Aliens on the council of the municipality?

niepoprawni.pl 4 weeks ago

In the Polish legal order, there is simply a provision that most citizens have never noticed, although its consequences go back to the very foundation of local democracy. This provision is Article 10 of the Electoral Code*, which allows citizens of the European Union – people who are not Poles – to vote and to stand in elections to the municipal council, if they are "permanent" in its territory.

It sounds innocent until we realize that Polish law does not specify a minimum period of stay, nor does it require any formal right of residence. In practice, this means that a foreigner from the EU (e.g. a naturalized German citizen from Morocco) can get off the train in the Polish municipality, give an address, make a message and be entered in the registry of voters, and even submit his candidacy as a councillor.

Poles never opposed this solution due to the fact that for 2 decades no 1 knew it existed. Migration from the EU was minimal, the subject did not appear in the media, and political parties (either Law and Justice and the PO) had no interest in publicising it - the EU directive requires specified a law to be introduced, and criticism would mean conflict with Brussels. Only now that migration is increasing and foreigners are starting to benefit from the anticipation of running, Poles discover that local democracy has been opened up to alien influences more than would propose common sense.

This is not a unique provision in Europe - all EU countries must let EU citizens to participate in their local elections. However, Poland implemented it most liberally of all: no report, no residence card, no minimum residence period, no verification of the legality of the stay. In another countries - Germany, France, the Netherlands, Czech Republic - specified safeguards exist. They are not in Poland.

Therefore, today, erstwhile abroad candidates appear in municipalities, many Poles ask the question for the first time: who can actually decide about our local community? And he discovers that the answer is much more amazing than anyone would have imagined.

Moreover, the judgement of the TEU of 19 November 2024** opened another, little-known chapter: citizens of the European Union surviving in Poland have the right to join Polish political parties, even if they do not have Polish citizenship. The Court found that refusal of membership violates fundamental rights arising from EU citizenship, including the right to participate in the political life of the State of residence. This means that a foreigner from the EU can not only vote and stand as a candidate in local elections, but besides operate in the structures of Polish parties - legally, legally and without the request for a Polish passport.

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* Article 10. - [Active electoral law] The electoral code.
Log
OJ 2025.365 tj.Act in force
Version from: 31 December 2025 to: 17 February 2027
Article 10.
§ 1. The right of election (active electoral law) has:
1) in the elections to the Sejm and to the legislature and in the elections of the president of the Republic - a Polish citizen who turns 18 at the latest on the day of voting;
2) in the elections to the European Parliament in the Republic of Poland - a Polish citizen who at the latest turns 18 on the day of the vote and a citizen of the European Union who is not a Polish citizen who turns 18 at the latest on the day of the vote, and who resides permanently in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
3. in elections to local government bodies:
a) municipal council - Polish citizen, a national of the European Union who is not a Polish citizen and a citizen of the United Kingdom of large Britain and Northern Ireland, who turns 18 at the latest on the day of the vote, and who resides permanently in the municipality,
b) the council of the powiat and seymik voivodship - a Polish citizen who turns 18 at the latest on the day of the vote, and is permanently resident in the area of that powiat and voivodship respectively;
4) in the election of the mayor in a given municipality - the individual who has the right to elect to the council of that municipality.
§ 2. No right to choose a person:
1) deprived of public rights by a final judgement of the court;
(2) deprived of voting rights by a final decision of the Court of State;
3) incapacitated by a final judgement of the court.