Polish lawmakers approved a divisive amendment to the law on Russian influences on Friday that is believed to be aimed at the opposition and has been criticized by the United States and the European Union.
The law was proposed in May by the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party and is seen by critics as primarily targeting opposition leader and former Prime Minister Donald Tusk ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall. Following the criticism, President Andrzej Duda proposed urgent amendments to soften it.
The lower house, or Sejm, voted 235 in favor and 214 against with four abstentions to reject the Senate’s veto of the amendment to the law promoted by Duda. Now all that remains is for Duda to promulgate it for it to enter into force.
THE INFLUENCE OF RUSSIA
The amendment to the law calls for a commission to check whether between 2007 and 2022 politicians have made decisions under the influence of Russia that could threaten Poland’s security. Duda has said it is necessary for the sake of transparency and to prevent Russia from influencing Poland’s stability in the future.
Poland supports neighboring Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion and supplies arms, humanitarian aid and political support to kyiv. This has drawn harsh comments from Moscow.
The previous, more restrictive law is currently in force, but commission members have not yet been elected.
When it comes into force, the law will create a powerful commission of experts, but not lawmakers, to investigate Russian influence in Poland and identify politicians who allegedly enabled it, effectively disqualifying them from holding public office. However, critics say it is mainly directed against Tusk, who was also a senior EU official.
Law and Justice accuses Tusk of having been too friendly with Russia and with President Vladimir Putin as prime minister between 2007 and 2014, and of having made gas deals favorable to Moscow before going to Brussels to be president of the European Council between 2014 and 2019.
Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński and Tusk have been longtime political rivals.