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Brussels ‘prejudiced’ against Warsaw: Polish FM

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 23.10.2017 13:00
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said Brussels is "prejudiced" against his country, which is trying to push through sweeping legal changes.
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski shakes hands with his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano prior to bilateral talks in Palermo, Italy. Photo: EPA/MICHELE NACCARI 
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski shakes hands with his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano prior to bilateral talks in Palermo, Italy. Photo: EPA/MICHELE NACCARI

The European Commission said in July that it was ready to trigger a formal warning by the EU if Poland dismisses or forces the retirement of Supreme Court judges.

The EU's executive warned that Poland’s overhaul of its judicial system threatened the independence of courts.

In an interview published in Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily on Monday, Waszczykowski said: "The judiciary is the last part of the Polish system that has not yet been democratised after the collapse of communism [in 1989]. It is corrupt and inefficient.”

Waszczykowski, who is on a four-day visit to Italy, added: "We are not trying to jeopardise the autonomy of the judiciary... there is nothing [planned in Poland] that does not exist in other European countries.”

But the European Commission "thinks we are too young a democracy, and what’s good for France or for others is not good for us," he said.

"Brussels is prejudiced and uses too many standards. We will not compromise, 70 percent of the population supports us on the issue" of judicial changes, Waszczykowski added.

Polish President Andrzej Duda in late July vetoed two of three controversial government-backed bills that would have given politicians sweeping powers in appointing and dismissing court judges.

Duda has held a series of talks with Poland’s ruling party leader to try to hammer out a compromise.

(pk)

Source: PAP

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