The deputy head of the European Parliament and the former minister of justice of Germany Katarina Barley believes that Poland and Hungary should be "starved financially".
During her radio interview Barley stressed that the European Parliament (EP) will attempt to block the EU's budget unless clear sanctions are agreed for violations of the "rule of law".
- Countries such as Poland and Hungary must be starved financially. EU subsidies are an effective leverage - she said.
Needles to say her word caused fury among Polish politicians.
"The statement of the German politician Katarina Barley about the "financial starvation" of Poland is outrageous and evokes the worst historical associations. We expect an apology and withdrawal of this shameful statement" - said Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller.
A similar entry was also published by the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Michał Dworczyk.
It also brought a reaction of Polish MEP Patryk Jaki on Facebook:
"Today, I had to fight the brazen German attacks on Poland and the arrogance of European institutions in the EP. They want to hit Poland so much that they contradict themselves."
Jaki spoke about the pending proceedings against Poland and Hungary under article 7. He pointed out that the procedures undertaken had no legal basis. - "You want to defend the law, and you break it yourself " - he said.
There are first reactions to the brewing international scandal from Germany as well:
"Editor's Note: In the first draft, we falsified Katarina Barley's statement by exaggerating it. We fixed this error and apologize," - reads a statement posted on the Deutschlandfunk radio website.
The announcement appeared at the bottom of the page under the coverage of the Barley interview that caused the scandal.
The transcript of the interview was changed. In the revised version, Poland is no longer mentioned, only Hungary is left. The title excerpt now reads: "Starving Orban financially".
BTW: Google searches brought negative results for whatever Barley said. I guess it never happened.
