Editorial Board
Europe’s Paralysis Fuels Erosion of Democracy in East
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The European Union’s failure to resolve the euro crisis is hammering Greece, Italy and Spain. It’s also unraveling the weaker democracies of Eastern Europe.
The most recent example is Romania, where a bare-knuckle struggle for power is under way, leading to a still unresolved referendum to impeach President Traian Basescu. Basescu is a political bruiser, but the rival who is trying to remove him, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, has trampled the separation of powers and inflicted real damage on the country’s fragile institutions, for example, firing the ombudsman and seizing powers from the courts and parliament.