Polish expert: Article 7 is now a political matter, not a legal one
Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans should keep away from the strained rule of law dialogue between Brussels and Warsaw, as long as he is running for a seat in the new Commission, says expert Sławomir Dębski. He spoke to EURACTIV.com about Poland’s place in Europe, its relations with neighbours and security.
Relations between Warsaw and Brussels have been quite strained in the past year when we think about Article 7. Commissioner Frans Timmermans said last week: ‘Half of Poland hates me’. What can we expect in the next couple of months? And does Warsaw expect things will change after the elections?
Let us come to the two most discussed security issues these days. One of them is Nord Stream 2, where Poland wants to communicate to Germany that the project is not a good idea.
Let us be clear, it is not only Poland. Even the majority of Germany’s expert community on security and foreign affairs voiced their concerns against this idea. It is perfectly clear that it would introduce a huge threat to the unity and security in Europe, it would divide Europe further, and it would expose Ukraine and other countries to possible Russian energy blackmail.
After Polish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to Berlin last week, we see that this weighs heavily on Polish-German relations.
I think this is not the problem of Poland; it is the problem of Germany in the end. All the possible arguments have been put on the table and they had been just ignored by Berlin. And because of the deliberate decision of the German political elite to ignore these objections and simply push Nord Stream 2 forward.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/central-europe/interview/polish-expert-article-7-is-now-a-political-matter-not-a-legal-one/