The European Parliament’s November 15 debate about the rule of law in Poland has “shocked” the Polish foreign minister.
MEPs said the situation in Poland posed a “clear risk of a serious breach” of the EU’s value. They also voted to trigger the first stage of “Article Seven” procedure.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told reporters he did not understand “on what basis” MEPs debated judicial reform in Poland in a situation where key planned legal changes have yet to be approved by the country’s lawmakers.
Waszczykowski also commented to reporters that the language of the debate smacked of “hate speech”.
As reported by Radio Poland online, Waszczykowski also said that Poland maintained dialogue with Brussels and accused EU officials of not wanting to talk with Warsaw.
Also, the foreign ministry issued a statement declaring the resolution adopted by the European Parliament “should be regarded as an instrument for exerting political pressure on Poland”.
The ministry also said that the resolution is “a one-sided document that is too often based on political assessments, while making too little use of in-depth legal analysis. Such an approach is detrimental to the process of European integration as it only leads to stigmatising a member state”.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło will reportedly raise the “scandalous” events in the European Parliament at an EU summit on November 17.
