Polish foreign minister insists Poland will stay in the EU

His denial follows a comment by Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of opposition party Civic Platform, who said that “if someone offends partners in the European Union, it means that they want to turn Poland away from Europe.”

However, speaking on Thursday morning with the TVN station, Waszczykowki said that the claims were “bizarre.”

“We do not want to take Poland out of the European Union,” he said.

Asked whether the ruling Law and Justice party intends to call for a referendum on Poland's membership of the EU, he rejected such a possibility.

“No – there is no such plan,” he said.

On 13 April, the European Parliament passed a resolution warning that the “effective paralysis” of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal endangers the rule of law, democracy and human rights in the country.

A delegation of the Venice Commision, an arm of the Council of Europe, is in Warsaw on Thursday and Friday for the second time this year, in this instance probing amendments to Poland's so-called 'Police Bill.'

Schetyna's comment follows remarks a fortnight ago by former president of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1995-2005), who told Radio Zet that “perhaps soon” members of Law and Justice will “openly say that they want to leave the European Union.” (nh/pk)