A justice reform driven by the national-conservative party, PiS, and the threat of leaving the EU have sparked protests across Poland. Even a Nobel laureate spoke clear words.
There were protests in 100 cities and municipalities in Poland. More than 100,000 demonstrators fear that the policy of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s national-conservative Law and Justice’s PiS party will take Poland out of the EU at a critical rate. The notion of “Polex” is also being used for this, referring to Brexit, Great Britain’s exit from the EU.
In the capital Warsaw alone, more than 80,000 people have demonstrated against the Constitutional Court government’s conflict with the EU institutions and the country’s position in the European Community. “We stand,” shouted demonstrators waving EU and Polish flags.
“We will win”
The Constitutional Court of Poland recently ruled that certain parts of EU law violate the Polish constitution. With this she gave priority to national law over that of the EU. This decision has ignited the conflict between the European Commission and Warsaw over the reform of the justice system in Poland.
The call for protest came from former EU Council President and Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk. In front of demonstrators in Warsaw, he said, the ruling party, PiS, was not backing down from its goal of ousting the country from the EU. “We know why they want to leave the EU,” said Tusk, who heads the Liberal-Conservative Civic Platform. “To violate democratic rules with impunity.” Tusk said that Poland’s country is in Europe, and added. “We will win because we are more!” Donald Tusk and others who took the floor at the protest were interrupted by the shouting and whistling of PiS supporters at a counter-demonstration.
Lech Walesa
Criticism from a Nobel laureate
In the port city of Gdansk spoke in front of protesters and Nobel laureate and former president of Poland, Lech Walesa. “The people who run the country today are a great disaster for Poland,” said the former union leader Solidarnosc. No enemy that has previously ruled Poland has divided the country as much as the PiS.
According to polls, most Poles want to stay in the EU. Relations between Poland and the EU have been strained since the PiS came to power. At the heart of the PiS-targeted justice reform, which the EU says undermines the independence of the judiciary and undermines the separation of powers. The European Commission in the dispute with Poland has launched several proceedings for violation of the agreements . As a means of pressure, the EC is not handing over 57 billion euros from the Corona bailout fund for Poland. Due to non-compliance with the decision of the European Court, Warsaw is threatened with a fine of several million euros per day./DW