According to reports on the 8th, Yarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland's ruling party "Law and Justice Party" and known as Poland's "de facto leader", said that he would never take further measures to meet the rule of law requirements of the European Commission in exchange for 35 billion euros of grants and loans from the European Union.
Poland, which it previously called a "landmark" judicial reform, has set up a disciplinary review body for judges, which has the power to revoke the immunity of judges. In the EU's view, such reforms are inconsistent with the EU's rule of law requirements and require their abolition. However, in October 2021, Poland's Constitutional Court ruled that domestic law took precedence over EU law and that the European Court of Justice could not interfere with domestic justice. To this end, Poland not only did not receive the financial support previously promised by the EU, but also faced a fine of 1 million euros per day by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
It is reported that the Polish government has previously indicated that it will refuse to pay these fines. European Commission President von der Leyen warned that the European Commission would not provide funds to Poland unless Poland took the necessary action against the judiciary.
Kaczyński, the leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party, said that since the EU has not fulfilled its obligations to Poland, there is no need for Poland to fulfill its obligations to the EU
"Anti-Russian vanguard" in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
Warning if forced to "for tat"
Some media pointed out that compared with other EU countries such as Germany and France, Poland's "firm support" for Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict was surprising. According to previous reports, Poland once became an "outlier" in the eyes of Western countries for various reasons, and has been "marginalized" by EU countries, but after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland actively called for the provision of weapons to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, actively accepting refugees, etc., from a "marginal role" to an important member of the "anti-Russian" alliance of Western countries. However, Alina, president of the European Policy Analysis Center, previously analyzed that Europe needs Poland when it is threatened militarily, but this does not mean that the West can fully accept all of Poland's problems.
According to reports, Kaczynski said in an interview with the media that Poland has made "concessions" to obtain funds from the European Union, but this "concession" has not yielded any results. He said: "We have shown the greatest sincerity, but nothing has come of it. Poland has fulfilled the agreement it reached with Brussels, but the agreement has been broken by the other side. He stressed that since the EU has not fulfilled its obligations to Poland, there is no need for Poland to fulfill its obligations to the EU. It is understood that in order to obtain EU funding, Poland came into effect on July 15 with a law abolishing the disciplinary chambers located in the Supreme Court, a move that is considered to be "bowing to the EU". However, von der Leyen said that Poland did take some measures, but these measures were still not deep enough.
Kaczynski said the EU was trying to undermine the rule of law in Poland and warned Polish judges that the first thing they had to abide by was Polish law. In an interview, the party's secretary-general, Kzyshtov, warned that if the European Commission "pushes Poland into a corner," Poland will have no choice but to "retaliate with a-for-tat." "At this time, no possibility is ruled out, and perhaps action will be taken against Brussels to obtain funding," he said. ”
But Gzegorz Setina, one of Poland's largest opposition parties, Civic Platform, believes that this is Kaczynski's "scaremonger" and warns that his remarks could lead to "Polish Brexit", which poles do not want to see.
Polish Prime Minister Mikhail Morawiecki has publicly accused Brussels of overstepping its powers
Judicial, security concepts, currency and other fields
"Old Europe" and "New Europe" are full of contradictions
Some analysts believe that in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland's tough stance towards Russia has eased tensions between it and the European Union. However, some analysts believe that there are deep differences between Poland and the European Union, and these differences also reflect the deep contradictions between "old Europe" and "new Europe", traditional Western Europe and Eastern Europe.
In terms of justice, the Polish side considers its own laws to take precedence over EU law. Ahead of the EU Summit in Brussels in October 2021, Polish Prime Minister Mikhail Morawiecki publicly accused Brussels of overstepping its powers, saying Poland would not be "blackmailed" by the EU. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán supported the situation, saying that the primacy of EU law is not at all in the EU treaty, and that European institutions weaken the power of the national parliaments and governments of the member states. However, Belgian Prime Minister De Croix said that if Poland wants to have the benefit of staying in the EU, it must respect the rules. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte also believes that the independence of the Polish judiciary is a key issue that the EU must discuss. If the issue is not resolved, it will be difficult for him to agree to new funding for Poland.
In terms of the concept of security, Poland also seems to be different from other Western European countries. The analysis pointed out that some Eastern European countries, including Poland, are highly dependent on NATO and the United States in their traditional security issues, which is not completely consistent with the security concept of Western Europe. Some analysts said that after Brexit, Eastern European countries have actually become important "chess pieces" of the United States in the Eu. It is reported that French President Macron has previously bluntly said that NATO is moving towards "brain death", he believes that Europe is standing on the "edge of the cliff" and needs to reposition itself and regain "military sovereignty". He said European countries can no longer rely on the United States to defend themselves, otherwise they will no longer control their own destiny. At the same time, Poland "begged" the United States to establish a permanent base in Poland.
It was also reported that Kaczynski also said that if Poland abandons the Polish currency Zloty, the adoption of the euro will mean that the people will fall into extreme poverty. In his view, Poland's own currency is one of the attributes of independence. It is reported that the Polish government said that the country's accession to the European Union agreement contains provisions for the transition to the euro, but did not specify the duration of the process, and Poland is not ready.
Red Star News reporter Li Jinrui
Edited by Wang He
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