European Parliament lawmakers voted 447-196 on Wednesday in favor of dismissing Ryszard Czarnecki, an MEP for Poland's nationalist-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Czarnecki, who served as one of the parliament's 14 vice presidents under Antonio Tajani will continue serving as a member of European Parliament.

Read more: Poland: How feasible is a 'Polexit?'

The PiS lawmaker was dismissed after he called Roza Thun, a rival parliamentarian from Poland's liberal-conservative Civic Platform party, a "szmalcownik" — a derogatory term referring to Poles who blackmailed Jews in hiding during the Nazi German occupation.

His slur came after Thun had told a German broadcaster that the ruling PiS party was moving the country towards a "dictatorship."

Wednesday's vote marked the first time that the EU's legislature has ever used its powers to dismiss a senior office holder.

Following Wednesday's plenary session in Strasbourg, Czarnecki told Poland's state news agency PAP, "I have been faithful to my views" in chiding lawmakers who complain about Poland abroad.

Josef Weidenholzer, the vice president of the parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said Czarnecki's comment "went far beyond what is acceptable political discourse."

Jo Leinen, an MEP from Germany's Social Democrats tweeted: "Attacking other members with Nazi slogans is a no go."

Ahead of the vote, Poland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz admitted that Czarnecki had gone "too far" with his remarks, but said dismissing him would violate freedom of speech.

The Polish lawmaker had in the past also compared Poland's EU membership to its time as a Soviet satellite state.

Read more: Poland's new 'Holocaust law' widely condemned in Israel

Czarnecki's dismissal came as the PiS government attracted an array of international criticism, particularly from the US and Israel, over a controversial new law that penalizes certain statements about the Holocaust. The legislation 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.

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dm/sms (dpa, AFP, AP)</s>A controversial Polish proposal to outlaw blaming Poland for crimes committed during the Holocaust has strained its relations with Israel which fears that such a law would whitewash crimes that were committed by Poles on Polish soil.

While the Polish government’s proposed legislation hadn’t been announced at the time that Anna Maria Anders, a Polish senator as well as Poland’s secretary of state for international dialogue, was attending the Am Yisrael Chai Holocaust Remembrance Day event on Jan. 21 in Atlanta — it was just five days later.

Given her family’s history, neither government could find a better mediating figure than Ms. Anders to keep the channels of communication open until the controversy is resolved.

The daughter of Gen. Wladyslaw Anders, the World War II commander of the Polish forces at the epic battle of Monte Cassino in Italy during which many Poles lost their lives but enabled Allied forces to make their way into northern Italy and beyond.

General Anders also is well known in Israel for his Italian campaign as well as previously permitting his troops of Jewish heritage to fight for Israel‘s formation. Among them was Menachem Begin, originally a Pole who eventually founded Israel’s Likud party and became the 6th Israeli prime minister.

Ms. Anders told Global Atlanta during an interview before flying back to Washington that her visit to Atlanta was “almost an accident.” During a Polish Heritage Night celebrated by the U.S. Congress in Washington she was invited to the Holocaust Remembrance event honoring the memory of Chiune Sughara, the Japanese imperial consul general to Lithuania who helped Jews escape from invading Nazi forces. She decided on the spot to accept the invitation. “Why not,” she recalled, “such an opportunity to meet some new people and further develop Polish-U.S. business.”

She emphasized that she was most pleased to have made the effort. “People here have been delightful,” she said, “so hospitable, people have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable and have shown a lot of interest in Poland. I’ve seen that in DC and I’ve seen it here.”

Two years ago she was elected to Poland’s Senate in a by-election to a district on Poland’s eastern flank bordering on Russia. A member of the ruling Law and Justice Party, which supports the controversial legislation, she didn’t mince words when asked if she had any concerns regarding Russian expansionism.

“Any Polish person would be concerned about Russia, period.” she said. “You see what is happening. The build up in Kaliningrad; you see what’s happened in the Ukraine and in Crimea.”

She also appeared to follow her party’s line on immigration. “Poland is not a rich country,” she said, adding that she considers terrorism a real threat in Europe and that Poles remain predominantly Catholic and don’t want their country to become Islamic.

“We have our own people to think about, and many don’t realize that we have taken in about a million Ukrainians who have been integrated and work in Poland. We also have placed a priority on Polish people who were deported to the east in World War II.”

In view of her family history and her personal interest in military affairs, she favors the presence of NATO troops in her district as a wise strategic move both for their deterrent significance and their economic value providing employment for her constituents.

During the interview, Ms. Anders also highlighted her visits to Agnes Scott College, where she reviewed her father’s history leading the Polish army fighting against the Germans on behalf of the Soviets until what came to be known as “Anders Army” evacuated in 1942 under a British, Soviet and Polish agreement. General Anders then led his troops and Polish families through Iran to British-ruled Palestine where those of Jewish origin joined Israel’s independence fighters.

She added that she was particularly touched by a chalk drawing that one of the students had drawn on a blackboard in honor of her visit.

Before leaving Atlanta, she attended a reception hosted by Lawrence Ashe at his home where she met Polish professors from local universities and economic development officials.

She said that she recounted for Georgia’s officials the success that she has had in establishing relations between Poland and Nevada, including both business and educational ties.

And she added that she would like to encourage a similar relationship with the possibility of a delegation from Georgia coming to Cracow, Poland, in June.

Ms. Anders may be reached by clicking here.</s>BRUSSELS—The European Parliament voted Wednesday to dismiss one of its vice-presidents, Ryszard Czarnecki of Poland, after he compared a rival Polish parliament member to a Nazi collaborator.

The European lawmakers voted 447-196, reaching the two-thirds hurdle required to remove Czarnecki from his position.

Czarnecki, who was one of 14 vice-presidents, will continue to be a member of the parliament in Strasbourg, France, representing Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.

Read more: Polish president signs controversial bill that bans attributing nation to Holocaust crimes

Last month Czarnecki called Roza Thun, a European Parliament lawmaker from Poland’s opposition Civic Platform party, a “shmaltsovnik,” a derogatory term for the Poles who blackmailed Jews, or Poles hiding Jews, during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.</s>BRUSSELS — The European Parliament voted Wednesday to dismiss one of its vice-presidents, Ryszard Czarnecki of Poland, after he compared a rival Polish parliament member to a Nazi collaborator.

The European lawmakers voted 447-196, reaching the two-thirds hurdle required to remove Czarnecki from his position.

Czarnecki, who was one of 14 vice-presidents, will continue to be a member of the parliament in Strasbourg, France, representing Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.

Last month Czarnecki called Roza Thun, a European Parliament lawmaker from Poland’s opposition Civic Platform party, a “shmaltsovnik,” a derogatory term for the Poles who blackmailed Jews, or Poles hiding Jews, during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.

His words came after Thun criticized the Polish ruling party in a German TV broadcast, accusing authorities of moving the country toward “dictatorship.”

Parliamentary party leaders had called for Czarnecki’s dismissal over “serious misconduct.”

After Wednesday’s vote, Czarnecki described the move against him as “anti-Polish,” and said he does not regret defending Poland against opposition politicians who criticize Poland abroad.

“I have been faithful to my views,” Czarnecki told PAP, the Polish state news agency.

The European Parliament denied in a statement that the move was aimed against Poland.

Josef Weidenholzer, vice-president of the EU Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group, said Czarnecki’s comment “went far beyond what is acceptable political discourse.”

The development comes amid increasingly strained relations between Poland’s nationalist-conservative Law and Justice party and most of its international partners from Europe to the Middle East.

The country has recently been criticized by Israel and the U.S. for a new law penalizing certain statements about the Holocaust, seen as an erosion of free speech. An overhaul of Poland’s judicial system, which gives the ruling party control over the courts, has also been condemned by the European Commission.

Last summer he was heavily criticized for expressing pleasure that shots were fired at a rescue ship trying to aid refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.

He tweeted “At last!!!” in reaction to information that the Libyan coast guard fired shots at a Spanish NGO rescue ship.

This version corrects the location of the European Parliament to Strasbourg, France, not Brussels.</s>STRASBOURG: The European Parliament removed Polish lawmaker Ryszard Czarnecki as the assembly's vice president on Wednesday after he insulted a fellow Polish MEP by comparing her to a Nazi collaborator.

MEPs voted by 447 votes to 196 to strip Czarnecki, of Poland's ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, of the largely ceremonial office for "serious misconduct".

Czarnecki, 55, last month branded MEP Roza Thun a "szmalcownik" -- an insult referring to Polish collaborators during World War II who handed over Jews to the Nazis for money.

Czarnecki, who is one of 14 European Parliament vice presidents, then refused to apologise during a radio interview.

In January, heads of the main political groups wrote to the parliament president Antonio Tajani to "denounce an unacceptable and degrading declaration" and ask for sanctions for "this deplorable attitude".

The spat comes in the midst of an ongoing crisis between the EU and the PiS-led government in Warsaw over highly controversial judicial reforms which Brussels says threaten the rule of law.

The EU has threatened to impose unprecedented sanctions that could strip the Polish government of its voting rights in Brussels.

"It's good that so many people are shocked, we cannot tolerate that," Thun told AFP, who had criticised the nationalist policy of the current Polish government on Franco-German broadcaster Arte.

Czarnecki remains a member of parliament and a new vice president must now be chosen from his European Conservatives and Reformists political group, which also includes Britain's ruling Conservative party.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament voted Wednesday to dismiss one of its vice presidents, Ryszard Czarnecki of Poland, after he compared a rival Polish parliament member to a Nazi collaborator.

The European lawmakers voted 447-196, reaching the two-thirds hurdle required to remove Czarnecki from his position.

Czarnecki, who was one of 14 vice presidents, will continue to be a member of the parliament in Brussels, representing Poland's ruling Law and Justice party.

Last month Czarnecki called Roza Thun, a European Parliament lawmaker from Poland's opposition Civic Platform party, a "szmalcownik," a derogatory term for the Poles who blackmailed Jews in hiding during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.

His words came after Thun criticized the Polish ruling party in a German TV broadcast, accusing it of moving the country toward "dictatorship."

Parliamentary party leaders called for Czarnecki's dismissal over "serious misconduct."

After Wednesday's vote, Czarnecki told the Polish state news agency PAP that "I have been faithful to my views" in criticizing politicians who complain about Poland abroad.

Josef Weidenholzer, vice president of the EU Parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said Czarnecki's comment "went far beyond what is acceptable political discourse."

The development comes as relations between Poland's nationalist-conservative Law and Justice party and most of its international partners become increasingly strained. Recently it has been criticized by Israel and the U.S. for a new law penalizing certain statements about the Holocaust, seen as an erosion of free speech.

Poland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said Tuesday that Czarnecki went "too far," but said dismissing him would violate freedom of speech.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>The European Parliament has voted to dismiss one of its vice presidents, Ryszard Czarnecki of Poland, after he compared a rival Polish parliament member to a Nazi collaborator.

Last month Czarnecki called Roza Thun, a European Parliament lawmaker from Poland's opposition Civic Platform party, a "szmalcownik," a derogatory term for the Poles who blackmailed Jews during the Nazi German occupation of Poland, after she had criticized Poland's government. Parliamentary party leaders called for his dismissal over "serious misconduct."

Poland's nationalist-conservative Law and Justice party has been criticized by Israel and the U.S., among others, for measures including a new law penalizing certain statements about the Holocaust.

Poland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said Tuesday that Czarnecki went "too far" but that dismissing him would violate freedom of speech.</s>Ryszard Czarnecki, who served as one of the parliament's 14 vice presidents under Antonio Tajani, was relieved of his duties after he called Roza Thun, a rival parliamentarian from Poland's liberal-conservative Civic Platform party, a "szmalcownik”.

‘Szmalcownik’ is a derogatory term, used to describe a Polish person who collaborated with the Nazis during German occupation in the Second World War.

The insult came after Ms Thun told a German broadcaster that Poland’s ruling PiS (Law and Justice) party, which has repeatedly locked horns with the EU, was moving the Eastern European country towards a dictatorship.

Speaking after his dismissal, Mr Czarnecki, who is a member of the PiS, said "I have been faithful to my views" in castigating lawmakers who complain about Poland abroad.</s>Slawomir Sierakowski, founder of the Krytyka Polityczna movement, is director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Warsaw.

The Polish government has provoked yet another international crisis, this time by adopting a law that is ostensibly meant to combat the phrase "Polish death camps." The law targets a geographical shorthand, sometimes used abroad, for the extermination camps that the Nazis established on Polish territory during the Second World War. But there is more to the move than that.

When Poles talk about the Warsaw Ghetto, no one sees this as a problem. Similarly, no one who uses the phrase "Polish death camps" – including former U.S. president Barack Obama and former FBI director James Comey – does so out of ill will toward Poland. Such phrases can be found even in Polish schoolbooks, such as Zofia Nalkowska's excellent book on the Holocaust, Medaliony. Nevertheless, many Poles believe that people abroad are misled by this phrase.

While the law includes exemptions for scholarly publications and artistic works, it applies to journalistic writing, posing a threat to open public debate.

The relevant wording of the legislation is worth citing: "Whoever publicly and untruthfully assigns responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish Nation or the Polish State for Nazi crimes committed by the Third German Reich … or for other crimes constituting crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, or in some other way markedly diminishes the responsibility of the true perpetrators of these crimes is subject to a fine or imprisonment for up to three years."

The Israeli embassy in Warsaw responded with a sobering question: Will Holocaust survivors giving testimony about their personal histories also be subject to criminal liability? And back in Jerusalem, the Knesset has threatened to adopt legislation to classify diminishing the role of Poles who participated in the Holocaust as a crime. A draft bill has the support of 61 of the Israeli parliament's 120 members.

Before Poland's Sejm and Senate adopted the law, the U.S. State Department issued its sharpest statement toward the country since 1989, warning of "the repercussions this draft legislation, if enacted, could have on Poland's strategic interests and relationships – including with the United States and Israel." Neighbouring Ukraine's former foreign minister was more blunt: "Poland has ceased to be a strategic partner for Ukraine. Today, Poland is threatening to block our integration with Europe."

Indeed, Poland is risking its relationship with its three most important allies – the United States, Germany and Ukraine – which up until now have tolerated the antics of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland's de facto leader. Poland now faces the threat of isolation by the West and loss of international influence, leaving the country vulnerable to Vladimir Putin's revanchist Russia.

Despite much of the Polish elite's evident horror at the law, Mr. Kaczynski will not back away from it. To be clear, Mr. Kaczynski, like his late twin brother, Lech, is not an anti-Semite. As president, Lech Kaczynski was an enemy of anti-Semitism in Poland and celebrated Hanukkah in a synagogue.

But Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose populism was once held in check by his brother, shaped this new legislation in ways that are politically favourable to the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), which he leads, by effectively taking centrist voters hostage. The legislation does not offend such voters because the idea of banning the phrase "Polish death camps" seems benign. At the same time, having expelled the most radical right-wing politicians from the government, Mr. Kaczynski needs to regain the trust of far-right PiS voters. They will be pleased that Poland is standing up to Israel, Ukraine and, indeed, the entire world.

The PiS's cynical approach is revealed by the fact that even its leading members acknowledge Poles' role in the persecution of Jews. About a month ago, Ryszard Czarnecki, a PiS member and vice-president of the European Parliament, compared an MEP from the opposition Civic Platform (PO) to a szmalcownik, a pejorative term for those who blackmailed Jewish people who were hiding from the Nazis or those who protected them.

Never mind that the heads of four European Parliament groupings responded by calling for Mr. Czarnecki's removal from his post, or that Poland's Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, defended Mr. Czarnecki. In condemning szmalcowniks, was Mr. Czarnecki not admitting that in addition to Poles who saved Jewish lives, there were Poles who sent them to their deaths?

And now, a month after a senior PiS official advertised the existence of such Poles, the party has raised the profile of the phrase "Polish death camps" in a botched attempt to suppress it.

The ugly fact is that the new law was promulgated on the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and just before the 50th anniversary of the Polish communist government's anti-Semitic campaign of 1968, which resulted in an exodus of 20,000 Poles, depriving the country of some of its brightest minds. So far, there is one jarring similarity between these two events: Both gave Poland a black eye while stoking nationalist fervour among the "patriotic electorate." One hopes that this is where the similarities end.</s>"Mr Czarnecki (ECR, Poland) was obliged to give up the role of Vice-President after he described fellow MEP Róża Thun (EPP, PL) as a "shmaltsovnik" (a deeply offensive Polish term for someone who blackmailed Jews, or Poles protecting Jews, during the Nazi occupation)," the statement read.

According to the statement, 447 parliamentarians voted in favor of dismissing Czarnecki, while 196 voted against the move.
The European Parliament votes 447–196 to dismiss Ryszard Czarnecki (PiS) as one of its 14 vice-presidents, for calling fellow Polish parliamentarian Róża Thun (Civic Platform) a "szmalcownik" (meaning Nazi collaborator). It is the first time that the parliament invokes the powers of Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union to dismiss a senior office holder. Czarnecki remains a Member of the European Parliament.