Ruling Party Leader Announces Major Campaign Event Around End-Aug/Early Sep

In a wide-ranging interview with PR24 radio, ruling Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced that the party will hold a major campaign event ("which will not be our final biggest [campaign] rally") at the end of August or beginning of September to outline an election manifesto "touching upon all areas of life."

• The leader said that he never expected the release of EU recovery funds earmarked for Poland to happen before the upcoming parliamentary election. However, he is "convinced" that the money will be disbursed once the outcome of the election is known.
• The official noted that he wants to maintain his coalition's majority in parliament, adding that he believes that it is a "difficult but achievable" goal. He said that this goal may require some tweaks to managing the election campaign "which we wouldn't want," but which may help achieve victory.
• Kaczynski, who doubles as Deputy Prime Minister, assessed that the "Wagner Group is in Belarus to create different sorts of crises, mostly targeting Poland. We don't know yet if it will be a continuation of hybrid warfare, but in a more acute form, or something even worse. We have to be prepared."
• Kaczynski said that the controversial committee for investigating Russian political influence in Poland will be created, despite recent delays. The plan to create the panel drew international condemnation amid the perception that PiS could use it to attack political opponents.