On the morning of Sunday, October 11, the services reported a warning about a possible assassination of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (TVN24, Rzeczpospolita, Polsat News). Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the special services coordinator, said that the case is being treated “deadly seriously.” The report arrived overnight (TVN24). According to Rzeczpospolita, a message about plans to kill both politicians reached a publicly available e-mail address of the State Protection Service’s chancellery, its author was not the planned assassin but knew his plans, and the case has no link to the attacks at schools; the risk was assessed as very high (WP). WP’s interlocutors in the services were skeptical about the scale of the commotion. After an urgent meeting of the services at the Counter-Terrorism Center of the ABW, Minister of Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński announced the detention of the man who had threatened the prime minister and planned an attack. On TVP Info he added that the man is about 60 years old and was detained in Lower Silesia, and that the lead came from an informant and an analysis of online activity; Polsat News unofficially points to Wrocław. The case was covered by Reuters, AP, BBC and DW. DailyDrop does not know the charges, the motive or the identity of the detainee.
A threat against the head of government and the defense minister is a matter of state security, and the dispute over how to talk about it publicly immediately became part of politics.
No direct threat to residents has been described. It is worth distinguishing a threat from preparing an assassination: charges and evidence will decide that.
Government and services: the signal was credible, the risk very high, and the quick detention shows that the system works.
PiS, Confederation and Andrzej Duda: communicating the case through the media looks like a political show and a distraction from problems with school safety.
Today there is no document yet that would settle this dispute: we have seen neither charges nor evidence. Detention lasts at most 48 hours, so on Monday or Tuesday we will know whether prosecutors are talking about criminal threats or something more serious, and whether the court will order detention.
TVN24, Rzeczpospolita, Wirtualna Polska, Interia, Polsat News, Onet, Reuters, AP, BBC (Oct. 11, 2026)
Man of about 60 detained after threatening to assassinate Prime Minister Tusk and Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz
The services tracked him down thanks to an informant and an analysis of his online activity. The government calls the case “deadly serious,” the opposition a political show.
On the morning of Sunday, October 11, the services reported a warning about a possible assassination of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the special services coordinator, assured that the case is being treated “deadly seriously,” and TVN24 cites an assessment that the likelihood of the threats being carried out is high. The report arrived overnight (TVN24). Rzeczpospolita established that a message containing threats and plans to kill both politicians reached a publicly available e-mail address of the State Protection Service’s chancellery, and that its author was not the planned assassin but knew his plans; the paper sees no link to the attacks at schools. The authorities judged the risk to be very high (WP). A spokesman for the Interior Ministry (MSWiA) announced an urgent meeting of the services, which was held at the Counter-Terrorism Center of the Internal Security Agency (TVN24, Rzeczpospolita). Reuters and AP reported the news around noon, followed by BBC and DW, and within hours Spiegel, Le Monde and Repubblica, among others, had covered the case; BBC wrote that police had received credible information about possible attacks. According to Wirtualna Polska, the Czech government declared its readiness to help. An expert cited by WP appealed for calm, because the aim of such threats is often to cause fear, and an expert on Polsat News expressed hope that the case would not become an element of political games.
In the afternoon, Minister of Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński wrote on social media that the man who had threatened the prime minister and planned an attack had been detained; Tusk thanked the services for their quick and decisive action (Polsat News, Interia). On TVP Info, Kierwiński said the man is about 60 years old and was detained in Lower Silesia, and that the services got onto his trail thanks to an informant and an analysis of online content. According to unofficial findings by Polsat News, he was detained in Wrocław. Detention lasts, as a rule, up to 48 hours; within that time a prosecutor must file a motion for pretrial detention with a court or release the detainee. DailyDrop has not seen any charges, does not know the man’s identity or motive, and does not know whether the detainee is the author of the e-mail or the person whose plans it described, or whether he had real means of carrying out the threats. Threatening an assassination is not the same as preparing one: only charges and evidence will show whether the man really planned an attack or merely announced one.
On Sunday Tusk came to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister on foot, which journalists contrasted with the alert; Dobrzyński replied that the prime minister had full protection (TVN24, WP). According to Onet, politicians of PiS and Confederation accused the authorities of sowing panic and staging a political show, and former president Andrzej Duda said on Polsat News that announcing the case “looks like covering up” the prime minister’s problems with school safety. Former police officers cited by Interia said the signal worries them. WP’s interlocutors in the services, however, were skeptical about the scale of the commotion. DailyDrop found no official information about the involvement of a foreign state and offers no conjecture about the motive.
Three questions remain for today: whether prosecutors will bring charges of criminal threats or of something more serious, and whether the court will order detention; how the threat reached the address of the State Protection Service; and whether the man acted alone. The case will be decided on Monday or Tuesday, because detention cannot last longer than 48 hours without a court decision.