The Prime Minister rejects being labeled Eurosceptic. He argues he is not a eurosceptic but a realist, a stance shared by a growing number of Poles who see how hard it is to defend national interests within the European Union, Mateusz Morawiecki said in a recent podcast episode about Poland and the EU.
On Saturday, the head of government shared a new podcast installment on social media, focusing on Poland’s relationship with Brussels. He quoted media outlets and claimed their coverage isn’t friendly toward the ruling party, PiS.
He highlighted a string of sensational headlines—”The PiS government will clash with the EU”; “Poland vs the EU”; “War between PiS and the EU”—as examples of how the press has framed the debate over the past seven years, he noted.
Morawiecki described these headlines as a tool used by the opposition in their bid for political power in Poland.
Asked how much truth lies in those narratives, he answered plainly: not much, and sometimes none at all.
The Prime Minister emphasized that there is no parity between the EU and the European Commission or the European Parliament, and that governments consistently find themselves in political disagreements over visions with major EU institutions. He insisted that Poles and Europeans stand at a pivotal moment in history, a moment especially significant for Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.
Morawiecki underscored that this moment matters not only because it touches the ongoing conflict over Ukraine but also because the visible threat of Russian imperialism has awakened the West and reminded the world of the values that undergird our civilization.
He recalled that European values are not the invention of Brussels officials or commissioners; they were forged over more than two millennia through the legacy of ancient Greece, Rome, and Christian tradition. He added that these roots are part of Poland’s identity and that, as John Paul II reminded, one cannot sever themselves from them.
According to the Prime Minister, European values should not sit as empty slogans or be bent for short-term political needs. Attempts to redefine and apply European values without consensus can become a tool of political pressure that could undermine the Union’s unity.
He argued that the Union’s strength lies in the power and diversity of nation-states, and he insisted there can be no space for censorship or ideological indoctrination in Europe.
As events unfold on Europe’s eastern edge regarding Ukraine and the shifting world order, he warned, the destiny of the European Union is debated to the west of Poland’s borders—whether the Union becomes a democratic community or slides toward a centralized, undemocratic bureaucracy.
Morawiecki urged anyone advocating a European superstate governed by a small elite to remember that political choices belong to the people, exercised at the ballot box rather than in private offices.
In a call to all Poles, the Prime Minister urged vigilance against mischaracterizations that a rift among EU democracies signals anti-European sentiment or Euroscepticism. He described such disagreements as a normal feature of democracy.
He reminded people not to accept labels like Eurosceptic for PiS politicians. The term eurorealist was offered as a more accurate descriptor for a group that believes in critical engagement with EU structures while defending Poland’s sovereignty and national interests.
From the outset of its EU bid, he noted, Poland has viewed the Union as part of a broader project: a return to a free world grounded in shared cultural and civilizational ties that had once been suppressed, and which Europe is striving to reclaim. He asserted that the European Union is a reflection of that long-standing aspiration and that Poland stands as part of this ongoing European story.