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Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday accused the former Law and Justice (PiS) party of misappropriating billions in public funds during its eight years in power.<\/p>\n
Inspectors from the financial administration are currently scrutinizing 90 state institutions, Tusk said in Warsaw. According to him, the PiS government spent the equivalent of $25 billion illegally.<\/p>\n
The conservative-national PiS party, which put Poland on a confrontational course with the European Union, led the country from 2015 to 2023.<\/p>\n
It lost the parliamentary elections last October and Poland. The country has been governed by a centre-left alliance under Tusk since December.<\/p>\n
So far, 62 people are under investigation, while the public prosecutor’s office has received 149 complaints, Tusk said.<\/p>\n
“What stands out the most is a deliberate strategy of using public funds that flowed from the ministries to foundations run by politicians or their family members,” he said.<\/p>\n
PiS had been very creative in using these public funds for election campaign advertising, Tusk added.<\/p>\n
He also spoke of a “closed system” in which not only public funds, but also entire authorities and their employees were used in favour of the ruling PiS party.<\/p>\n
The current interior, justice and finance ministers have signed an agreement to jointly pursue abuses and financial crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice and return embezzled funds.<\/p>\n
Writing on X, former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki rejected the accusations as lies designed to “liquidate the largest opposition party in Poland.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n