Poland’s judicial policy threatens payments from EU budget

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A senior European Union official says Poland’s right-wing government needs to show that it has fulfilled all the democratic requirements before payments from the bloc’s development funds can be made. Vera Jourova said Tuesday that negotiations are still ongoing with Poland on payments of 75 billion euros from the cohesion fund and that Poland’s new minister for EU ties needs to reassure Brussels. She expressed hope that Poland will not be left without EU funds. The EU is highly critical of Poland’s rule-of-law record and has already frozen payment of billions of euros from its pandemic recovery fund for Poland. Opposition figures in Poland warn that it would be disastrous for the country if also the cohesion funds were withheld.