Verhofstadt: PiS have placed Poland on a ruinous path

Former Belgian Prime Minister and prominent European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt strongly criticised the recent actions by Poland's new government, saying that it has placed the entire nation "on a ruinous path." In an interview with Politico, Verhofstad listed the recent controversial actions undertaken by the new Law and Justice (PiS) majority government, which range from "purges of the intelligence services and police,  measures to weaken the Constitutional Tribunal, and now the dismissal of public broadcasting managers," and noted that they have created a "toxic atmosphere within Poland and despair outside of it." He also addressed the words of Polish Foreign affairs Minister Witold Waszczykowski's influence of the EU on Poland,  in which he stated to be " 'curing' the country of 'diseases' after '25 years of liberal indoctrination'." Verhofstadt responded by admonishing the Foreign Minister and accusing him of "having a serious lack of awareness about the basic principles of democracy." He even went as far as to say that the recent implemented measures were so "anti-democratic", that if Poland were to apply for EU membership today, then an accession treaty would not be granted. However, he also added that this stinging criticism applies only towards the nation's government, and that thus he did not see a reason to punish ordinary Polish citizens for the actions of its leaders. While Brussels has more drastic options at its disposal, Verhofstadt argued that for now it should merely issue a formal warning to the government in Warsaw, and then wait and see what happens next.