In case there were any doubts that Poland is back, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced today that the Executive will propose the release of 137,000 million euros of European funds, now frozen in the country due to the violation of the State of Law during the mandate of the previous ultra-conservative government.
“We are impressed by the efforts of Poland and its citizens to restore the rule of law, as a great pillar of society,” Von der Leyen said in Poland. The president of the European Commission, who due to “the decisive reforms and steps taken so far” by the new government led by Donald Tusk, Brussels will propose the unlocking of funds.
Von der Leyen announces the decision after this week the Polish government announced to the countries its plans to restore the rule of law and judicial independence.
In the item that is proposed to be unfrozen of 137,000 million is the first disbursement of the funds from the recovery plan and a part of the cohesion funds frozen until now.
“Together we will protect the rule of law throughout Europe. "They are essential conditions for citizens to feel free and safe," said Von der Leyen, in addition to adding that a part of the European funds, 1.4 billion, will be allocated to help Polish farmers, who this week have blocked the roads that They bridge the border between Poland and Ukraine as protests against the import of grain from the country.
For his part, Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council who ended the eight years of leadership of the Law and Justice party (PiS), considered the decision by Brussels to be “crucial.”
Brussels has had a procedure open against Poland since 2017 regarding the rule of law, to which it opened a procedure to open article 7 of the treaty, an unprecedented decision that led to tension between Warsaw and Brussels never seen before, with the opening of a multitude of files, due to the persecution of LGTBI minorities or the lack of judicial independence.
