| As Tusk and Duda clash head-on, Brussels keeps a close eye |
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By Jorge Liboreiro
Let’s talk about Poland. At least, let’s try.
Events in Warsaw are happening at a dizzying pace, with new confrontations, dismissals and accusations mounting by the day. At one point, it’s hard to make sense of what’s going on. The writing, however, has been on the wall ever since Donald Tusk’s pro-European coalition won the parliamentary elections in October. Tusk’s ambitious goal of restoring the rule of law in Poland and resetting relations with Brussels was always going to be met with resistance.
The eight years under the hard-right Law and Justice (PiS) party had a transformational effect on the country, permeating the administration, the courts, the media and any other entity subject to state oversight. The ruling party strategically placed its allies in key positions of power to silence dissenting voices and amplify its national-conservative narrative, which in recent years adopted a markedly Eurosceptic, anti-German tone. Checks and balances weakened and Poland, together with Hungary, became the poster child of democratic backsliding.
Tusk had the work cut out for him. But the brisk speed and sweeping scope in which the new premier has taken to undo the damage wreaked by this predecessor is seriously raising eyebrows, in and outside the country.
Concerns began when Tusk’s cabinet ordered the immediate dismissal of the directors of the publicly owned television, radio and news agency, arguing they were PiS loyalists who had turned the public broadcasters into propaganda machines. The abrupt changes triggered the fury of President Andrzej Duda, a former member of PiS who has often espoused views similar to the party’s. “These are completely illegal actions,” Duda said about the media reshuffle. “This is anarchy.”
The president retaliated by vetoing a new bill that allocated 3 billion zlotys (around €700 million) for the public media, forcing the culture ministry to put the outlets into liquidation while a restructuring takes place.
The Tusk vs Duda showdown took a new turn this month when Duda provided shelter to two PiS members who had been sentenced for abuse of power. The police were forced to storm the presidential palace and carry out the arrests, leading to unprecedented scenes. Duda then vowed to pardon the two men, despite having issued a pardon in the past that was deemed unlawful.
The dismissal of the country’s top prosecutor further exacerbated the clash, as Duda complained the government took the step without waiting for his formal opinion. With tensions rising, Duda and Tusk met face to face this week, but neither signalled an intention to reverse course. Duda said he asked Tusk to “please stop trying to violate the law” while the prime minister said his executive would continue with its mission to “restore the legal order, whether someone likes it or not.”
So, does Brussels have anything to say?
That’s been the question for weeks now. The city has kept conspicuously quiet as the frantic events in Warsaw fuelled headlines around the world. The “we don’t comment on internal affairs of member states” line proved convenient: Brussels has warmly embraced Tusk and hopes his return will bring Poland back to the European mainstream.
It was up to Věra Jourová, the European Commission's vice-president in charge of values and transparency, to send a pointed message and raise the prospect that PiS had repeatedly faced in the past: an infringement procedure.
“Of course, we’re always worried when we see changes in the public media,” Jourová told our colleague Méabh Mc Mahon in Davos. “We are watching. We are very closely assessing what's happening in Poland in the field of media. And in case there is a contradiction with the existing EU law, then we will have to act.”
Jourová, though, expressed certain sympathy for Tusk and stressed the need to right the wrong.
“Donald Tusk and his government came in a situation where there were a lot of things to be repaired in the Polish judiciary system,” Jourová said. “It was always the effort of the Commission to have a dialogue with the government in Poland and ask them: could you please stop the reform which is decreasing the independence of judges?”
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As Tusk and Duda clash head-on, Brussels keeps a close eye
