in Poland, despite its defeat in the legislative elections, the Pis, an ultraconservative party, retains considerable weight

Less than six months before the election, if the Poles have turned their back on PiS, the themes of immigration and sovereignty, dear to the ultraconservative party, nevertheless risk imposing themselves in the debate during the campaign.

In Poland, the European Union has once again become one of the priorities of the government in power, while thehe European elections will take place from June 6 to 9. After eight years in power of PiS, an ultraconservative and above all anti-European party, the course radically changed in October. The so-called democratic coalition took power and places emphasis on relations with Brussels.

The Poles did not hesitate to vote for Donald Tusk, leader of the new ruling coalition. A convinced pro-European, former president of the Council of Europe. During his election campaign, much of his speech called for the resumption of a healthy relationship with Brussels. He promises a return to the fundamental values ​​of the European Union, particularly at the media and judicial level.
Because we must not forget that relations between Poland and Brussels were particularly tense with the former government. For eight years, the PiS conservatives often opposed all European decisions, much like their Hungarian allies.

The PiS still very established

The PiS had also been sanctioned by the EU for its judicial reforms and nearly 60 billion euros of post-covid European recovery funds are still blocked. Many Poles hope that with the government the funds can be released.

The last legislative elections also showed that PiS still had quite a bit of weight. Many of them voted for this political party despite the loss of the majority in parliament. The ultraconservative party received the most votes in the October elections. But as the opposition parties decided to unite, PiS did not win these elections. But it is true that with 35% of the votes, the party retains a very important place in the opposition now. We should therefore quickly see the themes of immigration and sovereignty emerge in the debate during the European elections.

Over the past eight years, this party has called into question the management of migratory flows by Brussels. Recently he also firmly rejected the new European migration pact, accusing it of imposing the arrival of refugees in Poland. Its leaders will therefore continue to wave the flag of Poland’s loss of sovereignty. Warsaw would be subject to the European Union, which would impose unfavorable laws on it, such as, for example, on the energy transition and the end of coal. The new camp in power will therefore have to combat these ideas which have strongly imposed themselves in the public debate over the last eight years.

Poland unambiguously supports Ukraine against the Russian invasion and will do so again with Donald Tusk in power. Concerning its wish to integrate Europe, Poland will want to discuss because since the start of the war, relations between Warsaw and kyiv have experienced some minor turbulence. Polish truckers have been protesting in December and for almost two months against the removal of customs duties for Ukrainian drivers. They enter Europe more easily and the Poles are worried about the conditions of competition, because their neighbors are paid less and the cost of maintaining trucks is also more economical.

Earlier this year, it was farmers who demonstrated against the import of Ukrainian grain which had lowered prices for locals. Once again they criticized Ukrainian imports because they sold cheaper and were not subject to the same European standards. The debate around Ukraine’s accession to the European Union should therefore affect Poles who are facing these changes in a concrete way.