The president is not the head of government. Decision-making paralysis and “stuffing”

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, assessed on Saturday that a potential change to EU treaties would not necessarily go in a good direction for Poland. He announced that he intended to make President Karol Nawrocki aware of this in a personal letter, because – as he said – someone was misleading the president on this matter.

On Monday, President Karol Nawrocki gave a lecture at Charles University in Prague on the future of the European Union and attempts at its centralization, and presented his program opposing the process of EU centralization. He supported the abolition of the position of President of the European Council; he also pointed out the need for changes in the voting system in the EU Council. In Nawrocki's opinion, the centralization process would lead to the deprivation of sovereignty of the member states, “except the two largest ones”, and to the weakening of democratic systems. According to the Polish head of state, the ability to outvote member states at the EU forum would mean depriving them of the role of “masters of the treaties”.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized in this context on Saturday on TVN24 that if the president says that he is proposing something on behalf of Poland, he makes it clear that this is the uniform position of the government and the president. – And he didn't agree on it with anyone; Moreover, there he expressed theses that are inconsistent with the government's policy. Poland does not propose changing treaties at this time, Sikorski noted.

He emphasized that “changing the treaties would not necessarily go in a good direction for us.” – And I intend to make the president aware of this in a personal letter, because someone is misleading him – added Sikorski.

He reminded that next week the president will take part in a meeting of the presidents of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia). He noted that these are “non-executive” presidents, meaning they are not the heads of the executive power in their countries. – Because in Poland, the president is not the head of the executive power, it is the prime minister. And we can either get used to the fact that we have such a constitution, or try to change it by pushing ourselves and paralyzing the decision-making process. But this does not help the country, said the head of Polish diplomacy.

Earlier, on November 19, Sikorski gave a speech in the Sejm on the latest acts of sabotage on the railways. In his speech, the minister criticized President Karol Nawrocki, accusing him of, among other things, omitting – during the Independence Day celebrations – Russian aggression, fueling the anti-EU narrative and confirming it with actions – refusing to promote 46 judges citing EU law. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered it dangerous and unacceptable. (PAP)

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