WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Tensions between Poland and the European Union executive erupted this week after leaders of Poland’s conservative ruler accused Brussels of failing to meet its obligations to Warsaw and threatened retaliation.
A spokesman for the European Commission said on Tuesday that POLAND, an EU member state, had still done enough to ensure the democratic precept of judicial independence.
The commission blocked billions of euros from Poland’s pandemic stimulus budget, arguing that the country’s government is eroding democratic norms. The EU is involved in the reorganization of the national judicial formula through the Polish government and the procedure for sanctioning judges.
The leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said in an interview published over the weekend that it was unfair for the European Commission to block the war in Ukraine. Poland hosted as many Ukrainian refugees as any other country.
“There is a crisis, there is a war. These are situations that fully justify the adoption of ordinary measures. Given that in this area the European Commission is not fulfilling its obligations to Poland, we have no explanation as to why to comply with our obligations to the European Union. “Union,” Kaczynski said in an interview with the weekly Sieci.
Kaczynski also accused the commission of breaking up Poland and forcing it to submit to Germany, an accusation he has long made.
The budget freeze is painful for Poland, as it fights refugees and inflation exceeds 15%. The new burden of life has threatened the popularity of the ruling party ahead of elections scheduled for next year.
Krzysztof Sobolewski, the secretary general for Law and Justice, said Monday that if the pandemic budget remains blocked, Poland “would have nothing to do but take out all the cannons that are in our arsenal and respond with a bombing. “
At the insistence of the European Commission, Poland dismantled the so-called disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court. But legal scholars say judges remain subject to suspensions or other sanctioning bureaucracies for their decisions.
“Poland will have to respect the commitments it has made to reform the disciplinary regime,” European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said on Tuesday, noting that the adjustments were related to the country’s plan for the use of recovery funds.
“The new law is a vital step . . . however, our initial assessment is that it does not guarantee making judgments to question the prestige of some other ruling without running the risk of disciplinary misconduct,” Podesta said.