Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has fired the development minister, Piotr Nowak, amid reports of a rift over the unblocking of European Union funds that have been held up over rule-of-law concerns.
“I would like to inform you that I have made a decision to dismiss the development minister, Piotr Nowak, [and] have today submitted a motion to the president to accept this dismissal,” announced Morawiecki.
“The decision is due to the fact that the formula of cooperation agreed with the minister has been exhausted,” he added. Nowak, a former adviser to the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was only appointed as development minister five months ago.
Premier @MorawieckiM w #KPRM: Podjąłem decyzję dzisiaj o dymisji ministra Piotra Nowaka z ministra @MRiTGOVPL. Przekazałem wniosek do prezydenta Andrzeja Dudy o przyjęcie tej dymisji. Jest ona spowodowana tym, że wyczerpała się uzgodniona formuła współpracy z panem ministrem. pic.twitter.com/3vUgZ7fDHI
— Kancelaria Premiera (@PremierRP) March 24, 2022
On Tuesday this week, Nowak had announced that the European Commission has given “political consent” for Poland’s plans to spend its EU Covid recovery funds, and that the decision would be announced “any moment now”.
The commission has so far refused to release the funds – worth around €36 billion in grants and loans to Poland – amid concerns over the rule of law. However, recent reports have indicated that Poland’s admission of over two million Ukrainian refugees has prompted the EU to soften its stance.
However, soon after Nowak’s announcement, the government’s spokesman, Piotr Müller, played down his claims. “There is no such agreement” with the commission, Müller told Radio Zet the following day. “I’m a bit surprised by yesterday’s information.”
The European Commission is preparing to release billions in recovery funds for Poland, which have been blocked over rule-of-law concerns, “within a matter of weeks”, sources tell the @guardian.
Similar reports have appeared this week in Polish mediahttps://t.co/BLYQM4uokC
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 17, 2022
Müller noted that Morawiecki himself was directly negotiating the issue with Brussels. Maybe Nowak “heard on the sidelines of the European Council meeting” that there was a desire to reach a deal. “But there are still some things to be done to make it possible,” he added.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Michał Dworczyk, similarly dismissed Nowak’s claims, telling Polsat News that previous indications of a breakthrough in the discussions have so far come to nothing.
A spokesman for the commission, Veerle Nuyts, likewise said that “there is no new information” to be announced about the negotiations, reported TVN24. “The commission continues to evaluate the Polish plan in line with the criteria set out in the regulation.”
The war in Ukraine has prompted Western partners to realign relations with Poland.
Previous issues of concern – such as rule of law – have been put aside to focus on security and the refugee crisis, while Poland's government has also softened its rhetoric https://t.co/GxpMD6JTbF
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 23, 2022
Nowak, however, defended his remarks yesterday, telling Polskie Radio that he had spoken to several EU commissioners, who had made clear there is “already consent” for Poland to get the funds and that only “technical issues” need to be ironed out.
An unnamed politician from Poland’s ruling camp, speaking to Gazeta Wyborcza, said that Nowak appeared to be engaging in “self-promotion”. When Nowak was appointed last October, media reports suggested he was a rival to – and potentially even an eventual replacement for – Morawiecki.
Nowy kłopot premiera. Fachowiec prosto z Waszyngtonu https://t.co/Y4mu6OccvT pic.twitter.com/evoQ3aVY8k
— Onet Wiadomości (@OnetWiadomosci) December 16, 2021
Nowak has also become a more prominent figure during the war in Ukraine due to his efforts to lead an attempt by the Polish government to have Russia removed from the G20 and Poland take its place.
He recently visited Washington to discuss the idea with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and claimed that the proposal had been “very well received”.
Main image credit: Ministerstwo Finansów (under CC BY PL 3.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
