Poland: No point in further dialogue with Venice Commission

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s foreign minister says his country sees no point in continuing its dialogue with the Venice Commission, a group of legal experts with Europe’s top human rights group, arguing that the group is biased and treats Warsaw unfairly.

The commission, part of the Council of Europe, issued a critical opinion Friday on changes by Poland’s conservative government to the functioning of the constitutional Tribunal, Poland’s top legislative court.

The opinion is not legally binding but is expected to influence a separate investigation by the European Union into rule of law in Poland.

Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said late Saturday that the Venice Commission’s report is “very one-sided and riddled with errors.” He says “we’ve concluded that there’s no point in continuing dialogue with the commission.”