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EXPLAINER: Free courts at stake as EU mulls Poland funding

FILE - People place candles in tribute to a woman who died in the 22nd week of pregnancy, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday Nov. 1, 2021. Reproductive rights activists say the woman is the first person to die as a result of a recent restriction of Poland's abortion law. The independence of Poland's courts is at the heart of a dispute with the European Union, which has withheld billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds to Warsaw over the matter. The EU’s executive branch finally approved Poland’s recovery fund Wednesday, June 1, 2022 but said its release depends on Warsaw reforming its judiciary. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File) FILE - Police remove one of several protesters who had blocked the entrance of the country's constitutional court in an act of civil disobedience in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday Aug. 30, 2021. The independence of Poland's courts is at the heart of a dispute with the European Union, which has withheld billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds to Warsaw over the matter. The EU’s executive branch finally approved Poland’s recovery fund Wednesday, June 1, 2022 but said its release depends on Warsaw reforming its judiciary. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File) FILE - Judges from Italy, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, many wearing their professional gowns, take part in a march in support of judicial independence in Warsaw, Poland, on Jan. 11, 2020. The independence of Poland's courts is at the heart of a dispute with the European Union, which has withheld billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds to Warsaw over the matter. The EU’s executive branch finally approved Poland’s recovery fund Wednesday, June 1, 2022 but said its release depends on Warsaw reforming its judiciary. (AP Photo/Vanessa Gera, File) FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks to media after an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security at the Europa building in Brussels, on May 31, 2022. The independence of Poland's courts is at the heart of a dispute with the European Union, which has withheld billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds to Warsaw over the matter. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits Warsaw on Thursday, June 2, 2022 to discuss the matter. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)
EXPLAINER: Free courts at stake as EU mulls Poland funding