Tusk still standing - despite tapes scandal

Secret audio recordings featuring officials in the ruling party that were published by the Polish news magazine Wprost, has caused a great deal of controversy on the political landscape.

In one of the tapes, central bank governor Marek Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz were recorded discussing the removal of another minister and ways to put pressure on a private businessman.

Another recording exposes Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski blasting the Polish-U.S. alliance and said British Prime Minister David Cameron's policy on Europe was either reckless or incompetent.

In a speech to parliament, PM Donald Tusk said he believed a criminal group was behind the recordings, aiming to undermine Poland's position and influence its commodity and energy markets according to Reuters News Agency.

He linked the eavesdropping to Poland's role concerning neighboring Ukraine, where it fiercely opposes Russian intervention and to Warsaw's growing weight inside the EU.

"The background is wide and concerns several occurrences that you could observe recently," Tusk said. "They relate to people who acted in the sphere of gas links between Poland and Russia."

"There's an element concerning the coal trade from the east," he added. "The association seems obvious ... the situation in Ukraine and Europe is part of that."

Polish prosecutors said on Wednesday they had charged two people with illegally recording conversations and were questioning two more.

Meanwhile Tusk called for a vote of confidence, which he narrowly won keeping the Polish government whole. Poland's main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS) does not have enough votes in parliament to call for new elections.

This is not the first scandal surrounding Tusk. A couple years ago his son was involved supposedly with financial fraud in a scheme involving investments.