Civic Coalition has regained 'sense of agency' says Tusk

Donald Tusk, the leader of Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s largest opposition grouping, has said that after eight years out of government the opposition had regained “its sense of agency.”

Tusk was speaking in the south-western city of Wroclaw as he, and the rest of Poland, gears up for this year's general election, which is due to be held in the autumn.

Addressing the crowd, Tusk, who is also a former prime minister, said that a huge anti-government march held in Warsaw on June 4 had added fresh impetus to the opposition movement in Poland.

"Every day I have the feeling that more and more Poles know what is really going on in Poland, know that what we do makes sense, and that it brings hope," said Tusk.

"Even though we are in opposition, even though it has been going on for eight years, we have suddenly regained a sense of agency. And people appreciate that."

As evidence of this, Tusk referred to a recent opinion poll which gave KO a jump of 4 percentage points for the third month in a row.

Tusk, who has long had a difficult relationship with Law and Justice (PiS), the governing party, also launched an attack on the government's intention to hold a referendum on EU plans to force member states to take a quota of migrants or to make a "financial contribution" for the upkeep of those it refuses to accept.

"PiS brought a record number of migrants to Poland; 135,000 visas and work permits were issued in 2021 for employees from Muslim countries," said Tusk.

He added that "the future government of the Civic Coalition will regain control over Polish borders," and that it would "build a reasonable, responsible, safe migration policy."