The incoming president of Poland has joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in opposing European Union membership for Ukraine, arguing that it would go against the interests of his people.
In his first international interview since winning a stunning upset against globalist Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski last week, Polish President-elect Karol Nawrocki told Hungarian media that he would join Budapest in opposition to Kyiv’s push to be swiftly accepted as the next member of the EU.
“At the moment, I am against Ukraine’s entry into the European Union,” Nawrocki told the Mandiner news outlet.
“On the one hand, we must support Ukraine in its conflict with the Russian Federation, but Ukraine must understand that other countries, such as Poland, Hungary, and other European countries, also have their own interests,” he said.
“I know that we, the Polish state, must support Ukraine from a strategic and geopolitical point of view. The biggest threat to me as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation. It is a post-imperial, neo-communist state headed by Vladimir Putin, a war criminal,” Nawrocki added.
However, he cited concerns over the rampant corruption in Ukraine, long one of the most corrupt nations in Europe besides Russia, in addition to the potential negative impacts on the Polish economy of allowing the former Soviet state into the EU.
The president-elect pointed to the impact on Polish farmers, who would face steep competition from the cheap labour and state subsidies from Ukraine’s agricultural sector.
“I see Ukraine as a country which, although it defends itself very courageously against the Russian Federation, must also respect the interests of other countries who otherwise support Ukraine,” Nawrocki said.
This position will put the incoming president at odds with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who formerly led the European Council and who is one of the leading cheerleaders for EU accession for Ukraine.
However, Nawrocki’s stance aligns with that of fellow Visegrad country leader Viktor Orbán, who has also warned of negative impacts on Hungarian farmers and the working class of his country.
“Hungary and Hungarian families have something to lose. If Ukraine joins the European Union, we will lose a significant part of our successes and opportunities, because the money like a sponge is sucked up by Ukraine and driven out of Central Europe,” he warned earlier this week.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest last week, Mr Orbán warned that Ukraine provided a “convenient pretext for the wartime reorganization of Europe” and that allowing Ukriane into the bloc would only risk further conflict.
“We want peace; we don’t want a new eastern front, and we don’t need Ukraine’s European Union membership, either,” he said.
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