FILE PHOTO: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks to the press, while with Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, near a crater in a field left by an unidentified object that appears to be a Russian missile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin province, Poland, July 30, 2026. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File Photo

Polish police detain man over threat to PM and defence minister

· The Straits Times

WARSAW, Oct 11 - Polish police have detained a man suspected of planning an attack on Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Interior Minister said on Sunday.

Marcin Kierwinski told state news channel TVP Info that police had detained a man in his sixties in the Lower Silesia region of southern Poland.

"Security services tracked him down through a detailed analysis of content posted online," Kierwinski said.

Tusk and Kosiniak-Kamysz thanked the police for their "swift and decisive" response in posts on X.

While violent crime is usually rare in Poland, the country is deeply polarised politically and has faced security threats due to its proximity to the war in Ukraine.

In August, police detained a 23-year-old man accused of calling for the assassination of senior Polish politicians.

In 2024, Tusk said he received threats after an assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Authorities in Poland are currently on high alert following a wave of violence in schools that resulted in the death of a caretaker on Thursday. REUTERS