Poland arrests man in suspected plot to assassinate Prime Minister Tusk and the defense minister

Polish police on Sunday detained a man in his sixties in Lower Silesia on suspicion of planning an attack on Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak Kamysz, in what officials described as an exceptionally serious threat.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski announced the arrest on Sunday afternoon. Earlier in the day, police said they had received information about a possible plot against the two leaders. Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesman for the minister coordinating Poland's intelligence services, said authorities considered there was a "high probability" the threats would be carried out. "We take this matter extremely seriously," he said after an emergency meeting of security services, police and Interior Ministry officials.

The plot surfaced through an email forwarded to police by the State Protection Service, the agency responsible for ministers' security. Polish broadcaster TVN24 reported that a person alerted the services about an individual seeking volunteers to carry out an attack with firearms. The informant described meeting a man named Krzysztof with whom he had discussed weapons, hatred of the government and a planned mass killing. Unofficial reports said the suspect had a detailed schedule of the prime minister's movements in the coming days.

Tusk confirmed the detention on X. "The man who threatened an attack was detained," he wrote. "Thanks to the police for fast and decisive action."

Government spokesman Adam Szlapka said Tusk learned of the threat first thing Sunday morning. He called the signal "significantly more disturbing" than the routine threats officials receive, though Tusk continued working normally. Officials said the decision to make the case public was deliberate, to prevent speculation and misinformation about the emergency meeting.

The arrest comes during a week of heightened alert in Poland. Three attacks at schools in Mazovia province took place within four days, leaving one person dead and several wounded, including children. On October 7 a 19 year old wounded nine people in Ostroleka. On October 8 a 15 year old killed a 37 year old caretaker and wounded two teachers in Leszczydol Nowiny; Tusk said that attacker wore a helmet mounted camera. On October 10 a 21 year old woman injured three people at an educational institution in Warsaw.

Authorities detained 76 people in connection with the school attacks and checked nearly 50,000 schools nationwide. Tusk said he feared "a grim copycat phenomenon" and ordered daily police visits to schools.

Poland is also on alert over fears of Russian hybrid operations aimed at weakening Western support for Ukraine. Dobrzynski said the intelligence services were receiving an increasing number of threats every month.