Polish far-right party preparing for possible EU exit

WARSAW

As support for Poland’s far-right Confederation party rises ahead of May’s presidential election, one of its lawmakers said the country should be ready to leave the European Union.

“Above all, we should be ready for the EU to fall apart,” Confederation MP Michal Wawer told Polish broadcaster Radio ZET on Wednesday.

“A few years ago, we even prepared a document called ‘PolExit – Safe Emergency Exit’,” he said. “A situation may arise in which Poland wants or must leave the EU, and we should focus on preparing for it at the moment.”

Wawer also criticized what he called the EU’s “incompetent” response to US-imposed tariffs.

“It looks like the race between the tortoise and the hare, and America is already about three laps ahead of the EU,” he said.

“We in Poland haven’t been taking care of our own trade and customs policy for two decades, because the EU took it over. This means that we do not have people in public administration who know about the field,” he added.

A 2024 poll by CBOS found that 77% of Poles support EU membership, down eight percentage points from 2023. Meanwhile, opposition to EU membership rose to 17%, up seven points from the year prior.

According to a recent United Surveys poll for Wirtualna Polska, Civic Platform (PO) candidate Rafal Trzaskowski is gaining support, while Law and Justice’s (PiS) Karol Nawrocki is losing ground to Confederation’s Slawomir Mentzen.

Trzaskowski would win the first round with 38.3%, up 5.1 percentage points from late March, said the poll. Nawrocki polled at 20.1%, down 5.2 points, while Mentzen reached 18.8%, a 0.8-point increase.