Polish PM reshuffles his Cabinet to warm EU ties
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s new prime minister reshuffled his Cabinet on Tuesday, ousting the controversial ministers of foreign affairs, defence and the environment in a move aimed at mending relations with partners in the European Union.
Mateusz Morawiecki, who became prime minister in December replacing Beata Szydlo, is seeking to improve Poland’s deteriorating position in the EU and head off possible EU sanctions.
Later in the day, the office of the European Commission’s head, Jean-Claude Juncker, said the two had a “friendly” and “constructive” dinner in Brussels and would be seeking to make progress on better ties by the end of February.
EU leaders have raised a series of concerns over Poland’s changes to its justice system, government-approved logging in an old forest and refusal to take in migrants under an EU plan. They have opened a sanctioning procedure that could strip Poland of its EU voting rights.