Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing Law and Justice party (PiS), has publicly backed Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, stating that «there is no possible alternative» to what he represents, at a time when he is being questioned within the government for his handling of negotiations with the European Union on the distribution of economic aid for the pandemic.
«There is no alternative to the line represented by the prime minister,» he said Monday on Radio Wroclaw. Kaczynski, who acknowledged «some tension» between Morawiecki and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, stressed that the «prevailing reasons are on the side of the Prime Minister».
In this sense, he said that Minister Ziobro «does not understand the whole series of complications» that are arising during the talks with Brussels, such as, for example, the costs of Poland’s indebtedness on the world markets.
«As if he is not aware of the magnitude of the challenges in which Poland is and will be, because we are in the global market and at the same time we are in those challenges that result from our presence in the European Union,» said Kaczynski in reference to Ziobro.
Prime Minister Morawiecki has been the target of criticism from the Justice Minister and a small faction of hard-line lawmakers in the already very conservative party, who accuse him of sacrificing Poland’s sovereignty in negotiations with the European Union.
The differences between how these negotiations are being conducted are such that Ziobro even raised the possibility last week of pulling his party, United Poland, out of the coalition government.
The declarations of Kaczynski -the most prominent political figure in Poland- in support of Morawiecki seem crucial in the face of the critics, at a time when he is trying to access the 34,500 million Euros from the European Union.
These internal disputes are complicating negotiations with Brussels, which is reluctant to hand over this aid because of concerns about judicial independence and the rule of law in Poland. Everything surrounding the process of accessing these funds is also diminishing PiS’s support for the upcoming elections, according to polls.
