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| European commission president decries attacks on Poles in wake of Brexit vote | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has condemned attacks on Polish people in the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. | |
| “We Europeans can never accept Polish workers being beaten up, harassed or even murdered in the streets of Essex,” Juncker said in his annual state of the union address to MEPs in Strasbourg. Five Polish people have been attacked in the Essex town of Harlow since the EU referendum, including one man who died from his injuries. | |
| As he set out a series of security and economic measures aimed at uniting Europe in the wake of the Brexit vote, Juncker urged EU member states to take greater responsibility for explaining the value of the European project. | |
| Declaring that the next 12 months would be crucial for the EU, Juncker said a united Europe could only be built if it was better explained and better understood. He highlighted the British referendum as a warning that the EU faces a battle for survival against nationalism. | Declaring that the next 12 months would be crucial for the EU, Juncker said a united Europe could only be built if it was better explained and better understood. He highlighted the British referendum as a warning that the EU faces a battle for survival against nationalism. |
| “The European Union doesn’t have enough union,” he said. “There are splits out there and often fragmentation exists … That is leaving scope for galloping populism.” | |
| 40-year-old Arkadiusz Jóźwik died after he was beaten by teenagers in Harlow, about 30 miles north of London, in late August. Essex police said Jóźwik and a second Polish man who survived were apparently the victims of an unprovoked attack. The motive is unknown, but one line of inquiry is the possibility of it being a hate crime. | |
| Three other Poles have been attacked in the town, and there have been reports of further incidents across Britain. Following the attack on Jóźwik, the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, wrote to church leaders in Britain asking them to help prevent attacks on Poles living in the UK and combat a climate of “aversion and animosity”. | |
| Juncker’s speech in Strasbourg did not dwell on Brexit, though he repeated that Britain could not have “à la carte access” to the single market. | |
| The European commission president has previously criticised the former British prime minister, David Cameron, for failing to prepare the ground for the Brexit referendum and launching the four-month campaign after years of sniping directed at Brussels. | The European commission president has previously criticised the former British prime minister, David Cameron, for failing to prepare the ground for the Brexit referendum and launching the four-month campaign after years of sniping directed at Brussels. |
| Juncker said he would ask his team of 27 EU commissioners to increase the number of visits made to national parliaments to discuss EU policies. “[Europe] can only be built with the member states not against the member states,” he said. “We do listen to our citizens and we would like to do that more intensely.” | Juncker said he would ask his team of 27 EU commissioners to increase the number of visits made to national parliaments to discuss EU policies. “[Europe] can only be built with the member states not against the member states,” he said. “We do listen to our citizens and we would like to do that more intensely.” |
| The 55-minute speech amounted to a sprawling laundry list of subjects, ranging from Europe’s contribution to 70 years’ of peace to roaming charges and the price of milk. “I will not accept that milk is cheaper than water,” he said, in a nod to Europe’s farmers. | The 55-minute speech amounted to a sprawling laundry list of subjects, ranging from Europe’s contribution to 70 years’ of peace to roaming charges and the price of milk. “I will not accept that milk is cheaper than water,” he said, in a nod to Europe’s farmers. |
| The EU executive hopes to find common ground with a plan to boost the EU’s infrastructure fund by increasing its value to €500bn (£425bn) by 2020. Juncker also called for speedy implementation of a recently agreed law to create an EU border and coastguard to ensure better control of migrants and refugees arriving from the Middle East and Africa. | The EU executive hopes to find common ground with a plan to boost the EU’s infrastructure fund by increasing its value to €500bn (£425bn) by 2020. Juncker also called for speedy implementation of a recently agreed law to create an EU border and coastguard to ensure better control of migrants and refugees arriving from the Middle East and Africa. |
| In a tacit acknowledgement that commission plans for refugee quotas were in trouble, he said solidarity cannot be forced, but “must come from the heart”. Hungary, Poland and other central and eastern European countries have accused the commission of blackmail over proposals that would oblige them to pay for not giving refuge to people fleeing war. | In a tacit acknowledgement that commission plans for refugee quotas were in trouble, he said solidarity cannot be forced, but “must come from the heart”. Hungary, Poland and other central and eastern European countries have accused the commission of blackmail over proposals that would oblige them to pay for not giving refuge to people fleeing war. |