The European Union is seeking to introduce a “German plan” that would result in “the annihilation of the Polish state”, Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of Poland’s ruling party, has warned as his country celebrates Independence Day.
He accused the likely new incoming government, made up of opposition parties, of seeking to implement that plan, and called on Poles to “fight, fight and fight again” to resist it.
“Today, 105 years after those wonderful events [Poland’s regaining of independence in 1918], I have to talk about the present day,” said the Law and Justice (PiS) party leader, speaking in front of a statue of Józef Piłsudski, the founding father of Polish independence.
#NaŻywo | Prezes J. #Kaczyński w #Warszawa: Jest już przygotowany konkretny plan, którego wprowadzenie w życie przez UE prowadziłoby do nie tylko pozbawienia nas niepodległości, ale wręcz do anihilacji polskiego państwa !#włączprawdę #TVRepublika pic.twitter.com/hGXuaIH3UJ
— Telewizja Republika 🇵🇱 #włączprawdę (@RepublikaTV) November 10, 2023
“A specific plan is already being prepared, the implementation of which would lead not only to the deprivation of our independence and sovereignty, but even to the annihilation of the Polish state,” he continued. “We would become an area inhabited by Poles, ruled from the outside.”
“There is a need for a great effort to stop this process,” Kaczyński declared, quoted by broadcaster TVP. “We Poles want to be free and independent! We do not want to be subordinated to Germany, because this is in fact a German plan…We cannot be the generation that capitulates.”
“We probably have a tough fight ahead of us, because those who want to take over power today, who have concluded an agreement…these people will certainly strive to implement this plan, because this coalition is led not by a Polish but a German party,” he added.
In his first remarks since the ruling party lost its majority at Sunday's elections, Jarosław Kaczyński has suggested that "external forces" – especially Germany and Russia – are behind the opposition parties now set to form a new government https://t.co/iHuHEMmUik
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 21, 2023
“We have to fight, fight and fight again,” Kaczyński declared. “We must win this fight. We cannot repeat this disgrace from over 200 years ago [when Poland lost its independence].”
He also noted that Poland has “voluntarily accepted restrictions” on its independence in order to “obtain certain benefits” from EU membership. But “at any time our nation can also make different decisions”, he added.
Yesterday, three opposition groups that together won a majority at last month’s parliamentary elections signed a coalition agreement that paves the way for them to take power either this month or in December.
PiS has regularly claimed that the largest party in that opposition coalition, Civic Platform (PO), represents Germany’s interests. Shortly after the elections Kaczyński also hinted – without providing any evidence – that Russia may be behind another opposition group, Poland 2050 (Polska 2050).
The opposition groups likely to form the next government have signed a coalition agreement
They pledged to:
– restore rule of law
– annul the near-total abortion ban
– depoliticise public media
– prosecute anti-LGBT hate speech
– separate church and state https://t.co/lwQvGGok8s— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 10, 2023
Speaking to news website Onet, Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at the University of Warsaw, said that she was “very concerned about [Kaczyński’s] words”, which are “dangerous, destructive and very sad”.
“They show that the PiS leader not only did not accept the election results in the slightest, but also completely failed to understand the reasons for his group’s defeat”, she added. “PiS president sounds as if he was calling for a civil war.”
The speech shows that, as the new government formed by the opposition sets about improving relations with Brussels, Kaczyński will present this as evidence that Poland is being “turned into an EU puppet”, said Materska-Sosnowska.
Donald Tusk, who is likely to lead Poland’s next government, met today with @EU_Commission President @vonderleyen in Brussels.
Afterwards, he said that concrete steps to restore the rule of law must be taken before the EU releases Poland's frozen funds https://t.co/Vhl56kZL3x
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 25, 2023
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Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
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.
