Foreign interference in Poland's election: support and fundraising from the Gyurcsany–Bajnai circle - Part 4

Poland's leftist-liberal side has been given all the financial, political and media support from abroad that it needed to secure a majority in the recent elections. In the fourth and final chapter of our series, we explore the interference coming from the Gyurcsany-Bajnai circle, with a special focus on Action for Democracy and Tibor Dessewffy's intervention in Poland.

Washington, 2009. december 4. Bajnai Gordon miniszterelnök Korányi Dávid kül- és biztonságpolitikai szakállamtitkárral (b) sétál a Capitolium előtt sajtótájékoztatója után washingtoni látogatása második napján, 2009. december 3-án. MTI Fotó: Beliczay László Fotó: Beliczay László

George Soros's purchase of media outlets and funding of NGOs, the withdrawal of EU funds, the exertion of political pressure and interference from Action for Democracy – all these combined have helped Poland's leftist-liberal side ahead of the elections held on October 15. Even from a Hungarian perspective, compared to the 2022 Hungarian elections, serious foreign forces have been mobilized to trigger a change of government in Poland.

The stakes were high: moving further towards a United States of Europe, the adoption of mandatory migrant quotas, and supplying Ukraine with money and weapons.

The foreign influence that determined the Polish elections offers serious lessons from the viewpoint of Hungarian national self-determination. In the fourth and final chapter of our series, we explore the interference coming from the Gyurcsany-Bajnai circle, with a special focus on Action for Democracy and Tibor Dessewffy's intervention in Poland. 

The former, an organization with close ties to David Koranyi, former chief advisor for city diplomacy to Budapest's leftist Mayor Gergely Karacsony, has provided support to Polish groups that were actively involved in the recent election campaign. The weekly Sieci magazine offered extensive coverage on Action for Democracy's activities in Poland and the fact that twelve Poles are among the legal entities that it supports.  

These have been quite active throughout much of the election campaign and also staged anti-government protests in recent years. On its website, Action for Democracy specifically mentions the twelve Polish groups that it backs. 

They say Action for Democracy (Akcja Demokracja) received money from them to "broaden civic engagement and encourage democratic participation". The Eastern Initiative Foundation (Fundacja Inicjatywa Wschód) was given an educational mission on climate policy, as well as financial means to promote the participation of young Polish women in democratic processes. The foundation named National Women's Strike (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet) was also financed from abroad for a similar reason.

Fundacja Liberté! (Freedom Foundation) has received money from Mr Koranyi's circles with the specific purpose of "mobilizing Polish citizens to vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections" through a campaign dubbed Turning Point. The group named "Odważysz Się" (Dare) also received foreign funds for virtually the same reason.

A separate team was in charge of mobilizing young people, obviously in line with the interests of the liberal-left. Using grants from Mr Koranyi, Stowarzyszenie 61 (or Association 61) clearly helped in "informing and mobilizing" young people through social media.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and sociologist Tibor Dessewffy at an event of the Demos Hungary Foundation entitled 'Progressive Politics in the 21st Century', in a Budapest hotel. Photo: MTI/Szilard Koszticsak

In Poland, just as in Hungary, they used a separate legal entity - an NGO named Lublin Self-Help Center (Lubelski Ośrodek Samopomocy) - and stuffed it with money to monitor the orderly, transparent and fair conduct of the elections.  

In its article PolskieRadio24.pl quoted David Koranyi - introduced as President of Action for Democracy - as saying "Action for Democracy is proud to support nonpartisan NGOs that are fighting for the hard-earned freedom of Poles [...] Their voice will be crucial at this historic moment in the consolidation of democracy in Poland and Central Europe."

Thus it looks clear that Mr Koranyi and his circles did not deny, but - through some general slogans and descriptions - acknowledged their intention to interfere. That said in Poland, just as in Hungary, it is impossible to know exactly how much money was provided from abroad, and by whom, to the leftist-liberal organizations that were active participants of the campaign.  

Moreover, through a group named "Do:łącz", Tibor Dessewffy and the DatAdat circle - linked to ex-PMs Gordon Bajnai and Ferenc Gyurcsany - are also present in Poland. As highlighted by Polish public media TVPN in June 2023 - in a piece entitled "Hungarian invention for Polish elections? A mysterious company from Estonia and Soros's think tank" - the main profile of the team was data collection, just like in Hungary.

According to the Polish article, an organization called "Do:Łącz", launched in Poland in March 2023, calling for the boycott of Orlen [the country's national oil company - ed], the liberalization of abortion regulations, the promotion of transgenderism and the introduction of restrictions on meat consumption. The article writes that the project is run by a mysterious company registered in Estonia, which is engaged in data collection, analysis and voter profiling. The owner of the company is Tibor Dessewffy, "known for his links to the Hungarian opposition and billionaire George Soros".

"Fed up with the current government? Do:Łącz [Get involved]," was the not-so-sophisticated message of the leftist-liberal camp, familiar from last year's Hungarian elections. Mr Dessewffy and his circles, Polish public media writes, collaborated with organizations such as the pro-abortion Women's Strike, the Transition website which promotes transgenderism and the LGBT community, and the aforementioned Wschód - also funded by Mr Koranyi and his circles - which staged the attack on Orlen. The project carried out by Gyurcsany's one-time advisor clearly assisted the leftist-liberal side, while attacking the ruling parties during Poland's election campaign.

It is worth recalling that Mr Dessewffy also played a very pro-active part in the Hungarian campaign. His media project called Erosito [Amplifier -ed.], described itself as an epoch-making site, with the aim of circulating certain articles and topics to as many people as possible. Little is known about the site operated by Amplify App, which also happens to be the data controller. Interestingly, the company is based in the Estonian capital, Tallinn. At the same address as the DatAdat OU headquarters. The very same Amplify App also appears in the data controller declaration of the "Do:Łącz" portal.

Another article in Poland, published on the wpolityce.pl portal, does not fail to mention that Mr Dessewffy is a member of the ECFR organization financed by George Soros and his son. "Interestingly, the board itself also includes Danuta Hubner and Radoslaw Sikorski, MEPs of the PO, Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw, as well as Edwin Bendyk, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bathory Foundation and Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz, director of the Strategy 2050 Institute," the Polish right-wing portal writes.

Cover photo: Then Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai walking with his State Secretary for Foreign and Security Policy David Koranyi, in front of the US Capitol following his press conference on the second day of his visit to Washington, December 3, 2009. (Photo: MTI/Laszlo Beliczay)