Guarantees for supporters of integration: why does Poland offer to constitutionally consolidate membership in the EU and NATO

Polish President Andrzej Duda called for the country's membership in the EU and NATO to be consolidated in the country's Constitution. He stated this on May 3, speaking at events dedicated to the adoption of the first fundamental law of Poland.

On May 3, 1791, the first Polish constitution (the constitution of the Third of May), the second in the world after the US Constitution, was adopted in Rzecz Pospolita. Since 1990, this day is a national holiday.

“Today one of the important tasks facing us is the construction of a strong state in Poland. We have a Constitution, and we need to debate on amending it. Because it is worth discussing whether to include records about the European Union and NATO, whether Poland’s presence in these large alliances should be guaranteed in the basic law. I am personally convinced that I should, ”quotes Radio Poland Poland.

In turn, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Polish government, Jaroslav Govin, speaking in Krakow, said that the section regulating relations between Poland and the EU should appear in the country's Constitution. On the one hand, he will consolidate the country's membership in the integration bloc, on the other, he will divide the powers of the national authorities and the European leadership.

The Polish president is not the first to initiate constitutionally guaranteeing the country's membership in international blocs. In March last year, a similar proposal was voiced by the President of the Polish Peasant Party, Vladislav Kosinyak-Kamysh. True, he proposed to introduce in the basic law of the state only the provision on the membership of Poland in the European Union.

• President of Poland Andrzej Duda
• Reuters
• © David W Cerny

This proposal had both supporters and critics. The Deputy Minister of Culture of Poland, Jaroslav Sellin, then supported this initiative, and the Vice-Speaker of the Polish Seim, Stanislav Tyszka, representing the nationalist party Kukiz'15, opposed. He compared the entry in the Constitution of an entry on EU membership with the norm of the basic law of socialist Poland, where the course towards "friendship and cooperation with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and other socialist states" was fixed.

Press Secretary of the Polish President Blajay Spychalski, in turn, recalled that last year the President had submitted to the Sejm a proposal for a national referendum. Among the questions that Andrzej Duda outlined was one concerning the consolidation in the basic law of the country of membership in NATO and the EU. However, the Parliament, without whose approval no plebiscite could be held, did not support this document - among other points that Andrzej Duda added to the list, there was also the question of expanding his own powers.

Correct image

According to experts, the Polish president has now returned to the question of changing the country's basic law and constitutional guarantees of membership in NATO and the EU for political reasons. One of them is the desire to push through a package of reforms that would strengthen his power. Another is the desire to intercept the pro-European agenda of their political opponents.

The fact is that in February 2019, supporters of liberal political forces announced their unification before the May elections to the European Parliament. The result was the European Coalition, whose supporters criticize the current authorities, represented by the conservative party Law and Justice, for frequent conflicts with Brussels and the desire to supposedly undermine Poland’s European path.

According to a study prepared by the sociological service Kantar Public commissioned by the European Parliament and published on April 18, supporters of the pro-European path can receive almost as many seats in the new composition of this body as deputies from Rights and Justice. The first can count on 21 seats, the second - on 23. In the autumn of 2019, parliamentary elections will be held in which the opposition will again try to challenge the ruling party. And in 2020 Poland is waiting for the presidential election.

On April 30, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the EU, Andrzej Duda announced the inviolability of the country's membership in this integration association. Last month, Yaroslav Kaczynski, chairman of the Rights and Justice, made a similar statement.

“The ruling party and the government of Poland have problems with the pro-European image,” said Oleg Nemensky, an expert with the Institute for Strategic Studies, in an interview with RT. - They are Eurosceptic, a radical pro-American party, and Poland has big problems in its relations with Europe. They need to make some statements in order to emphasize that they are not opposed to the European Union. And also to demonstrate to the Western community that the leadership of Poland does not doubt the need for Poland’s membership in the EU, and at the same time in NATO. ”

• Reuters
• © Leonhard Foeger

On May 1, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen sharply criticized Warsaw’s approach to relations with the EU, stating that the organization is “not a monetary machine” and not a “cow that can be milked”. According to Radio Poland, she referred to the calculations of the Business Insider publication, for 15 years of EU membership, Poland received € 163 billion from the European Union, and contributed only € 53 billion to the European budget.

It is not surprising that, according to the official study of the sociological service of the EU Eurobarometer, conducted in the fall of 2018, the Poles turned out to be one of the most positive towards the EU by the people of Europe: 54% of those polled in Poland are positive towards the EU

Tusk factor

Almost simultaneously with the speech of the President of Poland, the importance of EU membership was declared by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who arrived in
Warsaw. However, he paid more attention to cooperation between Poland and the United States.

“We, the Poles, should also speak out loud that we did not have and, probably, we will not have a better ally in the foreseeable future than the United States,” Tusk stressed.

Earlier, Donald Tusk served as Prime Minister of Poland, at the same time heading the Civic Platform party. After the elections to the European Parliament, which will be held in late May, the new representative of one of the EU countries will take the place of Tusk. In Poland, it is not without reason that the former head of government can return to the politics of his native country. Earlier, Tusk has repeatedly accused representatives of the Law and Justice Party that, with them, Poland could withdraw from the EU.

• European Council President Donald Tusk
• Reuters
• © Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Gazeta / via

As political analyst Stanislav Kuvaldin noted in an interview with RT, on May 3, two important political events coincided de facto in Warsaw — speeches by President Andrzej Duda and Donald Tusk, which largely echoed each other. At the same time, for the former prime minister this statement could be the start of a new career in his homeland, and for this he must necessarily indicate that he will be “his” for both the European Union and the United States, the expert believes.

“The Polish opposition looks at Tusk as a possible savior, as one of the most powerful figures they have in the deck, because no one after Tusk left for Brussels could replace him,” Kuvaldin noted. “The presidential statement was partly as a step towards the Polish liberals in an attempt to win support for constitutional reform from various political forces.”

Effects of change

According to experts, the decision to write down in the Constitution the provisions on membership in NATO and the EU will not fundamentally change Poland’s foreign policy.

"You can designate membership in the EU, but at the same time advocate that the EU does not have much authority," - said Stanislav Kuvaldin.

In February 2019, a decision similar to the current proposal of the President of Poland was made in Kiev. Then the Verkhovna Rada voted for the proposal of Petro Poroshenko to amend the Constitution of Ukraine, enshrining the country's course towards NATO and EU membership. However, experts note that, despite the external similarity of the Polish and Ukrainian situation, there are serious differences between them.

“Ukraine has enshrined in the Constitution a course towards the country's accession to the European Union and NATO. And Poland is not talking about the course, but about the membership in these associations. Such an entry in the Constitution blocks the question of withdrawal from the relevant organizations, ”notes Oleg Nemensky.

Although the majority of Poles have a positive attitude towards the EU, representatives of political structures that are skeptical about membership in this organization are active in the country. On May 1, a meeting of European skeptics took place in Warsaw, in which several thousand people took part, including people with slogans about leaving the European Union.

“If one of the EU countries demonstrates the consolidation of membership in the Constitution, this indicates a deep crisis, which is just beginning in the EU and NATO,” Oleg Nemensky believes. “Because, first of all, there was no need to guarantee membership in these organizations at the level of the basic law.” Now this initiative has internal political significance. This is a ban on raising the issue of withdrawal from the EU and NATO to those parties that call for it. And before the elections to the European Parliament, these parties are quite active. ”