Dominik Tarczyński, an MP in the governing Law and Justice Party, hit out at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling as tensions between the Warsaw and Brussels continue to escalate.
Speaking to BBC News, the politician said the Polish Government was trying to protect the Białowieża forest – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – not destroy it.
He said: “When we found out about the state of the forest we had to react quickly, this is the only way, it’s like with your tooth – you have to save your body, sometimes you have to pull it off.
“This is what we are trying to do. We have to save as much as we can.”
He added: “No one really is just cutting it to put it into the fireplace, you know? We’re trying to save our heritage and we’re not going to stop.”
However, the removal of dead trees has come under fire from EU-backed activists and scientists who say removing the trees are not necessary.
Rafal Kowalczyk, head of the Mammal Research Institute, told the news channel bark beetle infestations happened every 10 to 15 years.
He said: “We, as scientists, we don’t see any danger to the forest, any threat to the forest.
“The large amount of dead wood is very important in natural forests because there is a lot of diversity, biological diversity linked to the dead wood.”
Despite protests from activists, Poland’s Environmental Minister Jan Szyszko issued a stark warning to the European bloc.
He said: “We will not allow those who do not know our environmental laws to offend us.”
The stand-off has only bolstered the country’s ruling elite who are now ramping up a Polish exit – Polexit – scenario to threaten the EU.
“This ‘Polexit’ is becoming quite likely,” said Katazyna Lubnauer, of the Modern party. “For now, we are at the stage of discouraging Poles to the European Union.”