During the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, a debate took place on the Commission’s 2024 report on the rule of law. PiS MEPs Mariusz Kamiński and Patryk Jaki spoke during the discussion.
Mariusz Kamiński emphasized that the debate on the state of the rule of law in the European Union “must be based on the truth, not on political interests.” “And the truth is that right in the heart of the European Union, before your very eyes, an authoritarian regime is taking shape,” the MEP stated, adding that “the Brussels establishment pretends not to see this because it serves its political interests.”
He explained that the authoritarian regime in question is Tusk’s government, which publicly makes cynical remarks that “the law is what we understand it to be.” He pointed out that this regime is drastically violating the principles of the rule of law, ignoring rulings by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal, and that judges of the Constitutional Tribunal are being summoned for hearings regarding the rulings they have issued. Furthermore, he added, they are not being paid their salaries—which is a direct violation of the Constitution—and there is an ongoing attack on the independence of the National Bank of Poland and the National Broadcasting Council, while the illegally seized public media have become a propaganda mouthpiece for the government. Kamiński pointed out that observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe have highlighted this in their reports.
“The Tusk regime discriminates against the democratic opposition. Contrary to court rulings, funds earmarked for the activities of political parties have not been paid out to the opposition. The prosecutor’s office and the secret services are being used against opposition leaders. The problem of political prisoners and their inhumane treatment is resurfacing,” Kamiński continued, noting that the current Ombudsman is speaking out publicly about this.
“Commissioner, enough with the hypocrisy! Do not turn a blind eye to the truth!” the PiS politician appealed.
Patryk Jaki pointed out that point 15 of the EP report states that “failure to enforce domestic court rulings violates the rule of law.” “But your people in Poland do this: when they win a case, they recognize the ruling, but when they lose in court, they don’t recognize it,” he noted. He added that paragraph 39, in turn, states that politicians must not interfere with the media’s activities. “But in Poland, not only did they forcibly take over public media, but public media also financed the campaign of your party’s candidate. And they admitted it themselves,” Jaki stated.
“How do you deal with this split personality?” the politician asked.
The MEP noted that in paragraph 47, the report also calls for increased funding for NGOs. In this context, the politician recalled the case of one of the organizations supporting Rafał Trzaskowski’s campaign, which “spent over half a million zlotys” for that purpose. He noted that this organization was registered at a fictitious address, had not paid its fees, and was illegally financing the election campaign.
The ECR leader stated: “I believe this is the last term in which you’ll put on such a circus, supporting whomever you choose using illegal political tools. This must finally change.”
The PiS politician also recalled the case of former Justice Commissioner Reyders, who repeatedly lectured Poland from that position, but as it turned out, had been buying lottery tickets for years to launder significant amounts of illegally obtained cash. “And you’re going to lecture someone on the rule of law? That’s a disgrace,” said Jaki.
