Brussels takes legal action against Warsaw’s ‘Lex Tusk’

The European Union has launched a legal investigation into a Polish law that could allegedly bar pro-Russian politicians from public office, which critics say is a move by the country’s ruling party to target political opponents ahead of this autumn’s election. can be used by ,

Public outcry over the proposed anti-Russia commission helped fuel the biggest anti-government protest in Poland since the fall of communism last Sunday, and strengthened the country’s opposition to the EU as it looks to rule law and justice. wants to end. Party (PiS).

Dubbed “Lex Tusk”, its highest-profile potential target is opposition leader Donald Tusk, the European Commission said on Thursday that the law “unnecessarily interferes with the democratic process” and “violates the principles of legality and non-retrospective”. violates”.

“We were under a sense of urgency because we believe this law is a serious blow to the fairness of truly democratic processes and elections,” said Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency.

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński accused Tusk of being too friendly towards Moscow and claimed the commission would help protect Poland from Russian interference during the election campaign. Warsaw has played a large role in providing aid to Ukraine against Moscow’s invasion of the country.

The EU legal challenge, known as an infringement procedure, gives Warsaw 21 days to respond. If that response is deemed insufficient, Brussels could escalate the issue, leading to a possible court case and possible financial penalties.

Earlier this week Polish officials dismissed the threat of legal action from Brussels as nothing that would derail their anti-Russia commission project. “This is a completely sovereign issue of the Republic of Poland and this issue should not have any international consequences,” said Polish President Pawel Szarot’s chief of staff.

Brussels’ challenge to the new law follows various legal battles between Poland and the EU over PiS policies, including a reform of the country’s legal system, which Brussels says violates EU law. who are still withholding tens of billions of euros in payments to the Block Fund. to Warsaw.

President Andrzej Duda, who also represents PiS, did a hasty U-turn after signing the law last week by proposing amendments. It is still unclear what impact those changes will have on the structure and functioning of the commission. Polish opposition parties have said they will boycott the commission, which they describe as an unconstitutional body, by refusing to appoint members.

Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzakowski, one of the leading figures of Tusk’s Civic Platform party, described the anti-Russia commission as a “Bolshevik tribunal” that had no place in a democracy. “No wonder the EU takes action,” he told the Financial Times on Thursday.

The Civic Platform coalition believes that the public outcry will allow it to overtake PiS in voter preferences. Given the fractured Polish party landscape, Tusk will probably need to form a coalition to govern after the election, which is set for October.

“An avalanche never seems big in the beginning. , , But when so many people are mobilizing, and even with the summer break, I find it impossible that they will suddenly disappear just before the election,” said former prime minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, a close ally of Tusk. .

The opposition estimates that half a million people marched in Warsaw on Sunday, with many participants joining the anti-government rally from other cities. But the government has questioned that number and played down the importance of the performance.

Regarding Sunday’s rally, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, “When old foxes who have been in politics for many years organize an anti-government march and present it as a spontaneous civil protest, I laugh a little.”

Additional reporting by Ian Johnson in Brussels and Barbara Erling in Warsaw