By:V4 Agency
“Enough of the political pressure,” Hungary’s justice minister wrote on social media, responding to the top EU court’s decision to fine Poland one million euros a day. Blackmail is not the right way to go, the Polish government spokesman said, criticising the court’s order.
On Wednesday, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided to impose a daily fine of one million euros on Poland for failing to suspend the functioning of the disciplinary chamber of its supreme court. In July, the EU’s top court ruled that the Polish disciplinary chamber – set up to eliminate judicial violations – was incompatible with EU law and threatened judicial independence.
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga reacted to the decision on her social media account. In her post, she recalled, “a few days ago, the European Parliament declared that ‘the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is illegitimate,’ and now it’s the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is severely punishing Polish people under the pressure of the Commission.”
The Hungarian justice minister noted that Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently announced that the disciplinary chamber will be closed by the end of the year and that the necessary legislative preparatory work is well underway. “So once again, the EU institutions’ aggressive stance is disproportionate and unjustified,” she said in her post. “We will say it slowly, so that Brussels understands it too: leave Poland alone, enough of the political pressure!” Judit Varga stressed on Facebook.
Blackmail is not the right way to go, Piotr Muller, spokesman of the Polish government said, denouncing the decision.
The question of how to regulate the functioning of the national judiciary is the exclusive competence of the member states, the spokesman said. He pointed out that government officials also consider changes to the disciplinary chamber necessary, emphasizing that for this reason “penalties and blackmail is not the right way to go”.
