European Parliament to debate Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
13.09.2016 08:00
The European Parliament is on Tuesday to hold a debate about Poland, amid concerns about an ongoing constitutional crisis in this country.
The European Parliament. Photo: Flickr.com/European Parliament
The debate in Strasbourg, France, is expected be followed on Wednesday by a vote on a resolution on Poland.
Sweeping changes introduced by Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party after coming to power in October have prompted criticism in some quarters in the EU and triggered a bitter domestic political dispute.
The European Parliament debate will be the second related to Poland's constitutional crisis.
Criticism rejected
In the first debate, in January, Prime Minister Beata Szydło rebutted criticism of changes to the judiciary introduced by her government, which came to power after a landslide win by PiS in Poland’s general elections last year.
In April, the European Parliament passed a resolution warning that the “effective paralysis” of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal endangers the rule of law, democracy and human rights.
The resolution, which urged the government to respect decisions by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, was criticised by Szydło. (pk)