PM Rutte Set To Raise Rule Of Law Issues w/Poland

Wires reporting comments from Dutch PM Mark Rutte on the prospect of EU members cutting themselves off from Russian hydrocarbons. Rutte: "EU is still reliant on Russian oil and gas, it can't just cut itself off tomorrow".

• Comes with Rutte visiting Lithuania and Poland this week ahead of summits later in the week. Rutte tweets: "Visiting Lithuania and Poland, ahead of this week’s NATO summit and EUCO meeting. Talking to President Gitanas Nauseda and PM Morawiecki about ties between our countries and various topics on the EU agenda: Ukraine, single market, growth and investment, rule of law."
• Mention of rule of law comes in stark contrast to recent EU pronouncements. Prior to Ukraine crisis, Warsaw and EU (as well as liberal EU gov'ts such as that of the Netherlands) had been at odds over alleged breaches of EU rule of law standards.
• Since the Russian invasion and Poland's acceptance of huge numbers of Ukrainian refugees, there has been little of rule of law issues from Brussels. PM Rutte likely to be under pressure not to risk a falling out with Poland at such a key geopolitical juncture.