Former EU Council President and Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk does not rule out his country leaving the EU.

10. September 2021 Warsaw (dpa) - Former EU Council President and Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk does not rule out his country leaving the EU. Poland could cease to be an EU member "sooner than it seems to anyone" if the current campaign by the national conservative ruling PiS party gets out of hand, Tusk told broadcaster TVN24 on Friday. Tusk is acting leader of Poland's largest opposition party, the liberal-conservative Civic Platform. A senior PiS representative had questioned Poland's continued cooperation with the EU two days ago, sparking a nationwide debate. "We have to think about how much further, how much more we can cooperate so that we all stay in the EU, and so that this EU is acceptable to us," PiS faction leader Ryszard Terlecki had said Wednesday at an economic forum in Karpacz, referring to Brexit. Poland would also have to think about "drastic steps," he said. A government spokesman then stressed that Poland's exit from the EU was not planned. The ongoing dispute between Warsaw and Brussels over Polish judicial reforms has recently intensified. On Wednesday, the EU Commission applied to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for financial sanctions against Poland. The background is the continued activity of a disciplinary chamber to punish Polish judges. Meanwhile, Hungary's right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sided with Warsaw in the dispute over Polish judicial reforms. The EU Commission's recent request for financial sanctions against Poland is "unprecedented," according to a government resolution signed by Orban and published by the Hungarian Official Gazette late Thursday night. "Hungary stands up for Poland," the document said. It said the EU Commission's sanctions request "violated numerous elements of a member country's sovereignty." Justice Minister Judit Varga is now expected to examine how Hungary can intervene in the case in favor of Poland that is underway before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). There are also problems with the rule of law in Hungary, which has been ruled by Orban since 2010. Among other things, critics say the Hungarian prosecutor's office is so controlled by Orban loyalists that cases of alleged corruption surrounding the ruling Fidesz party and the Orban family are almost never initiated. Hungary and Poland receive significant transfer payments from the EU. Both countries view the EU's insistence on the rule of law in handling these funds as an encroachment on their "sovereignty." © dpa-infocom, dpa:210910-99-163325/3