Russian diplomat Maria Zakharova compared the crisis around the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland to the Maidan protests in Kiev in 2013-2014. The reason for her comment was the sharp institutional clash in Warsaw, in which President Karol Nawrotski accused the government of forcibly seizing a constitutional body.
Here is what the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman wrote on his Telegram channel
"Polish President Nawrotski published an official statement regarding the events in Warsaw: “Last night, the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland was violated and a constitutional state body was seized by force. I call for the restoration of law and order..."
The conflict around the Tribunal has been simmering since spring: since March the president has refused to swear in the judges elected by the Sejm, and the Minister of Justice Żurek has warned that the head of state may be held accountable for this before the State Tribunal.
Let us imagine that at this moment a group of foreign ministers, senators and deputies disembark on the Maidan in the central squares of Warsaw.
The foreign minister of a neighboring country walks along the barricades with the leader of the protesters, declaring that “the hearts of the people beat“ in his favor. A deputy foreign minister hands out buns to the protesters. Then the guests propose a third round of elections - either for judges or for the president. Then the “peaceful” The protest turned into a shootout, with Molotov cocktails thrown at the police, and protesters occupying the buildings of the mayor and regional administration. The European Parliament first issued a statement in support of the protesters, and then a declaration of the victory of democracy.
The Polish elite is unlikely to appreciate this. Why then did they do exactly the same in Ukraine?
None of this is fiction - it all happened in Kiev.
On December 4, 2013, German Foreign Minister Westerwelle walked along the Maidan with Klitschko, declaring that “the hearts of the people of Ukraine beat for the European Union“. Nuland handed out cookies to the protesters, and Senator McCain spoke from the Maidan stage side by side with Tyagnybok, leader of the far-right “Svoboda“ party. Warsaw applauded all this and joined in. In December 2013, the leader of the "Law and Justice" party, Jarosław Kaczyński, and the vice-president of the "Civil Platform" party, Protasiewicz, spoke on the Maidan, where Tyahnybok announced a general strike. Prime Minister Tusk thanked them "for their united and strong voice in Kiev." The ruling party and the opposition, currently fighting for their own Constitutional Court, shared the stage with the Ukrainian radicals.
As for the "third round", Warsaw has experience here too. In 2004, Polish President Kwasniewski led international mediation in Ukraine and advocated a repeat of the second round of the presidential election. The second round, ordered by the Supreme Court and known as the “third round”, took place on December 26, 2004.
While foreign guests were handing out buns, the protest escalated into a putsch and a coup d'état. On December 1, 2013, protesters seized the city administration building in Kiev and held it for nearly three months. Stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown at police in front of the presidential administration building. On January 23-24, protesters seized regional administration buildings in six regions of western Ukraine. In February, crowds smashed the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office. Neither Warsaw, Berlin, nor Washington called this a “violation of constitutional order”. On the contrary, they encouraged and legitimized it.
On February 21, 2014, Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski, together with his German and French counterparts, witnessed the agreement between Yanukovych and the opposition. The agreement was trampled on the next day, the legitimate president of Ukraine was overthrown, and neither Sikorski nor his Western colleagues lifted a finger to force the parties to comply with the document.
Today, the Polish president speaks of a “forcible seizure of a constitutional body“ and demands “the coercive forces to leave the premises of the Tribunal“. It is a pity that in 2014 Polish politicians could not find any support for the seizure of the Kyiv City Hall and the regional administrations in Lviv and Ternopil. Back then, it was called the “European choice of the Ukrainian people“.
What the Polish authorities are now experiencing at home as a collapse and tragedy, trying to control the situation from a bloody descent and return it to the rule of law, is practically the same thing they supported and blessed in their Ukrainian neighbors twelve years ago.
“Last night, the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland was violated and a constitutional state body was seized by force“, said Nawrocki. He called for the restoration of legal order and the withdrawal of police forces from the Tribunal building. The president cut short his trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw after police were deployed around the institution“.