EU Cohesion Fund distribution of 70 billion euros and Corona relief fund of 60 billion dollars
137 billion euros were frozen due to the anti-rule of law behavior of the previous hard-line conservative government.
European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Poland on the 23rd and praised the new Donald Tusk government, saying that the frozen EU distribution support for Poland of 137 billion euros (197.4 trillion won) will be released next week. He said it would be.
Despite the decision-making process, the lifting of frozen funds for Poland appears to be a foregone conclusion.
The 200 trillion won EU support ‘gift’ that Poland’s new government will receive will consist of two parts. As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides in 2022, the EU decided to raise 750 billion euros (1,080 trillion won) in economic recovery funds and distribute them to each member state, taking into account the extent of damage from the pandemic and population.
Poland received 60 billion euros (86 trillion won). Prior to this, when the hard-line conservative Law and Justice Party government, which came to power in 2015, continued to revise laws and control the judiciary and media, the EU warned Poland of punishment, including restrictions on voting rights, saying it was a violation of the great principle of the rule of law.
As the reactionary nationalist government led by Jaroslav Kaczynski did not pay attention to this, the EU froze allocations and did not provide ‘cohesion funds’ for infrastructure development. Following the distribution of this fund, which amounted to over 70 billion euros, the subsidies tied up due to the freeze of the COVID-19 Economic Resurrection Fund exceeded 130 billion euros.
Poland’s conservative government, led by Deputy Prime Minister Kaczynski and followed by President Andrej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, supported Ukraine more actively than any other EU member state at the same time as Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Nevertheless, the EU executive had no intention of releasing frozen subsidies to Poland.
In the October 2023 general election, the center-left coalition led by former Prime Minister Donald Tusk defeated the Law and Justice Party, and a new government was launched in mid-December. The EU released 5.4 billion euros out of the corona freeze funds when the new Prime Minister Tusk, who served as the permanent chairman of the EU summit for five years until 2019, attended the EU summit the day after his inauguration.
In addition, it was promised that the remaining 100 billion euros of frozen support would be released if the previous reactionary conservative regime’s ‘violated’ anti-rule of law behavior was completely wiped away.
Two months later, Poland’s new government received the EU’s ‘passing’ notification and will soon be able to receive 200 trillion won in subsidies.
Commission President von der Leyen also said that $1.4 billion would be given to Polish farmers who are protesting against the EU’s duty-free treatment for Ukraine. The EU executive granted agricultural exports from Ukraine, which is not a member of the country but is fighting with Russia, the same non-tariff benefits as EU members.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.