Polish MEP Ryszard Legutko (ECR), wrote to all political groups and MEPs on Thursday 16 April, denouncing - on behalf of the Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS) delegation to the European Parliament - a “brutal attack on the Polish government”.
This email, viewed by EUROPE, follows the mobilisation of many MEPs, and the S&D group in particular, against two Polish draft laws (see EUROPE 12467/25).
“Any interference by the EU institutions into matters of conscience is strictly forbidden”, said Mr Legutko. He also stresses that the two drafts submitted during the previous legislature of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, must be debated by the end of May.
“Allegations put forward by Iratxe García Pérez - namely that the government is deliberately bringing up abortion during the pandemic - are either proof of lack of knowledge on her side, or a conscious lie”, writes the MEP.
Mrs Pérez (S&D, Spain) said that the ruling party was exploiting the current situation of containment, preventing further demonstrations from taking place.
“The focus of the Polish government during the pandemic should be to protect people’s health and rights, not the contrary”, she said in a reply to Ryszard Legutko on Friday 17 April.
For the time being, Members of the Polish Parliament have simply referred the drafts back to committee (see EUROPE 12468/28). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)