Polish leader Tusk claims Russia-linked crypto firm backed Nawrocki's presidential bid

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a cryptocurrency firm built with “Russian money” had sponsored Polish politicians from the former national-conservative government as well as a CPAC ( Conservative Political Action Conference ) event in Poland last year, where Kristi Noem, the former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, openly backed nationalist Karol Nawrocki to win the Polish presidency.

Tusk was speaking on Friday in the Polish parliament, before a parliamentary vote to overrule Nawrocki who had rejected regulations of the Polish crypto-asset market. Nawrocki has vetoed two separate attempts by the liberal government to regulate this market in the past six months.

Tusk claimed that the blocking of regulations by some Polish politicians indicated they were serving the interests of a specific company, Zondacrypto, which had in the past provided them with financial support and which had links with Russia.

“The source of this company’s financial success is not only Russian money linked to the so-called Bratva, one of the most important mafia groups in Russia, but also to Russian secret services,” Tusk said in his parliament speech.

Tusk said Zondacrypto at the same time “sponsors political and social events in Poland and promotes very specific political forces,” including by financing politicians of the formerly governing Law and Justice as well as of the far-right Confederation.

Tusk also said that Zondacrypto had been a strategic sponsor of a meeting of The Conservative Political Action Conference, the United States’ premier conservative gathering, in Rzeszow, eastern Poland, in March 2025. That meeting took place just five days before presidential elections in Poland which were a tight confrontation between a candidate of Tusk's liberal camp and Nawrocki, backed by Law and Justice.

During that meeting, Kristi Noem, then the U.S. homeland secretary, described the liberal candidate as “an absolute train wreck of a leader” and Nawrocki, who was attending the CPAC meeting, as someone who would lead Poland in a style similar to Trump.

“We need you to elect the right leader,” Noem, a prominent Trump ally, said in a speech at the event. “You will be the leaders that will turn Europe back to conservative values.”

Tusk also said that, when deciding to veto the new crypto regulations, Nawrocki was “fully aware” of all the details concerning Zondacrypto.

In response to Tusk's accusations, Zbigniew Bogucki, the head of the president's office, said Nawrocki was not opposed to the need to regulate the crypto-assets market but just to the “flawed regulatory model” proposed by the government.

Confederation leader Sławomir Mentzen said the new legislation would have “destroyed the Polish cryptocurrency market."

The government says the new regulations are meant to bring Poland in compliance with European Union rules on crypto-assets.

Zondacrypto did not reply to questions from AP about Tusk's accusations but it told Polish media earlier this week it was cooperating with Polish authorities investigating accusations against it.