Today’s news round-up in Poland

Start your day with a summary of today’s top stories from Poland’s leading news sites.

TVPInfo.pl – State-owned broadcaster TVP Info cited a report by its sister organisation, TVP World, that claimed that the apparent bugging of the phones belonging to opposition figures in Poland may be linked to the murky world of a Russian intelligence operation. It was thought that the figures had had their phones hacked by Pegasus, a sophisticated spyware programme which may have been installed by the state. But, according to the story cited by TVP Info, the whole affair could be the creation of an elaborate plot by the Russians to sow doubt in the public's mind over the integrity of the Polish state.

Wyborcza.pl – The newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza published an open declaration signed by the editors-in-chief of a number of media organisations pledging to uphold their commitment to independence and the journalistic values of objectivity, reliability and honesty. The declaration said that in recent days the Onet and Wirtualna Polska websites had published stories on how "people in power" had tried to curb editorial freedom through pressure.

TVN24.pl – Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the governing Law and Justice party, has no idea about the life of the average Polish woman, said Anna Maria Zukowska, an MP from the Left, during an interview for the news broadcaster TVN24. Her words came after Kaczynski dismissed suggestions to hold a referendum on abortion at the same time as the Law and Justice wants to hold on EU immigration policy. "He doesn't know about a woman's life and he doesn't know what the daily struggle for a woman looks like," said Zukowska.

Rp.pl – The return of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, to the government will not improve his party's fortunes in this autumn's general election according to an opinion poll published in the newspaper Rzeczpospolita. The IBRiS poll found that 39.3 percent of respondents thought Kaczynski becoming deputy prime minister will not change anything and 30.9 thought his return could actually damage his party's prospects while only 24 percent thought it would improve PiS's chances.