Ryszard Czarnecki, European Parliament Member from Polish Law and Justice party was dismissed from the post of EP Vice President. 447 MEPs voted in favour of this decision, as Polish radio informs.
Overall, Christian democrats, socialists, liberals, and green party representatives voted in favour of Czarnecki’s dismissal, while 196 MEPs were against it.
The reason for the dismissal is highly likely to be a last month’s incident when Czarnecki called Roza Thun, a European Parliament lawmaker from Poland's opposition Civic Platform party, a "shmaltsovnik," a derogatory term for the Poles who blackmailed Jews, or Poles hiding Jews, during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.
After Wednesday's vote, Czarnecki described the move against him as "anti-Polish," and said he does not regret defending Poland against opposition politicians who criticize Poland abroad.
On Feb. 7, Polish President signed the controversial amendment to the law on the Institute of National Memory. The law envisages criminal penalty for publicly accusing Poland of crimes committed during Holocaust, of helping Nazi Germany, of military crimes or crimes against humanity.
The Polish opposition, to which Roza Thun also belongs, said that the law de-facto introduces censorship and commences transition from democracy to dictatorship.
