Kaczyński calls for period of calm in Poland

At a press conference given on Thursday, Kaczyński proposed that such a lull could last “at least until the end of Holy Father's visit,” with Pope Francis due to be in Poland from 27 July to 31 July.

“We won't take our [internal] disputes into the wider world,” Kaczyński theorised.

“We will act as if we are in the midst of an emergency situation, because today we do indeed have an emergency,” he said.

“There are multiple threats in the West, there is Russia's aggressive policy, and there are all kinds of internal disputes which are happening in a very harsh and indeed unnecessarily harsh way,” he continued.

Kaczyński said that after Easter he will ask the Speaker of the lower house of parliament to call a meeting of the leaders of all political parties so as to engage in “dialogue.”

The current government was sworn into office in mid-November 2015, after winning the 25 October general election.

However, after parliament voted through a swift succession of bills reforming the judiciary, public media, the civil service, and surveillance laws among others, cities across Poland witnessed a series large-scale protests.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is carrying out a probe into the rule of law in Poland.

Opposition responds

Tomasz Siemoniak, former deputy prime minister and current deputy head of opposition party Civic Platform, expressed a somewhat cautious response to Kaczyński's appeal.

“Of course we are ready for various kinds of talks, but it seems to me that in the light of the chairman's earlier statements, which showed he has no desire to compromise, and following statements attacking the opposition, this is an appeal which only serves to distract from what is happening,” he said.

Meanwhile Katarzyna Lubnauer of the Nowoczesna party said that Kaczyński is “playing for time”, and it is the government that must act if it is to resolve problems with the European Union. (nh/pk)

Source: PAP/IAR