PiS wants to outlaw key NGO's in EU referendum

The Law and Justice party (PiS) is demanding that NGO's which received money from the budget or from abroad be excluded from the EU referendum campaign. If the Sejm agrees, then a substantial number of pro-European funds and associations will be excluded from the campaign. PiS member Zbigniew Ziobro justifies such a proposal by saying that the organizations would not be very objective. This amendment stands a small chance of being voted through, as it will gain the support of right wing parties and the Polish Peasants Party. "I will try to convince my colleagues to support this solution," said Eugeniusz Klopotek from the PSL. NGO representatives expressed their strong disagreement with the proposal, as this would also mean cutting-off the substantial financial help received from abroad since the fall of communism. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A5) M.M.