President backtracks on Russian Influence Commission

The Polish president announced, Friday, June 2, an amendment which strongly modifies the law on the commission on the Russian influence, strongly criticized by the United States and the EU. “It takes away a lot of the controversies that arise about him”, Andrzej Duda said just days after signing the text. He specified that his proposal notably abolished the provisions making it possible to prohibit people from exercising public functions.

The law signed on Monday provoked strong reactions both in Washington and in Brussels. The European Commission and the United States have said “concerned” by the creation of this commission, the State Department believing that this body could be abused to interfere with free and fair elections in Poland “scheduled for the fall.

In Poland, the commission has been described as‘”unconstitutional” And “stalinist” by the opposition and many jurists. The amendment that the president was to table on Friday provides in particular that the initial sanction of a ten-year ban on holding public office be replaced just by a statement by the commission that a person “acts under Russian influence” and that she “does not guarantee the proper performance of activities in the public interest”.