Merkel backs dialogue with Poland over tensions with EU

BRUSSELS (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Poland’s European Union partners need to step away from confrontation and instead talk to the government in Warsaw to seek solutions to the difficulties in their relationship. Last week, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that Polish laws take precedence over those of the 27-nation EU, which Poland joined in 2004. The ruling further escalated lingering tensions over democratic standards between the country’s right-wing nationalist government and Brussels institutions. Asked during a visit to Brussels on Friday whether Europe should quickly take tougher action, Merkel said European Union members “have the obligation always to try to find compromises, of course without our giving up our principles.”