A British Conservative Member of the European Parliament denounced the invitation made by her group to a Polish priest infamous for xenophobia and anti-Semitism to attend a meeting at the EU assembly.
“I would like to express my disappointment at your organising a public hearing to which Father Tadeusz Rydzyk was invited,” said Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London, in a letter to her colleague Mirosław Piotrowski, a Polish MEP from the Group of Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in the parliament, who invited him.
She added: “Anti-Semitic comments made by Father Rydzyk have been condemned by Jewish human rights organisations as well as high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland.”
“I am personally offended by his comments about Jews and I feel let down that a member of the ECR group allowed Father Rydzyk to express his views in the European Parliament.”
Yannakoudakis stressed that she “represents a constituency with a Jewish population of around 150,000. I support the Jewish community in London and I deplore all forms of anti-Semitism.”
Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the owner of a Polish radio station , was in Brussels along with around 200 supporters at the beset of MEPs belonging to Poland's Law and Justice party, key allies to the Conservatives in the European parliament.
His attendance was to draw attention to the situation of TV Trwam, the television arm of his controversial radio station Radio Maryja, which has been taken off the air in Poland owing to a dispute over its broadcast licence.
Jewish organizations but also the Council of Europe have repeatedly accused Radio Maryja of broadcasting anti-Semitic material.
Tadeusz Rydzyk has previously been accused of fomenting anti-Semitism through his politically influential radio station.
He was at the center of a scandal in 2007 when he was allegedly caught on tape suggesting that Jews are greedy and that then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski was "subservient to Jewish lobbies."
The ECR group, to which both Law and Justice and the Tories belong to, distanced itself from the presence of Father Rydzyk. “This event was not organised or sponsored by the ECR and no money was contributed,” said a group spokesman.
In 2010 Michal Kaminski, a Polish MEP, quit Law and Justice party saying it he "could not accept the party being taken over by the far right". He joined the ‘Poland is more important’ party.

by: Yossi Lempkowicz

EJP