SCOOP: European Union slammed for efforts that might "undermine" Poland's elections: "It's about power, control"

THE LOWDOWN:

• HFAC chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) led a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, sounding the alarm that Poland’s government — which is currently controlled by Prime Minister Donald Tusk — is allegedly refusing “to release tens of millions of dollars in public campaign funding that PiS [the conservative party in Poland] is legally entitled to receive.”

• In the letter, Mast warned the move defies “a ruling by the Supervisory Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, a payment demand from Poland’s National Electoral Commission, and an opinion by Poland’s Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) Marcin Wiące to release the money.”

• The European Commission itself is not spared by the Republicans in their criticisms either for what they call “selective enforcement” of its policies that could undermine the broader credibility of the European Union (EU).

• The lawmakers also noted that George Soros’s fingerprints may be all over this potentially improper interference, writing that on “May 15, an investigation by a leading Polish publication reported that a Polish NGO, which received funding from organizations funded by U.S. Democratic Party megadonor George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, facilitated the production of social media advertisements promoting Trzaskowski and discrediting his rivals, PiS-backed Karol Nawrocki and Confederation-backed Sławomir Mentzen.”

Top Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) want the European Union’s (EU) leadership to answer for a series of efforts “that may undermine the integrity of its democratic processes” ahead of Poland’s elections this weekend.

HFAC chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) led a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, sounding the alarm that Poland’s government — which is currently controlled by Prime Minister Donald Tusk — is allegedly refusing “to release tens of millions of dollars in public campaign funding that PiS [the conservative party in Poland] is legally entitled to receive.”

Congress’s findings echo what conservatives in Poland’s government have been claiming for years. Michał Moskal, a member of Poland’s parliament, told the Washington Reporter that “while the mainstream media remained silent, certain documents and patterns, which some of us took the time to examine closely, revealed a deeper truth: the EU’s idea of ‘democracy’ includes foreign-funded influence campaigns, as long as they benefit the liberal opposition.”

“Thanks to recent disclosures, including analysis that I and others shared, we now see the coordinated efforts between [Rafał] Trzaskowski’s camp [in Poland’s liberal party] and figures like Soros, Harris, and Obama’s circle,” Moskal continued. “Not speculation — documented fact.”

In the letter, Mast warned the move defies “a ruling by the Supervisory Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, a payment demand from Poland’s National Electoral Commission, and an opinion by Poland’s Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) Marcin Wiące to release the money.”

“Further, by withholding these funds, the Tusk administration appears to be attempting to cripple PiS’s ability to compete fairly in the presidential election and violating the rule of law,” the lawmakers allege.

The European Commission itself is not spared by the Republicans in their criticisms either for what they call “selective enforcement” of its policies that could undermine the broader credibility of the European Union (EU).

“In February 2024 — after the Tusk government ousted and installed a new National Prosecutor without President Duda’s approval in reported violation of Polish law — the European Commission, under your direction, released $7.1 billion (€6.3 billion) of the funds it had been withholding from the PiS government despite the fact that the Tusk government had not yet implemented any of the ‘milestones’ the EU had demanded the previous PiS government complete for their release,” the Republicans wrote.

The problems in the runup to Poland’s elections also extend to Poland’s reigning liberal government as well.

“Reports of foreign-funded political advertisements favoring Rafał Trzaskowski, the Civic Coalition (KO) candidate backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, that may have occurred in contravention of Polish law, combined with the Tusk government’s reported monthslong refusal to comply with court orders to release public funding to the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, suggest a deliberate effort to tilt the electoral playing field,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers also noted that George Soros’s fingerprints may be all over this potentially improper interference, writing that on “May 15, an investigation by a leading Polish publication reported that a Polish NGO, which received funding from organizations funded by U.S. Democratic Party megadonor George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, facilitated the production of social media advertisements promoting Trzaskowski and discrediting his rivals, PiS-backed Karol Nawrocki and Confederation-backed Sławomir Mentzen.”

“Several sources also reported that Estratos Digital GmbH—a Vienna-based firm majority-owned by Higher Ground Labs, a U.S. fund operated by major Democratic Party operatives who helped run the U.S. presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris—was behind the approximately 420,000 PLN ($105,000 USD) in allegedly ‘illegal political ads’ posted by the Polish NGO on Facebook since April 10, 2025 in support of Trzaskowski,” the Republicans wrote.

Poland’s elections aren’t even the first ones that Estratos is accused by the Republicans of meddling in. It “is the same organization that reportedly played a key role backing the anti-Viktor Orban opposition in Hungary’s 2022 elections, allegedly ‘concealing campaign financing sources, raising additional red flags about their operations in Poland,’” the letter notes.

The lawmakers called on von der Leyen to brief HFAC staff on a series of developments, including the potential role of Democratic Party operatives in the advertising campaign, why the European Commission seems to have a double standard on enforcing sanctions against Polish parties, and what oversight mechanisms it has to prevent groups like those aligned with Soros, “from influencing Poland’s 2025 presidential election.”

Mast was joined on the letter by Reps. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), Andy Harris (R., Md.), Chris Smith (R., N.J.), Keith Self (R., Texas), Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.), Warren Davidson (R., Ohio), and Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.).

House Republican efforts were warmly welcomed by Polish conservatives, like Moskal, who said the “letter to Ursula von der Leyen reveals what many of us have known all along: the EU establishment is not interested in fair democratic processes but in promoting its ideological allies.”

“The fact that foreign political actors, including figures like George Soros and members of the American left, are openly coordinating and funding the campaign of Rafał Trzaskowski should be a scandal in any functioning democracy. This is not about democracy or rule of law — it’s about power, control, and ensuring that Poland never again chooses a government that dares to put its national interest above the EU’s political orthodoxy.”