Gov't, justice minister at odds over recovery fund impact assessment

The government disagrees with the country’s justice minister over his assessment of the financial impact of the EU recovery funds due to Poland under its national recovery plan (KPO), the government’s spokesman has said.

Piotr Mueller's words make clear a division in the government between Law and Justice, the dominant party in United Right coalition, and Solidary Poland, its small Eurosceptic ally, which is led by Zbigniew Ziobro, the justice minister.

On Monday, two Polish newspapers published a letter written by Ziobro to Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, in which he argued that the KPO "is in fact a hidden, very expensive loan granted to us by the European Union, which we will have to return to the EU in its entirety along with a lot of interest."

The EUR 36 billion due to Poland under the KPO "will cost us at least PLN 300 billion (EUR 64 billion), and according to some estimates, it will reach PLN 500 billion (EUR 107 billion)," Ziobro claimed.

Commenting on the letter at a press conference on Monday, Piotr Mueller, the government spokesman, said "as part of the (ruling coalition- PAP) United Right, we speak directly to each other about the differences."

"As for the issues related to Minister Ziobro's statements... this divides us," he said.

"I disagree with Minister Ziobro in assessing the financial effects of the KPO," Mueller added.