“This is nonsense [that most of Law and Justice (PiS) wants Polexit]. Law and Justice (PiS) supported Poland’s accession to the European Union – unlike Donald Tusk’s closest adviser, Roman Giertych, who actively campaigned against it…” said Adam Bielan, an MEP from Law and Justice (PiS). The politician was referring to yesterday’s post by Donald Tusk.
President Karol Nawrocki decided to veto the bill implementing the EU SAFE defence loan program. In the justification for the decision, it was pointed out, among other things, that there is a risk of violating state sovereignty and transferring some security-related competences to institutions of the European Union. SAFE is an EU loan program for European defence from which Poland was expected to borrow around €44 billion. After the veto by the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, regarding the EU SAFE loan, the ruling camp unleashed a massive wave of criticism and attacks against the head of state.
Since then, Donald Tusk has been publishing further posts on the X platform. “Polexit is a real threat today! Both Confederations and most of Law and Justice (PiS) want it. Nawrocki is their patron. Those who want to dismantle the Union are: Russia, the American MAGA movement and the European right led by Orbán. For Poland, it would be a catastrophe. I will do everything to stop them,” he wrote yesterday.
“Let Tusk Talk About Polexit With Giertych”
Politicians from the opposition are pushing back against the narrative advanced by the prime minister. Adam Bielan, an MEP from Law and Justice (PiS), when asked about Tusk’s latest post, assessed that the claim that PiS supports Polexit is “nonsense.”
“He [Roman Giertych] has just apparently become deputy head of the parliamentary club of Civic Platform (PO). He is also the lawyer for Donald Tusk’s family – something like his consigliere. Let us recall that Giertych strongly campaigned against Poland’s accession to the European Union. He led an entire campaign and frightened Poles. So if Tusk wants to talk about Polexit, he should discuss it with Giertych, over a glass of wine,” he added on Polsat News.
The politician went on to say that the opposition has both the right and the duty to criticize the actions of EU institutions. However – that does not mean a desire to take Poland out of the EU.
“Should we close our eyes to obvious facts? If energy prices in the European Union are three times higher than in the United States, if jobs in industry are increasingly being cut in the EU because they are being moved not only to China but also to India – something Poles are already experiencing. Just look at the mass layoffs in Kraków or Wrocław, where shared services centres are being cut. Are we not supposed to talk about that?” Bielan asked.
He emphasized: “This is a policy introduced by Ursula von der Leyen and her European Commission, fully supported in Poland by Civic Platform (PO). We have the right – indeed, we have the duty – to criticize it. But that does not mean we support Polexit.”
In his view, “the only serious politician today who talks about Polexit – and has been scaring people with it for many years – is Donald Tusk.”
“Tusk keeps saying: ‘Polexit, Polexit, Polexit, Polexit’, in between ‘PiS, PiS, PiS, PiS.’ […] For Poland to leave the European Union, a referendum would have to be held in Poland. The only politician in recent years who proposed such a referendum was a very close political friend of Donald Tusk – Grzegorz Schetyna,” he added.