Defying E.U. Court, Poland Is Cutting Trees in an Ancient Forest

Joanna Berendt, writing for the New York Times:

Defying an order from the European Union’s highest court, the Polish government said on Monday that it would continue logging in Bialowieza Forest, the last primeval forest in Europe and a habitat for hundreds of bison.

The decision is the latest challenge by Poland to the legal authority of the European Union, which Poland joined in 2004, and could result in financial penalties. The arch-conservative and nationalist government that took power in Poland in 2015 has been chastised by the authorities in Brussels; last week, it was formally warned that its efforts to consolidate power over the judiciary in Poland threatened the rule of law.

The Bialowieza Forest, a Unesco World Heritage site, is a relic of ancient woodlands in the middle of the European lowlands, at the border of Poland and Belarus.

Poland is so fucked right now. Soon, the EU will impose sanctions our country. Who will pay? Us of course, not the government, which has already set us back at least a decade. Another decade.