Agnieszka Kolek

The rule of law is an important element of democracy. European elites, backed by the European Commission, loves to claim the high ground: it is the defender of the law, and its enemies are always those tearing up the rule of law. But this is often simply propaganda. Look at the pattern: Poland, 30 October: a judge whom President Nawrocki had refused to swear in suspended the president and vice-president of the Constitutional Tribunal and announced she was taking control. Police were deployed to the court. Even Marcin Matczak, a liberal law professor and no friend of PiS, says there is no legal basis for the suspension. Romania: a presidential election annulled after the first round in 2024, and its frontrunner barred from the rerun. Hungary: a retroactive term limit, passed by the new two-thirds majority within weeks of taking office, ensures Viktor Orbán can never be prime minister again. This was followed by retroactive terms limits for senior MPs, disabling a large part of the opposition from ever running. France: Marine Le Pen cleared to run in 2027, but sentenced to a year under an electronic tag, suspended only while she appeals again. Germany: the largest opposition party labelled ‘confirmed right-wing extremist’ by the domestic intelligence service, widely seen as groundwork for a ban, until a Cologne court halted it in February. That some of these were (eventually) stopped by the courts is little comfort. In every case, we were repeatedly assured that the rule of law was being upheld. The European Commission was distinctly uninterested in coming to the aid of right-wing populists when the law is weaponised against them. As our Policy Director @jacobreynolds put it: you can do all of these things, so long as you are on the right side of the European Commission. Brussels’ response to Poland proves his point. The press has widely reported that Donald Tusk has the backing of the EU Commission. And the Commission itself said it was for the "Polish authorities" to make sure the tribunal works in line with the Polish constitution and the case law of the EU’s Court of Justice. But just note the second condition: EU law must have the final word; the very item on which the Polish Constitutional Courts were in dispute. Lawfare has become the preferred tool of a political class that no longer trusts voters to choose correctly. A democracy that disposes of inconvenient candidates, judges and elections through legal machinery is not defending itself. It is hollowing itself out. Our Research Director Richard Schenk, who spoke on liberal authoritarianism and national sovereignty at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 22 October, put it this way: ‘The so-called “democratic centre” is convinced it is in the right against the “evil right-wing populists”, and in the process it is doing more damage to democracy than they ever have.’ Indeed, as our President, Frank Füredi, has put it: ‘Slowly, a new authoritarian imperial order is taking shape within the European Union.’ The actions of Tusk were long premeditated, "For some time now, Brussels has been actively promoting the project of undermining and ultimately crushing its opponents in Poland." Europe’s democracies belong to their citizens. We intend to defend them.