During his visit to the Czech Republic, President of Poland Karol Nawrocki delivered a lecture in which he firmly expressed his views on today’s European Union. Polish right-wing circles view these words positively. “I think it is good that someone is finally addressing such topics publicly at the presidential level”, assessed Krzysztof Bosak, one of the leaders of Confederation.
The Presidential Couple visited the Czech Republic yesterday. As part of the visit, President Karol Nawrocki held talks with his Czech counterpart. After a joint press conference, the Polish head of state delivered a lecture at Charles University in Prague.
The lecture largely focused on issues concerning the European Union.
“The European Union is our natural political environment. But let’s be honest: it is not the Union of our dreams. We joined the European Union, which was supposed to give us and did give us economic opportunities. It also allowed us to unleash our entrepreneurial potential. We joined the European Union in order to benefit from the Schengen Area, and we are doing so. However, the goal was not for the European Union to dictate the terms of our political system, our diet, or the upbringing of Polish children,” said the president.
Karol Nawrocki pointed out that certain forces are striving to create a more centralized European Union, using federalism as a camouflage to conceal this process.
He warned: “In the Polish vision of the EU, the only sovereigns remain political nations – demoi understood as communities of citizens of individual EU member states. Modern nations are not tribes driven by atavistic passions for ruling others – as the EU mainstream tries to portray them – but nations aware of their existence, traditions, culture, and national interests with millennia-long histories. Attempts to eliminate them – as European centralists would like – will lead only to conflicts and misfortunes.”
Bosak: Finally, someone is addressing these issues
Krzysztof Bosak, one of the leaders of Confederation, commented on President Nawrocki’s words in an interview with Radio Zet, expressing a positive opinion and highlighting the courage of the Polish head of state.
“I think it is good that someone is finally addressing such topics publicly at the presidential level. The last president to address such issues regarding our region was President Vaclav Klaus, but that was many years ago. Before that, similar topics were raised by Margaret Thatcher, but that was decades ago. We need politicians who will openly challenge the trend of centralizing the European Union and remind everyone that democratic European states have a purpose, and that purpose is to serve the good of their nations”, said Bosak.
However, the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm pointed out what, in his view, was missing from the speech. He referred to it as “the central problem of the current phase of European integration.”
“I mean the extra-treaty expansion of EU competences. In my opinion, that is the problem. At present, the European Union constantly invents new competences without changing the treaties, and this must be rejected and blocked”, he added.