CHASTISED

EU: Poland Fails to Uphold Rule of Law

Accuses right-wing government of undermining democracy.

The European Union’s executive branch issued a formal opinion Wednesday scolding member-nation Poland for allegedly failing to uphold the rule of law. The chastising came after the EU’s investigation into whether the country’s right-wing governing Law and Justice party has threatened to undermine the ability of Poland’s independent constitutional court to rule on new laws, stripping its powers, and appointing party loyalists to the court. The EU gave Poland “a reasonable time” to respond to the decree, though, as The New York Times reports, sanctions are unlikely given opposition from other member nations like Hungary.