Jan Truszczyński, former long-time ambassador of Poland to the European Union, talks to Witold Żygulski.
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POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
POLISH VETO IN THE EU? have been a journalist for 37 years and I never thought I would ever ask someone such a question: Has Poland gone to war with the European Union?
I wouldn’t go so far as to make military comparisons, but things are not going well. The current situation is a result of the internal conflict of the ruling party [Law and Justice, PiS], and it is also partly due to their desire to extract some concessions from the others in the European Union, which could be sold as a success in their own camp. I believe that even now, despite the increasing instability of the government, we are not witnessing a reckless Polish “charge of the uhlans.” I hope that Polish negotiators have at least some idea on what could be realistically obtained by taking such a drastic stance [i.e. a possible veto on the EU budget for 2021-2027]. I assume that all the costs regarding Poland’s relations with other EU countries have been included in the equation, including those image-related and long-term ones. All in all, I would hope that if we are dealing with an attempt at a strategic approach to European affairs, there is a way out of this conflict without a suicidal solution, i.e. the real announcement of the [prime minister’s] suggested veto on the EU budget and blocking of EU financial instruments. Of course, I could be wrong, but it seems (and I hope) that the team around Mateusz Morawiecki can see the consequences of such a step. Otherwise, surely they wouldn’t charge so stupidly...
Jan Truszczyński
being considered, it would wait for a verdict without taking legal steps; a weak idea, because how can any EU actor lawfully claim he is not temporarily bound by the law which is formally in force across the entire Union? Another scenario is an interpretative declaration that can be proposed by the European Commission, at the level of the College of Commissioners or only by the commissioner responsible for budget implementation. But would this be a face-saving fig leaf for Poland and Hungary? I doubt it.
I am happy to see your optimism... It is not optimism, but hope. Since [Hungarian leader Viktor] Orban and Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki have gotten themselves into this cul-de-sac, they have to figure out themselves how to get out, while insisting that their gambit paid off. Hopefully readiness to talk plus concrete suggestions are already presented to the current German presidency of the EU. Various options are apparently under consideration. For instance, an idea that Poland and Hungary would appeal against the “rule of law and funds” regulation to the Court of Justice of the European Union, while the European Commission would declare that while such a complaint was The Warsaw Voice
THOSE RULING POLAND HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN WORKING HARD TO EARN THE STATUS OF A QUARRELSOME AND UNREPENTANT MARGINALIZED OUTLIER Winter 2020
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