Delicate diplomatic challenge faces May as she heads to Warsaw while Brussels considers stripping Poland of voting rights over ‘serious breach’ of EU values

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Theresa May is prepared to challenge her Polish counterpart over his government’s controversial interference in the country’s judicial system, Downing Street said, as the prime minister prepared to fly to Warsaw on Thursday.

Her visit will come in the aftermath of an unprecedented decision by the EU to censure Poland for a “serious breach” of its values, which could ultimately see Warsaw stripped of its voting rights in Brussels.

May and senior cabinet ministers face a delicate diplomatic challenge for the visit, which had been intended to underline the UK’s defence and security cooperation with eastern Europe.

Ministers see Poland and other eastern European countries as potential key allies in trade talks, given their desire to retain close security cooperation.

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In Warsaw, May will announce a new joint UK-Poland treaty on defence and security cooperation, only the second such treaty the UK has signed, after one with France. The governments will also jointly launch UK-funded offensives to combat alleged Russian state-sponsored “disinformation”.

The UK has remained neutral in the growing rift between Poland’s hardline right-wing government and the European Union, concerned about the image of Brussels’ apparent interference with a country’s domestic affairs.

However, May’s spokesman said she would not shirk a difficult conversation with the new Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, but stopped short of saying the UK would vote to censure Poland when potential action against the country is put before EU leaders.

The rift with Brussels came to a head after a decision by the Polish senate to give the executive greater control of the supreme court and the judicial appointments’ body.

European commissioners have recommended member states issue a formal warning to Poland under the article 7 procedure, which has never before been used, warning that Poland’s government is putting fundamental democratic values at risk.

May said the UK government did have its own concerns. “We place importance on respect for the rule of law and we expect all our partners to abide by international norms and standards,” the prime minister’s spokesman said.

“The prime minister will raise her concerns when they meet tomorrow. We hope that Poland and the commission can resolve this through discussion.”

The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, said it was imperative the prime minister raised concerns over the reforms, which critics say are anti-democratic.

“Time and again on her foreign travels, from Saudi Arabia and Turkey to her various meetings with Donald Trump, Theresa May has chosen to duck the difficult issues rather than confront them,” said Thornberry.

“She must not repeat that failure in Poland. She must demand that the government either stop undermining human rights and democratic freedoms in Poland through these judicial reforms, or face the loss of its voting rights within the EU.”

Any future vote on Poland is likely to put the UK in a bind, with Poland viewed as a key ally ahead of the upcoming Brexit trade negotiations. Conservative MEPs sit in the same conservative grouping in the European parliament as the Law and Justice (Pis) party.

The UK had sought to court Polish support over the last few months, despite rising concern about the actions of the hardline government, including dining with former prime minster Beata Szydło at a summit in Sweden and deploying 150 soldiers from the British Light Dragoons to the Polish-Russian border to counter potential Russian aggression. Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge also visited the country as part of the European tour this summer.

May will travel to Warsaw accompanied by her most senior cabinet ministers, the chancellor Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the home secretary Amber Rudd, and the business secretary Greg Clark.

Downing Street said the new defence partnership expected to be announced on Thursday would deepen ties that would build on the deployment of British troops to the Polish-Russian border.

May will announce £5m of UK funds to build joint capacity to detect and counter the spread of Russian information operations, some of which will fund Belsat, a Polish-funded TV channel for Belarussians.



Speaking ahead of her trip, May said: “I am determined that Brexit will not weaken our relationship with Poland. Rather, it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen it.”

May said she would reaffirm how European states needed to continue to work together to “protect our shared values, people and interests.”