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Warsaw, Poland | Xinhua | The European Parliament (EP) should stop criticizing Poland for alleged rule-of-law problems when it has been unable to stop corruption in its own ranks, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday.
According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Duda made the comment at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He referred to a corruption scandal in which senior EP officials, including the institution’s vice president, have been accused of accepting bribes in return for lobbying for the interests of Qatar and Morocco.
“First of all, representatives of the EU and the European institutions should finally stop throwing around the rule-of-law platitudes which, as one can see, do not have much to do with their own actions,” Duda said.
Poland has been embroiled in a protracted rule-of-law conflict with the EU institutions since the ruling conservative camp made a number of changes to the country’s judicial system that alarmed the EU. The European Commission has locked Poland out of the much-needed post-pandemic recovery fund until Warsaw reverses some of the changes.
Duda also said that the EP scandal had not been revealed by the EU institutions but by Belgian and French prosecutors. “Instead of lecturing others, they should start dealing with the rule of law in their own ranks.”
Eva Kaili, a Greek politician and EP vice president, was one of the people arrested in the scandal in December. Her family members are also being investigated. A former Italian Member of the Parliament (MEP), Antonio Panzeri, has also been arrested. Two other MEPs are facing the prospect of having their immunity stripped.
