Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki handed in his resignation to the Polish parliament after its first post-election sitting. He was obliged to do so by the constitution, but later in the evening, he was asked by President Andrzej Duda to try and form a government.
This mission is almost certain to fail since there is now a parliamentary majority composed of Donald Tusk’s liberal Civic Coalition (KO), the Third Way alliance and the Left party. It has signed a coalition agreement and elected a speaker of parliament from among its midst on Monday.
Morawiecki addressed the MPs to sum up his time in government and warned about the dangers of proposed EU treaty changes currently being debated by the European Parliament (EP). He reminded that it was only the determination of the conservative PiS government he led that saved the Turow coal mine and power plant from closure, which would have reduced Polish power capacity by 6%.
The outgoing PM said that the treaty reforms being proposed would take away Poland’s ability to decide its own energy mix, and the EU could close Polish mines and power stations at will, forcing the country to import electricity. He also said that the proposals would enable the EU to level new taxes on the member states without the member states being able to veto them.
In addition, the treaty reforms would, according to Morawiecki, enable police forces from other countries to take action on Polish territory without Poland having a say in the matter. He also warned that Polish borders could be manned by foreigners and the wall built on the border with Belarus could be dismantled.
Morawiecki argued that the proposed qualified majority voting also meant that in reality Germany and France and their partners would rule the EU, adding that many EU leaders were quite open about the need to do away with nation-states.
