Poland prosecutors summon EU's Tusk as witness in intel probe

PanARMENIAN.Net - Polish prosecutors on Monday, March 13 summoned European Council President Donald Tusk as a witness in a case against former secret service officials that relates to events when Tusk was Poland's prime minister, Reuters reports.

The summons announcement came two days after Poland's foreign minister said the government would start obstructing European Union business after the bloc angered Warsaw by reappointing Tusk as chairman of EU summit meetings.

Prosecutor Michal Dziekanski said Tusk had been summoned to testify in the investigation against former heads of the military counter-intelligence services (SKW) who are "charged with co-operating with intelligence services of another country without the required authorization of the prime minister."

Dziekanski of the district prosecutor's office in Warsaw said the summons was compulsory. But Tusk's spokesman said he would not be available for the March 15 summons because he had prior engagements in the European Parliament.

Tusk is a long-standing rival of Poland's ruling PiS party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Polish media has reported the investigation is focused on the co-operation of intelligence officials with Russia, including the exchange of information after the Polish presidential jet crashed in Russia in 2010.

Kaczynski's twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, who was president at the time, was killed in the crash and his sibling has said he holds Tusk's government at least partially responsible for the disaster, citing negligence.

Kaczynski, 67, holds no government post but is seen as Poland's main decision-maker.

The Polish government of the eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party has already clashed with EU's executive arm, the European Commission, over issues including the rule of law, migrants, climate policy and environmental protection.

The EU's executive arm last year accused the Polish government of undermining democracy and rule of law in Poland after the party overhauled the constitutional court to make it more difficult for judges to block new legislation.