Polish far-right begins election campaign with Polexit demand

5 months ago 20

Polish far-right leaders are launching their European election campaign by setting up parties that want Poland to leave the European Union, one of which was founded by former MEP Stanisław Żółtek.

The first politician to call for Poland’s exit from the EU was Żółtek, a former presidential candidate who is now running for MEP.

“We are under the thumb of the European Commission, which is governed by the Germans and the French. They are losing their national sovereignty (to the EU) just like us, but at least under their own leadership, he said, as quoted by Rzeczpospolita.

The Polish people have realised the consequences of EU membership, according to Żółtek, who points to rising electricity bills due to the cost of CO2 emissions, EU restrictions affecting the competitiveness of Polish agriculture and the push for electric vehicles in the near future.

As many as three election committees with the word “Polexit” in their names have registered for the elections, Rzeczpospolita reported, citing the list on the National Electoral Commission’s (PKW) website.

In addition to Żółtek’s PolEXIT Election Committee, there are two other committees with a similar political profile and with Poland’s withdrawal from the EU as their main demand: Polexit Independence (Polexit Niepodległość) and Polexit? It’s High Time! (Polexit? Najwyższy Czas!).

The first one was founded by Robert Bąkiewicz, former head of the Independence March Association, which is responsible for organising the annual Independence March on Polish Independence Day (11 November), usually attended by many European far-right, nationalist, but also neo-fascist and neo-pagan movements.

The founder of the second committee – the Polexit? It’s High Time! – is former MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who became famous in the EU Parliament during the last legislature for his remarks about Islam, women and black people, which outraged other MEPs.

Korwin-Mikke has been punished several times by the Parliament’s leadership, including for calling young unemployed people the “Negroes of Europe” and women “weaker, smaller and less intelligent than men” while arguing that they should earn less than their male counterparts.

Expelled from the right-wing Confederation Party for his controversial comments on paedophilia, he formed a new grouping and took the name of the fortnightly magazine Najwyższy Czas! (‘High Time’), with which he collaborates.

In the past, Korwin-Mikke believed that there was no point in Poland leaving the EU because the bloc would fall apart on its own. Since then, his views have changed somewhat.

The word “Polexit” “became popular because of the European Green Deal,” Korwin-Mikke said.

“In the current situation, we should act in a way that will kick us out of the EU as fast as possible,” he added.

The pro-Polexit parties may find supporters among the Polish society, which is increasingly critical of the EU, as surveys show.

According to a poll conducted by the IBRiS Institute for Rzeczpospolita, the proportion of EU backers fell by 11 percentage points in three years.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)