Europe’s Eastern Rebels Expose Next Fault Line for EU Leaders
- Conflicts grow with Poland and Hungary over the rule of law
- Tensions signal greater Brussels scrutiny of democratic norms
Protesters with Poland and European Union flags are seen in Gdansk, Poland.
Photographer: Wojciech Chwala/Corbis via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
European leaders are declaring the continent’s financial crisis to be over, but now a political one is fermenting.
A battle between European Union regulators and the Polish government over its plans to weaken the judiciary’s independence is splitting eastern and western Europe in a way that the euro region erupted along a north-south fault line. As Greece returned to the bond market last week, Poland faced the threat of unprecedented EU penalties from the first-ever probe of a member’s respect for the rule of law.