EU Parliament chief accuses Poland of ‘Putin-style’ politics
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
10.01.2016 08:30
European Parliament President Martin Schulz has accused the Polish government of practicing “Putin-style” politics after it pushed through controversial changes to the media and judiciary.
Martin Schulz. Photo: Flickr.com/Parti socialiste
“The Polish government considers its [October] election victory a mandate to subordinate the interests of the state to the interests of the winning party,” Schulz told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, according the paper’s website.
“That’s democracy carried out in the style of [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin and a dangerous Putinisation of European politics,” Schulz added, as quoted by the website.
Thousands staged protests across Poland on Saturday against a new law they say threatens the independence of the country’s public broadcasters.
The law was pushed through by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in October general elections. Previously, demonstrations have been held in protest at PiS’s changes to the judiciary.
Asked about a European Parliament debate scheduled for 19 January about the situation in Poland, Schulz said that in the EU "the entire democratic spectrum from left to right believes that such politics [conducted by PiS ] are contrary to fundamental European values. "
Schulz has previously claimed that recent political developments under the new Polish government “have the characteristics of a coup.” (pk)
Source: TVN24