Both the leader of Poland’s ruling party and the country’s justice minister are accusing Germany of wanting to control Poland and bring down its government.
“I said from the start that we will not get EU Recovery Fund money because Germany is determined to help Tusk back into power in Poland at the head of a colonial administration,” said Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro in an interview with Poland’s largest commercial radio station, RMF FM.
In the interview, Ziobro said he was surprised “that the Polish government has been giving way for the past two years and that he and the party he leads [Solidarity Poland, a part of the ruling block] had warned about this, and had argued with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to veto the conditionality mechanism for the EU Recovery Fund that had been pushed by the then German presidency of the EU in 2020.”
In June, the European Commission accepted Poland’s proposed operational program for the country’s EU Recovery Fund allocation. But the actual disbursement was tied to the realization of milestones, which included honoring ECJ judgements on dissolving the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court. A law to that effect has been passed, but the Commission now argues that this law does not go far enough in guaranteeing judicial independence from disciplinary actions, and that Poland must implement the ECJ ruling in full, including the return of the judges who had been disciplined by the dissolved disciplinary chamber.
The justice minister said that the scenario being realized was one for the overthrowing of the present government in Poland — he accused Germany of leading this operation. The rule of law issue was being used as a smoke screen and excuse for the realization of colonialism. “There will be no room for any Polish sovereignty,” warned Ziobro, adding that “there will never be agreement for such a course by the present government.”
According to Ziobro, Donald Tusk is the man designated to be prime minister in Poland by Germany. This is why Ziobro is certain Poland will not receive funds from the EU Recovery Fund. He saw the conditionality mechanism agreed in 2020 as German “intrigue.”
Ziobro’s words were amplified over the weekend by the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Jarosław Kaczyński. Speaking at a rally in southern Poland, he accused the leader of the main opposition party, Donald Tusk, of wanting to “subordinate Poland not just to the EU, which has become a tool for Germany, but to the Germans per se.”
He believes Poland, like every other state, must fight to defend its interests and cannot rely on anyone else to do that job.
