Yesterday’s debate, which took place at EP headquarters in Strasbourg, on the destruction of the rule of law in Spain, seemed like a somewhat hidden act and reserved for those in the know.
After a few years of spectacular criticism of Poland and Hungary, it is inappropriate to highlight the case of Spain under the ultra-progressive socialist-communist government of Pedro Sánchez. The Polish mainstream press was also not interested in the call from Spain’s highest judicial authorities and the People’s Party itself (KO’s colleagues in the European Parliament) for Europe to expose and stop Sánchez’s authoritarian drift.
The Spanish press wrote more or less the same way about yesterday’s debate:
”The European Parliament held a debate on the “threat to the rule of law posed by government agreements in Spain” at the request of the People’s Party, Vox and Ciudadanos, who addressed the session together with Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. He warned that the European Commission “will monitor the amnesty issue very closely” and said it is “receiving many complaints” about the draft law, both from Spanish citizens and from other sectors, especially the Spanish justice system.
For the slightly more intelligent Spaniards, it was known from the beginning that despite the letters and manifestos sent to Brussels by the Spanish National Council for the Judiciary and all associations of judges, well-known intellectuals, entrepreneurs and journalists also urgently requested the intervention of the European Commission in the issue of clear violation of the provisions of the Constitution and the destruction of the tripartite divisive authorities – high commissioners will not want to intervene in the internal affairs of their country. All the more so because the EC’s deputy commissioner is the Spanish socialist Josep Borrell. The depressing mood had previously forced Spaniards not to go to demonstrations under the flag of the EU, which in their view turned out to be surprisingly blind and deaf, although for years the word “rule of law” was the most important (but only in the context of Poland and Hungary). It is easy to check the truth of the above words by looking at photos of millions of demonstrations in all provincial capitals: a flood of only national flags and very rarely even a naive Euro enthusiast walked with the EU flag.
Predictably, the Spanish People’s Party, which so often wanted to help Poland’s total opposition ‘restore the rule of law’ on the Vistula River, also received support from PO member Andrzej Halicki, who as vice-president of the Spanish People’s Party EPP perhaps should have come to their rescue. However, the words he uttered clearly demonstrate not only the obsession with demonizing the Polish government and its cosmopolitanism, but also the shameful ignorance of what distinguishes the authentic authoritarianism of the Sánchez government from the imagined “regime” of Kaczyński. So let’s focus on his short speech, despite the toothache caused not only by his message, but also by his English (with such a high position in the EPP?).
I am obliged to say a few words because I have witnessed the destruction of the rule of law in Poland and therefore, as a Polish Member of this House, I would like to once again thank my colleagues, the European Commission and Commissioner Reynerds for the immediate response and debate, for example recently about the so-called Lex Tusk, which as a result was not implemented, thank you again.
(Turning to the Spaniards) So you also have this option. I saw millions of you on the streets, just like in Poland, in Warsaw, with national and European flags. And why? Because the rule of law is a universal matter. There is only one constitutional state: the European one, there is no Spanish or Polish constitutional state. There is one democracy and we must protect it. We are not just talking about Spain, but about the state of democracy in Europe, and that is why we must respond. You still have the chance NOT to follow the Polish path, because it is only a matter of time. Building a majority through political corruption is a crime, and the crime must be punished. It is only a matter of time when it will be punished in Poland, and therefore also in Spain. Let’s think about it, because I want you to be credible when you talk about the rule of law.
So let’s make a cheat sheet for MEP Halicki, who seems to be deliberately ignoring key facts about the state of democracy in both countries:
1) Unlike PiS (which achieved the highest result in the parliamentary elections for the third time), Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists lost the parliamentary elections. In 2018, they came to power as a result of a vote of no confidence against Rajoy’s right-wing government, this time as a result of a coup d’état in the form of an illegal amnesty law.
2) The attempt to equalize the mass of demonstrations in Poland and Spain is manipulation on the part of MEP Halicki. KOD or Tusk never brought millions of people onto the streets under the Polish flag. In Madrid alone, 1.5 million people showed up, but the following weekends saw protests of many thousands on the streets of 52 provincial capitals.
3) Pedro Sánchez governs thanks to a coalition with the Communist Party of Spain, which in itself is a phenomenon on a European scale, because its leaders still identify Lenin’s ideas with freedom and democracy. In both the previous and the current cabinet, no fewer than three ministers represent the colors of this party. Telling Poles in recent years that Polish conservatives created the regime and that Spanish communists are models of the rule of law borders on mocking the intelligence of Polish citizens.
4) Neither communists come to power in Poland (although they sit on the EP benches on behalf of the left), nor nationalists with judicial convictions for terrorism or crimes, as is the case in Spain (EH Bildu party, Junts, ECR – coalition partners of socialists).
5) In Poland there is no inequality between citizens before the law; it is unthinkable to punish the same crime differently depending on the gender of the perpetrator, as provided by Spanish law. In fact, it is inconceivable that the Prime Minister, in order to win votes from the coalition, would engage in legal machinations that would allow him to buy and obtain the votes of politicians in exchange for granting favors or removing penalties for crimes, embezzlement and abuse. terrorism (because that’s what the Sanchez amnesty is about).
6) PiS is under constant attack by the European institutions and the total opposition under the pretext of introducing authoritarian rule, while during the pandemic Prime Minister Sánchez has illegally suspended the work of Parliament and imposed the most drastic control measures, including admitted that citizens were being surveilled. to reduce criticism of the government”. It is easy to see that Sánchez’s rule has little to do with democracy, because he governed with the help of decrees and resolutions that could not be voted on by the parliamentary opposition. According to the press Prime Minister Sanchez controls 25 state institutions, including primarily the Constitutional Court, whose composition was changed in December 2022 in order to govern in a manner favorable to the government.
7) Fundamental difference: The Polish government has NEVER used rubber bullets and tear gas against peacefully demonstrating citizens, as the police sent by the Minister of the Interior, Marlaska, do. Independent journalists have never been arrested and detained overnight, as recently happened in Spain.
8) No, there is not ‘one universal, European constitutional state’ because there is no European nation. Poland and Spain are two completely different political communities, with completely different systems, constitutions and histories.
MEP Halicki once again repeats the mantra about the alleged illegality of Poland and compares the “incomparable” (because Sánchez’s style of exercising power cannot be compared to the actions of the ZP government), simply slanders the country and states exposing himself to ridicule in politics. eyes of these Poles, but also of Europeans, who understand the situation in both countries better than he does.
As you can guess, yesterday’s debate in the EP on the end of democracy in Spain was held in a modest format, with only 10% present. forum.
As published yesterday in the Spanish daily El Mundo:
The controversial situation in Spain was discussed during the plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The non-binding discussion will remain unresolved. (…) Brussels will not issue an opinion until it has been definitively approved by the Spanish Parliament. In the meantime, as a neutral arbiter and guardian of the Treaties, he cannot speak. As part of this assessment, the Commission is asked to assess the compatibility of Spanish legislation with the acquis communautaire. In particular, in accordance with art. 2 of the EU on the separation of powers and the rule of law, as well as the fight against terrorism, corruption and respect for the Union’s financial interests. The commissioner admitted that he receives many parliamentary questions and complaints “from citizens in many places”.
For this reason, he assured that Brussels would analyze the text “with caution, independence and objectivity”.
It is therefore not surprising that the Spanish Socialists have almost announced their victory over the People’s Party and Vox, knowing that whatever they do, they will go unpunished. Let it remain important to us that Polish MEP Halicki still wants to tell the world that the only one guilty of punishment and persecution is the government democratically elected by all Poles.
Source: wPolityce