WARSAW, October 7. /TASS/. Poland’s policy towards Russia will not change after the upcoming parliamentary election in the country due on October 13, if the ruling Law and Justice party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski retains power, Polish political scientist and former member of the Sejm (lower house of parliament) Tadeusz Iwinski told TASS.
"That depends on the outcome of the election," he said when asked whether Poland’s policy towards Russia could change after the election. "If Law and Justice continues to dominate the political landscape, it will be difficult to expect any drastic changes. However, if Law and Justice loses power, many different scenarios will appear," he said.
According to Iwinski, little attention was paid to foreign policy during the election campaign. "Domestic issues dominated the agenda. Problems related to the healthcare system were in the spotlight, especially in the past days. Global issues were given a lower priority, with the exception of cooperation with the US and President Andrzej Duda’s visit to New York, acquisition of military equipment," he explained.
"Relations with Russia are not at the level we would like them to be. We focus too much on our domestic issues and do not come up with serious initiatives on the global stage, the way it was before," the expert said. As an example, he cited the Rapacki Plan, which provided for establishing a nuclear-free zone in Central Europe to ease international tensions.
"Our policy currently focuses on one direction," Iwinski said, adding that Poland’s efforts on the global stage should be more vigorous and diverse.
Poland’s next parliamentary election will be held on October 13. Polish citizens will elect 460 members of the lower house of parliament (the Sejm) and 100 members of the upper house of parliament (the Senate).
The recent opinion polls have shown that the Law and Justice party would retain its leading position after the election securing about 45% of the vote. The Civic Coalition opposition party is expected to finish second garnering 27-28%, while the left forces could take the third place. The Polish Coalition, an alliance of the Polish Peasant Party and the Kukiz’15 party, could make it to the parliament as well.