Change in White House problematic for Polish gov't - EEP head
Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister and the current head of the European People's Party bloc in the European parliament, has warned that a Biden presidency could cause problems for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Tusk has been a fierce critic of the PiS government in his native country, accusing it of undermining the rule of law and failing to maintain democratic principles.
"The pressure to restore democratic standards in Poland will be even stronger," following the US election, Tusk told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
The Associated Press agency as well as the CNN, NBC and Fox New television networks announced on Saturday that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated incumbent President Donald Trump in the US presidential election, and that he would become the 46th president of the US.
He said that some Law and Justice politicians had claimed that the US election was rigged, echoing radical voices in Trump's camp. Krzysztof Szczerski, the senior aide to the Polish president, Tusk said, had "allowed himself to comment" that there would be a second run-off, that is, in a court."
"I don't know if this is the position of President Andrzej Duda,” Tusk added. “It would be a catastrophe if they both cheered these unconstitutional ideas of annulling democratic elections."
In his opinion, PiS politicians should keep in mind the strategic interests of Poland and refrain from making "silly comments."
Tusk believes that the Polish government and the president, by relying "exclusively" on Trump and cooperation with the radical right around the world, were making one of the worst mistakes in the history of Polish diplomacy.
He said that it was possible to convince the new US administration that Poland would be a loyal partner and that the friendship between the two countries was timeless, but only through "a revolutionary change in the way that PiS views America, the elections, and the situation in Europe and the world."
