"The way EU institutions exert pressure on Poland is scandalous". An open letter from Slovak public figures in defence of Poland

„The dispute between the European Union institutions and Poland has escalated in recent weeks. The dispute spans over several years and concerns the Polish reform of the judiciary, certain actions of Polish cities and local governments to support traditional families or the decision of the Polish Constitutional Court to increase the scope of protection of the lives of unborn children by banning eugenic abortions”

— reads the letter of Slovak public figures in defence of Poland. We are the first to publish its content on the portal wPolityce.pl.

A letter in defence of Poland

EU institutions have imposed financial sanctions on Poland and are preparing further penalties. They are doing all this under the slogans of protecting the rule of law and the values on which the EU is based.

In defence of Poland, we state that it is a country that for decades has been struggling with a hostile media campaign, creating an image of its political life as a country where democracy is allegedly threatened by an authoritarian regime.

This image is false. We do not necessarily need to agree with the policies of Polish governments in all matters, but we can see that Poland is a democratic, free country with a smooth rotation of freely elected governments.

There are few nations which have contributed as much as the Poles to the fact that, after the fall of communism, we can live today in a united Europe. It is absurd that Poland, which has a tradition of defending freedom, is being pushed into the role of a problematic country.

The EU institutions have played an important role in escalating this conflict. Resolutions of the European Parliament attack Poland and raise claims against it in areas in which, on the basis of Polish and EU law, decision making falls within Poland’s competence. These resolutions contain untrue interpretations of the situation in Poland as regards protection of life and the family.

Similarly, the post-communist judiciary remains a problem in all countries after the fall of communism, and there is no evidence that attempts by the authorities to solve this problem are a step taken against the independence of the judiciary. No evidence has been presented of any loss of independence by the Polish courts. In this case, again, it is true that the judiciary falls within the competence of the Polish authorities.

The way in which the EU institutions are exerting pressure on Poland is scandalous. This is a method of financial blackmail. Western countries experienced an increase in prosperity during the Cold War, while citizens of Eastern European countries suffered various forms of persecution in their fight against Communism. After those sacrifices produced fruit in the form of the fall of communism and the subsequent reunification of Europe, the people of Eastern Europe underwent a painful economic transformation, and the countries of Western Europe expanded their markets to the east. Yet today the rich west of the EU is daring to financially punish the poorer Member States. Because they have a different opinion on certain matters. Some representatives of EU institutions are clearly lacking in historical memory.

We believe that the real reason for the many years of media and political pressure on Poland is that Poland, as so often in its history, defends the right of its citizens to live in their own country and in Europe in accordance with its long historical traditions and established values. These traditions and values are more solid than popular political trends, which a few decades ago were also foreign to Poland’s current critics. We support Poland’s efforts to defend the rights of its citizens and express our solidarity with Poland.

We appeal to the EU institutions to change their approach, to exercise reasonable moderation without escalating the conflict and without threatening Poland with further sanctions, and to take measures to resolve the conflict. Increasing pressure on Poland will not lead to any solution.

Bratislava, 4 November 2021

— reads the letter.

Tłum. K.J.