The leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political grouping delivered a scathing speech on the floor the European Parliament in Strasbourg earlier this week, accusing it, among other things, of doing a lot of damage to Europe and infecting the Continent with shameless partisanship.
The speech, delivered by Polish MEP Ryszard Legutko (PiS), took place on Tuesday, November 22nd, during a ceremony in Strasbourg in which MEPs commemorated the founding of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community—the forerunner to the European Parliament—in 1952.
Speaking on behalf of the of the ECR group, one of the two Rightist, anti-establishment political groupings in the Parliament, MEP Professor Richard Legutko excoriated the parliament for turning its back on millions of European citizens and for “becoming a political vehicle for the Left.”
Immediately upon taking to the podium, and in front of a packed chamber, the ECR chief did not mince his words, saying:
Two minutes of truth, of bitter truth. And the bitter truth is the European Parliament has done a lot of damage in Europe. It has been sending a false message that it represents the European demos. There isn’t, and there won’t be any European demos. The Parliament infected Europe with shameless partisanship and the infection has become so contagious that it spread to other institutions such as the European Commission.
Legutko’s remarks stood in exceedingly sharp contrast to speeches by liberal-globalist leaders, including including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who lauded the chamber and underscored its eminence in Europe.
Continuing on, Legutko accused the Parliament of “abandoning the basic function of representing people” and having become notthing more than “a machine to implement the so-called European project.” He added that in doing so, the Parliament had “alienated millions of voters.”
The ECR chief’s castigation of the institution didn’t end there, however. He went on to remark that the “parliament has become a political vehicle of the Left to impose their monopoly with their fierce intolerance toward any dissenting view,” accusing liberal parliamentarians on the Right and Left of not truly being committed to or interested in diversity, despite constantly paying lip service to the idea.
“No matter how many times you repeat the word diversity, diversity is becoming a distinct species in the European Union, and particularly in this chamber,” Legutko said.
Referring to the European Union—and its alleged democratic instrument, the European Parliament—the Polish MEP said: “Call it what you will. But democracy, it is not,” drawing a mixture of applause and sneers from the audience.
“To sum up, the Parliament represents the demos that does not exist, works for the project that ignores reality and law, shuns accountability, turns its back on millions of people and serves the interest of one political orientation,” Legutko concluded.
