WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday accused the previous Polish government of illegally spending 100 billion Polish zlotys ($25 billion) and announced that the government will attempt to reclaim the money.
Tusk said six months of investigations and audits had revealed widespread financial abuse, with 62 members of the former “ruling elite” charged so far.
Tusk is a centrist who leads a broad coalition that won a national election last year on a promise to restore democratic standards. The government took power in December after eight years of rule by the national conservative Law and Justice party.
Law and Justice was accused by the EU of undermining democratic norms. Polish media also reported alleged cases of nepotism and corruption during their years in power, such as state funds going to party loyalists and foundations.
Tusk was speaking at a news conference in Warsaw, where the heads of the interior, justice and finance ministries signed an agreement to coordinate work to secure and recover the missing state assets.
Tusk said it was the “first time in Poland’s history” that former government officials “have been held to account so quickly and so effectively.”
Tusk’s predecessor, Mateusz Morawiecki, accused Tusk of spreading “lies” aimed at damaging Law and Justice, the country’s largest opposition party.
