The coming week will be reminiscent of the pressure faced by Poland’s ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) ahead of the presidential election when the opposition cynically attempted to delay the vote so that it would be held in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic.
It was a painful experience for the ruling bloc as a part of it buckled under domestic and international pressure and some delay in the vote — although a minor one — could not be avoided.
Now, we are seeing something similar.
We are learning about who is who in Polish politics. At the same time, what we already know has been confirmed that the European media functions as an information outlet for the European Commission, which is actively engaging in uprooting national sovereignty, destroying EU treaties and attempting to blackmail opponents.
Poland and Hungary have been attacked on all fronts. It is hard not to see how the sex scandal involving a key Fidesz member was anything other than the European People’s Party putting pressure on its recalcitrant member party. The union is rejecting attempting to work on the basis of agreement and compromise. Pressure, force and blackmail are in the ascendancy. German pressure is also being brought to bear on potential weak links, such as Portugal, reported to be unhappy with forcing the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism. And Germany is getting a free pass for its deceit against Hungary and Poland following the July EU summit, which did not agree to EU funding being conditional on rule-of-law mechanism compliance .
Something ugly is happening in the EU. The Union is rejecting attempts to work on the basis of agreement and compromise. Pressure, force and blackmail are now the foremost tools to gain compliance from those member states that oppose centralization of power in Brussels. It is a setup which will hurt the smallest members the most and not necessarily Poland either.
Fortunately, public opinion in Poland is responding to this threat with common sense.
According to research conducted by the “Social Changes” agency for Polish news outlet wPolityce.pl, 50 percent of Poles see advantages for both Western European and Poland in Polish EU membership but 26 percent observe that Western companies and economies are benefiting the most, with only 24 percent believe that Polish companies are the main beneficiaries.
The Polish opposition’s hysterical claims about how Poland is biting off the hand that feeds it are being rejected by voters, and the public does not see anything wrong with Poland using its rights within the EU to veto measures it disagrees with.
Poland’s position in this struggle against a power grab from Brussels is far from hopeless. It has public opinion on its side, and the head of state is backing the government. Perhaps most importantly, Poland has the law on its side, and it is clear the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism is a clear violation of EU treaties.
Finally, Poland’s strong economy is also a significant asset in its hands. Poland can wait for the EU recovery fund unlike other countries, and this gives it room to maneuver. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is not up against the wall. It is others who are facing far greater pressure than Poland.
