Opposition leader caught speeding, loses licence

Donald Tusk, leader of Poland's main opposition party Civic Coalition, has been caught speeding and had his driving licence taken away, an online portal has reported.

According to Interia.pl, Tusk was caught driving at 107 km/h through a village in north-eastern Poland on Saturday morning and lost his driving licence for three months.

According to Polish law, a driver can have their driving licence suspended when driving over 50 km/h above the speed limit in a built-up areas, such as villages, towns and cities, where the nationwide speed limit is 50 km/h.

Tusk was also slapped with a PLN 500 (EUR 106) fine, Interia.pl said.

"Before 11 am police stopped in Wisniewo near Mlawa a 64-year-old driver of a Skoda, who exceeded the speed limit by over 50 km/h in a built-up area," a spokeswoman for local police told Interia.pl.

"He had his driving licence taken away and was given a fine," she added.

Local police did not identify the traffic offender as Donald Tusk, but in a Twitter post later on Saturday Tusk himself confirmed that he was the driver.

"It was a violation of traffic regulations, there is a penalty of a three-month suspension of the driving licence plus 10 penalty points and a fine," Tusk wrote, adding that the penalty was "adequate."

Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, has recently returned to Polish politics after years spent in Brussels, first as the European Council president, and then as the leader of the European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament. He is seen as the main adversary of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling party Law and Justice, whom many consider as the most powerful politician in the country.