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Polish opposition senators slam deputy party chief

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 30.08.2017 12:37
Two senators from the opposition Civic Platform (PO) have criticised an interview in which the party’s deputy leader was cited as saying the EU should give Warsaw an ultimatum amid concerns over the rule of law in Poland.
Photo: succo/pixabay/CC0 Public DomainPhoto: succo/pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Budka, a former Polish justice minister, was cited by Germany’s Die Zeit weekly as saying that Brussels should maintain a firm stand on controversial reforms of the judicial system by Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS).

Budka said that his words may have been mistranslated and that Polish media quoted him out of context.

Budka was also cited as saying by Die Zeit that he is not in favour of the imposition of EU sanctions on Poland because these would hit ordinary people and not just the government.

Civic Platform senators Andrzej Misiołek and Leszek Piechota said in a statement: “As senators of the Republic of Poland and members of the Civic Platform, we decidedly wish to distance ourselves from the part of the pronouncement by Borys Budka in which he suggests that the EU should give Poland an ultimatum...”

'Unacceptable'

The senators added that "it is unacceptable for a Pole, an MP and deputy leader of the largest opposition party, a public figure in the foreign press, to demand that the European Union and its constituent countries take restrictive actions against our homeland."

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker were expected to discuss concerns over the rule of law in Poland during a meeting on Wednesday in Berlin.

Dispute

Poland has been embroiled in a rule of law dispute with the European Commission for more than a year.

Poland’s governing Law and Justice party made sweeping changes to the constitutional court after coming to power in late 2015.

Tensions with Brussels were exacerbated by Poland's recent planned changes to the judiciary which would have given elected officials significant powers to appoint and dismiss judges.

(pk)

Source: dorzeczy.pl

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