The leaders of the three Benelux countries were among those heaping pressure on Warsaw about rule-of-law issues at an EU summit.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the main issue was the independence of the judiciary, rather than the recent Constitutional Tribunal ruling itself. It was “very difficult” to see how Poland could get large amounts of EU cash from the shared pandemic recovery plan if this issue were not settled, Rutte said.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that benefiting from the advantages of EU membership meant accepting shared rules. “You can’t belong to a club and say the rules don’t belong to me.”
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said it would be shame if Poland only gave in when it came to money. Financial penalties would be acceptable as a last-ditch solution, Bettel said, but dialogue to find joint solutions would be preferable.
Text and photo: Courtesy © dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
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