On Friday, Polish President Andrzej Duda mentioned that he was proposing amendments to the present regulation on Russian influence that’s set to take impact subsequent week. In a televised statement Duda mentioned that he will likely be making amendments to the regulation to handle the controversies from critics, together with the removing of a ban which allowed individuals to be expelled from workplace.
The unique invoice was signed by Duda and permits for a longtime fee of 9 members appointed by the decrease Home of Parliament, the place Duda’s Legislation and Justice Get together (PiS) has a small majority. The invoice duties these members with deciding whether or not these investigated had been beneath “Russian affect” between 2007 and 2022. If a person is discovered responsible of being beneath “Russian affect,” then harsh penalties may very well be imposed, comparable to a ten 12 months ban. Duda claimed that the regulation is crucial for transparency of public life, however its passage triggered a lot controversy.
The invoice was dubbed the “lex Tusk invoice” by critics, because it has been criticized for concentrating on opposition chief Donald Tusk. The chief of the opposition Polish Peasants Get together tweeted that each one components of the regulation had been based mostly on an undemocratic “hood court docket” and the spokesperson for the US Embassy in Poland said considerations that the invoice might intrude with Poland’s democracy.
The EU expressed their very own considerations, marking one more conflict between Poland and the EU over the rule of regulation.