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Macron 'should mind his own country's business': Polish PM says

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 26.08.2017 08:40
The Polish prime minister has said French President Emmanuel Macron “should mind his own country's business” after he on Thursday attacked Poland for isolating itself from the European Union.
Emmanuel Macron. Photo: EPA/VASSIL DONEVEmmanuel Macron. Photo: EPA/VASSIL DONEV

In Varna, Bulgaria, part of an official visit to a number of Central and Eastern European countries – but notably not Poland or Hungary, which are at odds with Brussels – Macron said Warsaw was heading in a different direction to the European Union and that its people “deserved better” than a government opposed to the bloc's democratic values.

But Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło lashed back, calling Macron arrogant and inexperienced, and suggesting he “mind his own country's business, maybe then he will be able to achieve the same economic results and the same level of security” as Poland.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said Macron has not been following the news and does not know what is going on in Central Europe.

The foreign ministry has “urgently” called in French chargé d’affaires Sylvain Guiaugué.

Meanwhile, Szydło said that Poland is not in conflict with any EU country or the bloc.

But Warsaw has butted heads with Brussels a number of times, over rule of law concerns after sweeping changes to the constitutional court were pushed through in Poland, which later escalated as the government pushed to overhaul the judiciary; over “discriminatory” lower retirement ages which differ for the sexes, over EU posted worker laws, which say a Polish truck driver should be paid French rates while in France, over logging in a protected, ancient forest in Poland's north east, and over reneging on a 2015 EU decision to settle a quota of migrants to relieve some of the pressure bloc members had after seeing millions of refugees arrive on their shores.

Macron has been touring Central and Eastern Europe lobbying for EU labour laws on so-called posted workers.

Under the laws, any EU national travelling to another EU state for more than three days of work per month is to be paid the wage of the country they are in.

Poland has said this would hit its transport industry, making its truck drivers lose their edge in western European markets. (vb)

Source: PAP, IAR

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