Latest news with #MateuszMorawiecki
Euronews
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Morawiecki: "No word that comes from the Kremlin should be trusted by definition"
Mateusz Morawiecki is convinced that in talks with Moscow, Kyiv needs the support of the West. "No word that comes from the Kremlin should be trusted by definition. The Russians, previously the Soviets, were able to break all the treaties they concluded. (Therefore) the treaties must be supported by real force. The Ukrainians have such real force, but in order to be able to oppose Russia, it must be a force supported by the West" - emphasizes the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists. The former Polish Prime Minister became the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, which brings together conservative groups in the European Parliament, a few months ago. Morawiecki replaced Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who recommended him for this position. When taking up the position, the Pole emphasized that among the goals he sets for himself is maintaining and developing transatlantic relations. Now he says on The Europe Conversation that these relations are necessary to end the war in Ukraine. "Without the Americans, it is hard to imagine lasting peace, and yet we all strive for it. So I hope that it is not only these words of Minister Lavrov or President Putin, or other officials, the highest state officials of Russia that will set the directions of changes in the near future. But above all, hard power, hard commitments and guarantees on the European side, but also, above all, on the American side," emphasizes Mateusz Morawiecki in an interview. According to the former prime minister, good transatlantic relations are crucial for peace in Europe and Trump's expectations towards European partners are natural. Trump, says Morawiecki, "must demand from his European partners that all of us in Europe, European NATO countries in particular, rise to the occasion. Without American support, we in Europe would not be able to be calm for decades." The politician believes that if transatlantic relations were not to survive, "our European world will be endangered, it will be very seriously endangered. Russia will enter into a very lasting agreement with China, and such a Russian-Chinese tandem is a powerful force that is able to dominate not only Central Europe, but simply the whole of Europe." The former prime minister recalls that it was his government (Morawiecki headed the Polish government in 2017-2023) that committed to greater defense spending. Currently, Poland allocates over 4 percent of its GDP to this. "Today, we are the country among the 32 NATO countries that spends the highest percentage on defense policy," emphasizes the former head of the Polish government. In 2026, Poland will spend at least 5 percent of its GDP on defense, which means over PLN 200 billion. The politician believes that Donald Trump's actions are more important than the changing narratives of his country: "I don't get used to what he says at a given moment, I just look at what he does, and his actions lead primarily to this. Let's look at this moment from an American perspective, in order for American forces and American resources to be transferred, to be "switched" partly to the Pacific, to the Chinese section (Trump) must demand from his European partners that all of us in Europe, the European Union, NATO countries in particular, rise to the occasion". According to Morawiecki, Poland, since he was prime minister, has been fulfilling its obligations as a member state of the North Atlantic Alliance by paying high contributions to the NATO budget. "Today, we are the country among the 32 NATO countries that allocates the largest percentage of its budget to defense policy. Our words were followed by actions. It is different in Europe. These words, which I have been hearing for a year, two, three, are not followed by actions," emphasizes the former Polish Prime Minister in The Europe Conversation. Morawiecki believes that Europe has a very powerful instrument in its hands that would allow it to quickly end the war, but it still does not reach for it: frozen Russian assets. "Let's take these assets and Russia will immediately sit down at the table, because it will be afraid that it will lose 300-350 billion dollars forever," argues the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. The entire interview with Mateusz Morawiecki on Euronews in the program "The Europe Conversation". A series of video clips have been circulating on social media, claiming to show Ukrainians putting makeup on and pretending to go to war. One account named "Liberal Tear Creator" shared a series of three videos, alleging that soldiers were "faking combat", in order to appear "war torn" and get funds from the US. Although the clips have not been manipulated, they have been misleading taken out of context. A search of the TikTok handle "vitsikkkk" which appears in the clip took Euroverify to the account of a Ukrainian combat medic named Vitsyk, who has nearly 300k followers. He also has a YouTube channel with almost 15k subscribers. Further investigating revealed that the clips had been taken out of context, from the behind the scenes of a music video called "Brothers", which Vitsyk posted on his channel in February 2025 to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the music clip, the same woman who online users claimed was putting fake make-up on, can be spotted. Her name is Mariana Chechelyuk and she was captured by Russian forces while defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in April 2022. Chechelyuk was released in May 2024, after spending 25 months in Russian captivity. On Instagram, Chechelyuk addressed the misleading posts with disbelief, stating "what is there to say." "The purpose of the video was to show the pain of Ukrainian soldiers who lose their loved ones every day, for their brothers who have become their family during the war", Chechelyuk told Euronews. The music video, which Vitsyk produced the song for, also features three other Ukrainian soldiers who were captured while defending the Azovstal steel plant. Speaking to Euronews, Vitsyk said "I am a creative soldier, for me music and songs are medicine that dull my pain from the loss of my best friends." Defending the video, Vitsyk said "every word in our creative reality is written in blood. Every pixel and costume in our music video, as well as bulletproof vest and helmet have been through so much more in real life." "We are not actors" he added, calling on those who suspect the war in Ukraine to "be a film, to come and visit the country."
Euronews
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Former Polish PM Morawiecki faces prison over alleged abuse of power
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is facing serious charges and potential prison time, after Polish prosecutors charged him over his involvement in attempting to organise presidential elections by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current deputy leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party has denied that this was done in bad faith and is accusing the current government of bringing him to court for political reasons. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the PiS-led government tried to organise presidential elections by post, claiming that they were acting out of the public interest and protecting voters' safety. The idea proved to be divisive among Polish politicians, as the opposition claimed this would benefit the then-incumbent Andrzej Duda. The elections were delayed for a month and were eventually held in person, with voting taking place at polling stations. Duda still won the elections by a close margin. Four years later, Morawiecki is facing abuse of power and dereliction of duty charges, which could lead to three years in prison if found guilty. 'If I had to make the decision again on preparing to organise elections at that time, I would do exactly the same,' Morawiecki, who waived his immunity, said in response to the case. 'I acted for Poland. I still do that to this day'. He called the decision to call elections by mail 'difficult but necessary and responsible', stating that 'the duty of the authorities is to take care of order and the efficient functioning of the state'. Act of political vengeance? Since coming to power, the ruling coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has brought several cases to court against former government ministers and high-ranking officials. On 31 January, the Polish police brought former PiS Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro to parliament, after a court ruling held that he should be detained to testify regarding an investigation that his party used Pegasus spyware on opponents while they were in power. According to PiS, this is all political revenge being exacted on their party by the ruling coalition. In turn, ruling party politicians argued that their actions were justified under the law. '(Morawiecki) didn't have the right to do it,' Dariusz Joński, an MEP from the Civic Coalition, argued in a video statement published on X. 'He broke the law. Elections in Poland are dictated by the National Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Office.' 'They simply wanted to steal the elections,' he added.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Polish premier charged with abuse of power over 2020 election
Polish prosecutors on Thursday charged former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki with abuse of power. A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Warsaw accused the 56-year-old Morawiecki of having exceeded his powers and neglected his official duties in relation to the country's presidential election in 2020, which was due to be held in May during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Morawiecki's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party wanted to hold the election as scheduled, but exclusively as a postal vote. The former prime minister is charged with having instructed the state printing company and the post office to print out and deliver postal voting documents to all eligible voters without the authorization of electoral authorities. The election was ultimately postponed to June, causing a loss of €14.1 million ($14.8 million). If convicted, Morawiecki faces up to three years in prison. In a statement on X on Thursday, Morawiecki denied the allegations, arguing that he was obliged to maintain internal security as the country's head of government.
Bloomberg
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Poland Charges Former Nationalist Premier With Abuse of Power
Polish prosecutors brought charges against former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for overstepping his powers in attempting to organize a vote-by-mail during the coronavirus pandemic. Morawiecki pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday amid an investigation into alleged irregularities during preparations for the 2020 presidential election, said spokesperson for the prosecutor's office Przemyslaw Nowak.
Al Arabiya
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
A former Polish prime minister is charged with exceeding his powers over a 2020 election call
A former Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, was charged Thursday with exceeding his powers when he ordered a presidential election to be carried out solely with postal votes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors say there were no legal grounds to organize the 2020 presidential election in that way. In the end, the election Morawiecki wanted to hold in May was postponed and conducted at polling stations several weeks later. The cost to taxpayers of organizing the postal vote, which didn't happen, is estimated to be at least seventy million zlotys (17.5). Morawiecki, a conservative who left office in late 2023, arrived for questioning at the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw on Thursday but refused to testify. A spokesperson for prosecutors, Piotr Skiba, told reporters that Morawiecki had been charged with exceeding his authority and failing to fulfill official duties. Morawiecki told supporters on his arrival that he was doing his duty as prime minister in 2020 by trying to organize an election at a time when many were dying from the coronavirus. He waived his immunity as a lawmaker to make himself available in the case. He argued that he was the victim of political persecution by the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. 'The COVID-19 pandemic was a great challenge for the entire world. The world froze; the world had no procedures. No one was prepared, no country–neither in Europe nor on other continents,' Morawiecki said. He noted that he acted because, as prime minister, he was constitutionally required to organize a presidential election within a certain time frame. Several dozen people gathered around him in support, chanting his name. The charges come as Tusk's government seeks to bring to justice members of the former conservative government, which it accuses of violating rule of law and corruption. Morawiecki and others reject those allegations. A court already ruled in 2020 that the decision to ask the national postal service to prepare the presidential election by postal vote violated several provisions of the law.
