Polish right-wing downplays visit from European rights watchdog
Legal experts from a European rights watchdog on Monday arrived in Poland to check up on a longstanding feud between the constitutional court and the governing conservatives, who have downplayed the two-day visit.
The delegation from the Venice Commission, a body within the Council of Europe, has been monitoring the high-pitched constitutional crisis which t has also drawn concern from Washington and the European Commission.
Poland's top court has been in crisis since late last year, when the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party swept to power and immediately pushed through legislation that critics say paralysed the constitutional court.
"It's more of a sightseeing tour," front-bench PiS lawmaker Ryszard Terlecki told reporters Monday, dismissing the visit.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski -- who holds no government post but is widely thought to pull the strings in his party -- on Sunday called the visit of "no importance".
He accused the rights watchdog of "lacking objectivity and completely ignoring Polish law".
In late July, Brussels handed Poland's government a three-month deadline to reverse changes to the top court or face sanctions for breaching EU norms on the rule of law and democracy.
Without a satisfactory response in three months, the Commission, the European Parliament or a group of 10 member states can propose Poland be stripped of its voting rights in EU institutions if it is guilty of serious and persistent breaches of the rule of law.
Kaczynski responded by saying the European Commission was acting illegally: "This process is totally outside the EU's treaties."
The European Parliament will on Tuesday hold a debate about the situation in Poland.