Mateusz Morawiecki, who served as Poland’s prime minister until December and is now a leading opposition figure, today gave a keynote address at CPAC Hungary, a spinoff event of the famous annual CPAC gathering of conservatives in the United States.
At the event – which was also addressed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and, by video message, Donald Trump – Morawiecki set out a vision of “conservatism as a concept of the future” that can help “protect us from the destructive ideas of liberal elites”.
The presence of Morawiecki and other figures from his national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party has caused some controversy back at home. The foreign minister accused PiS of joining with “pro-Putin nationalists”.
During his speech, Morawiecki paid tribute to his “friend Viktor Orbán”, saying that without his tough response to the migration crisis of 2015-16 “Europe would today be in chaos with illegal immigration”, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
“At that time, there were only three leaders in Europe opposing the madness of illegal immigration: Viktor Orbán, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and me,” he continued. Morawiecki and Babiš became prime ministers in December 2017, after the migration crisis had subsided.
Orbán’s Fidesz party is a longstanding ally of Morawiecki’s PiS. Those relations were ruptured in 2022, when PiS’s strong support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion contrasted to Orbán’s continued warm relations with Moscow.
But recent months have seen Fidesz and PiS back on positive terms, with Morawiecki saying earlier this year that his party was “open” to the idea of Fidesz joining its European grouping after June’s EU elections.
PiS is “open” to Viktor Orbán joining its European grouping, says @MorawieckiM.
He also criticised the EU's attempts to "blackmail" Hungary into supporting a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine https://t.co/79f8MULtOn
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 1, 2024
During his speech in Budapest today, Morawiecki warned that the EU’s tough climate policies cannot coexist with economic prosperity and military security. He also called on Europeans to reject greater centralisation of the EU.
In a statement afterwards, Morawiecki declared that his remarks had emphasised how “conservatism is an important and necessary force in Europe, both in the context of the upcoming European elections as well as for the future of our continent and the new world order”.
“Conservatism is a concept of the future that will protect us against the destructive ideas of liberal elites, against the centralisation of the EU, against further waves of illegal immigration or threats to our freedoms: of speech, of movement, of agriculture, trade or business,” he wrote.
Dziś jestem w Budapeszcie, gdzie odbywa się wielka, międzynarodowa konferencja środowisk narodowo-konserwatywnych @CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference).
Mówiłem na niej o tym, jak ważną i potrzebną Europie siłą jest konserwatyzm. Musimy go odkryć na nowo. Zarówno w… pic.twitter.com/FtiQOaIONB
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) April 26, 2024
However, the presence of Morawiecki and other PiS figures in Budapest was criticised by members of Poland’s pro-EU ruling coalition, which took office in December.
“Morawiecki is on his way to Budapest for the latest ‘witches sabbath’ of pro-Putin nationalists,” said foreign minister Radosław Sikorski in parliament on Thursday.
“Building an alliance between Poland and various types of anti-EU, anti-democratic, and disguised pro-Russian populists is contrary to the Polish national interest and unworthy of a former prime minister,” Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of parliament, told broadcaster Polsat.
PiS committed "national treason" by inviting "anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian politicians" to Warsaw, says opposition leader @donaldtusk
Among those to attend was Marine Le Pen, who afterwards declared that "Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence" https://t.co/j6ETvbrxQs
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 8, 2021
Other speakers at CPAC Hungary included Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders and American activist Jack Posobiec, who is known for anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, as well as Republic congressmen Paul Gosar, Keith Self and Andy Harris.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the current prime minister of Georgia, as well as Tony Abbot and Janez Janša, the former prime ministers of Australia and Slovenia, also spoke,
Another representative of Poland was President Andrzej Duda’s chief of staff, Marcin Mastalarek, who was due to speak on Friday afternoon. Duda, a conservative ally of PiS, met with Trump during a visit to New York last week.
Poland’s President @AndrzejDuda has held a private meeting with Donald Trump at the latter’s residence in New York.
The pair discussed the war in Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.
"He [Duda] is my friend, we’re behind Poland all the way," said Trump https://t.co/HDgSu35jTl
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 18, 2024
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Main image credit: MorawieckiM/X
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.
