Political Capital Institute from Budapest has been conducting a five-year research project on the foreign policy-related votes of members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The recent edition of the Parliament’s 9th term (2019-2024) and the first plenary session of the 10th term (2024-2029) included also Polish MEPs. The aim of the analysis was to assess the parties’ attitudes towards authoritarian powers such as Russia and China that are trying to exert influence within the European Union. Therefore, researchers analyzed the votes of MEPs on 73 resolutions critical of Russia or China.
The votes have been categorized into three groups: (1) Kremlin-critical, (2) China-critical, and (3) Counter-authoritarian. Based on the individual votes, three indices have been created the corresponding indices, namely the Kremlin-Critical Index (KCI), the China-Critical Index (CCI), and the Counter-Authoritarian Index (CAI). All indices have a value on a scale of 0-100, with a higher number representing a more critical voting pattern towards the Kremlin, China, or all other authoritarian regimes. These are the results of Polish MEPs:
Kremlin-Critical Index
None of the Polish MEPs has voted against any of the Russia-related votes. The Kremlin-Critical Index is very high for all the Polish parties (far-right Confederation was not present in that term of the EP). It reaches over 95% in the case of the PSL, and for the Left (bearing in mind organizational changes) and Poland 2050 (having regard to their short presence in the EP), it is 94% for the Civic Platform.
It is the lowest for PiS and the Republican Party, 88% and 84% respectively, but these are still relatively high numbers; higher than the general score of the ECR group (81%). It is worth pointing out that Polish parties (or individual MEPs in political groups) have performed better in the index than the European groups they belong to.
What lowered the final score of some MEPs was abstention. In the case of the ECR members, in five votes, practically the entire Polish representation decided to abstain. There were various reasons for these abstentions, including PiS’s ideological objection to all documents containing a reference to the concept of ‘gender’, but they should not be associated with support for Russia.
China-Critical Index
The situation looks similar in the case of the China-Critical Index. All Polish democratic parties scored over 90%; and only PiS and its small ally, the Republican Party, did not pass this threshold, finishing with 89% and 82% respectively. It is worth noting that the hard right partner of PiS, the SP, got 92%. All three parties that made up the previous government of Poland sat at a higher average than their EP group, the ECR (81%). Other Polish parties did not differ significantly from the average of their EP groups.
Two MEPs with the lowest score in the index, Zdzisław Kranodębski and Karol Karski, belong to the ECR. However, their distinctive result (72%) is rather explained by the absence of the voting than with pro-Chinese views.
The situation is slightly different with two MEPs with the next lowest scores: Marek Balt (76%) and Ryszard Czarnecki (77%). Czarnecki abstained six times and Balt voted against China-critical resolutions twice and abstained once, which makes them the least China-critical Polish MEPs. Czarnecki abstained in four votes, including concerning the EU-China strategy, fundamental rights in Hong Kong, and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Balt voted against a report on EU-Taiwan political relations and the new EU-China strategy.
Moreover, in some votes, the Polish ECR delegation abstained en masse. In contrast, Czarnecki is in general a very visible and very vocal MEP. He commented in the press on China’s role in international relations, asking – among others – if Beijing could regain its “historical land” from Russia. He visited China with the official EP delegation and did not spare good words about it.
Czarnecki is a controversial politician. He has been requested by the EP to pay back illegally claimed per diems and car travel reimbursements. He is known for his contacts with various interest groups and his devotion to international travels; e.g., he went to the Maldives with a tourist visa and claimed there that he was on an official EP mission. He also went to Azerbaijan and assessed the elections there positively. It was demonstrated by the think tank EU Disinfo Lab that Czarnecki was spreading disinformation under the influence of the Indian Srivastava Group targeting international institutions and serving Indian interests.
Counter-Authoritarian Index
Polish parties score relatively high on the Counter-Authoritarian Index (CAI). All democratic parties achieved results above 90%, equaling or surpassing the performance of their groups in the EP; e.g., the PO’s score is 92% and the PSL’s is 93%, versus 90% for the EPP. The three Polish members of the ECR (PiS, SP, and the Republican Party) were below the 90% threshold, achieving respectively, scores of 85%, 87%, and 84% (ECR 82%).
All (or almost all) Polish ECR voting MEPs voted ‘against’ four proposals; namely, the situation of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia, the Colombian peace agreement, the POWs of the Azeri-Armenian war, and the decriminalization of homosexuality in Uganda. In the case of the first decision, EPP-affiliated MEPs were also against. More than a dozen times, Polish ECR MEPs abstained as a group, several times together with EPP’s Polish MEPs; for instance in the case of the human rights situation in Egypt. SD MEPs together with Sylwia Spurek (Greens) voted ‘against’ as a block in two cases and abstained in three, all concerning Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela.
Again, the two MEPs with the lowest scores are PiS members with a high number of absences from voting, Ryszard Legutko (75%) and Karol Karski (77%). Ryszard Czarecki from the PiS is next with an 82% CAI score.
Polish ECR members who achieved the worst results in the ranking saw some of the votes in the EP as an opportunity to amplify their message regarding issues discussed in national politics, such as their fight against the LGBTQI+ community and ‘gender ideology’ (‘gender’ was mentioned for instance in the resolution on Ethiopian migrants). Polish ECR members have used the EP to criticize liberal democracy, human rights (especially minority rights), or the rule of law. They claim that the EU has no right to claim it is a defender of universal values, as it protects only the interests of the mainstream parties, promotes a leftist agenda, discriminates against conservative merits, and haunts right-wing leaders in member states. Numerous statements support these assertions.
The PiS’s strategy of dehumanizing LGBTQI+ people was highly visible. Ryszard Czarecki called Pride-goers “extreme circles,” and Beata Kempa talked about an “aggressive ideology.” The PiS was criticized in Poland for its objection to the Resolution on the universal decriminalization of homosexuality in the light of recent developments in Uganda, but PiS MEPs defended their decision. Zbigniew Krasnodębski wrote on Twitter that PiS was not only ‘against’ but ‘firmly against’ such a decision. Anna Fotyga explained that PiS could not support the text due to the “historical presence of Poland in Uganda” and the “presence of Polish missionaries and business” in this African country. Witold Waszczykowski added that the PE should not support ‘LGBT ideology’ nor sponsor ‘LGBT organizations.’
It can be concluded that all Polish MEPs from the ECR oppose open democracy and foster some form of authoritarianism, translating their views on sovereignty, the role of the EU, and the political situation in Poland into votes and words in the EP. Among the United Right’s MEPs, some are particularly vocal in this area, namely those who want to play a role in national politics in Poland, like Joachim Brudziński, Ryszard Czarnecki, Anna Fotyga, Patryk Jaki, Beata Kempa, Ryszard Legutko, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Witold Waszczykowski.
This is a fragment of the unpublished report “Growing influence of Russia and China in the new European Parliament?” produced by the Political Capital Institute, with support of Projekt: Polska. The summary of the report can be found here.
Written by Miłosz Hodun
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