Justice Minister writes yet another letter to EU official

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has answered a letter sent in December by European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, in which the EU official had criticized recent developments in Poland. In his reply, Ziobro said that he is treating the letter as "an attempt to put pressure on a democratically elected government." The Minister also wrote that the letter shows that Timmermans lacks knowledge about the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland and accused the previously ruling PO-PSL coalition of manipulating the composition of the court's bench. "You had an opportunity to get reliable information by using, for example, working contacts between the Ministry and the European Commission. It's a pity you didn't do so. I learned about your unjustified accusations from the media first and then from official correspondence." Ziobro dismissed Timmermans' criticism and said that Law and Justice, who has an "indisputable mandate to govern" had undertaken appropriate measures to fix the situation and restore pluralism in the constitutional court.