Polish President offers urgent amendments to controversial law targeting Russia

From the second left, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Poland's President Andrej Duda, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Moldova's President Maia Sandu pose for a group photo at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 16, 2023. The leaders from across Europe are determined to hold Russia to account for its invasion of Ukraine and were poised to approve a system during their Council of Europe summit that would specifically establish the damage Moscow would have to pay to rebuild the nation. Polish President Andrzej Duda unexpectedly said Friday that he was offering urgent amendments to a contentious law on Russian that he signed this week and that drew U.S. and European Union criticism.

Duda said he is aware of the controversies surrounding the law proposed by the governing conservative Law and Justice party and was addressing them by sending amendments to the parliament on Friday. He called on the lawmakers to act quickly, calling for a swift resolution.

The law violates the Polish Constitution and could prevent government opponents from holding public office without full power to challenge the decisions in court. It could also have a negative effect on the eligibility of opposition candidates in an election due in the autumn.

In its current form, the law will create a powerful committee ostensibly meant to investigate Russia's influence in Poland but is seen as primarily targeting Donald Tusk, a former prime minister who is now an opposition leader. Law and Justice alleges that Tusk has been too friendly toward Russia as Prime Minister between 2007 and 2014 and has made gas deals favorable to Russia before he went to Brussels to be the president of the European Council between 2014 and 2019.

The U.S. State Department and the EU have strongly criticized the law and expressed concerns about Poland's democracy. The 27-member EU, which Poland joined in 2004, also vowed to take action if it became fully clear that such a law would undermine democratic standards.

His amendments ensured that the law was reviewed by nonpartisan experts, and that no lawmakers would sit on the commission and that its findings would not ban anyone from holding public office. He is also stronger in the right to appeal before a court by those people who were under investigation.

The commission plans to present a report on its findings by Sept. 17, just weeks before the election, and could impose punishments, including 10-year bans on officials from positions that have control over spending public funds.

Duda, dubbed the law by critics Lex Tusk, signed the legislation on Tuesday, and it will take effect a week after its release.

By bowing partially to critics who say the bill is unconstitutional, Duda said this week that he is also sending the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal to review it for conformity with the supreme law.

Duda, who is aligned with the Law and Justice, said he was reacting to the public outcry over the law.

The Justice and Law Party leaders Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Tusk are longtime political rivals.