In view of the upcoming elections in autumn, the Polish ruling party PiS must fear for its power if it fires another broadside against a European achievement.
The ban on the death penalty, which applies in all member states of the Council of Europe, was an important prerequisite for Poland's (and other Eastern European states') accession to the EU, and with good reason.
State executions do not fit on a civilized and democratic continent - not even for the worst crimes, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is now demanding.
The fact that he himself points out that the Catholic Church is against this archaic form of punishment shows that Kaczynski's troops will take action against anyone when in doubt.
Medvedev calls for reapplication
The still unresolved dispute with the EU Commission over the rule of law, demands for reparations from Germany, now the questioning of a criminal law and ideological core of European unification - one wonders how far Poland's government has already mentally distanced itself from its partners.
Anyone who talks and acts like this seems to see the EU as little more than a source of money.
The intellectual society that the PiS keeps moving into is the one that it otherwise constantly warns about: In Russia, former President Dmitry Medvedev recently spoke out in favor of reinstating the death penalty.