The Polish environment minister has claimed Poland is fully compliant with the EU over controversial logging in one of Europe’s last areas of primeval forest after it was threatened with fines of at least €100,000 a day if it refused to end the practice.

At a press conference on Tuesday Jan Szyszko, Poland’s environment minister, insisted Poland was in “100 per cent compliance with European Commission recommendations” over management of the Bialowieza Forest.

His statement appears to contradict the actions of the European Court of Justice, which on Monday took the unprecedented step of saying it will impose fines of around €100,000 a day, if logging continues.

The future of the Bialowieza has been a source of confrontation between the Polish government on one side and the EU and environmental organisations on the other since the government approved a three-fold increase in logging last year.