WARSAW — The long-simmering acrimony between the European Union and Poland’s right-wing government intensified sharply on Wednesday when the bloc’s lawmakers voted to begin a process that could result in a loss of voting rights within the European Union for Poland, drawing a furious reaction from Warsaw.

The European Parliament voted, 438 to 152, to adopt a resolution to begin the first stage in a lengthy process to invoke Article 7 in the European Union’s founding treaty, the section that allows the bloc to punish member nations who violate its democratic and human rights standards.

Article 7 has never been invoked.

After a debate, which Poland’s foreign minister said reminded him of “hate speech,” the Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement saying the resolution adopted “should be regarded as an instrument for exerting political pressure on Poland.”

The European Parliament’s move came less than a week after an estimated 60,000 nationalist Poles marched in Warsaw, including members of some extreme right-wing and neo-fascist groups.