Tusk’s Civic Platform HQ targeted in Molotov attack
The Warsaw headquarters of the Civic Platform (PO) party, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, was targeted in a Molotov cocktail attack, a Polish MP told PAP on Friday.
Witold Zembaczynski, an MP from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO) led by the PO, told PAP he was among the first people to arrive at the scene. "A witness from inside the premises prevented the fire from spreading after one of the perpetrators threw the Molotov cocktail nearly into the door of our headquarters," Zembaczynski said. Ultimately, the perpetrators fled and, according to the MP's account, one of them shouted: "You f***** Platformer."
The incident occurred shortly after 3pm.
Zembaczynski described the attack as politically motivated. No injuries were reported, though he said "a tragedy was just a hair's breadth away."
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski condemned the assault in a post on X, vowing that those responsible "will not go unpunished."
The minister also referred to a rally organised in Warsaw last Saturday by the socially conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which criticized Tusk's government. During that protest, far-right activist Robert Bakiewicz called the KO "weeds that need to be pulled out of Polish soil."
"After Bakiewicz's disgusting words, we appealed to the PiS authorities to condemn this hate speech," Kierwniski wrote. "However, there was no condemnation. There was admiration."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the Warsaw incident, saying: "A Molotov cocktail is not something one often sees in Poland, but given that Mr. Bakiewicz — who was invited by the opposition leader to speak at a gathering — called for 'pulling out the weeds of Polish soil,' this is perhaps not entirely surprising."
Tusk made the statement on Friday evening during the 14th edition of the European Forum for New Ideas (EFNI) in Sopot, on Poland's Baltic coast. (PAP)
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