Poland's Tusk says conflicts with EU could eventually end the bloc

FILE PHOTO: Leader of Civic Platform (PO) party Donald Tusk attends a news conference in Warsaw, Poland July 4, 2021. Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland and Hungary's conflicts with the European Union could start a process that results in the bloc falling apart, former European Council President Donald Tusk warned on Friday, amid a worsening standoff over democratic standards.

Brussels is at loggerheads with Warsaw and Budapest over issues such as the independence of the judiciary and press freedoms, a conflict which deepened this week as Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled the country should not comply with demands from the EU's top court, while the European Commission took legal action against both countries over LGBT rights.