertych said earlier this month that prosecutors had threatened twice to use physical force against the former prime minister to bring him to the hearing despite his EU immunity. He said his client fears for his life in Poland.