Poland plans to reverse the policy of harassment of the judiciary that it has been applying for six years to gain access to European funds, which remain blocked as Warsaw refuses to apply the demands that come from the European Commission.
Harassed by runaway inflation and the economic crisis as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine, and in a context of declining popularity, the ultra-conservative government of Mateusz Morawiecki is willing to make a 180-degree political turn in its authoritarian drift. Government spokesmen indicate that it can put an end to the policy of persecution of the judiciary that has confronted the European Union for all this time.
The deputy foreign minister has just paid a visit to Brussels to send the message that Poland would finally be willing to accept the conditions of the European Commission to release the 34.6 billion euros from the Recovery Fund corresponding to Poland.
The fund remains suspended until Poland meets the demands, so far rejected, to renounce the suppression of the independent judiciary that the Government has been pursuing for six years. Poland has also racked up €358 million in fines for refusing to comply with EU Court rulings for violations of the independence of the judiciary.
The EU's requests to Warsaw include abolishing the Supreme Court disciplinary mechanism that the government uses to punish judges who disobey its orders, rehabilitating suspended rogue judges, ensuring that disciplinary measures are overseen by a court independent of the government and ensure full freedom to exercise the profession of judge. Poland would also have to inform the European Commission about the progress of the reform until 2026 in order to be able to request and collect the successive items of recovery funds.
The ultra-Catholic leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski recognized last week that the government is willing to "make sometimes radical and courageous changes that require patience and understanding", to achieve a "strong Poland".
If the Government fulfills what it announces, the rectification may include the "sacrifice" of the Minister of Justice, the main author of the judicial "counter-reform" initiated in 2016 as well as the most explicit critic of the EU, which he accuses of seek to seize Poland's sovereignty and subject it to the power of Brussels. In that case, Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, a "hawk" who has repeatedly quarreled with the head of government, Mateusz Morawiecki, considered a moderate in the Polish context, would be the scapegoat for this operation.
In this sense, the government spokesman was explicit yesterday: “the language of the minister of justice is not one of dialogue. And given the difficult economic and geopolitical situation, we have to look for ways to compromise”.
The liberal opposition, buoyed by growing support in the polls, has already called for the justice minister to be removed and it may be that this time their motion is not doomed to failure. Donald Tusk, the leader of the liberal Civic Platform, has made it clear: “What more important? The position of the Minister of Justice or billions of euros for Poland?
