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Polish PM defends reforms in EP meeting

Xinhua, January 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo addressed the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg on Tuesday to "dispel any doubts and remove misunderstandings" on recent controversial reforms put in place by Warsaw.

Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders, representing the European Council, welcomed the Polish prime minister for a debate following legal proceedings launched against Poland by the European Commission.

It is the first time that Brussels has made use of special "rule of law" proceedings, such that some Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have stood up against the measure that they consider "arbitrary" and denounced a "double standard" in the European Union (EU).

The issue comes as a result of certain reforms made by Warsaw in the judicial realm that some observers find to be bad for the political equilibrium of the country, in which the Polish government imposed new judges on the Constitutional Court and endowed the Ministry of the Treasury with the power to nominate the directors of public television and radio broadcasters.

"We are Europeans and we are proud," declared the Polish prime minister in front of the parliamentary hemicycle, insisting on her country's attachment to European values.

She underlined, however, that "the Polish citizens were the ones who decided they wanted these changes" and pleaded for a "Union in diversity."

"The government has a democratic mandate," she insisted.

The elections of the Polish legislature held on Oct. 25 of last year marked the return to power of the Law and Justice party which sits at the European Parliament in the same group as British Conservatives, and which is hostile to a federalist Europe and loyal to strong national sovereignty.

"Poland doesn't deserve to be criticized. We are not a nationalist party," the Polish prime minister declared again.

"This debate reveals a very serious problem which must be resolved. It is necessary to consolidate the authority of the EU," she affirmed.

Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda, after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday in Brussels, said "Poland benefits from its membership in the EU ... we will never turn our backs on Europe."

Poland has benefited in particular from the transfer of communal funds, being the otherwise largest recipient: for the period of 2014-2020, the country is set to be allocated 82.5 billion euros (about 89.9 billion U.S. dollars), or 46.4 percent of the budget designated for Central and Eastern Europe.

A resolution from EU political groups on the "rule of law" proceedings in Poland will be voted on during the next plenary session, which will be held on Feb. 1-4. Endit