Kaczyński, who heads Poland’s governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, announced the move on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
‘We support Ukraine and will continue to do so’
He said in a statement: “Today, Ukraine is fighting for its independence and freedom, but also for our security. We support Ukraine and will continue to do so.”
Kaczyński added: “If making a donation to the fund in support of Ukraine’s armed forces can settle my controversial dispute with Radosław Sikorski, I am doing so with satisfaction.”
Krzysztof Sobolewski, a senior Law and Justice official, posted Kaczyński’s statement on Twitter, together with a photocopy of a receipt showing that a payment of PLN 50,000 has been made to an account at the National Bank of Ukraine.
‘A patriotic solution’
Meanwhile, Sikorski, a former foreign and defence minister, responded by saying in a tweet: “I accept Jarosław Kaczyński’s apology for calling me ‘a diplomatic traitor’ in the form of making a payment in support of the armed forces of Ukraine, as they fight in defence of the entire Europe.”
Sikorski, who is a member of the European Parliament with Poland's opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, added: “I am pleased that we have found a patriotic solution.”
Legal dispute
Tuesday’s move came after a court ordered Kaczyński to pay Sikorski over PLN 700,000 (EUR 149,000) to cover the costs of publishing an apology on a news website.
The court had ruled that Kaczyński must apologise to Sikorski for publicly accusing him of “diplomatic treason,” the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported.
Sikorski, who had sued Kaczyński for libel, stated earlier this month that he would drop the libel suit if Kaczyński made a payment of PLN 50,000 in support of Ukraine’s armed forces by the end of January, according to Rzeczpospolita.
Tuesday was day 342 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, rmf24.pl, polsatnews.pl, rp.pl