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Poland's Prime Minister Matesuz Morawiecki and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting in July
Photo: PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / REUTERS
In the legal dispute between Warsaw and Brussels, the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of “blackmail”. "I do not agree that politicians want to blackmail Poland and threaten Poland," said the Prime Minister on Tuesday in front of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. "I would like to reject the language of threats and blackmail," said Morawiecki. This has become a method against some member states, added the head of government.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously affirmed that the EU would “act” to prevent Poland from undermining the Union's values and cohesion. She threatened Poland with severe sanctions for questioning EU law. "We cannot and we will not allow our common values to be jeopardized," she said on Tuesday in a debate with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Commission will act. "I am deeply concerned," said von der Leyen.
The dispute between Poland and the EU has recently come to a head.
The judgment of the politically occupied Warsaw constitutional tribunal, issued at the request of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, declared key parts of the EU treaty to be incompatible with the national constitution.
It lays the ax to the foundation of the EU - the principle that the case law of the EU takes precedence over that of its member countries.
Poland's national-conservative PiS government has been restructuring the judiciary for years.
Critics accuse her of putting judges under pressure.
Because of the reforms, the EU Commission has already opened several infringement proceedings against Warsaw and filed suits with the European Court of Justice.
muk / AFP / dpa
