“FT”: The EU is preparing for a possible PiS victory. “We are in the hands of Polish and Slovak voters”

Until recently, she hoped that Donald Tusk would lead the opposition to victory in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland. However, Brussels diplomats are beginning to realize that staying in power is much more likely and will have consequences for the entire Community –

So much depends on what will happen in Warsaw. But the situation doesn’t seem very good

– one of the senior EU officials told the portal. Daniel Hegedüs from the German Marshall Funds said that although the election results may be different, most of them will still be unfavorable for the European Union.

The European Union is afraid that PiS will win the elections and worsen relations

“FT” states that PiS introduced an embargo on Ukraine under the influence of the far-right Confederation, which may be a potential partner of the ruling party after the elections. According to the portal, the result of these pressures will also be a reduction in benefits for Ukrainian refugees and a potential halt in military support for the country fighting against Russia. A high-ranking official said that these concessions to the far right are a “quite dangerous” harbinger of what Poland’s future narrative regarding the EU will look like.

EU officials and diplomats are therefore preparing for the next years of PiS rule and further deterioration of relations with Poland, both in relations with Brussels, Berlin and Paris. “FT” also reminds that the EU has frozen funds for Poland from the KPO due to our country’s violation of the rule of law. The portal adds that PiS obviously believes that the problem does not exist.

Neither PiS nor Konfederacja want to leave the EU and rather support radical changes from within, notes the British daily. Jarosław Kaczyński was also quoted, who admitted in September that the party he leads wants to set a new direction for the EU and that is why PiS is waiting for next year’s elections to the European Parliament.

The EU has a problem with right-wing governments

Officials in Brussels are terrified by the prospect of PiS approaching far-right circles, because it could strengthen the anti-freedom bloc in individual countries and, consequently, make decision-making in the Community more difficult. And by the end of this year, the EU has many plans. For example, it wants to conclude an agreement on increasing the common budget or create new rules for managing the budgets of member states. The agenda also includes starting accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and formally implementing a system for handling migrants and asylum seekers.

Achieving these goals may be made more difficult not only by PiS winning in Poland, but also by Viktor Orban in Hungary. In addition, parliamentary elections are also taking place in Slovakia, whose citizens will vote on the upcoming Sunday, October 1. One of the candidates is former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is skeptical about the Ukrainian issue and is friendly to Russia. His win would put Slovakia in a row with Hungary and Poland.

We are in the hands of Polish and Slovak voters

– said Daniel Hegedüs. “The power of anti-freedom and authoritarian governments in central, central and southern Europe may increase. And this will obviously make it difficult to conduct and coordinate European foreign policy. I think that those who have a positive approach to the elections forget that in Poland there is already a deeply rooted authoritarian state,” he added.

The situation is made worse by the bizarre calendar of the EU Council presidency. Hungary will lead the Community from July to December next year, and Poland will take over from January to the end of June 2025. Both countries will therefore lead the council, which will allow them to promote the topics of their choice.