Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski in the Sejm
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Poland
19.11.2025
Honourable Speaker,
my congratulations on your election. I hope that you will be using the mace as assertively as I used to.
Honourable Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,
this is the first time during my nine years in office as minister of foreign affairs that I have requested the possibility to address you pursuant to Article 186 of the Rules of the Sejm. I have done so because, in my belief, the significance of what I have to say to this Chamber is immense.
As you know, foreign services have undertaken activity in recent days that could have resulted in a rail crash with numerous fatalities. A foreign state sent well-prepared saboteurs. It was a pure miracle that they did not succeed.
As a routine, the Russian GRU hires subcontractors to do its dirty work under a false flag. This time, it was not only an act of sabotage as before, but an act of state terrorism, for the intention to cause human casualties was clear. This will be met with our response, not only diplomatic, which we will announce in the days to come. Kinetic operations also came along with a tsunami of disinformation. The same is happening now. This situation raises fundamental questions about who is Poland's enemy and who is our ally in this hybrid war. I will get back to that soon.
Meanwhile, a week ago, we celebrated Independence Day, a time of joy for every Pole. Sadly, an EU flag was burnt during a march in Warsaw, while the President failed to mention Russia's aggression and bombardments of Kyiv in his address.
On the other hand, he said that "some of the Polish politicians are ready to gradually surrender Poland's freedom, independence, and sovereignty to foreign institutions, tribunals, or foreign agendas of the European Union."[1]
"Foreign agendas of the European Union."
Unfortunately, those were not just words. On the following day, the President refused to promote 46 judges because they had dared to invoke the European Union law,[2] The law referred to in Article 91(3) of our Constitution: "If an agreement, ratified by the Republic of Poland, establishing an international organisation so provides, the laws established by it shall be applied directly and have precedence in the event of a conflict of laws."
As minister of foreign affairs as well as deputy prime minister and minister responsible for EU-related matters, I cannot be indifferent to such words and deeds. They are both offensive and dangerous.
Let me remind you, Ladies and Gentlemen, of something that I have thought was obvious to all of you here:
EU membership does not deprive us of our sovereignty; quite the opposite—our joining of the European Union would not have been possible had we not cast the yoke of communism and regained our sovereignty!
Ukraine is well aware of that as it is fighting its way out of the Russian world to join the Western institutions. You were also aware of that once.
Have you already forgotten what it really is like to have our sovereignty curbed? Lost sovereignty is not about being encouraged to use energy-efficient lightbulbs, let alone losing a vote on a directive or a trade deal.
The State Archives still store a copy of the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic with Stalin's handwritten corrections. Let's imagine what would have happened then if we had attempted to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact or the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Russian tanks would have crushed us the same way they crushed the Hungarians in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968. That is what a curbed sovereignty looks like. Do you really think that Brussels will send tanks to force us to use common phone chargers? How many bombs have you seen dropped on London to punish the British for Brexit and make them come back? Do you genuinely believe that if imposing sanctions on Russia did not require unanimity, and your friends from Budapest could not protect Putin any longer, then Poland would lose its independence?
Were the founding fathers of the European Union, Alcide De Gasperi and Robert Schuman, lefties? No, they weren't. They were Christian democrats, but not nationalists. By the way, both may become saints.
And who coined the phrase "from the Union of Lublin to the European Union"? Was it a member of the Freemasonry, or perhaps one of EU bureaucrats? Who, in this very room, said that "the integration of Poland with the European Union has been supported by the Holy See from the beginning"? You are quick to invoke our great countryman, Saint John Paul II. Why don't you try to hear and understand what he had to say on this matter as well?
The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU in accordance with the procedures leaves no doubt that the European Union is a voluntary confederation.
The United Kingdom left the EU without any trouble, which does not mean that it has not been causing them trouble ever since. At the beginning of 2025, the size of the United Kingdom's economy was 6-8% smaller than it could have been had they remained in the EU. Direct foreign investment has decreased by 20%.
Exports of British goods into the EU have also fallen because of custom duties. Meanwhile, the number of migrants has not changed, except that they now come from poorer regions of the world, instead of the European Union. Almost ten years after Brexit, the British are still not reaping the promised benefits. And we are talking about one of the world's largest economies. Do you really think that Poland will do better outside the European community?
You are scaring the nation that the EU is evolving but when a pandemic or a war breaks out, it takes on new tasks to meet the demands of Europeans. You are scaring Poles that the EU may secretly become a federation and their country's sovereignty will shift towards Brussels. This is nonsense. Brexit has proved that ultimate sovereignty resides with member states.
In order for this to change, a new treaty would be necessary and would have to be first adopted by the European Council and European Parliament and then ratified by member states. So it would be subjected to approval by the Polish government, the Sejm, and the President.
Is anyone proposing such a treaty? Has anyone heard of or does anyone know anything about such a draft? If not, why are you scaring Poles on the Independence Day?!
I know how this mechanism works. Some people, especially on the right end of the political spectrum, mentally have never joined the EU and still perceive the EU as the "others." Those blaming Ukraine for Russia's actions in Poland are political subversives. Russia spends billions on fuelling such sentiments, on disinformation and propaganda.
It wants to turn the public opinion against our neighbours, the EU, and Ukrainian refugees who fled from Russian bombs to Poland.
Why is Putin doing this? For the same reason he supported Brexit, financed the separatist movement in Spain, supports the Hungarian nationalist government and extremist parties which promise to dismantle the EU from within. The reason is obvious: as the EU we are a giant compared to Russia, whereas Russia is a superpower when compared with each member state individually. How hard is it to understand?
Unfortunately, there are political entrepreneurs who, instead of opposing this perfidious Russian tactic, yield to it cowardly or even exploit it. They stoke anti-EU and anti-Ukrainian sentiments for political gain. And on top of that, they pose as the greatest patriots, or even the only ones.
Let us not forget that Targowica was a movement of Polish traditionalists who believed the 3 May 1791 Constitution to be a dangerous novelty of the rotten, godless West. I encourage you to read the founding act of the Targowica Confederation written by a Russian general. It makes countless references to freedom, the Homeland, and the holy Catholic faith!
Are you too going to let yourselves be led by the nose, blinded by ideological obstinacy?
The nationalist side argues that this is no longer the European Union we joined. To be sure, since our accession in 2004, the EU has changed its principles of functioning and today it operates according to the principles laid down in the Lisbon Treaty of 2007.
And here is its Polish copy. This is not some foreign usurpation, but part of our Polish legal order, voted upon here in this Chamber.
Jarosław Kaczyński did not have the courage to listen, but it was he who negotiated the Treaty Its ratification was confirmed by, let us see... the President of the Republic of Poland, the late Lech Kaczyński.
Are these the Polish politicians who, in the words of President Nawrocki, sold Polish sovereignty? If nowadays you believe, Mr Chairman, that you did not negotiate well enough, or that your brother should not have signed this document, then maybe, instead of fulminating against Brussels, you should first apologise to Poles?
***
Mr President, you have the right to hold your private opinions. Naturally, the European Union, just like any man-made institution, is not perfect. You can criticise it. However, life experience shows that there are two kinds of criticism—one that aims to improve its object, and one that aims to discredit and destroy it. I invite you to voice the first kind and even to put forward solutions. By insinuating that the European integration is a plot against Poland, you are not helping neither the EU nor Poland. You are laying the psychological and political groundwork for withdrawal from the EU, for Polexit.
If this is what you and the right wing of this parliament want to bring about, for whatever reason you might have, then just say so, instead of making up threats to sovereignty.
I would like to alert the less experienced members of this House to the fact that it is not only the Treaty on European Union but each of several hundred treaties to which Poland is party that limits its signatories' discretion. Thery agree to act in line with these treaties in the future.
Marriage is a contract, a treaty of sorts, too. By entering into marriage, you assume certain duties and divide household chores. When your wife asks you to take out the rubbish or clean up just when you feel like going out for a beer with your friends—that's not a limitation of your personal liberty.
You don't like the EU, do you? So, let me tell you what would happen the next day after we leave it. Are you a farmer? You'll lose the subsidies and the possibility to easily export to the EU market. Are you a doctor, nurse, or an IT professional? To work in the EU, you'd need to have your diplomas recognised. Are you a musician? Apply for a work visa before you give a concert in Paris. Do you run a business and want to sell your products abroad? Good luck competing with EU manufacturers, who won't have to pay duties, when 75% of our exports end up in the EU.[3] You really want to do this to Polish businesspeople?
Do you really want the EU to become a mere free-trade zone? That would mean no national recovery plan, no structural funds, no billions for defence and the defence industry. Outside the EU, Poland would not only be poorer but also less secure, more isolated, and more susceptible to invasion. If you really are patriots, you'd better think twice about the consequences of your words instead of playing on people's fears! The Polish people do not want such inevitable consequences involved in leaving the European Union. Our government will not allow any Polexit to happen.
You have, Mr President, the right to your nationalist views. But if you want to bring them into effect, you should have stood for prime minister. Because the constitutional role that the Nation has picked you to does not allow shaping foreign policy at your whim. You are the supreme representative of the Republic of Poland in its foreign affairs.
Rep-re-sen-ta-tive.
You represent foreign policy conducted by the Council of Ministers under Article 146 of the Constitution. You have received the classified "Principles of Polish Foreign Policy" from me. It says nothing about the need to scare Poles with the European Union. Quite the opposite, it considers EU membership one of the cornerstones of our security, prosperity, and
a sense of agency. Poland must not have two contrary foreign policies.
Whoever wants to run a different foreign policy would not only violate the Constitution, to which you swore allegiance, but would also render Poland ineffective and hinder the pursuit of its interests. For the Prime Minister, I declare that when you speak in an anti-EU voice, you do not speak in the name of Poland but your own and your Chancellery. Not even your voters, as you did not stand for presidency on a Polexit ticket.
I kindly ask for an improved cooperation with the Council of Ministers, to which you are obliged under Article 133 of the Constitution.
I have one more request. Soon, you are going to Hungary, and that is good. A professional information package is being prepared by the MFA, a usual practice before your trip. Do not forget that you are going to a country whose government is at the same time the most anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian in the entire Union. This is not accidental. Also, ruled by a corrupt, nationalist government, Hungary has become the poorest countryin the EU.[4] This is not accidental either.
Obviously, I do not hope that you will bring back from Budapest the fugitives who fled from Poland's justice system. But you can take effort to make Hungary lift its veto on the payment of 2 billion zlotys to the Armed Forces Support Fund and to unlock talks about the EU's enlargement to include Ukraine, even if you are not personally fond of Ukraine, because its integration with the West is in Poland's and the EU's strategic interest.
Mr. President, I do wish you success. By cooperating with the government, in line with the Constitution and on the most vital matters for Poland and Poles, you will be able to fully use the potential of your office and achieve more for your homeland, which you represent. I strongly encourage you to do so.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Members of the House,
As I have already mentioned, attack on the Polish railways forces us to decide who is our ally and who is our enemy during this—hopefully not full-scale—war. It requires imagination and seriousness.
Is a Brussels official considering payments to Poland from recovery funds or defence reinforcement funds an enemy? Or a German soldier operating, as we speak, a Patriot battery in Rzeszów on an extended duty? Or maybe a Ukrainian shop assistant who sends the money she earns to her husband or boyfriend at the frontline? Or Ukraine which fights so brave? Or, last but not least, the Polish government, which the rest of Europe considers to be a stronghold of resistance against Putin? No. The enemy are those who sent saboteurs to murder Poles.
Violence and war are horrible but they clear minds and help define moral choices and attitudes. Everybody must follow their conscience to decide how to be remembered. Some of us will be remembered by our homeland as earnest patriots, others as small fry. Some will stand to the test, some will fail it. We will be proud of some, ashamed of others. Hopefully, may we all make a wise choice.
Thank you very much.
[1] https://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/wypowiedzi-prezydenta-rp/wystapienia/prezydent-rp-wystapienie, 110099 1
[2] https://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/wydarzenia/prezydent-karol-nawrocki-odmawiam-nominacji-46-sedziow,110154
[3] https://pie.net.pl/gdyby-nie-czlonkostwo-w-ue-pkb-polski-byloby-nizsze-o-31-proc-nizsze/
[4] https://polskieradio24.pl/artykul/3394093,to-najbiedniejszy-kraj-ue-wysoka-inflacja-niska-konsumpcja
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