"Kurek for businessman from Toruń twisted". Tusk at the War of Rydzyk

Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a gathering with residents in Białystok stated that the Polish state would no longer finance empires specified as the 1 led by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk. Tusk emphasized that he is not an opponent of religion and he wants everyone to feel good in Poland. The Prime Minister pointed out that these cases are being sorted out, which means changes in the way the state finances spiritual media.

One of the participants of the gathering asked the Prime Minister whether it was possible to grant a state grant to regional Radio Orthodoxia, which is based solely on contributions of the faithful Orthodox Church. Tusk did not straight mention to the anticipation of granting grants, but his message suggests that the government is seeking to change its financial policy to support spiritual media.

“I have a problem now, due to the fact that I was reasoning about cutting subsidies for... I'm not talking about this station, but I thought that there was no request for more public money for the radio station, which the priest directed," he said.

He pointed out that "if we were to order these matters, and among another Polish states, no more empires specified as the father's empire (Tadeus) Rydzyk will be financed."

He assured that the government's intention was not "to reduce the activity of different communities, forms of culture, expression".

“I am not the enemy of religion, I am the believer... Some, especially in fresh weeks, have been trying very hard to convince the public in Poland that this is any kind of spiritual war, that individual wants to take something from someone. No, we must respect each another and the believers and the unbelievers – we all request to realize that the Republic of Poland is simply a Polish translation of res public – a common thing. I would very much like everyone to feel good in Poland, not that any people have millions or hundreds of millions of people due to their views or close to power, and others have no chance of surviving" - he said.

Objectively, the state should not subsidize any radio, tv or press stations, as media backing is not its role, especially as these media gain on the issue of advertising and the sale of copyrights for their publications.

However, in our country, supporting private media initiatives through public means is part of a political game and is an easy way to support allies.

This was confirmed by Tusk himself, who, by attacking ‘Rydzyk's father's empire’, declared that he would look into the Radio Orthodoxia case and ‘does not exclude’ the grant.

Daniel Głogowski

Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.