Koalicja Obywatelska (Civic Coalition, KO)

EU RANK: 73 (Tier 2: High Performance)

Koalicja Obywatelska is a liberal‑centrist, pro‑EU alliance led by Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) and including Nowoczesna, the Greens and Inicjatywa Polska. Under Donald Tusk’s leadership it won 30.7% of the vote and 157 seats in the 2023 Sejm election, and since 13 December 2023 has headed the governing coalition with Trzecia Droga and Lewica, seeking to reverse PiS‑era institutional changes and rebuild relations with the EU.​

Disinformation and alternative media

As the main governing bloc, KO relies on mainstream television, radio and print outlets, especially private networks such as TVN24, alongside robust digital campaigning, rather than on a separate party‑owned media ecosystem. During the PiS era, KO politicians were frequent targets of hostile narratives on state broadcaster TVP and in pro‑government weeklies, which independent monitoring later characterised as systematic propaganda and smear campaigns. Since 2023, KO figures have played a leading role in restructuring public media, but there is no evidence of KO operating coordinated disinformation networks or fabricated‑news portals akin to those seen in some other countries; debates centre instead on whether the reset of TVP risks reproducing politicisation, not on false‑news infrastructures. Disinformation/alternative‑media DMI risk is low to moderate.

Foreign influence and external alignments

KO is firmly pro‑EU and pro‑NATO, emphasising restoration of the rule of law, access to EU recovery funds and close alignment with European partners. Civic Platform receives substantial state subventions, about 19.8 million zloty annually in the 2020–2023 term and 23.9 million zloty from 2024, alongside significant private donations, with 2023 filings reporting roughly 19.0 million zloty in cash gifts, nearly matching the subsidy. These figures make KO one of Poland’s best‑funded parties but within a transparent framework where donations and subventions are reported to the National Electoral Commission. Major foreign‑funding or hostile‑influence scandals over 2020–2025 centre on other actors, and available oversight reports do not identify KO as a vehicle for illicit external control. Foreign‑influence and external‑alignment DMI risk is low.

Media capture, advertising and public service media

Analyses of media politics in Poland credit PiS governments with building a “full‑spectrum” influence model combining TVP control, regulatory pressure on TVN and state‑owned‑enterprise advertising, while describing KO as the main critic of this system. After taking office in December 2023, the Tusk government replaced state‑media boards and took TVP Info off air pending reorganisation, arguing a return to impartiality; critics, including PiS and some observers, warn that without legal reform this could become a mirror‑image politicisation. KO leaders have also proposed classifying major private broadcasters as “strategic” companies to prevent hostile takeovers, a securitisation of media policy that raises questions about state influence even if framed as pluralism protection. Despite these concerns, there is no evidence that KO currently uses state advertising via SOEs on the scale seen under PiS, and the primary trend has been to unwind earlier capture, not to construct a new party‑loyal media empire. Media‑capture, advertising and PSB‑control DMI risk is moderate.

Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity

Litigation surveys for 2015–2025 highlight a number of major corruption and abuse‑of‑power investigations targeting PiS‑aligned officials, such as the Pegasus spyware probes, the Justice Fund scandal and the Orlen cases, with KO figures more often acting as complainants or parliamentary investigators. One notable exception is the cross‑border corruption case of former Civic Platform minister Sławomir Nowak, whose work as head of Ukraine’s road agency led to joint Polish‑Ukrainian investigations, pre‑trial detention and ongoing proceedings in Ukraine; a Warsaw court dismissed parts of the Polish thread in early 2025 for lack of grounds, but the affair remains a reputational vulnerability. Beyond legacy cases such as Nowak and local‑government reprivatisation disputes, there have been no recent large‑scale criminal convictions of KO’s current national leadership, and the coalition has made rule‑of‑law restoration a central theme. Corruption and institutional‑integrity DMI risk is low to moderate.

Press freedom, harassment and treatment of media

Under PiS rule, KO politicians were among the key targets of surveillance and smear campaigns revealed in the Pegasus investigations, which documented illegal spying on opposition figures and subsequent use of hacked material in pro‑government media. Since 2023, the KO‑led government has prioritised reforms to judicial oversight, surveillance laws and public‑media governance, framing these as necessary to protect journalists and political opponents from state capture. At the same time, some proposals and rhetoric from KO‑aligned ministers about sanctioning highly incendiary right‑wing broadcasters have prompted warnings from civil‑liberties advocates and coalition partners about overreach and the need to uphold free‑speech guarantees. There is no pattern of KO using SLAPP‑style lawsuits to intimidate journalists, but its central role in reshaping TVP and regulatory frameworks means its decisions will be closely scrutinised for their impact on media independence. Press‑freedom and harassment‑of‑media DMI risk is moderate.

Dimension	Risk level	Short justification
Disinformation & alternative media	Low–Moderate	Relies on mainstream and digital campaigning; historically targeted by TVP propaganda rather than running a false‑news ecosystem, though restructuring of public media has sparked politicisation concerns.
Foreign influence & external alignments	Low	Strongly pro‑EU and pro‑NATO; heavily funded but through disclosed state subventions and high reported donations with no major foreign‑funding scandals.
Media capture & advertising / PSB control	Moderate	Driving force behind post‑2023 TVP reset and strategic‑company moves on broadcasters; aims to undo PiS‑era capture but must avoid replicating informal control.
Corruption & institutional integrity risk	Low–Moderate	Legacy scandals (e.g. Sławomir Nowak) pose reputational risks, yet current leadership is not the focus of major corruption prosecutions and positions itself as restoring rule of law.
Press freedom & harassment of media	Moderate	Advancing reforms to protect media and investigate Pegasus abuses, while some hardline rhetoric toward right‑wing outlets raises free‑speech and pluralism concerns.