Following the European Union’s attempts to circumvent its founding treaties and impose centralized rule through a “rule of law” sanctions mechanism, Poland is now pursuing a joint project to shape Europe through the European Conservatives and Reformists party in the European Parliament, said Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The project also includes future plans to present new European treaties, but for the time being, the focus will be on efforts to curtail the power of the dominant liberal majority operating in the EU’s institutions.
Kaczyński was speaking in context of the recent European Union summit where Poland and Hungary agreed to drop their veto after reaching a compromise regarding the EU budget and rule of law. The PiS leader was asked whether he was satisfied with the conclusion of the negotiations.
“It is true that different kinds of messages have reached us, which could be defined as follows: Conflicting EU institutions, in this case the European Parliament, are trying to change what was decided. The rest depends on the European Commission. We can see some worrying symptoms here,” he said while assessing the situation in an interview for Polish new outlet Rzeczpospolita.
Kaczyński said that PiS has received “a good weapon” at the Brussels summit, but that “this was one of operational meaning”.
“We achieved success. This is satisfactory from our point of view,” he noted.
Kaczyński added that PiS would reach for the weapon if it was convinced that someone or some nation was working to strip Poland of its sovereignty. Kaczyński emphasized that no one had any doubts that PiS is refusing to subject itself to anything or anyone.
“Under no circumstances shall we back down. If someone believes that under the threat of losing funds we will change our policy, they are wrong,” the deputy prime minister stated.
Kaczyński also assured that along with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán they were ready to veto the EU budget if it was necessary.
The PiS leader noted that in the context of deepening EU integration through mutualization of debts that the connection of deepening integration by using the pandemic was an incidental affair.
He admitted, however, that the integration tendency was a reality and that PiS was fighting against that current concept of integration being implemented in the EU.
“We do not permit that method. We want to present our own project for the shape of the European Union through the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). If not for COVID, this would’ve been already done,” he said.
Kaczyński explained that they “would be undertaking the idea of a European confederation which will be a true superpower but which will permit more liberty to nation states”.
The leader of Law and Justice also declared that in time the ECR and PiS hoped to propose new EU treaties.
“We see this completely differently than those who are currently dominating in the EU. We will be upholding this in different contexts — both in the context of presenting this concept to all of Europe, as well as in the more narrower context, referring to the V4 and Three Seas,” he said.
Kaczyński pointed out that one of the defining characteristics of the EU in its current form is that the founding treaties are being ignored in favor of an ideological political agenda.
