Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki extended the invitation to Germany’s Manfred Weber in a video posted on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
It came after Weber, who leads the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) grouping in the European Parliament, said that the Polish governing Law and Justice (PiS) party “attacks the rule of law and the free media.”
In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, published on Sunday, Weber ruled out cooperation with parties such as PiS, the Politico website reported.
The German politician said: “Any party must accept the rule of law. This is the firewall against the PiS representatives in Poland, who systematically attack the rule of law and the free media.”
Morawiecki responded on Twitter: “As the prime minister of the Polish government, which represents a democratically elected parliamentary majority, I won’t allow the choices of the Polish people to be slandered in this way.”
Referring to Weber, the Polish prime minister added: “He called us his enemies. Enough of that. If the Germans openly admit that they will interfere in the elections in Poland, let them stand with an open visor.”
Morawiecki said that if the Germans alleged that the Polish government broke democratic rules, Weber should “tell that to the millions of Poles in a televised debate.”
He addressed the German politician: “I invite you to a debate on October 2. We are ready to discuss the details in the coming days.“
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, politico.eu