Human life depends on solidarity in the age of pandemic - Polish PM

As the Polish prime minister noted, Poland and Ukraine quickly made difficult decisions to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic by introducing restrictions on the daily lives of citizens which helped to maintain the numbers of confirmed cases of infection and deaths at a relatively low level in both countries. He assessed that Polish and Ukrainian societies "reacted responsibly" to these restrictions. 

Morawiecki also wrote that both Poland and Ukraine "seriously addressed economic security", including social security and job retention. He gave the example of the PLN 400 billion (EUR 88 bln) anti-crisis shield programme as the government's largest relief package for the crisis-stricken economy in the history of Poland. As he pointed out, the shield will not prevent social programmes that have increased the standard of living of Poles over the past five years. The first three weeks since the introduction of the programme has shown that it is effective and working, with 2 million applications for support implemented, the Polish PM wrote, adding that "Poland is ready to share its experience in this strategic sphere of socio-economic life."

Morawiecki believes the EU response to the threat associated with Covid-19 is of historic importance as it will determine the future of European society.

"In my opinion, the epidemic has put the European Union in a situation where it needs solidarity more than ever before. Today, solidarity is at the heart of the European project as its weapon in the fight against pandemics and a common springboard to restore the single market. For this to happen, we need an ambitious budget and to make amendments to the budgetary discipline that has been in force until now, he wrote.

According to the Polish prime minister, solidarity is needed not only inside the EU, but also with its neighbours. Therefore, he added, Poland supports the European Commission's proposal for a macro-financial assistance package of EUR 3 billion for ten neighbouring countries of the bloc, including EUR 1.2 billion for Ukraine. Poland understands the urgent need for solidarity assistance, hence it supports the idea of transferring EUR 140 million from the neighbourhood policy fund to help the Eastern Partnership countries in their fight against coronavirus, he added. Ultimately, this sum is to amount to over EUR 700 million.

Morawiecki also wrote that Poland, as a member of the Visegrad Group, V4, (comprising also the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia - PAP) proposed to launch a special V4EastSolidarity programme for the Eastern Partnership countries under the International Visegrad Fund, aimed at practical support of social groups most vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic - the elderly, the sick, and cross-border workers.

He added that his government does not forget about Ukrainian citizens living and working in Poland. Ukrainian data shows that 175,000 of them returned to their homeland amid the epidemic and according to the Polish prime minister, around a million Ukrainians remain in Poland and continue working and supporting families in their country. He pointed out that a significant part of foreign transfers to Ukraine in 2019, which according to World Bank data reached USD 16 billion, was sent from Poland. 

"Therefore, my government instructed the Polish consulates in Ukraine to resume accepting applications for obtaining work visas. Thousands of Ukrainian citizens will be able to return to work in Poland," he wrote.

According to the head of the Polish government, the alliance of two neighbouring states should be based on a community of interests. "But its durability will also be determined by shared values," he added. Referring to the words of St. John Paul II, the PM wrote that "a lot of efforts are still needed for solidarity and a united Europe, and that truth, freedom and justice determine the high quality of our relations". (PAP)
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