By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) - Poland’s technology minister slammed on Friday Elon Musk’s claims that the US sponsored a campaign to oust Poland’s right-wing government.
In an interview with Polsat News, a television channel, Krzysztof Paszyk suggested that Musk’s social media post might be an “unfortunate” attempt by the billionaire to “get involved in the presidential campaign underway in Poland.”
“It is not a practice we would expect from a person closely associated with the US president,” he said.
Poland is set to hold presidential election in May, with the far-right candidate’s ratings on the rise.
On Thursday, Musk shared a post citing a Gazeta Polska article that claimed the Biden administration used USAID to funnel millions of dollars into Polish groups working to undermine Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and “push left-wing policies.”
The post also referenced the far-right Polish weekly magazine’s claims that US funds were backing pro-LGBT activism in schools and campaigns to discredit Poland’s border security policies.
In late 2023, a government led by centrist Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party was formed, cobbling together a coalition with leftist and centrist parties to oust the Law and Justice-led administration that had governed since 2015.
The previous right-wing government had clashed with the EU over allegations of breaching democratic and legal norms, leading Brussels to withhold funding as a punitive measure.
The PiS has long claimed that Brussels favored Tusk’s party and helped it win the 2023 election. The right-wing party has been one of the more pro-US parties in Poland, while Civic Platform has tended to be more Europe-centered.
The Trump administration, led by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has moved to dismantle USAID – one of the world’s largest international aid agencies – in a policy shift that has had ramifications in Poland and other countries worldwide.