THE EUROPEAN UNION and the United States have expressed concerns over a new Polish law creating a body to probe “Russian influence”, which critics say Warsaw will use to target opposition.
According to Poland’s nationalist government, the commission will investigate the impact Russia had on Polish politics, but granting it broad powers drew criticism from the opposition and Warsaw’s allies.
The EU has “special concern” over the committee, which would have powers to block citizens from public office, the bloc’s justice commissioner said Tuesday.
Brussels is worried the new panel could be used to “deprive citizens… individuals of their rights to be elected in a public function, public office,” commissioner Didier Reynders said.
He added that the European Commission “will not hesitate to take measures if it’s needed”.
In a separate statement yesterday, the US State Department said it was “concerned by the Polish government’s passage of new legislation that could be misused to interfere with Poland’s free and fair elections”.
Parliamentary elections in Poland will be held in autumn this year.
The US government said it shared “the concerns expressed by many observers that this law to create a commission to investigate Russian influence could be used to block the candidacy of opposition politicians without due process.”
Critics say the commission undermines the separation of powers – the principle that legislative and judicial bodies are separate and independent of each other.
In effect, the commission’s politically appointed members are both prosecutors and judges in the cases they will handle.
But today the right-wing government in Warsaw rebuffed the comments of the US government, saying the legislation remained “within sovereign national competence of the Polish parliament”.
In a statement, the Polish ministry of foreign affairs said, “Poland highly values the alliance with (the) United States” and was “always ready to clarify and explain all potential misinterpretations and doubts” about the law.
It added that the new body’s work “will not limit voters’ ability to vote for their candidates in elections; on the contrary – it will provide the public with wider access to information about matters crucial to national security.”
Also today, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk said, “The commission’s goal is absolutely not a political struggle or interference in the elections.”
“It is about the examination of Soviet influences in Poland, which have to be exposed and stigmatised,” Mularczyk told the PAP state news agency.
Yesterday, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the contested bill into law, enabling the creation of the commission that the opposition slammed as “anti-constitutional” and “Stalinist”.
The commission’s nine members, appointed by the lower house of parliament, will decide if individuals it investigates succumbed to Russian influence between 2007 and 2022 and impose harsh penalties.
The government has not provided for any appeal process for people found guilty, who could find themselves banned for 10 years from public positions relating to public finances and classified information.
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