Polish president’s spokesman accuses NGOs of ‘one-sided arguments’

Non-government organizations from Poland and other countries signed an appeal to President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydło, calling them to respect recommendations made by the EU’s executive in July.

According to the NGOs, implementing the Commission’s recommendations, especially relating to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, “will be the first steps toward restoration of the full protection of the rule of law in Poland”.

Presidential spokesman Marek Magierowski said: “The signatories are reiterating one-sided arguments which President Andrzej Duda has repeatedly addressed.”

Magierowski added that “the letter’s authors seem not to realise that the current conflict has been aggravated greatly by the current president of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal – firstly by turning a blind eye to procedures being broken during the choice of [tribunal] judges by the previous parliament and then by ignoring the laws that describe the operation and organization of the Constitutional Tribunal.”

Simmering row

Warsaw has been locked in a simmering row with EU institutions and politicians who have accused Poland’s conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party of eroding democracy since coming to power last year.

PiS, which has pushed through sweeping legal and other reforms, has denied such charges.

It has argued it is unfair that a constitutional court with a majority of judges appointed under the previous parliament should be able to scupper flagship policies for which the party secured a mandate in democratic elections.

Three months to comply

The European Commission in July urged Poland to respect rulings by the country's Constitutional Tribunal, issuing a set of recommendations and giving Warsaw three months to comply.

The commission’s recommendations marked the second stage of a "rule-of-law" probe launched into Poland in January.

The process could in theory eventually lead to the EU imposing penalties on Warsaw, but any such move would have to be backed unanimously by EU member states.

European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, said on Thursday that Poland was unlikely to be punished.

(pk)