"WARSAW, Poland — The European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday that Poland violated environmental laws with its massive felling of trees in one of Europe’s last pristine forests.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice said that, in increasing logging in the Bialowieza Forest in 2016-17, Poland failed to fulfil its obligations under EU directives to protect natural sites of special importance.

Poland’s environment minister at the time, Jan Szyszko, argued that felling the trees was necessary to fight the spread of bark beetle infestation. Heavy machines were used in the process, causing additional damage to the forest."

Monika Scislowska reports for the Associated Press April 17, 2018. [2]