France's Le Pen says she supports Poland in sovereignty spat with EU

French far-right politician Marine Le Pen spoke out in support of Poland on Friday amid a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels over the rule of law and national sovereignty.

Le Pen promised to support Poland during a conversation with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki held on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled earlier this month that parts of EU law were incompatible with the country's constitution.

For the European Commission, Poland's stance is highly problematic as it would allow Warsaw to pick and choose the rulings handed down by the European Court of Justice.

Warsaw and Brussels have long been at odds over Poland's judicial reforms, which critics say are designed to subjugate the judiciary.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would block Poland's pandemic stimulus funds, worth billions, until Warsaw reverses certain reforms.

Morawiecki has repeatedly described this as blackmail.

Le Pen called the European Commission's stance "unacceptable blackmail" in a tweet. She and Morawiecki share the same views on many issues, such as the sovereignty of individual EU countries, she said.

Presidential candidate

Le Pen is standing as the presidential candidate for the far-right Rassemblement National in the French election next April.

On Friday, Morawiecki said Le Pen had proposed the meeting and that he was making an effort to meet all the French presidential candidates in different settings. He said he had made similar efforts to meet the German chancellor candidates ahead of Germany's elections, too.

A further topic Le Pen and Morawiecki addressed in their talks was how to protect Europe from illegal migration, he said.

Poland is currently grappling with a surge in the number of migrants trying to enter the country from Belarus, an increase attributed to a dispute between Minsk and Brussels.