The internal situation in Poland has become a big topic outside of the country. A debate took place in Strasbourg on Wednesday and EU members had many questions about what the government in Warsaw is doing. The Polish PM tried to convince the European Parliament that, from now on, the Polish courts will be even more independent and that Polish democracy has never been so strong.
Taste of freedom
The debate was supposed to be devoted to the future of the European Union, its relations with the USA, the Three Seas Initiative and security issues.
"In the words of my great compatriot Pope John Paul II, one can hear what's the foundation of a United Europe, he talked about the lungs of a United Europe, that the one in the East and the other in the West are both important," said Mateusz Morawiecki.
But the debate was dominated by questions and concerns on the part of MEP's regarding the rule of law in Poland.
"The law is our best tool to defend our freedoms, to work for social justice, to peaceful settling of our differences and to protect the most vilnerable in our society. We cannot simply turn the blind eye, we cannot simply say it's purely national issue," said the Deputy Chairman of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis.
"Democracy has never been so lively in Poland as it is now. Citizens rights are unhindered. The media are pluralized more than ever before. We are a proud nation and we know best, the taste of freedom," said Morawiecki.
Different voices, same message
"I am under impression that the reality presented in your speech is much different than the reality of your country. You want to control the justice system, limit the freedom of the media, limit reproductive rights," said Tania González Peñas from the Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left.
The opposition has accused the prime minister that, instead of justifying what's going on, he created a make-believe image of Polish reality.
"Frankly speaking, he lied," said Rafał Trzaskowski from Civic Platform. "He says that Polish judges are more independent than they used to be, that Poland is a role model when it comes to respecting women's rights and that 90% of the media are critical of the government. It's as if he thought that no one in Europe was watching what's going on in Poland," added Trzaskowski.
Because Poland is no longer behind the Iron Curtain and MEP's have a perfectly good grasp of internal Polish affairs, the changes made to the Polish Supreme Court have made headlines in Europe and around the world.
"Why does the government dismiss judges because of the political opinion? You referred to Walter Hallstein. He would be very surprised, if he would see, if he would asses that today nobody knows, whether or not, the President of the Supreme Court of Poland is still in office or not," said the Chairman of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber.
"Nobody here knows exactly what is the situation," he added.
The Polish opposition is also informing others about what's going on. Today, during the debate, such visual aides were utilised and appeals have been made to quickly change the law regarding the Supreme Court, just like the controviersial and internationally critizised so called "Holocaust law", which was overhauled and gutted in just a few hours.
"Repeal the Supreme Court law, no one will see this as a sign of weakness. You have the chance not to register yourself in the most hideous words in history," said Civic Platform MEP, Róża Thun.
Law and Justice claims that the MEPs don't understand Polish politics and are looking at them through the lens of their own political reality.
"They think that the process of reforming the Polish judicial system is some sort of attack on the independence of the judiciary. They are applying their own standards. They look at how they do it, and in their eyes, the process of changing is a process of damaging," said Marcin Horała from Law and Justice.
"I am calling on the government to mend the relations with the EU and mend the relations with european countries," said Kukiz '15 MP, Grzegorz Długi.
Proud country
Members of the European Parliament, in their questions, asked about the changes to the abortion law and to the election law, in connection to the European Elections. This was the response:
"Poland is a proud country, please don't lecture us on such matters. We are perfectly aware of how to manage our institutions," said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
After the debate, the Polish PM suggested that the MEPs were misinformed or lacking knowledge and that he was happy to have been able to stress Poland's vision, which is separate but, as he claims, is still common sense.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24, Reuters, PAP