(WARSAW) - Poland's combative government is already considered a troublemaker in the European Union and is strengthening its toughnut reputation in battles with other international bodies.

While wrangling is common currency in the EU, the confrontational style of Poland's conservative government, tough-talking Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his twin President Lech Kaczynski, has also put it at odds with the more sedate Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Both bodies have found themselves on the receiving end of Polish tirades in recent days.

The 47-nation Council of Europe, which concentrates on human rights issues but has no real powers, was criticised for declaring October 10 as European Day against the Death Penalty.

The government's deeply Catholic leaders had already blocked similar EU moves to designate an anti-capital punishment day, insisting that right-to-life issues like abortion should be similarly marked.

Most European countries have either abolished the death penalty or no longer apply it, but the Polish prime minister and president have in the past voiced regret about the demise of capital punishment.

"Poland is a tremendous country with tremendous people but, sadly, a very poor government," said Martin Schulz, a German lawmaker who is head of the European parliament's Socialist group.

Schulz, who has faced Polish calls for his sacking because of his anti-Kaczynski stance, questioned how many more times other European nations would put up with the antics of Poland's government.

Even if the European leaders usually avoid hard-hitting public swipes with the Kaczynskis, top officials across the continent regularly say they are exasperated by Warsaw.

Stephen Bastos, a researcher at the German think tank DGAP, said the root of the problem is that "mentally, the Kaczynski brothers still haven't joined the EU," even though Poland became a member in 2004.

"They don't see the union as being part of themselves, but as a potential adversary. It's a problem, because the Kaczynskis' kind of battle is good against evil, which leaves no room for compromise," said Bastos.

Prime Minister Kaczynski and his foreign minister, Anna Fotyga, have taken the OSCE to task following its request to monitor Poland's October 21 parliamentary polls.

All members of the 56-nation OSCE, which was set up during the Cold War to try to improve East-West ties are meant to admit election observers.

It is up to governments to make formal invitations to observers, but the OSCE sometimes prods countries to take action, and did so with Poland.

Fotyga said the OSCE was "out of line".

Warsaw has responded that Poland has been respecting democratic principles since the fall of communism in 1989 and would not be treated like a "Third World country."

OSCE officials have denounced Poland's "unprecedented" stance.

The Polish government has indicated it may give ground as long as the OSCE eats humble pie and rewords its original "clumsily phrased" request.

Besides sparring with the Council of Europe and OSCE, Warsaw has also in recent weeks returned to the more familiar battleground of the EU, refusing to respect a temporary ban on fishing for cod in the Baltic Sea, which Brussels says it essential to help protect threatened stocks.

Observers suggest that Warsaw's current tactics are largely meant to portray a tough image ahead of next month's elections, which were called two years early in a risky move by the Kaczynskis to try to increase the clout of their Law and Justice party after the collapse of the coalition which it headed.

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