European Parliament President Roberta Metsola spoke before Poland's Sejm on Friday, 6 November 2026, during the chamber's 68th sitting, according to WP Wiadomości. She was welcomed by Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty and took the floor shortly after 10 a.m.
In her address, Metsola described Poland as a proud nation that gave Europe its first modern written constitution and that preserved its identity through 123 years of partition, WP Wiadomości reports. She invoked the poet Wisława Szymborska, saying that just as people are known by how they are tested, so are nations, and that few have been tested as thoroughly as Poland.
She said Poland repeatedly emerged from such trials stronger, and that "the hardest steel is forged in the hottest fire," comparing that steel to what she called the unbreakable Polish spirit.
Why it matters
The speech placed the European Parliament's leadership directly inside a national parliament at a moment when the EU's eastern flank, defence spending and long-term budget are all under negotiation. According to WP Wiadomości, Metsola used the visit to credit Poland for warning Europe about Russia and energy dependence years before other capitals acted.
She told lawmakers that Poland spotted the dangers far earlier than the rest of Europe, that for years Polish officials had cautioned partners about the Kremlin's intentions and about reliance on Russian energy, and that too many in Europe did not listen. "You were right," she said, as reported by WP Wiadomości.
A message on patriotism and Europe
Metsola also addressed the relationship between national identity and EU membership. She said the goal is not to make everyone in Europe the same, but to value differences in tradition, history and language, and she stressed that the European project is not something imposed from Brussels, according to WP Wiadomości.
Speaking of her own generation, she said it had seen what Europe looks like both with and without the Union. She acknowledged that the EU is not perfect and must be open to reform and change, while arguing that a world with the EU is a better place for everyone.
She referenced Karol Wojtyła, the Polish pope John Paul II, saying that those raised in his era learned there is no contradiction between being a patriot and being a European. She recalled watching the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism as a child, and the optimism that the Solidarity movement represented for Europeans beyond Poland.
Turning to young Poles, Metsola said they speak three or four languages, treat others as equals and are open to the world while remaining rooted at home. She said their confidence shows the future is in good hands, echoing the Polish saying that a Pole can do it.
Defence, borders and the next EU budget
Earlier on Friday, Metsola met Marshal Czarzasty in the Sejm. After that meeting she said rising hybrid threats are being observed in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, and that Poland has long raised the alarm about dangers from the east, which she said Europe now hears, WP Wiadomości reports.
She thanked Poland for leading on defence within both the EU and NATO, and noted that the European Parliament has adopted rules intended to strengthen Europe's defence capabilities and industry and to improve cooperation between countries.
Metsola said the Parliament is working on the multiannual budget, on boosting European competitiveness and on cutting red tape. She said the budget must match needs in energy, security and agriculture, and that she wants more funding for protecting the EU's external borders and reinforcing its eastern flank.
Protest from PiS benches
As Metsola began speaking, some Law and Justice (PiS) MPs held up banners in English stating that a coup led by Donald Tusk was under way in Poland, according to WP Wiadomości. A second banner read "Tusk=dyktator," and a photograph was displayed showing police in front of the Constitutional Court.
Separate outlets reported the same sitting. Onet's headline focused on the PiS banners carried during Metsola's speech, while Gazeta reported on Czarzasty's meeting with the European Parliament president, quoting him on wanting to expand the EU. The official website of the Polish President also listed a meeting between the head of state and Metsola during her visit, and WP Wiadomości reported that President Karol Nawrocki was expected to raise the matter of the Constitutional Tribunal with her.
Watch for readouts from Metsola's meeting with the Polish president and for further debate on the EU's long-term budget and eastern-flank funding.
