Poland’s PiS proposes ex-Tusk ally-turned-rival for EU commissioner

7 months ago 29

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the conservative PiS, has nominated Jacek Saryusz-Wolski – a long-serving MEP and rival to now-Prime Minister Donald Tusk for the European Council spot in 2017 – as the party’s candidate for EU commissioner, even though the party has lost its right to nominate commissioners since it is now in opposition.

After losing power to Tusk’s grand coalition in December, the PiS no longer has the right to nominate the Polish commissioner, as it is for governments to nominate them. Nevertheless, the party decided to present its candidate, 75-year-old Saryusz Wolski, who has been an MEP since Poland joined the EU in 2004.

“We have our candidate for EU commissioner, who is (…) a super competent person and has a strong character and temperament,” Kaczyński said of Saryusz-Wolski at the PiS congress in Warsaw, where the party launched its campaign for the European elections.

Wolski, one of the main negotiators of Poland’s EU membership, was a member of Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO, EPP) until 2017, when he switched sides and became Tusk’s most vocal critic.

In early 2017, to prevent Tusk from extending his term as European Council president, the PiS government nominated Saryusz-Wolski as its candidate for the post. However, he received no support from any country other than Poland, resulting in Tusk remaining in office until 2019.

By running against Tusk for the European Council presidency, Saryusz-Wolski was expelled from the PO and lost his position as deputy leader of the European People’s Party (EPP). In 2019, he joined PiS in running for the European elections and successfully won an MEP seat.

Sikorski commented on Kaczynski’s announcement. “Let’s remember that their (PiS) commissioner goes there (to the Commission) to fight for Poland’s interests, while everyone else leaves Poland to get on the gravy train,” he wrote on X.

As for Polish commissioners, both Tusk’s government and the PiS have expressed dissatisfaction with the PiS’s nominee for EU commissioner in 2019, agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, particularly over his handling of farmers’ protests.

Were the post of EU Defence Commissioner to be created in the next Commission, Tusk signalled last month that it would be an interesting option for Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)