The head of Poland's ruling party and Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Friday that Germany was trying to turn the European Union into a federal "German Fourth Reich."

Talking to the Polish daily GPC, the head of the Law and Justice party (PiS) said some countries "are not enthusiastic at the prospect of a German Fourth Reich being built on the basis of the EU."

"If we Poles agreed with this kind of modern-day submission we would be degraded in different ways," said Kaczynski, who is also a deputy PM. 

He also added that the EU's Court of Justice was being used as an "instrument" for federalist ideas.

Poland has been involved in a long stand-off with the European Union, particularly over the judicial reforms that PiS has pushed through since 2015.

In the latest twist, the EU this week said it was starting legal action against Poland for "ignoring EU law and undermining judicial independence."

Poland has thrown accusations towards the EU of bureaucratic centralism.

During German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Warsaw earlier this month, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said the current German government's support for EU federalism was "utopian and therefore dangerous."

The EU threatens Poland 

On Wednesday, the European Union announced it would take legal action against Poland for violating EU law and compromising judicial independence. 

The accusation sparked harsh condemnation from Warsaw, as Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the EU's decision as a tendency in Brussels toward "bureaucratic centralism that has to be stopped."

Brussels had previously withheld approval of coronavirus recovery money for Poland. The decision exacerbates a long-running feud between Warsaw and Brussels over Poland's alleged violation of EU rules.

According to EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, the infringement procedures were launched against Poland for violating the supremacy of EU law and concluding that some parts of EU treaties were irreconcilable with Polish laws.