Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
The visit comes amid unprecedented economic and military collaboration between the two countries.
B次元官网网址淚 certainly raised concerns that we have around some of the reports coming out of Poland around LGBTQ rights, around democracy, and we had a frank conversation, as must be the case,B次元官网网址� Trudeau told reporters Friday.
His comments come amid rising concern about free speech and elections due to policies enacted by MorawieckiB次元官网网址檚 government.
The country recently passed a law that will create a commission to probe alleged Russian interference in the country. Academics and civil-rights groups say the mandate is so vague that the panel of mostly government MPs will be used to attack opposition parties.
B次元官网网址淚t threatens, for sure, not only the electoral process but also academic freedom, because the commission has such large powers to question people from academia,B次元官网网址� said Marcin Gabrys, a political scientist with Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over a new law B次元官网网址渢hat could be misused to interfere with PolandB次元官网网址檚 free and fair elections.B次元官网网址�
Gabrys was surprised that on that same day, Trudeau announced MorawieckiB次元官网网址檚 visit by praising B次元官网网址渁 shared commitment to NATO and democracy.B次元官网网址� He said there is a strong discrepancy between the values held by the two governments.
On Tuesday, a Polish MP from the far-right Confederation party blocked University of Ottawa professor Jan Grabowski from delivering a lecture in Warsaw that would have touched on Polish complicity in crimes during the Holocaust.
The topic is a sore point for ruling PiS, which in 2018 outlawed truthful statements that some Poles were complicit in Nazi war crimes.
B次元官网网址淭here is too much silence, and I think we are on the edge in Poland,B次元官网网址� said Gabrys, who specializes in Canadian studies.
B次元官网网址淔or Canada, many times the economic interest and security interests are more important. And sometimes it means that Ottawa has abstained from saying what it should say. Nevertheless, the case in Poland is so clear; it has been for so many years,B次元官网网址� he said.
Two years ago, MorawieckiB次元官网网址檚 government limited abortions to cases where a pregnancy resulted from a criminal act or posed a serious health risk. The party has called out LGBTQ rights as B次元官网网址渁n attack on the family and childrenB次元官网网址� and turned a blind eye to municipalities and regions declaring themselves B次元官网网址淟GBT-free zones.B次元官网网址�
In January, the European Commission withdrew a 2021 court case against Poland over the LGBT-free zones, and Morawiecki noted that the body hasnB次元官网网址檛 withheld equalization payments to Poland after threatening to do so over judicial reforms.
B次元官网网址淚n Poland, rights of all of human rights and rights of LGBT people are not jeopardized at all. We very strongly put focus on nurturing families, supporting families and sometimes it is misunderstood by some people as being discriminatory,B次元官网网址� he told reporters.
B次元官网网址淭here are no problems whatsoever; there are lots of misunderstandings I reckon and I can explain them even more in detail, but this is not an issue in Poland.B次元官网网址�
Canada and Poland have been ramping up military collaboration since RussiaB次元官网网址檚 2014 invasion of Ukraine.
That ranks high in TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 official notice about MorawieckiB次元官网网址檚 visit, which pledges B次元官网网址渢o address the regional defence and security challenges resulting from RussiaB次元官网网址檚 brutal and unjustifiable war of aggression.B次元官网网址�
Poland has been among the most assertive European countries in urging military allies to provide Ukraine with equipment. Gabrys says thatB次元官网网址檚 in part due to a conviction that a victorious Russia would feel emboldened to target Poland and the three Baltic countries.
HeB次元官网网址檚 watching to see if Poland makes a request for Canadians to train European soldiers in specialty equipment or in winter conditions, or to station more Canadian soldiers in the region. Gabrys expects Morawiecki to praise Canada for resettling Ukrainians who fled to Poland last year and for funding projects to help integrate those staying in that country.
Trade between Canada and Poland has been booming, rising 52 per cent in the five years since the Canada-EU trade deal came into effect, even though Warsaw hasnB次元官网网址檛 fully ratified the deal.
Poland recovered faster from the 2008 global recession, the European debt crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic than most of its peers.
The country is looking to Canada for know-how in carbon-capture technology and the fledgling nuclear field of small modular reactors.
Gabrys said his country would be open to Canadian hydrogen, uranium and liquefied natural gas if thereB次元官网网址檚 enough of a business case, and Poland is trying to become a hub for electrical-vehicle battery factories.
He noted that PolandB次元官网网址檚 ambassador in Ottawa, Witold Dzielski, is close to the PiS leadership and has a better understanding of Canada than most envoys.
That has led to a series of unprecedented visits, Gabrys said, such as when Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski visited Canada in March to take stock of medical support for Ukrainians and to examine possible collaboration in life sciences.
B次元官网网址淚 see a new chapter, a new energy in the relations between Poland and Canada,B次元官网网址� Gabrys said.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
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