British MP Lobbies Poland to Defy EU ‘Mafia Cartel’ and Block Brexit Delay

LONDON - MAY 4: The flags of Poland and Great Britain adorn flag poles along The Mall on M
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

British-Polish Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski has urged Poland to defy the “mafia cartel” EU and veto a delay to Brexit.

British parliamentarians are currently debating Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). If the bill is defeated, the legal default position is to leave in a clean-break Brexit on October 31st.

However, the Benn Act forced the prime minister to request an extension of Article 50 to January 31st, 2020, in anticipation of a deal not being passed by the scheduled exit date of October 31st, 2019.

European member states, the EU27, must vote unanimously to grant the extension. President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who chairs the EU27’s council, said on Tuesday that leaders “will decide in coming days” whether to grant another delay, depending on developments in London.

Out of the hands of pro-Brexit UK lawmakers, the only way to thwart Remainer attempts to stop a no-deal Brexit would be if just one EU member state vetoed the extension.

Polish-born Mr Kawczynski has been lobbying his colleagues in his home country. He tweeted on Sunday: “As an almost-fluent Polish speaker, I am doing all I can to convince the Polish government to veto an extension of Article 50. Others are working on the Czechs and Hungarians. One of these will veto, I predict.”

Conservative and populist governments lead Visegrád nations Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The countries are also on the more Eurosceptic end of the scale, as manifested in their reactions to Brussels’ overreach in domestic affairs and in defiance of forced migrant quotas.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Mr Kawczynski condemned a “hardcore Remainer parliament” that wants to “thwart the will” of the people who voted in the majority to leave the EU.

The MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham said: “It is our job to do anything that is legal and constitutional to ensure that we leave the European Union on 31 October.

“We have a hardcore Remainer parliament and Remainer MPs that are trying to block and thwart the will of the British people.

“So of course we have to take whatever actions we need to.”

Both Poland and Hungary have been threatened with sanctions by a German-French dominated EU over their opposition to Brussels’ migrant programme. Poland has been further censured for its judicial reforms.

Mr Kawczynski compared the culture of the EU to a “mafia cartel”, saying on Sky News: “The problem we have is that the EU acts as a mafia cartel and any country is frightened of putting their head above the parapet and being the one country that says there shouldn’t be an extension.

“So we’re hoping that Warsaw and Budapest combined might have the courage to actually do this.”

President of France Emmanuel Macron is the most resistant to granting another extension amongst European leaders. Mr Macron indicated that the EU would not agree to another if the British parliament votes down Boris Johnson’s withdrawal treaty.

However, the French president had said in March — before the expiration of the original Brexit deadline — that an extension would not be granted unless MPs voted for Theresa May’s deal. Parliamentarians did not, and Mr Macron did not veto the extension to October 31st.

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