WARSAW — The leader of Poland's ruling party is isolating his country
and inadvertently playing into Russia's hands, former deputy prime minister
Jaroslaw Gowin told AFP in an interview on Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
Ruled from Moscow in Communist times, Poland has since emerged as a noisy
critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and regularly pushes for tough
action against the former superpower.
But Gowin said moves by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice
party (PiS), were playing into Putin's hands.
"The practical results of his recent activity are much more convergent
with Russia's interests than those of Poland," he said.
"I think that Kaczynski doesn't realize the consequences of his
politics.
"He is so fanatically convinced that he's right, and is going against
the views of most of his circle."
Gowin, whose Agreement party was a junior partner in coalition with
Kaczynski's PiS for years, was dismissed last week after growing increasingly
at odds with PiS.
One of the reasons for the rupture was a proposed media law that Gowin said
went "against free speech and media pluralism" and was "harmful
for Poland both economically and politically".
If adopted, the law would force the US group Discovery to give up control of
the main independent news channel TVN24.
In addition to sparring with the US, which has said it is "deeply
troubled" by the media law, Poland is also involved in a row with the
European Union over judicial reforms.
Gowin argues these actions are more beneficial to the Kremlin than to
Poland.
Warsaw's "conflicts with Berlin, Brussels, and Washington and Poland's
isolation in international circles is a dream come true for Vladimir
Putin", he said.
'Just as
unacceptable'
Gowin said he believed the Polish government would back down from the most
contested parts of its judicial reform program for fear of losing EU money, but
had reservations as to whether the climbdown would be genuine.
"I expect the PiS will try to replace the current rules with others
that are just as unacceptable," he said.
Gowin is known as a flexible player on Poland's highly polarized political
scene, having served as a minister in a government led by Kaczynski's
arch-rival and former EU chief Donald Tusk.
His departure from the current government has thrown its future into doubt,
with some observers saying it will not make it to the next elections scheduled
for 2023.
Gowin said the PiS would probably call elections for the spring of next year
and receive the highest number of votes, though nowhere near enough for a
majority on its own.
"I also believe it won't find any coalition partners in the future
parliament," he said.
Gowin said he would be willing to join forces with anyone in the interest of
the country, adding that he was working towards forming a moderate center-right
coalition.
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