Democracy Digest: Poland Investigates Arson of Drone Factory as Suspected Russian Sabotage
Elsewhere, Hungary indicates it might not be the kind of pliant partner the EU had hoped for; draft of Czechia’s 2027 budget met with criticism from all quarters; Slovakia defies Kremlin warning over signing Ukraine compensation convention.
Polish authorities are investigating a deliberate arson attack at a defence industry plant as a possible act carried out on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. The fire broke out on August 31 at a WB Electronics facility in Skarzysko-Kamienna, central Poland, where unmanned aerial systems are manufactured. Prosecutors said an incendiary device containing flammable materials had been planted at the site, destroying warehouse space and causing damage estimated at least 15 million zlotys (3.5 million euros). No suspects have been charged so far. PM Donald Tusk said on Wednesday there was “no doubt” that the fire had been deliberately set. “We are dealing with an act of sabotage,” he said, warning that the coming weeks and months would be particularly challenging for countries in the region because of Russian efforts to “increase tensions and destabilisation”. Prosecutors are investigating the incident as participation in the activities of a foreign intelligence service and a terrorist offence. The case is being handled jointly by prosecutors, Poland’s ABW Internal Security Agency and the police. On September 3, the Foreign Ministry summoned Russian ambassador Gieorgij Michno to protest what it called an escalation in Moscow’s aggressive actions. Poland has previously blamed Russian intelligence for a series of arson and sabotage operations targeting infrastructure and commercial sites across the country and elsewhere in Europe.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France met in Weimar on Thursday to mark the 35th anniversary of the Weimar Triangle – a trilateral forum bringing the three countries together – with Russian hybrid operations dominating the agenda. The meeting came two days after Germany publicly blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig airport in August, where a drone carrying explosives and a detonator was found near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft. Berlin responded by announcing the closure of Russia’s consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Warsaw’s decision to summon Russia’s ambassador was partly in solidarity with Germany and to condemn what he called Russian “state terrorism”. “We will not accept arson attacks, attacks on railways, further murders and provocations,” he said standing alongside the German and French foreign ministers. Sikorski said on Wednesday that Russia remained one of the gravest threats to European and global security: “We are not seeking conflict with Russia, but it appears that Russia is waging a hybrid war against us.”
Hungary PM looks to recover ECJ fines; Orban’s son central figure in Chad mission
Statements made by PM Peter Magyar this week indicate that Hungary might not be the kind of pliant partner the EU had hoped for after his predecessor, Viktor Orban, was turfed out of office. Magyar met with Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), and European Council President Antonio Costa earlier this week, and made clear he would strongly defend Hungary’s rights and interests during the talks over the next seven-year EU budget (MFF). Magyar said in a Facebook post that his Tisza party would like to become a full member of the EPP, the European political family of centre-right parties that Orban’s Fidesz left in 2021 before being expelled. However, before that can happen the Article 7 procedure – a punitive measure which removes voting rights of member states – against Hungary would have to be closed, he said. The procedure was launched by the European Parliament in 2018, but needs a formal decision by the Council of the EU to end the process. Magyar also touched on the sensitive subject of the 1 million euros Hungary is paying daily for failing to comply with EU asylum regulations. The case dates back to the Orban government’s decision to close the controversial transit zones at the border, while making it next-to-impossible to submit asylum applications from within Hungary. Under the current system, asylum applications can only be submitted at Hungarian embassies in Belgrade or Kyiv. Last year, Hungary received 113 asylum applications and granted refugee status, subsidiary or humanitarian protection to just 35 people. Weber reportedly offered to help in settling the issue, but Magyar stressed the border fence will have to remain in place. Reopening the transit zones would be highly controversial, as the opposition would use it as evidence Magyar is bowing to pressure from Brussels. On the other hand, the fines have already reached around 1 billion euros – a significant loss of revenue for the Hungarian budget. Magyar floated the idea of recovering this money in the framework of the MFF negotiations. In another move likely to be frowned on in Brussels, the Hungarian government blocked Ukraine’s EU accession process for the third time this week, arguing insufficient progress on minority rights.
The family of former PM Orban was back in the headlines this week as documents obtained by news site 444.hu confirmed what had long been suspected – that Orban’s son, Gaspar, was the driving force behind Hungary’s planned military mission to Chad (and not the wild conspiracy theory of Hungary serving Russian interests in the region). The idea originated during a trip to Niger in May 2023 by Orban Jnr and Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s deputy state secretary responsible for helping persecuted Christians. The two initially planned an agricultural project there – a model camel farm supported by the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Farmers from Niger would have been instructed by Hungarian experts on how to process camel milk and produce dairy products. However, after a military coup in Niger in 2023 attention shifted to Chad, where the project’s aims were significantly expanded. In addition to the planned model farm, it was to include a medical and a military mission involving up to 200 Hungarian soldiers. According to the documents now obtained, Orban Jnr functioned as the pro-forma leader and central coordinator of the project. Virtually all major decisions – from when to buy plane tickets for experts to arranging the shipment of medical equipment – depended on him. In a previous interview, former defence minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky had tried to defend the mission and Orban Jnr’s role in it: “Gaspar Orban is a military officer… He goes wherever he is ordered to go. I assigned him as a liaison officer.” The newly published documents prove otherwise. In the end, the Chad government lost enthusiasm for the project. Although 27 billion forints (73.5 million euros) were earmarked for the mission in the 2026 budget, the plan was quietly shelved by Orban as the April election approached.
Czech budget talks face uphill battle; far-right party cleared of hate speech over billboards
After weeks of closed-door meetings with individual cabinet members, Czech Finance Minister Alena Schillerova on Monday presented the draft of next year’s state budget, which should be officially approved by the government by the end of September. Among other grievances expressed across the political spectrum, the planned deficit of nearly 400 billion crowns (about 16 billion euros) – the second highest in modern Czech history – has sparked criticism from the president, opposition parties and from even within the ruling coalition’s own ranks. “The [draft] budget does not seem good to me, the planned deficit is really high considering that we are in a period of economic growth… and at the same time inflation is low, so there should be an effort to consolidate finances rather than increasing deficits,” commented President Petr Pavel. Opposition parties, too, have slammed an “irresponsible” and “dangerous” budget proposal. More importantly, criticism also came from within the three-party coalition, with Motorist party chairman and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka coming out – albeit rather cautiously – against the size of the deficit. Negotiations continued on Thursday between PM Andrej Babis and the Motorists, with another meeting planned for Monday with the far-right SPD, which also expressed doubts about the first draft. “We stand behind the budget,” Babis said. “Of course, critics don’t go into details and aren’t able to say where savings should be made. Should we stop all highways, stop investments in hospitals?” he asked rhetorically, expressing surprise at the level of criticism after having held talks with all cabinet members.
The Prague Municipal Court ruled this week that the far-right SPD, chaired by House Speaker Tomio Okamura, cannot be found guilty of incitement to hatred linked to a controversial billboard campaign the party ran ahead of regional and senatorial elections in 2024, which critics widely criticised as overtly racist and xenophobic. Although the appeals court conceded that “the form used was simplistic, sometimes provocative… such a way of expressing oneself is typical of election campaigns and debates”. Thus, it did not constitute hate speech. Okamura welcomed this week’s verdict as a victory for free speech while taking a potshot at the “scandalous inquisitorial investigation” and “illegal criminal prosecution of myself”. The court, meanwhile, emphasised the ruling is not an “assessment of the correctness of the [SPD’s] political views”, but an evaluation of “whether the limits set by criminal law were exceeded”. This is the second judicial victory for Okamura’s movement in recent weeks, with a district court of Prague ruling in late August that the Interior Ministry violated, back in 2022, the rights of the party by including it in its annual report on extremism.
Slovakia defies Kremlin warning; questions surround hydropower deal
The government on September 2 approved the signing of a convention establishing an international commission to handle compensation claims for damage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A week earlier, PM Robert Fico had halted discussion of the proposal after Slovakia received a warning from Moscow. Dennik N obtained an email sent on July 10 by Slovakia’s ambassador in Moscow, Peter Priputen, reporting that a Russian Foreign Ministry official had contacted the embassy about the planned International Claims Commission for Ukraine. The Russian diplomat warned that Moscow would consider Slovakia signing the convention an “unfriendly step” at odds with the current state of Slovak-Russian relations. Priputen wrote that while Moscow did not appear to attach major importance to the issue at that stage, a stronger response could not be ruled out if Slovakia signed. The Foreign Ministry had recommended joining the initiative, which is backed by the Council of Europe and the Netherlands and is intended to assess compensation claims arising from Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yet when the proposal came before the government on August 26, it was the only item on the 54-point agenda not approved. The opposition party SaS linked the decision to the Russian warning. The Foreign Ministry rejected this, describing the contact from Moscow as a routine conversation between diplomats. After the Moscow-friendly government approved the proposal on September 2, Fico acknowledged that he had ordered the discussion suspended the previous week, saying his ministers needed additional information. He insisted he had only learnt about the Russian objection on September 1 and said it was “completely normal” for foreign diplomats to tell the government when they disagreed with its decisions.
A 465-million-euro contract to overhaul the Gabcikovo hydropower plant has become the latest source of friction inside Fico’s governing coalition, while also prompting questions over the price and transparency of one of the country’s biggest public contracts. State-owned Vodohospodarska vystavba awarded the contract to a consortium of Austria’s Andritz Hydro and Slovak company VUJE. The winning bid was almost 100 million euros above the estimated 371-million-euro value of the tender. Of three bidders, two were excluded, leaving the Andritz-VUJE consortium alone in the final stage. SNS, a member of Fico’s coalition, has called for the tender to be cancelled, arguing the project is overpriced. The intervention comes as SNS is also pushing for Environment Minister Tomas Taraba – an SNS nominee – to leave office in September. Fico, by contrast, has strongly backed Taraba and praised his handling of the project. There are questions, too, over the role of VUJE, whose publicly listed expertise is primarily in nuclear energy and electricity infrastructure rather than hydropower. Until early this year, its board included Peter Liska, now Fico’s commissioner for nuclear energy and a former adviser to the prime minister. The division of work between VUJE and Andritz has not been made public, while sections of the contract detailing the timetable and financial flows were redacted. The opposition party Demokrati are demanding that the full agreement be released. Gabcikovo, which generates about 10 per cent of Slovakia’s electricity consumption, is in need of major modernisation. The first new turbine is due within two years, with all eight expected to be replaced by 2035-36.
Source: balkaninsight.com
