Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki leaves the Prime Minister's office after tendering his resignation on Wednesday: photo - PAP/ Radek Pietruszka
“We will be contacting the Polish authorities in the coming days to get a clearer picture of the situation,” said Roger Waite, EC Spokesman for Agriculture and Rural Development, in an interview with Polish Radio.
“Obviously, because this is European tax-payers' money, we take these issues very seriously,” he said.
“We have mechanisms which mean that we can claim back money if it has not been spent properly, or if the management has not been sufficient,” he noted.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk formally accepted the resignation of Minister Marek Sawicki on Wednesday, following the release of a video recording that suggested that the Agriculture Ministry was tarnished by corruption.
The recording, which was released by Polish daily Puls Biznesu, shows Wladyslaw Lukasik, former head of the governmental Agriculture Market Agency (ARR), discussing the alleged malpractice with Wladyslaw Serafin, chairman of the National Union of Farmers and Farmers' Associations (KZRKiOR).
The ARR, among other tasks, distributes state and EU funds.
Sawicki, who represented junior coalition partner the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), denies any wrongdoing.
Likewise, the head of PSL, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Waldemar Pawlak, has described the video recording as representing “the frustration of an official [Lukasik] who had been dismissed.”
Pawlak added that “if it turns out that the Minister Sawicki has been wrongly accused, then he can count on cooperation in condemning those who are throwing false accusations.”
Marek Sawicki had served as Minister of Agriculture since 2008 during both terms of the current coalition between Civic Platform and the Polish Peasants' Party. (nh)