Some Polish MEPs defended their government's actions

Poland: the rule of law under threat?

MEPs broached the thorny issue  of Poland's constitutional crisis,

some voicing fears the EU's fundamental  rights are threatened there,

others defending the country  against interference in its affairs.

The controversy centres  on Poland's constitutional tribunal

and the failure of the conservative  governing party, Law and Justice,

to approve nominations  made by a previous government

and to publish tribunal judgments  on new acts regulating its functioning.

We need the virtuous tripod  of democracy, rule of law

The independence of the judiciary  is of the extreme importance

but also for the functioning of  our form of market economy.

This is neither a debate about Poland  nor a debate against Poland.

This is a debate about  the abuses of the current government

which carry a serious threat  to democracy and civil liberties

and thus eventually  turn against its own people.

We are fighting for you and with you,  not against you.

We are fighting for democracy,  which is the supreme good

which lays in your hearts,  Polish friends, and in ours.

This response from a European  Conservatives and Reformists Group MEP

The truth is that you are organically  incapable of accepting the fact

that there may be governments and political  parties with views that differ from yours

and that there are  good reasons for these views.

Plurality in the European Union  is like the plurality of the Ford Model T

which you could get in any colour  as long as it was black.

By a hefty majority,  MEPs passed a resolution

urging Poland's government to  resolve the crisis by the end of October,

embracing compromise  between all parliamentary parties in Poland.

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