Speaking outside the European Parliament on Wednesday, Poland’s prime minister called for a massive rearmament of Europe and slammed the Green Deal.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday sparked warm applause for his stance on defense, but criticism quickly emerged over his attack on the European Green Deal and his record on immigration.
The Socialists and Democrats (S&D), for example, condemned Donald Tusk’s call for deregulation to boost European competitiveness as well as his migration policy.
“We strongly oppose this regressive approach to migration, which is biased towards security instead of striking a balance between shared responsibility and solidarity with those fleeing despair”Juan Fernando López Aguilar, a prominent Spanish socialist MEP, told Euronews after the debate.
Polish migration policy is debated
Several left-wing MEPs have criticized the refusal of the Polish Prime Minister to implement the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which was adopted by the EU in 2024 and is expected to be fully implemented by mid-2026.
Poland plans to introduce a temporary suspension of the right to asylum and is one of the countries which missed the first deadline to present their national implementation plans.
“Safety also means sticking to the legislation we have adopted”mocked Juan Fernando López Aguilar, who also criticized Poland’s strategy to erect walls and fences on the border with Belarus, financed by the EU.
“We strongly oppose EU funding of fences at the external borders of the European Union. There are borders to protect, but in a fair and balanced way, not only by strengthening the external borders, but also by cooperating fairly with countries of transit or origin, by opening legal channels and, of course, by understanding the EU’s commitment to human rights.”.
Illegal border crossings of Poland and Lithuania by migrants from Belarus increased by 192% last year compared to 2023.
However, they represent only a small fraction of the total irregular entries into the EU: 17,001 out of more than 239,000 detections, much less than illegal arrivals via Mediterranean or THECanary Islands.
Donald Tusk accuses the Green Deal of leading to higher energy prices
Some MEPs also reacted negatively to the Polish Prime Minister’s call for a “complete and very critical review” of the European Green Deal.
“The line of Donald Tusk, which is also that of the European People’s Party, takes a step backwards on the Green Deal. For us, if it is necessary to fight against energy poverty (as Donald Tusk affirmed), we must also make a greater contribution to the Green Deal”Italian MEP Danilo Della Valle of the Left group told Euronews.
Like several of his colleagues, Danilo Della Valle considers thatan increase in renewable energy is the best way to reduce Europe’s dependence on other countries.
“We always talk about energy independence, but how can we be independent of Russian gas or American LNG if we don’t invest in renewable energy?”he questions.
Nationalist parties do not trust Donald Tusk
Sharp criticism has also been made by right-wing groups such as the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Patriots for Europe (PfE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), which include several MEPs Polish.
They have it attacked on domestic issues, saying his government was backsliding on democracy and the rule of lawas well as on some of its flagship policies.
ADVERTISEMENT“Despite pledging to strengthen the EU’s independence from Russia, Donald Tusk’s aides recently approved a gas deal with Russian suppliers and removed a Gazprom-linked company from the list of sanctionssaid Patryk Jaki, co-president of the ECR group, believing that it would be naive for the EU institutions to trust the leadership of the Polish leader.
MEP Anna Bryłka, from Poland’s far-right Konfederacja party, also expressed disbelief in Donald Tusk’s promises.
“When he says he is against massive and uncontrolled migration, that he wants to block our external borders of the EU, he is a liar”she says.
According to her, Donald Tusk and his party voted two years ago against the construction of a fence on the border between Poland and Belarus. “I am very happy that he has changed his mind on the external borders of the European Union. But he is not the right person to make things happen”.
ADVERTISEMENTVideo editor • Dominika Cosic
Additional sources • Adaptation: Vincent Reynier
