PM to defend Poland in EU Parliament

Speaking after a meeting with the leaders of opposition parliamentary clubs, Szydło said: “We will do everything to calm this situation and to clear up unjustified and false information about the situation in Poland.”

She added: “We agreed that Polish matters should be resolved here in Poland. It was wrong that these national matters were moved to the international arena.”

Opposition politicians in Poland have been vocal in criticism of changes introduced by the Law and Justice government, which came to power in October, to the media and judiciary.

But some of these politicians have said that recent criticism of Poland by senior EU officials went too far.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz has accused the Polish government of practicing “Putin-style” politics.

Szydło said: “We agreed that the parliamentary clubs will demonstrate constructive cooperation, that they will take action so that their representatives in the European Parliament, in parliamentary groups, also stand up for the facts which will be presented by the Polish government.”

The European Parliament is scheduled to discuss developments in Poland on 19 January.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is due to hold a separate debate on Wednesday about the rule of law in Poland. Critics say a new media law introduced by the ruling Law and Justice party will endanger the freedom of the press in Poland and undermine democratic norms.

(ua/pk)