Polish MPs file prosecutor complaint over paid VIP access to President Nawrocki

Criminal referral over paid patronage

On Tuesday, 22 September 2026, Civic Coalition lawmakers Michał Szczerba and Patryk Jaskulski filed a formal notification with the National Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw. The complaint alleges potential trading in influence under Article 230a, paragraph 1 of the Polish Penal Code. The action follows investigative reporting published on 20 September 2026 by Radio ZET and Newsweek, which revealed that a private entity, the Center for Development Strategies Foundation, offered commercial sponsorship tiers granting access to Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Invitations to corporate executives had been sent directly from the email address of Karol Rabenda, a minister in the Chancellery of the President, directing interested companies to the foundation for commercial arrangements. Szczerba requested that prosecutors secure server logs, email correspondence, and electronic data storage devices to identify the operational structure and financial beneficiaries.

This matter is shocking because the president's chancellery was involved in this procedure in the person of one of the presidential ministers, and this service was offered by a specific organization, the Center for Development Strategies Foundation.

Summit sponsorship tiers and VIP access

The controversy centers on the Polish-American Economic Summit, held on Monday, 21 September 2026, in New York under presidential patronage while Nawrocki was in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly. Details reported by Radio ZET, Newsweek, and Onet indicated that the foundation created three distinct corporate sponsorship levels. The tier list consisted of eight Silver packages at $25,000 each, four Gold packages at $50,000 each, and one Platinum package priced at $100,000. Purchasing the top-tier package was structured to include admission to an executive lounge and an individual, private conversation with the Polish head of state. Polish legal scholars, including Supreme Bar Council president Przemysław Rosati and constitutional professor Ryszard Piotrowski, noted that incorporating access to the head of state into corporate sales packages breaches institutional ethics.

Presidential denial and political fallout

Both the presidential chancellery and the foundation rejected the claims of improper access. Presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz described the media accounts as false, and the foundation stated that event attendance was not conditioned on monetary contributions, adding that nobody purchased the $100,000 Platinum tier. Speaking to journalists in New York on Monday, Nawrocki stated that he maintains full authority over his meetings and that his overseas discussions focused on accelerating defense procurement in coordination with the Ministry of National Defence.

It seems obvious to me that for public opinion in Poland, nobody has to pay for a meeting with the president. I decide my calendar myself, and I decide for myself who I meet with and when I meet.

Political reactions intensified in Warsaw on Tuesday ahead of a government session. Prime Minister Donald Tusk referred to the reported pricing structure while urging Nawrocki to approve pending legislation raising alcohol excise taxes, a measure intended to generate 1.4 billion PLN for the healthcare system. Jaskulski questioned whether corporate participants who flew aboard the presidential aircraft to New York had purchased foundation packages, describing the pricing of presidential access as damaging to state institutions.