Some media representatives and several other people were not allowed to attend the author’s meeting with PO MEP Radosław Sikorski, which took place Friday evening at the Public Library in the Bemowo district. At the meeting, Sikorski was asked about royalties from the United Arab Emirates.
A meeting with Radosław Sikorski is scheduled for Friday evening. The Civic Platform’s MEP promoted his book “Polska. The State of the State” in the Local Activity Spotykalnia – Neighborhood Library, a branch of the Public Library in the Bemowo district of the capital Warsaw.
A few minutes before the start of the meeting, people who wanted to participate gathered in front of the building in Galeria Bemowo. There were also TV crews from TVP. Meeting participants freely entered the glass room. At one point there were two men at the door. They had insignia with the word “organizer” and the coat of arms of Warsaw.
The TV crew’s path was blocked
The men blocked the way for a television crew that wanted to enter. Although several press photographers and a PAP reporter were inside, they stated that the meeting was closed to the media and did not allow TVP journalists to enter. Several other people, youth activists of Solidarna Polska, also tried unsuccessfully to attend the meeting. As they announced at an earlier briefing, they planned to question Radosław Sikorski about his “Dubai interests”. The windows of the room were tightly screened from TVP cameras and SP youth activists.
PAP asked the director of the public library in the Bemowo district, Anna Fiszer-Nowacka, who made the decision not to let the TV crew and several other people in. “Everyone was let in,” she replied. She added that she hadn’t noticed that no one was allowed to attend the meeting.
At the meeting, Radosław Sikorski was asked about royalties from the United Arab Emirates. Is it “pecunia non olet” (money does not smell – porridge) – asked the participant in the action. Sikorski replied that, for example, “at the last Middle East conference” he chaired a panel on Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power.
It (conference – PAP) meets four times a year. You have to go, discuss for hours, come back, sometimes at a distance of course. This is real work. You have to prepare for it, you have to have these ideas, and then, if necessary, participate in this conference (…). And you know, there are costs for this kind of work. And they are allowed in the European Parliament
Sikorski said.
On Thursday, the Dutch daily newspaper “NRC” reported that PO MEP Radosław Sikorski receives 100,000 a year. UAE dollars. “His behavior during voting, in combination with payments, arouses suspicion,” say the newspaper’s interlocutors. The daily lists cases where a PO politician took a favorable stance for the Emirates and their closest ally in the region – Saudi Arabia.
The newspaper recalled that contacts between European politicians and abroad are under scrutiny after the bribery scandal in the European Parliament came to light.
“NRC” specified that Sikorski will receive 100,000 from the UAE. dollars a year for advising on the Sir Bani Yas Conference. “The conference was established by the Emirates a little over 10 years ago as a way to conduct international diplomacy using +soft power+,” the daily reads. The newspaper points out that the conference (currently in the form of a permanent institution) is closed. “The press is not welcome, everything is done in secret,” emphasizes “NRC”.
For all matters pertaining to these countries, I voted as recommended by my group
– explained the Polish MEP to the newspaper.
Sikorski is a member of the European People’s Party (EPP).
On Friday, the Belgian newspaper “De Standaardard” reported that PO MEP Radosław Sikorski received half a million dollars from the United Arab Emirates.
Corruption. MEP Sikorski was silent about the Emirates money
– that’s what the Belgian daily newspaper called his text about the Polish politician on Friday.
“The Standard” pointed out that the European Parliament is vulnerable to the influence of autocratic regimes.
The United Arab Emirates has a group of friends. The most famous member is Radosław Sikorski, the former Polish foreign minister
wrote the Belgian daily.
Also on Friday, the CBA press team announced that officials of the CBA’s Department of Control Proceedings have verified the accuracy and veracity of the asset declarations submitted by Radosław Sikorski in the years 2019-2022 in connection with the performance of his mandate as a member of the European Parliament.
READ ALSO: Sikorski and money from the UAE. Internet storm: “What are your deep pockets hiding?”; “Maybe he wants to give something to the armed forces of Ukraine?”
mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce