The European Commission on Tuesday stepped up its latest legal case against Poland, where the ruling nationalists stand accused of bulldozing the independence of courts and judges, thereby undercutting democracy.

Governed by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, the EU’s largest ex-communist state has most recently enacted laws forcing into early retirement many Supreme Court judges. The bloc, rights groups and domestic political opposition decry that as going against the rule of law.

These moves came after the PiS had already exchanged many judges at the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and heads of many regular courts, while also tightening its grip on public media and controls over non-government groups since coming to power in late 2015.

Now, the head of the Polish Supreme Court has been defying the new law and the situation risks paralysing the court, which validates election results in the country of 38 million people.

“The Commission maintains that the Polish law is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges,” said the EU’s executive on Tuesday as it took to a second level a formal infringement procedure against Warsaw.

Poland now has a month to make amends or the Commission will file a lawsuit at the bloc’s top European Court of Justice.

But the PiS remains defiant and enjoys broad public support – largely thanks to generous social spending – despite its many bitter feuds with the EU.

Turkey would have to back out of its agreement with the European Union to stem the flow of migrants into the bloc if the EU does not deliver visa-free travel for Turks, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

Visa-free access to the EU – the main reward for Ankara’s collaboration in choking off an influx of migrants into Europe – has been subject to delays due to a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism legislation and Ankara’s crackdown after a failed coup.

Cavusoglu told Germany’s daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the agreement on stemming the refugee flow had worked because of “very serious measures” taken by Ankara.

“But all that is dependent on the cancellation of the visa requirement for our citizens, which is also an item in the agreement of March 18,” Cavusoglu said in a release in advance of comments to be published in the newspaper’s Monday edition.”If visa liberalisation does not follow, we will be forced to back away from the deal on taking back (refugees) and the agreement of March 18,” he said, adding that the Turkish government was waiting for a precise date for visa liberalisation.

“It could be the beginning or middle of October – but we are waiting for a firm date.”

European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said recently he did not see the EU granting Turks visa-free travel this year due to Ankara’s crackdown after the failed military coup in mid-July.