Roundtable discussion about the Polish Parliamentary Elections

On 15th of October 2019, a roundtable discussion titled ‘Parliamentary Elections in Poland’, organized by the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Wacław Felczak Foundation, took place in the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The topic of the roundtable discussion were the Polish Parliamentary Elections and the consequences held on 13th of October 2019. Dr. Anna Wisniewski (Senior Research Fellow, IFAT) discussed the results and significance of the Polish parliamentary election with Sándor Ackermann (Analyst, IFAT), Nikolett Garai (Research Fellow, IFAT) and Péter Dobrowiecki (Director, EU–V4 Office, Antall József Knowledge Centre).

The Polish ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS) won the parliamentary election with a record turnout (61.4%). The PiS gained a majority in the Polish lower house (Sejm), but lost its majority in the Polish Senate. However, during the presentation of the results, Sándor Ackermann added that the essential decisions are made in the Sejm. According to him, it is more appropriate to interpret the Polish parliamentary election in a broader context, between Autumn 2018 and Spring 2020 four elections are held in Poland (local elections in Autumn 2018, European Parliamentary election in Spring 2019, parliamentary election in Autumn 2019 and presidential election in Spring 2020), which means a very important period politically. According to Péter Dobrowiecki, the re-election of PiS is a strong message for the criticism against Poland, as PiS received trust from the electors again.

On the foreign policy implications of the Polish parliamentary elections, the participating analysts examined the Hungarian–Polish bilateral relations, the V4 cooperation, the relations with the European Union and Germany, and Brexit. Peter Dobrowiecki emphasized that in the regional politics the Central European cooperation have always been important for Poland. These include the Visegrád Four and the Three Seas Initiative, because with these cooperations Poland can increase its ability to assert its interests in the European Union. Nikolett Garai stated that the foreign policy of the PiS would not change much in the regional context and she also considered that the most important priorities of the PiS are on one hand to increase Poland’s ability to assert its interests in the EU and on the other hand the EU enlargement.

In the context of the foreign policy of the PiS, the participating experts drew up a tendency that the PiS is giving much higher priority to domestic politics than to foreign politics. In the interest of domestic politics, they are willing to take on many controversial issues at the foreign policy level, such as those with Israel, Germany and Ukraine.

The experts stated about the German–Polish relations that it is a key importance for Poland to establish a good or at least a normal relationship with Germany, one of the main reasons is that Germany’s role in the Polish economy is outstanding. In this regard, it is also important that Germany started to react more positively to the Three Seas Initiative, established by Poland, which Initiative has a strong potential to make allies for the V4 cooperation.

In the case of Brexit, the situation of the Polish, who are working in the UK and the role of the V4 were examined. Sándor Ackermann noted that the role of the V4 in the European Union after Brexit will be enhanced and that the V4–German relations will be appreciated in this regard. In the case of the Polish workers, Nikolett Garai and Péter Dobrowiecki added that there would be a resettlement of Polish citizens to Poland or they will work in another European Union member states.

Regarding the Hungarian–Polish relationship, the participants analysed the two States’ different standpoints on Russia. Although there are differences in their opinions, it has been stated that this issue is not decisive in the Hungarian–Polish relations, thus it does not cause any tension. Finally, they agreed that it would be important for both Hungary and Poland to develop a proactive, positive image of themselves, which they could realize with a joint action in EU enlargement policy.

At the end of the event a Q&A session took place, the questions of the audience mostly focused on Brexit, the Polish EU policy and on the environmental issues.