The European Commission will take the first step in a legal challenge against Poland over a Polish law on undue Russian influence that critics says could result in banning opposition politicians from public office.
A commission spokesperson said that a letter of formal notice would be sent to Warsaw tomorrow.
Poland's Minister for the European Union, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, responded to the move by saying in a tweet that the goal of the law was to limit Russian influence in Poland and Europe and that democratic nations and institutions should unite around it.
"We will calmly provide the legal and factual arguments in this case after getting acquainted with the doubts of the European Commission," he wrote.
The US government has also voiced concerns over the legislation, which would allow a panel to investigate whether opposition parties allowed Poland to be unduly influenced by Russia.
The liberal PO (Civic Platform), in government from 2007 to 2015, says the law is designed to destroy support for its leader and former prime minister Donald Tusk ahead of a national election scheduled for October or November.
Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Friday that he would propose amendments to the law.
These include provisions banning members of parliament from becoming members of the panel, allowing appeals to a general court, not an administrative court, and removing the provisions that would allow people to be banned from office.
Opposition politicians criticised the president for changing his mind on a bill he signed just days earlier and said the proposed amendments did not address the issue of establishing such a commission.
The Polish Judges' Association Iustitia said the law breached EU values.
Read more:
Why is Poland's opposition protesting?
Polish president backtracks on 'Russian influence' law
The parliamentary commission will investigate the period 2007-2022 and has the power to ban people found to have acted under Russian influence from holding security clearance or working in roles where they would be responsible for public funds for ten years, effectively disqualifying them from public office.
Poland's dependence on Russian energy has progressively declined, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, allowing the import of non-Russian gas, started when Mr Tusk was in power.
Also during his time in office, Poland signed a deal with Russia's Gazprom in 2010, which the official justification of the bill mentions.
Top state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen last month said it had terminated its contract with Russia's Tatneft after supplies were halted in February but it still uses Russian fuel in its Czech refineries.
