<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><oembed><version>1.0</version><provider_name>EU-Logos</provider_name><provider_url>https://eulogos.blogactiv.eu</provider_url><author_name>EU Logos</author_name><author_url>https://eulogos.blogactiv.eu/author/communicationeulogos/</author_url><title>#FactOfTheDay 08/02/2018: The MEPs have voted to dismiss Ryszard Czarnecki</title><html>&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, on the 7&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; February 2018, the European Parliament had to vote on whether or not to dismiss Ryszard Czarnecki, Polish MP who was also one of the 14 Parliament’s vice-presidents. They voted to dismiss him by 447 votes against 196, and 30 abstentions. This was the first time that such a vote has been done.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Czarnecki is a member of the nationalist-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) Polish party, which itself is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) in the European Parliament. This vote took place after a polemic in which he called another Polish MEP, Roza Thun, a “shmaltsovnik”, which is an extremely pejorative word meaning someone who blackmailed Jews or Polish hiding Jews during the German Nazi occupation and collaborated with the Nazis.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Deutsche Welle explains that “&lt;em&gt;his slur came after Thun had told a German broadcaster that the ruling PiS party was moving the country towards a « dictatorship. »&lt;/em&gt;”. In fact, Poland has been greatly criticised for the last few months because of its new policy and bills which go against the rule of law. The most recent one “&lt;em&gt;allows the government to jail anyone who, « publicly and against the facts, » suggests that Poles or Poland had any involvement in Nazi war crimes committed during World War II.&lt;/em&gt;”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However, in the European Parliament MPs cannot get away with “over the line” remarks and even though M. Czarnecki remains an MP since he was democratically elected a new vote for another VP from ECR will take place.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The next European elections are only a year away; depending on how the voting goes, with far-right candidates asserting their position in several European countries, these kinds of laws, slurs and ways of governing might continue to be very present.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Carolina Duarte de Jesus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For further information:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“European Parliament dismisses Polish Vice President Ryszard Czarnecki over Nazi slur”, DW, 2018, [consulté en ligne le 08/02/2018]. http://www.dw.com&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“Polish president signs controversial Holocaust bill into law”, DW, 2018, [consulté en ligne le 08/02/2018]. http://www.dw.com&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;BAUME Maïa de la, “MEPs vote to remove Ryszard Czarnecki as vice president”, Politico, 2018, [consulté en ligne le 08/02/2018]. http://www.politico.eu&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bulletin Quotidien Europe 11956&lt;/em&gt;, Agence Europe, 2018, [consulté en ligne le 08/02/2018]. http://www.agenceurope.eu&lt;/p&gt;
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