Polish opposition leaders launch their European election campaign with the creation of parties that want Poland to leave the European Union.
The first politician to call for Poland’s exit from the EU was former MEP Stanisław Żółtek currently running for the European Parliament.
We are under the thumb of the European Commission, which is governed by the Germans and the French. They are losing their national sovereignty [to the EU] just like us, but at least under their own leadership.
The Polish people had realised the consequences of EU membership, Żółtek stated, pointing to rising energy bills due to the cost of CO2 emissions. These EU restrictions affect the competitiveness of Polish agriculture and the push for electric cars in the near future.
Three election committees with the word “Polexit” in their names were registered to run in the election, Polish media reported, citing the National Electoral Commission’s (PKW) website.
Besides Żółtek’s PolEXIT Election Committee, there are two other committees with a similar political profile and whose main demand is Poland’s exit from the EU: Polexit Independence (Polexit Niepodległość) and Polexit? It’s High Time! (Polexit? Najwyższy Czas!).
The first was founded by Robert Bąkiewicz, former head of the Independence March Association, responsible for organising the annual Independence March on Polish Independence Day (November 11) usually attended by many European national-oriented leaders.
The founder of the second committee – the Polexit? It’s High Time! – is MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke. Having been expelled from the Confederation Party, he formed a new grouping and took the name of the fortnightly magazine Najwyższy Czas! (“High Time”), with which he co-operated. The word “Polexit” became popular thanks to “the European Green Deal,” Korwin-Mikke stated.
In the current situation, we should act in a way that will kick us out of the EU as fast as possible.
Opposition parties in favour of Polexit may find supporters in Polish society, which, according to polls, is increasingly critical of the EU. According to a survey conducted by the IBRiS Institute, the share of EU supporters has fallen by 11 percentage points in three years.
