WARSAW Poland wants to convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her trip to Warsaw in February to support its ideas for reforming the European Union, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Saturday.
Poland’s year-old government, led by the conservative and eurosceptic and Law and Justice (PiS) party, believes that central EU institutions in Brussels wield too much power and is lobbying for reforms that would strengthen the role of member state governments and national parliaments.
In what will be Merkel’s second visit to Poland since Britain’s vote in June to leave the EU, Szydlo said that the two would talk about the impact of Brexit on the rest of the bloc, about security and reform issues.
“Indeed, I agree, this is an important visit, especially now when the EU is changing, when reforms are needed,” Szydlo said in an interview on the private RMF FM radio station.
“Poland and Germany are certainly two countries that will set the tone for the discussion on change in the EU. We want reforms and I hope that Chancellor Merkel will become convinced that these reforms are needed for the EU.”
The date of Merkel’s visit has not been announced yet, but Szydlo said it would be in early February.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Writing by Lidia Kelly)
