The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday summoned the Belgian ambassador to Poland, Luc Jacobs, out of anger over Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s forceful rebuke of Warsaw’s approach to its rule-of-law fight with Brussels.
Jacobs met Poland’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk on Friday afternoon, the ministry’s spokesperson confirmed. Countries typically use such requests to convey extreme displeasure.
Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed the meeting, which illustrates the growing friction within the EU over alleged democratic backsliding in Poland. Numerous EU countries are frustrated with the country’s judiciary reforms, which critics say have undermined judicial independence, as well as a court ruling that questioned the supremacy of EU law.
Poland, however, has mostly stood its ground and did so again Friday. In a statement after the meeting, the Polish government said it had “conveyed words of disapproval and indignation towards the remarks of Prime Minister De Croo” and “emphasized that such public comments do not contribute to a good climate in Polish-Belgian relations.”
Poland’s frustration stems from a speech De Croo made Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the College of Europe, a university in Bruges. In his speech, the Belgian leader lashed out at Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki over vows he made in the Financial Times to defend Poland “with any weapons” if the European Commission “starts the third world war” by withholding EU funds over the rule-of-law dispute.
De Croo took issue with the violent rhetoric.
“To those who give incendiary interviews and think it’s necessary to declare a new world war in the Financial Times, I want to say: You are playing a dangerous game, you are playing with fire when waging war with your European colleagues for internal political reasons,” De Croo told the students.
He also stressed, however, that the years-long rule-of-law conflict between Warsaw and Brussels can’t simply be solved with rulings from the Court of Justice of the EU, which has ordered Poland to shutter a disciplinary chamber for judges and recently imposed a €1 million-per-day fine on the country until it complies. Other EU institutions have to act, he argued.
“This is a fundamental political problem that needs to be solved politically, by the [European] Council and by the European Parliament,” De Croo said. “By setting out and anchoring the ground rules for our Union: the rule of law, democracy and all the fundamental rights — things that have been self-evident for so long but are no longer today. And by making these ground rules enforceable — better than they are today.”
On Wednesday, the Belgian government stood by the assessment.
“The message was loud and clear and it’s good it arrived in Warsaw,” a Belgian official said.