The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned the Belgian ambassador on Friday in response to criticism voiced by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, within a wider spat between the EU and Poland over the rule of law.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had complained that the European Commission was making demands of Poland “with a gun to our head” and could start “World War III” by withholding funds.
In response, De Croo said: “To those who give inflammatory interviews and think it is necessary to start a new World War in the Financial Times, I want to say: you are playing a dangerous game, you are playing with fire when you start war against our European colleagues for domestic political reasons.”
He added, “our Union is a union of values, not an ATM. You can’t pocket all the money but reject the values.”
But a statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry on Friday said such statements were “not helpful” in creating good Polish-Belgian relations.
The rule of law dispute is over the Polish Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber for national judges, which has been criticized as not sufficiently independent.
Poland’s government has argued the disciplinary chamber – part of a slew of judicial reforms – is part of a necessary modernization and has accused the European courts of making politically motivated judgements.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said she would block pandemic-related reconstruction funds until Poland reverses certain judicial reforms.
