Poland's Russian Influence Bill is a threat to its democracy

topic:	Democracy
located:	Poland, Russia
editor:	Katarzyna Rybarczyk

With parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn, Poland’s right-wing ruling party is attempting to strengthen its grip on power. Last week the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, signed a controversial Russian Influence Bill, drawing international scrutiny and raising fears of an assault on democratic principles.

The new legislation plans to establish a commission that will investigate alleged Russian influence on the internal security of Poland between 2007 and 2022. If an individual is found to have acted in Russia’s interests, the body can initiate criminal proceedings and ban them from public office for up to ten years, without the right to appeal the decision.

The opposition and the Polish society believe that the real objective of the measure is to serve as a political weapon rather than to safeguard the country against foreign interference. The US Department of State shares such concerns and released a statement saying that “the US government is concerned by the passage of the new legislation, which could be misused to interfere with Poland’s free and fair elections” and to “block the candidacy of opposition politicians without due process.” This political manoeuvring paints a worrying picture of stifling political diversity in the country and further polarising the society.

“The new law has been dubbed the "Lex Tusk" because Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk thinks its goal is to prevent him from running in the upcoming elections,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported, and added that the bill “clearly also poses a threat to press freedom in Poland.”

Building on the unconstrained expansion of power, the commission is not only granted authority over political figures, but it also wields the power to interrogate journalists, breaching the confidentiality of journalistic sources. In turn, the bill violates the freedom of the press - an essential element in ensuring transparent government accountability.

As the future of democracy in Poland hangs in the balance, the EU cannot remain indifferent. The European Commission announced that it will analyse the legislation, but concrete measures are needed. The EU should establish an oversight committee which would monitor the workings of the commission, making sure that the body adheres to EU standards of transparency, fairness, and respect for human rights.

Highlighting the urgency of the matter, Pavol Szalai, who leads the EU-Balkans desk at RSF, pointed out: “as long as the commission of inquiry into Russian influence is not clearly subject to the principle of confidentiality of sources and effective judicial control, the possibility of a witch-hunt must be feared.”

Image by Andrew Keymaster

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