Donald Tusk’s government has won a parliamentary vote of confidence sparked by a scandal over leaked tapes of Polish senior officials.
PM Donald Tusk had told parliament that without a pledge of majority support he would not be able to effectively represent Poland in the EU.
The apparently secret recordings have been released by Wprost magazine.
In one, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski allegedly says that Poland’s alliance with the US is worthless.
Donald Tusk’s government has won a parliamentary vote of confidence sparked by a scandal over leaked tapes of Polish senior officials
In another, Central Bank head Marek Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz are apparently heard discussing how the bank could help the governing party win re-election in 2015; such action would be in violation of the bank’s independence.
All have said their words were taken out of context and they deny any wrongdoing.
Wprost said it obtained the recordings from a businessman.
In Wednesday’s vote, Donald Tusk’s centre-right two-party coalition received backing from 237 lawmakers, with 203 against in the 460-member parliament. The prime minister needed a simple majority of 231 for the vote of confidence to pass.
Donald Tusk had called for the vote before heading to the EU summit in Brussels later this week.
The secret recordings were made over several months at locations including high-end Warsaw restaurants.
In a speech to parliament earlier on Wednesday, Donald Tusk said he believed a criminal group was behind the recordings.
Polish prosecutors say they have charged two people with illegally recording conversations and were questioning two more.
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Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called his country’s ties with the US “worthless”, Wprost news magazine reports, giving excerpts of a secretly recorded conversation.
Wprost magazine is already at the centre of another scandal over leaked tapes involving the Polish government.
Radek Sikorski called Poland’s stance towards the US “downright harmful because it creates a false sense of security”, according to the new leak.
The foreign minister has not denied using such language.
According to the excerpts, Radek Sikorski told former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski that “the Polish-US alliance isn’t worth anything”.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called his country’s ties with the US worthless
He also warned that such a stance would cause “conflict with the Germans, Russians”.
Radek Sikorski also used a racially loaded term to describe the Polish stance – “murzynskosc”, which suggests a slave mentality.
“[We are] suckers, total suckers. The problem in Poland is that we have shallow pride and low self-esteem,” Radek Sikorski was quoted as saying.
Earlier this month Radek Sikorski, a conservative and leading critic of Russia in the current Ukraine crisis, was nominated by the Polish government to replace Baroness Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief.
Baroness Catherine Ashton, known as the EU High Representative, will step down in November, but EU leaders have not yet decided who will replace her.
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski told reporters on Monday that the US was a “very important ally and partner”. Radek Sikorski and PM Donald Tusk hit back at the leak, accusing an “organized crime group” of being behind the revelations.
State prosecutors are already examining material provided by Wprost on Saturday, days after a controversial police raid to find separate leaked tapes published by the magazine a week ago. The magazine’s editor had refused to hand over his laptop during the raid, which was broadcast live on Polish TV.
Bugging of conversations to gain information is illegal in Poland, punishable by up to two years in jail, Polish national radio reports. But prosecutors were widely criticized for the raid and PM Donald Tusk said he may have to call snap elections.
In last week’s leak, Wprost published the content of an alleged private conversation in which the head of the National Bank of Poland discussed the next election with a minister.
Under Polish law, the central bank must remain independent of politics.
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Polish Justice Minister Marek Biernacki has said a controversial raid to find leaked tapes that embarrassed the government “should have never taken place”.
Marek Biernacki said the raid on the offices of news magazine Wprost had raised “legitimate concerns”.
Wprost published an alleged private conversation in which the head of Poland’s central bank discusses the next election with a minister.
Under Polish law, the central bank must remain independent of politics.
Transcripts of the recordings, made at a restaurant in Warsaw popular with politicians, were published earlier this week.
A Polish prosecutor, accompanied by state security agents, raided Wprost’s offices overnight on Wednesday
In the recording, Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz is allegedly heard talking to Marek Belka, head of the National Bank of Poland.
Marek Belka is apparently heard calling for Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski to be removed in return for the bank’s support in the event of an economic crisis.
Jacek Rostowski was replaced four months later – but PM Donald Tusk denies this was as a result of the taped discussion.
Donald Tusk backed both men on Monday and said the leaked recordings were “an attempt at a coup d’etat, bringing down the Polish government by illegal means”.
A prosecutor, accompanied by state security agents, raided Wprost‘s offices overnight on Wednesday and its editor said “physical force” had been used in an attempt to seize his laptop.
Justice Minister Marek Biernacki said the prosecutors’ actions could be considered as “too far-reaching” and raise “legitimate concerns about breaching of journalistic confidentiality”.
Michal Krolikowski, the Justice Ministry’s undersecretary of state, added to the criticism, saying there had been “several legal deficiencies and some errors” in the operation.
The emergence of the tapes and the government’s handling of the situation has put Donald Tusk under severe pressure.
On Thursday the prime minister said “the only solution” would be a snap election if “the crisis in confidence” continued.
Donald Tusk and his centre-right coalition won a second term in office at the October 2011 parliamentary election.
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