Government spokesman says Braun must be taken seriously as a threat, not as a politician
Government spokesman Adam Szłapka said on Tuesday, 13 October, that Grzegorz Braun should be treated as a serious threat to Polish interests, responding to President Karol Nawrocki's Rzeczpospolita interview on a right-wing Senate pact.
Braun and the Senate pact
President Karol Nawrocki told Rzeczpospolita that the Konfederacja Korony Polskiej party led by Grzegorz Braun has a representation in parliament and, according to polls, enjoys the support of part of the Polish public, so it should be treated as present in Polish politics. Asked about allegations of pro-Russian ties, he said "there are such allegations" and pointed to Prime Minister Donald Tusk's embrace with Vladimir Putin.
The interview came as right-wing parties discuss a Senate pact that President Nawrocki would sponsor. Rzeczpospolita reported that the question of whether Konfederacja Korony Polskiej would be included is open. Earlier that weekend, PrzeKanał published recordings in which Braun attacked people around the president, calling the Chancellery "szmaciarzy" and "Judenrat" after most of his party's candidates were rejected for presidential advisory councils.
Grzegorza Brauna należy traktować poważnie - jako poważne zagrożenie dla polskich interesów.
Ambassador nominations and the Constitutional Tribunal
Szłapka said at the post-cabinet press conference on Tuesday that ambassador appointments are regulated by the Constitution and statutes, leaving no room for negotiation or blackmail by the Presidential Palace. He said the president may refuse individual nominees but has no justification for blocking all ambassadorial appointments. Onet reported that Nawrocki said he would return to talks on ambassadors only with Donald Tusk, not with Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
On the Constitutional Tribunal, Szłapka said the Sejm alone chooses its judges and bears responsibility for that choice, and cited the Venice Commission's opinion.
Kwestie ambasadorskie są uregulowane w Konstytucji i ustawach, więc nie ma tu miejsca na negocjacje czy szantaże ze strony Pałacu Prezydenckiego.
Dispute over security threats
Tusk wrote on social media, "Dzięki za szczerość", quoting Nawrocki's words on Russia and criticising his position on Braun. Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz replied that the post distorts the president's words, stressing that Nawrocki did not question the Russian threat but said it had not risen sharply in recent months. Leśkiewicz listed hybrid activity, information-space operations, sabotage incidents and the Baltic Sea situation as threats, and accused Tusk of using security for political fights.
Maciej Miłosz of Rzeczpospolita told TOK FM that a conventional attack on Poland is currently unlikely, while hybrid threats show a "cumulation" including an arson attack on an arms plant in Skarżysko-Kamienna and an armed missile near Tarnawa. Miłosz described the National Security Council as a "media spectacle" rather than a real security tool.
Coalition reactions
Paweł Kowal of KO, chair of the Sejm foreign affairs committee, said the president needs "more seriousness" on security, speaking at the ongoing Warsaw Security Forum. Szymon Hołownia called comparing Tusk to Braun "completely ahistorical" and said Braun's pro-Russian leanings show up in repeating Russian narratives rather than in praise of Putin.
