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The bill, sponsored by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), was passed by parliament's lower house earlier in the day after tumultuous debate. It saw one of the biggest protests since the PiS came to power in late 2015.

European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish centrist prime minister and arch-adversary of PiS, said he had asked President Andrzej Duda for an urgent meeting about the "political crisis" in the country.

Mr Tusk said in a statement that PiS moves on courts were backward, went "against European standards and values", harmed Poland's reputation and risked marginalising the country.

He said: It falls to us, together, to avert bleak outcomes which could ultimately lead to the marginalization of Poland in Europe The situation, including at international level, is really serious. And that is why I am asking for serious measures and serious partners. Please let us try, Mr. President.

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The vote came a day after the EU gave its largest formerly communist member state a week to shelve judicial reforms that Brussels says would put courts under direct government control.

If Warsaw's nationalist-minded PiS does not back down, the government could face fines and even a suspension of voting rights, although other eurosceptics in the EU, notably Hungary, will likely veto strict punishment.

In the best-case scenario, Poland will see its clout in Brussels wane further, damaged by mounting frustration among its EU peers arising from bitter disputes over issues such as migrant quotas and nature conservation.

Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), told a crowd in Warsaw: We will ... not allow them to trample European values. We will not allow ourselves to be pushed out of the European Union."

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A crowd in front of the Presidential Palace, carrying Polish and EU flags responded with chants, "Free Poland, European!" "Free Poland, European!"

Sources close to the Presidential Palace told Reuters that President Duda was on vacation on the Baltic seacoast.

Warsaw City Hall estimated the crowd at more than 50,000, while police put it at 14,000. Tens of thousands demonstrated in other Polish cities.

Piotr, 48, who came to the protests in Warsaw with his five-year-old son, said: I wanted to be here on this historic day when our freedoms for which we fought for more than 25 years are being taken away.

The government says the changes are needed to make courts accountable and to ensure state institutions serve all Poles, not just the "elites" it says are the support base for the centrist opposition.

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Demonstrators affiliated to leftist groups scuffle with riot policemen

PiS has offered no concessions, instead presenting the criticism as unacceptable foreign meddling in the domestic affairs of the country, which overthrew communism in 1989 and joined the EU in 2004.

"We will not give into pressure," Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday evening in a special state television address defending the bill. "We will not be intimidated by Polish and foreign defenders of the interests of the elite."

The bill will go to parliament's upper house today, where PiS has absolute majority. Duda, a PiS ally, will have to sign it before it can become law.

Critics at home and abroad say the legislation is part of a drift towards authoritarianism by the government, which espouses nationalist rhetoric coupled with left-leaning economic policy.

Since being elected in 2015, PiS has tightened government control over courts and prosecutors, as well as state media, and introduced restrictions on public gatherings and the activity of non-governmental organisations.

Last week, parliament passed another bill that ends the terms of current members of the National Council of the Judiciary, one of the main judicial bodies, and gives parliament powers to choose 15 of its 25 members.

Political opponents, rights groups and the EU say the changes undermine the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, a fundamental democratic principle.

While PiS remains broadly popular among many Poles, particularly poorer and older voters from the countryside, there have been widespread protests against the plans.

A senior aide to President Duda, Krzysztof Szczerski, said Tusk should instead focus on explaining Poland's stance in Brussels.

"The president is surprised that there has been such increased engagement in this matter by European institutions because everything is in accordance with the Polish legal order.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another nationalist critic of Brussels, wrote a letter to his Polish counterpart to express Budapest's support.

"We stand by Poland, and we call on the European Commission not to overstep its authority," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

The bill passed on Thursday calls for replacing all Supreme Court judges except those elected by a judicial panel that is to be chosen by the parliament. The Supreme Court's tasks include validating elections.

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'Poland will be marginalised in Europe' Tusk in astonishing ATTACK as Warsaw defies EU - Express.co.uk

Citigroup, which has its European headquarters in London, said this week that it would open a second trading hub in Frankfurt, where it has had operations for many years. Citigroup also has a large banking operation in Dublin.

Britain has started the clock on leaving the European Union, and will be out of the bloc by March 2019. Here is how Brexit has affected business so far.

Brian T. Moynihan, the Bank of America chairman and chief executive, said in a news release that Dublin was the home of more of the lenders employees than any other European city outside of Britain.

We already have a fully licensed and operational Irish-domiciled bank, which, combined with Irelands strong commitment to business and economic growth, makes Dublin the natural location to consolidate our legal entities as we transition, the statement said.

Bank of America, which has operated in Ireland since 1968, plans to move jobs not only to Dublin, but also to other locations where it operates in Europe, depending on the outcome of the negotiations on Britains withdrawal. The bank currently has about 700 employees in Ireland.

Although Bank of America would be consolidating its legal entities for the European Union in Dublin, London would remain the lenders headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Dublin has been locked in competition with Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Paris to lure financial firms making contingency plans.

While Frankfurt and Paris in particular have made aggressive sales pitches to business leaders, hoping to attract tens of thousands of workers, Ireland has made some inroads: The British lender Barclays said last week that it was in talks with regulators there to expand the license of its Irish subsidiary.

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Bank of America Chooses Dublin as Post-'Brexit' European Hub - New York Times

Romano Prodi, who led the country from 2006 to 2008, said boats from EU member states that were rescuing migrants who then ended up on the Italian coastline were causing a strain between the country and Brussels bloc.

Mr Prodi, who was also president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004, added the situation was desperate and Italian people were blaming the EU.

Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Mr Prodi said: The relationship between Italy and European Union is going down, down, down.

When you have insecurity, you generalise your attitude. Of course this is also an issue for neighbouring countries that they are guarding theyre own country against possible migration problems.

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The relationship between Italy and European Union is going down, down, down

Former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi

Also the tension with neighbouring countries is increasing.

He added: Nobody in Italy can understand how ships from many European countries, lets say British, Swedish, French, they rescue migrants and then all go to Italy.

The migrant crisis is causing huge unrest among Italians putting decisions by the Government into doubt.

The Italian government has been calling on theEuropean Unionto do more to help the country as it struggles to deal with the thousands of migrants who land on its shores every day.

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Refugees and migrants wait in a small rubber boat to be rescued off Lampedusa, Italy

But failure to secure more aid has caused the public to turn against the establishment.

And the Italian government has now delayed a vote to grant migrant children born in the country citizenship, fearing tensions will boil over.

Centre-left Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni was hoping to push through the bill that would give the children rights at birth or after at least five years of attending Italian schools.

But the vote has been put on hold until later this year.

More than 86,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, up ten per cent compared to the same period in 2016.

Immigration remains a thorny issue facing Italian politics as exasperated officials express discontent they are receiving little to no help from their European neighbours to deal with the escalating crisis.

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EU on BRINK: 'Down, down, down' Italy warns relationship with Brussels is at ROCK BOTTOM - Express.co.uk

Well, this is embarrassing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught on a hot mic Wednesday morning trashing European Union policies toward Israel during a closed-door meeting with the leaders of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia.

The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, that produces technology and every area, on political conditions. The only ones! Nobody does it, Netanyahu ranted to the other leaders.

Hed evidently assumed the conversation was off the record, but it was instead being broadcast, through headphones, to waiting reporters. It was first reported by the Israeli press.

Its crazy. Its actually crazy, he added, apparently referring to EU policies that try to place economic pressure on Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories and restart the moribund peace process.

It was a particularly mortifying moment for a leader under fire at home in Israel for allegations of corruption and for cozying up to the increasingly authoritarian, and nativist, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn, who has himself been accused of ignoring a growing anti-Semitism problem in Hungary. Netanyahu was widely criticized in the Israeli press for visiting Hungary on this trip to Europe. He is the first Israeli prime minister to do so since 1989.

Its not about my interest. Im talking about Europes interest, Netanyahu continued. He went on to describe why he saw the need for a change of tack on Israel policy in Europe:

I think Europe has to decide if it wants to live and thrive or if it wants to shrivel and disappear. I am not very politically correct. I know thats a shock to some of you. Its a joke. But the truth is the truth. Both about Europes security and Europes economic future. Both of these concerns mandate a different policy toward Israel.

We are part of the European culture. Europe ends in Israel. East of Israel, there is no more Europe. We have no greater friends than the Christians who support Israel around the world. Not only the evangelists. If I go to Brazil, I'll be greeted there with more enthusiasm than at the Likud party center.

In the few minutes of talk caught by reporters before someone mercifully stopped the transmission, Netanyahu also candidly spoke of Israels shifting US relationship: We had a big problem in the United States, he said, speaking of the Obama administration. I think its different now. Vis--vis Iran, there is a stronger position. The US is more engaged in the region and conducting more bombings [in Syria]. It is a positive thing. I think were okay on ISIS. Were not okay on Iran.

Netanyahu also admitted that Israeli airstrikes have targeted Hezbollah-bound convoys traveling through Syria "dozens and dozens of times."

The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz has helpfully uploaded a chunk of the audio to YouTube, for your listening pleasure:

Its common knowledge that leaders chat more freely behind closed doors than they do before the press. Indeed, such backroom camaraderie can be helpful in building coalitions and addressing world problems. Its unusual, however, to hear a world leader so blatantly seeking to sow divisiveness in a crowd of new friends. Perhaps President Donald Trumps more freewheeling, aggressive approach to foreign policy is rubbing off on his friend Netanyahu.

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Hot mic catches Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu bashing European Union - Vox

At the heart of this partnership stands the EU's commitment to support the implementation of the Colombian peace agreement, with a particular emphasis on comprehensive rural reforms.

In this context, Commissioner Mimica said: "Restoring rural areas that were affected by the prolonged armed conflict is at the heart of Colombia's peace agreement, and an important priority for our development cooperation with the country. Together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we will support Colombia's efforts to build lasting peace by strengthening rural communities and agricultural productivity".

Commissioner Mimica, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, will launch a joint initiative for Colombia. Through this initiative, the EU will support the Colombian government institutions that are involved in food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture by means of targeted policy assistance and capacity building. These actions will help to implement the comprehensive rural reform, which is one of the priorities of the Peace Agreement signed in November 2016. The initiative can be considered a significant step forward towards achieving sustainable development in the country, as it focuses in particular on improving the situation of the poor in rural areas; the capacity of the State in conflictaffected areas, and rural development.

Commissioner Mimica will also participate in the fair AgroExpo in Bogota.

Background

The European Union and its Member States have supported peace process in Colombia since the very beginning. Over the last 17 years, the European Union and its Member States have together supported peacebuilding activities in Colombia with over 1.5 billion.

In 2016 upon the signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian authorities and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), EU has reconfirmed its support to peace building through the overall support package of almost 600 million for short- and long term measures. An EU Trust Fund for Colombia was set up to a value of 95 million, with a special focus on economic development and agricultural productivity. So far, 19 EU Member States have contributed to the fund.

Colombia is a key partner for the European Union in Latin America. The EU's relations with Colombia are based on political dialogue, trade cooperation, joint efforts to achieve sustainable development and support to peace-building. Colombia is the EU's fourth most important economic partner in the region and the European Union is Colombia's second biggest trading partner.

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EU reinforces its strong partnership with Colombia, focussing on rural reforms - EU News