Under the watchful eye of the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister Donald Tusk signs himself in at parliament buildings in Strasbourg, 06.07.2011 Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Following an optimistic speech by the Polish premier, a number of foreign and Polish MEPs took the opportunity to fire criticism at him.
In the speech, Donald Tusk said the best remedy for the current European crisis is solidarity among nations of the Old Continent. The government head told the assembly that the top priorities of the Polish EU Council presidency will be an effective dealing with the economic crisis as well as overcoming the ‘crisis of trust’ in the idea of European unification. All this also requires the strengthening European institutions, he stressed.
Still before the debate on the list of undertakings planned by Poland for its EU presidency, leaders of the respective political groupings in the European Parliament voiced their expectations and declarations.
Martin Schulz, who heads the PES Socialist faction, and known for his traditionally critical approach, had been well disposed towards Polish plans for the coming six months.
“My feeling is that the Polish government has prepared very carefully for its presidency,” he said, adding that his meetings with PM Tusk were very promising. “Donald Tusk is a convinced pro-European. Therefore, he will be highly welcomed in the European Parliament, at least by me!,” Schulz quipped.
The EPP Christian Democrats – the most numerous political grouping in the European Parliament – promises to be more supportive, declared Joseph Daul. This is not surprising as the Civic Platform (PO) of Donald Tusk and his junior government coalition partner the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) hold membership in the European party.
Under fire…
The optimistic words voiced by Prime Minister Tusk in his speech were not soothing to the ears of some MEPs, however. “Why do you pretend that everything is going well, when Europe is in a deep structural crisis?,” asked Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
“Greece, Portugal and Spain are not surviving the euro zone, and Denmark has broken with the Schengen Agreement, ” he stressed, commenting on Denmark’s decision to reinstate customs controls at its borders, effective from yesterday, Tuesday.
Polish MEPs also took the opportunity to raise domestic affairs on the European stage during Tuesday’s parliamentary session.
Zbigniew Ziobro from the conservative Law and Justice party, and member of the European Conservatives and Reformists, was one MEP seized the chance to deflate Tusk’s performance.
“You spoke beautifully about the values of the Polish presidency, but I would like you to observe the values such as freedom speech and freedom of the press in practice,” he challenged.
Attacking Tusk, Ziobro added that “it’s your government that requested the liquidation of the [centre-right] Rzeczpospolita newspaper,” postulating that the reasons for doing so were not financial, but because the partially state-owned paper was “critical of the government”.
Meanwhile, Ryszard Legutko, another member of the ECR, took a bash at Poland’s Weimar Triangle partners, France and Germany. “What does it mean that our presidency is to be inclusive?,”Legutko exclaimed.
“In Europe, we see two forms of political arrogance: social engineering and Germany and France convinced that power belongs to them. We hope that you will contribute to the weakening of this arrogance,” Legutko opined. (ss/nh/jb)