Today at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during a debate on the European Commission’s statement regarding the so-called “European Democracy Shield,” Law and Justice MEPs Beata Szydło—ECR coordinator in the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS)—and Mariusz Kamiński sharply criticized the Commission’s proposals regarding new EU tools for monitoring electoral processes and combating disinformation.
Beata Szydło emphasized that the EC’s initiative—presented as a means of protecting democracy from manipulation and hybrid attacks—in reality carries a high risk of political interference in national electoral processes. “We are facing an initiative that, under the guise of defending democracy, actually threatens its very foundations. The most questionable aspect is interference in the elections of member states,” she said.
Szydło emphasized that while EU member states must firmly oppose Russian influence, this threat must not be used as a pretext to seize powers reserved for nation-states: “We cannot attempt to appropriate the powers of sovereign states or create tools that would allow us to influence electoral decisions in individual countries. No treaty grants the European Union such powers. This is the foundation of sovereignty, and we cannot agree to it.”
Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group, she declared firm opposition to measures that infringe on citizens’ freedom of choice: “We will not support measures that deprive citizens of the right to autonomously and democratically elect their leaders. This undermines the very foundation of the European Union,” she emphasized.
In his speech, Mariusz Kamiński strongly criticized plans to establish a European Center for Democratic Resilience, questioning both the scope of its authority and its subordination to the European Commission, as well as the creation of a network of “information controllers” who would assess the credibility of content in the public sphere.
“The free choice of one’s own country’s government is the most sacred right of citizens. Any external interference in the conduct of elections is a crime against democracy and the sovereignty of nations,” he said.
Kamiński warned that the new EU structures could become a tool of political control: “The Commission wants European monitors to decide what is true and what is a lie. It wants to issue guidelines on the organization of elections and distribute billions of euros among non-governmental organizations—it’s unclear to whom and according to what criteria.”
In his view, the European Commission’s actions do not serve to protect democracy, but rather the political interests of the dominant circles in the EU: “This looks like the preparation of a plan to defend the interests of the left-liberal European establishment, under the guise of combating Russian disinformation.”
Kamiński added: “In Poland, we are not afraid of crude Russian propaganda. We fear interference from the Brussels bureaucracy and the countries that stand behind it.”
PiS MEPs unanimously emphasized that the mechanisms proposed by the European Commission could violate the sovereignty of member states and threaten the integrity of electoral processes. They also announced that the ECR Group would oppose any measures that would allow EU institutions to influence elections in EU countries.
