Speaking at the Krynica Forum conference on Wednesday, Kaczyński said the EU needed to change.
He proposed abolishing the European Commission, giving the European Council a greater role and drafting a new treaty with a delayed entry into force.
Kaczyński blasts EU executive, calls it 'source of evil'
Kaczyński, who leads the right-wing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, criticised the European Commission, calling it "the source of evil" and arguing that its role and the EU’s current institutional structure were hindering Europe’s development.
He said countries seeking changes could begin negotiations on leaving the EU if other methods failed, describing this as a risky but potentially necessary approach.
He also suggested compiling cases of alleged breaches of EU rules and using a blocking minority in votes requiring a qualified majority.
He said possible political changes in major European countries could create an opportunity for wider EU reform.
The remarks drew criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other government politicians.
"Jarosław Kaczyński has just announced that Poland should begin negotiations on the terms of leaving the European Union. This is one of the issues at stake in the political struggle taking place in Poland today. A tough struggle. I do not intend to lose it, even if not everyone joins me," Tusk said on X.
'So they do want Polexit after all': FM
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote: "So they do want Polexit after all. Customs borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania. Passport checks at airports. An end to subsidies for farmers and investment. An end to the National Recovery Plan and SAFE. And yet they kept insisting they would never do it."
PiS deputy leader Przemysław Czarnek said the party did not plan to take Poland out of the EU and wanted to reform it. He also proposed abolishing the European Parliament, replacing the European Commission with the European Council and reforming the EU Court of Justice.
Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called on PiS and the far-right Confederation party to state clearly whether they supported leaving the EU.
He said the bloc should be reformed where necessary rather than threatened with withdrawal.
Left-wing MPs from the New Left group and Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak also criticised Kaczyński’s remarks, state news agency PAP reported.
(sp/gs)
Source: RP.pl, PAP/IAR