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The rule of law has been one of Brussels’ signature concerns. The EU spends an extraordinary amount of time compiling reports, holding debates and funding NGOs about the issue. It reserves its most serious powers for dealing with those who don’t comply. Poland’s conservative government under PiS was, for some time, in the EU’s ‘rule of law’ firing line.
But then something strange happened. A genuine rule-of-law crisis emerged in Poland, when a new government came to power and started an authoritarian power grab against the media, the judiciary and its political opponents. But this time, the EU was silent.
This report tells the story of Donald Tusk’s incredible power grab – one which subverts all the supposed rule-of-law norms the EU has spent so long trying to champion. In fact, Tusk’s government has explicitly announced it is suspending normal democratic processes. Tusk has spoken proudly of his development of new, Orwellian concepts of ‘militant democracy’ and ‘transitional justice’ – concepts that are being closely watched in Brussels as European elites plan regime change elsewhere.
The EU’s silence on this issue exposes the hypocrisy of the rhetoric around the rule of law. But worse, it has cheered on as a genuine authoritarian has consolidated power in one of Europe’s largest countries. This is the untold story of how Donald Tusk consolidated power, abandoned the rule of law and – above all – how he got away with it.
About the author
Artur Ciechanowicz is a journalist and international affairs expert. He is a former reporter for the Polish newswire PAP in Berlin and Brussels. Previously, he was an analyst at the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Warsaw. His research interests are in decision-making processes and lobbying in the EU, and EU agricultural policy.
