Americans Want Explanations: Who Paid for Ads Supporting One of the Candidates

• American Republican Party politicians have sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen. They express concern about possible foreign interference in the presidential election in Poland and allegations of favoritism towards Rafał Trzaskowski.
• The signatories demand explanations regarding the financing of the advertising campaign supporting the KO candidate, the role of Estratos Digital and connections with American foundations and politicians of the Democratic Party.
• Republicans criticize the European Commission for failing to respond to the actions of Donald Tusk's government, including refusing to pay PiS subsidies despite court rulings, and accuse the EU of applying double standards regarding the rule of law.

- We are writing to express our deep concern about reports of events in Poland that may undermine the integrity of its democratic processes - this is how the letter sent to Ursula von der Leyen by American politicians, headed by Brian Mast, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, begins.

In total, the letter was signed by eight Republican Party representatives , including the co-chair of the Polish-American parliamentary group (Poland Caucus), Chris Smith. The document was first described by Wirtualna Polska.

"Questions about the integrity of Polish democratic institutions"

This concerns the issue of potential foreign interference in the presidential elections in Poland. On May 14, NASK issued a statement warning against such actions. A day later, Wirtualna Polska described how the Facebook profiles "Stół dorosłych" and "Wiesz jak nie jest" published ads targeting Sławomir Mentzen and Karol Nawrocki, and supporting Rafał Trzaskowski . The journalists revealed that the campaign was the responsibility of the Estratos Digital company run by Hungarian politicians, and the heroes of the spots were recruited by activists from the Akcja Demokracja foundation. WNP, in turn, found confirmation that the activities of this company could have been broader - its tools were used by the zabierzglos.eu campaign , which involved promoting political content in the campaign by influencers. Both threads are being investigated by the Internal Security Agency.

The Demagog Association has found evidence of similar campaigns in Spain. Interestingly, one of Estratos' strategic partners is Action for Democracy, an American foundation. The company itself is part of the WPC Group, "an international alliance supporting progressive political campaigns and social organizations."

"These events raise serious questions about the integrity of Poland's democratic institutions and the role of the European Union in ensuring the integrity of elections," reads the letter to the President of the European Commission.

Who paid for the Facebook ads that supported Trzaskowski?

American politicians want to know what role Estratos Digital GmbH and its American owner played in the Polish campaign. Republican politicians are demanding an explanation of whether any US Democratic Party politicians were directly involved.

The senators also demand that Ursula von der Leyen explain which entities paid approximately PLN 420,000 for Facebook ads promoting Rafał Trzaskowski and whether this money came from foreign sources , thereby violating electoral law.

The Americans are also asking what oversight mechanisms the Commission has implemented to prevent non-governmental organizations financed from abroad from influencing the presidential elections in Poland .

The other two questions concern the payment of subsidies to Law and Justice. After the National Electoral Commission rejected the report of the party's election committee on the 2023 parliamentary elections, the Ministry of Finance reduced the funds paid to it. The problem is that the party appealed the resolution of the National Electoral Commission, and the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court agreed with the group. The National Electoral Commission therefore accepted the PiS report.

In the letter, the Republicans accuse the EC of hypocrisy, pointing out that it failed to react, even though it had previously imposed sanctions when the Law and Justice government was accused of violating the rule of law.