The Future of Europe Could Be Decided in Poland
The first round of the Polish presidential election may have signaled a welcome change in direction for the country and continent.
The better choice.
Photographer: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images
The European Union has many problems, but the most fundamental may be the rift between northern and southern member states and the even deeper fault line running between west and east. That latter fissure is especially dangerous because, unlike the largely economic one between north and south, it tears at the EU’s core values, including democracy, freedom of the press and the rule of law.
For the past decade, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been flouting these principles in the name of “illiberalism.” And for half a decade, Poland has been inching in the same direction, by whittling away at the independence of its judiciary and more. But Poland, more than Hungary, could yet change course. And that may have started on Sunday.