What the Sejm passed
The Sejm passed the government's bill on national restrictive measures (print 3003) on Friday, 6 November 2026, in an evening vote. The government presents the bill as the national part of an EU directive on enforcing sanctions. The draft was sent to the Sejm on 6 August 2026 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Radosław Sikorski. Before the final vote, the Sejm rejected a motion to reject the bill and adopted two editorial and technical amendments. Experts cited in one of the reports argue that the second chapter creates a separate domestic regime that Brussels did not require.
- Government draft sent to the Sejm
- Sejm passes the bill in the Friday evening vote
- Józefaciuk posts on X that he voted for the bill by mistake
The vote and the mistaken ballot
The final tally was 240 votes for, 202 against, one abstention and 17 MPs who did not take part. Coalition clubs voted in favour, joined by five independent MPs: Paulina Matysiak, Joanna Mucha, Marcin Józefaciuk, Paweł Zalewski and Tomasz Zimoch. Opposition clubs, including PiS, Konfederacja and Rozwój Plus, voted against, as did two independents, Janusz Kowalski and Łukasz Mejza, and Rafał Komarewicz of the Centre club. Jacek Sasin of PiS was the one MP who abstained.
Marcin Józefaciuk, an independent MP, wrote on X on Saturday that he had voted for the bill by mistake. He said he had argued from the rostrum for more effective enforcement of sanctions, had raised reservations about the right to defence and judicial review, and had meant to vote against the bill in its final wording. He blamed the error on his own voting script, which he failed to check during a long series of votes. He ended the post with an apology for his vote.
What the bill does
The law creates a national sanctions system and defines the powers of the institutions that apply it. It adds new grounds for placing people and entities on the sanctions list, including interference and manipulation of information that threatens national security. It also sets penalties for breaching or circumventing sanctions. The authors describe the text as a sanctions constitution that both public bodies and private entities can refer to. Maciej Oniszczuk, a lawyer, explained one provision of the bill:
The interior minister can, by administrative decision, place a person or company on the national sanctions list and freeze funds and economic resources immediately, without a court ruling.
Oniszczuk also said that an appeal to the administrative court does not automatically suspend the effects of such a decision. Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik of Konfederacja said the interior minister could impose sanctions on people and firms over alleged foreign interference and information manipulation. She asked who would assess and interpret such grounds as a likelihood that funds could be used.
Political warnings and next steps
Anna Bryłka, a Konfederacja MEP, warned that the listing procedure carries a real risk that the government could use it, especially in the run-up to elections. The bill now goes to President Karol Nawrocki, and the articles do not give a date for his decision. Józefaciuk said he will ask the president to veto the act and set out his doubts:
I cannot withdraw it. I will ask the President of the Republic to veto the act, citing my doubts.
Józefaciuk also said that if the bill returns to the Sejm, he will check the wording of the decision just before voting.