2017 On 14 July 2017, the Polish national broadcaster
TVP attacked Bawolek because of a question she asked at the press conference of the European Commission in Brussels on the previous day. Bawolek had insisted the
European Commission spokesperson react to developments in Poland relating to a reform of the judicial system by the ruling party PiS. The reforms, widely seen as anti-democratic, did not initially receive any condemnation by the European Commission, leading Bawolek to use a provocative tone with the European Commission's spokesperson when asking her question. On 18 July 2017, the Strasbourg-based
Council of Europe published an alert in regard to alleged online threats made against Bawolek. The Vice President of the European Commission,
Frans Timmermans, defended Bawolek. She was, according to him, doing her job by asking questions in the press room of the European Commission. Other top politicians at the European Commission that expressed support for Bawolek included the Vice president of the European Commission,
Vera Jourova.
2022 In October 2022, Bawolek agreed to an exclusive interview with the leader of Polish opposition party
Civic Platform,
Donald Tusk. The live interview was to take place directly after a summit of the
European People's Party in Brussels, as Tusk and other political leaders left the meeting. A Polish journalist from TVP tried to interfere with Bawolek's interview of Tusk and recorded Bawolek objecting to their presence, all without disclosing their identity. The recording was subsequently aired on TVP in an edited format, with commentary accusing Bawolek of preventing TVP from access to Tusk. The broadcast triggered an online hate campaign against Bawolek, including violent messages posted on her social media. The API's message was echoed by the European Commissioner for Justice
Didier Reynders, who expressed his full support for Bawolek and condemned the smear campaign she faced. ==References==