“I do not regret that meeting; I regret how I reacted to it and that I felt the need to explain myself,” said Szymon Hołownia, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, when asked about the well-known meeting with Adam Bielan and Jarosław Kaczyński. The politician also declared that he “will talk” to the PiS leader “whenever necessary.”
Hołownia on the meeting with Bielan and Kaczyński
In July last year, Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia visited the apartment of one of the most influential MEPs from Law and Justice, Adam Bielan. Jarosław Kaczyński was also present. Information about the meeting leaked to the media, and photojournalists appeared on site. Outlets supportive of the government wrote extensively about alleged secret talks, while some politicians from Civic Platform began criticizing the leader of Poland 2050.
The Speaker confirmed that the meeting had taken place, but stressed that it was nothing unusual.
“I regularly meet and talk (as I did today, during a very good four-hour meeting) with coalition leaders. Occasionally, I also meet with the opposition. In recent months, I have spoken with Jarosław Kaczyński, as well as with Mariusz Błaszczak, Marek Suski, Adam Bielan, Michał Wójcik, and many other PiS politicians,” Hołownia wrote at the time on X.
“I will talk to Jarosław Kaczyński”
The Deputy Speaker was again asked about the meeting today on Polsat News. He stated that, in his view, talking with representatives of other political camps is nothing improper. He also declared that he would continue to hold talks with the leader of Law and Justice.
“I will talk to Jarosław Kaczyński and, if necessary, I will always talk to him,” he declared.
He also emphasized that he does not regret taking part in the meeting last July.
“I do not regret that meeting; I regret how I reacted to it and that I felt the need to explain myself,” he said.
In his view, claims of “betrayal” or calling him a “Judas” by the most hardline supporters of the December 13 coalition are harmful to public debate. The Deputy Speaker also revealed how the talks with PiS politicians unfolded.
“There was one lunch I didn’t finish because I had to leave quickly. Then, because of that, there was—attention—a ‘new sensation’ at 9:30 p.m., not under the cover of night at 12:30 a.m. Someone was taking photos of cars and drawing conclusions from that […] It was a discussion on a high, meta level,” he recounted.