In a Facebook Q&A, the former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke about migration policy. He challenged the notion that the current government under Donald Tusk failed to block the EU migration pact at the bloc level, pointing out that his administration, along with the Czech Republic and Hungary, had previously blocked it.
He recalled that his actions helped shape European Council conclusions in June 2018 and June 2019, including a unanimity section he helped craft. He argued the present legislative process has fractured that unanimity and is once again undermining the pact.
He emphasized that if his party returns to power, it would not adhere to the migration pact, and Poland would reject the rules set by Tusk’s government. If the voters choose him back to government, Poland would not follow the pact’s terms.
Using these provisions, if the will of the voters returns the government to power, the country would not follow the migration pact rules adopted by Tusk’s administration.
That stance would mark a clear departure from the pact.
Morawiecki: Mr. Donald, please do the same
The former prime minister argued that accusations of failing to veto the EU migration pact misrepresent the record.
Not only did the government block it when a majority of member states backed the Migration Pact; even with warnings from Donald Tusk, then President of the European Council, Morawiecki said his moves at the European Council level helped achieve the outcome that, together with Hungary and the Czech Republic, the pact was blocked for five years.
He stressed that he blocked the migration pact, and that the current ruling coalition later agreed to unblock it. He claimed to have shown the path to blocking it.
He then urged the current head of government: Mr. Donald, please use the same approach and do the same.
“KPO is like Yeti, ask the mayors”
As PiS vice president, he criticized the current coalition’s handling of projects and investments started during the United Right’s rule.
He said he signed a contract with Intel more than a year ago, and if those in power had acted quickly, they would not have postponed it simply because it was a PiS investment. The opportunity existed for this project to move forward.
He added that there was a real chance for the investment.
In the context of the National Reconstruction Plan, the opposition figure noted that government programs were often seen as substitutes for European Union funding by many municipalities. KPO is like Yeti, he remarked, and one can ask mayors and municipal heads in many voivodeships. They had experienced government programs before, funded by the Polish budget, he argued.
Morawiecki noted that this involved tens of thousands of investments totaling over 100 billion PLN from the Polish state budget.
Today, those efforts have slowed, and KPO will not replace them. The execution of resources to implement individual programs is painfully slow, he added.
Morawiecki underscored that these processes have paused and that the planned funds must be mobilized more effectively.
Independence March and Confederation
Regarding the Independence March, the PiS has not always joined the event in the past, as it has long been linked with nationalist circles. Still, PiS politicians have attended the Krakow celebration on November 11 for years.
The former official stated his plan to participate in the Independence March and invited others to join him.
Regarding cooperation with the Confederation in relation to the Independence March, the former prime minister indicated there was no hostility. In his view, the conservative bloc should unite rather than fracture.
Looking back over the last five years, his statements about the Confederation show no outright hostility. He argued that there should be no enemies on the right and no enemies in the patriotic camp; those who are not against them are with them.