EU rewards Tusk’s Poland on rule of law with €137bn

“I have good news. Next week the college [of EU commissioners] will come forward with two decisions on European funds that are currently blocked for Poland. These decisions will lead to up to €137bn for Poland,” she said.

“We are impressed by your efforts and those of the Polish people to restore the rule of law as the backbone of your society. A society where everyone plays by the rules. A society where people and businesses can trust the institutions and can hold authorities to account,” she added.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed his gratitude, stating, “It’s a tonne of money, we will use it well.”

“We got really what we wanted. This is a very crucial day for us because we’ve done a lot. A huge effort has been done,” he added.

The EU had frozen the funds, which included cohesion funds for disadvantaged EU regions and post-pandemic recovery aid, due to concerns that the previous nationalist-populist Polish government, led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party of Jarosław Kaczyński, had undermined judicial independence, a fundamental EU value.

The EU had also initiated a separate sanctions procedure that could have resulted in the suspension of Poland’s voting rights in the EU Council.

In addition to judicial issues, PiS had transformed Polish state media into propaganda outlets and clashed with the EU on various matters such as handling Muslim migrants, LGBTI rights, and women’s rights, while also engaging in anti-EU rhetoric.

However, Tusk’s Civic Platform party, a centrist party, regained power in the elections last October, pledging to realign with the EU mainstream.

The Polish justice minister presented a detailed plan to reverse PiS’s reforms to EU-affairs ministers in Brussels earlier in the week.

The EU hailed the Polish blueprint as “a powerful statement… a clear roadmap for Poland, and your efforts are decisive,” von der Leyen said during her visit to Warsaw.

She was accompanied by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, and Tusk, before heading to Kyiv to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Saturday.

Aside from the PiS-EU conflict, Poland’s standing in Europe has grown due to its pivotal role in directing Western military aid to Ukraine.

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Poland’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, a staunch critic of Russia, hopes to secure a prominent position in Brussels following the European Parliament elections in June, such as becoming von der Leyen’s first EU “defence commissioner” if she wins a second term.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s De Croo announced in Warsaw that his country would deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by 2025, amid concerns of a prolonged conflict.

The breakthrough in EU funding for Poland on Friday contrasted with the situation in Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also had billions of euros withheld due to rule-of-law violations and is facing an EU sanctions procedure similar to that of PiS.

He has managed to regain some frozen funds by threatening to block Western initiatives, but EU and US pressure has forced him to relent on his vetoes without significant gains.

Orbán’s MEPs are currently excluded from any EU Parliament political group due to his pariah status, diminishing their influence.

While he has not committed to internal reforms like Tusk, Orbán indicated in a recent speech that he wants to improve relations with the EU.

His MEPs are looking to align with PiS deputies in the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group after the EU elections in June, which are expected to bring more right-wing populists into the EU assembly.