The Polish prime minister attacks the EU in an interview and does not rule out a blockade of the climate pact.
In the dispute over the rule of law, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned the EU against withholding promised funds for his country, speaking of a “third world war”. “If you start the Third World War, we will defend our rights with all means at our disposal,” Morawiecki told the British newspaper “Financial Times” (Monday).
He also did not rule out that Warsaw could block important EU projects such as the climate package. The background to the current dispute is a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court, according to which essential parts of EU law are incompatible with Poland’s constitution. This decision is viewed by the EU Commission and several other states as extremely problematic, because it could give the national-conservative PiS government an excuse to ignore its unpleasant rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Warsaw has also been criticized for years for reforming the Polish judiciary. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that EU corona aid worth billions will be granted for Poland to block until the country has withdrawn certain judicial reforms.
“With a gun to our head”
The EU Commission violates European law by neither approving nor rejecting Corona aid for his country, said Morawiecki. Poland be ready to wait for this money. “The later we get it, the greater the evidence of this discriminatory treatment and the dictation-like approach of the EU Commission.” In the interview, Morawiecki also mentioned the allocation of so-called cohesion funds against economic and social inequality in the EU countries.
In the interview, Morawiecki accused the EU Commission of making demands on his country “with a gun to our head”. He was alluding to the fact that the authority was against financial sanctions Poland has applied to the ECJ because the disciplinary body to punish judges continues to work despite a different ECJ decision. Poland’s head of government has now again announced the dissolution of the controversial disciplinary body.
Commission stresses the peace-making nature of the Union
A spokesman for the EU Commission said on Monday that interview statements are not commented on. In principle, however, he made it clear that the European Union had successfully contributed to lasting peace between the member states. There is no room for war rhetoric in the relationship between EU countries or between member states and EU institutions.
The ÖVP MEP Lukas Mandl tweeted with regard to Morawiecki’s statements: “This behavior is completely otherworldly.” One must not forget that “we are doing all this for the citizens” of Poland. “They deserve constitutional structures. A government must never achieve anything with such a language (!)”, Mandl called for a “disarmament of words”.
(APA/dpa)