The attempts to close the giant Turów lignite mine is an attack on Polish sovereignty, and the Polish government will not budge in its opposition to the plans, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, told a rally at the site.
The government reacted to its failure to increase its poll ratings in recent weeks by scrapping the idea of holding a major rally in the city of Łódz in central Poland. Instead, the party hurriedly organized a rally in Bogatynia in Lower Silesia, the site of the huge Turów mine and power plant complex. The mine has been the subject of legal action by the Czech government and environmental groups but is seen by the present government as still being critical to Polish energy production.
Kaczyński used the occasion of the weekend rally to send a clear message of Poland’s determination to maintain sovereignty in energy and other policy areas. He said that his party would not allow “anyone from outside to decide who is made unemployed in Poland.” He added that the rally in Bogatynia was an expression of solidarity with people who had been attacked and their livelihoods threatened.
The PiS leader was proud of Poland having the lowest unemployment in the EU and said that this was a record his party would defend, but, most of all, it would defend Polish sovereignty and freedom.
In his speech, Kaczyński confirmed that the ruling party intended to hold a referendum in Poland on the EU Migration Pact, another critical issue for Poland to maintain its sovereignty. He said this was needed to ensure that Poland would not return to being a post-colonial state but a partner inside the EU.
Kaczyński also touched on the unfolding events in Russia, arguing that Russia was reaping what it had sowed. “It shows how aggression ends when the attacked is capable of defending themselves and has support from others. And we are the country that supports the most,” he said, emphasizing Poland’s important role on the international stage.
