The leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, explained in an interview with Gazeta Polska that after the European Union summit, Poland now has tools to better protect its sovereignty than it would have had without a compromise.
He said that everything that could have been gained was achieved.
“On one hand we secured the position of our country within the EU and on the other, we strengthened the Polish budget and the economy with a powerful injection of funds,” he said.
Kaczyński referred to claims that Poland should have demanded the withdrawal of the rule-of-law mechanism entirely from being tied to the EU budget. He pointed out that even if the mechanism was removed now, it could be introduced again in a few months and Poland would have no way of stopping it again.
“I want to note that only a qualified majority would be needed and one would be found,” stressed Kaczyński
The deputy prime minister also assured that the government was not naïve and was aware that the EU majority could break the compromise. He explained that the summit’s decisions give Poland strong arguments to fight for its interests. Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PiS, deputy PM of Poland: We can all see what the EU is like, but our formation is the only one able to defend Polish interests in these extremely difficult and unfair conditions. What would happen if the Civic Coalition was in our place? They would agree to everything. “The compromise is like a sword, which we can use in the case of an attack. If we had not negotiated it and not led to such a precise formulation of the effects of our arrangement, we would be much less efficient. We still have control over the situation,” he said, adding that the European Commission had fulfilled its obligation and confirmed the negotiated text word for word.
Kaczyński said that while he agreed that the EU currently was not the most reliable institution, he believed that it was better to have a weapon in hand in the form of the compromise than to be left without it.
He also spoke in context of the stability of the United Right coalition following Zbigniew Ziobro’s announcement that his party Solidarity Poland will vote against the compromise in Polish parliament.
Kaczyński hoped that common sense and care for Poland’s interests would prevail. The leader of PiS underlined that the United Right was a broad political camp and that there were highly differing groups within the coalition. All the groups were aware that it was the current government majority that could most efficiently reform Poland, develop it and defend its sovereignty.
“We can all see what the EU is like, but our formation is the only one able to defend Polish interests in these extremely difficult and unfair conditions. What would happen if the Civic Coalition was in our place? They would agree to everything,” he said.
Kaczyński stated that without the current government, there was no possibility to defend Polish sovereignty.
