Poland – Both Donald Tusk, who went on a visit to Brussels just after Poland’s October 15 election, and the Morawiecki government have taken credit for the unlocking of a first installment of Next Generation EU funds worth over 5 billion euros. At the same time, there have been voices in the Law and Justice camp to point to this decision taken by the Von der Leyen Commission so shortly after the Polish election as evidence of what they had been saying about those funds being withheld, namely that the European Commission was using the Next Generation EU funds as a tool to interfere in the Polish elections in support of the left-liberal opposition.

However, there is yet another possible answer to the question of why the decision to suddenly unlock 5 billion euros was made so soon after the election instead of waiting a little longer, so as not to create the impression that Brussels is using EU funds to influence voters in member countries. This answer lies, according to some Polish commentators, in the financial difficulties of Germany’s Siemens Energy, and more precisely of its Gamesa wind energy subsidiary, which have compelled the German government to grant a 15-billion euro aid package to its flagship company in the field of wind energy.

As it happens, the 5-billion euro installment unlocked from the share of the EU’s post-Covid recovery fund allocated on paper to Poland will have to be used precisely for wind turbines. According to the Financial Times, Siemens Energy would need a new contract worth at least 4.5 billion euros to get out of its current financial troubles in the wind energy sector, so the amount of money unlocked for Poland may in itself not be a coincidence.
In any case, the timing of this decision makes it clear to many Poles, in particular those voting for the right, that all the narrative about the rule of law, judicial independence, and European values are nothing more than a smoke screen for brutal, unscrupulous power politics in the European Union.