Eastern Europe is shunning liberal democracy – but it’ll come back in the end

What’s happening to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe? A new authoritarianism, what one leader has called 'illiberal democracy', has taken over in Hungary and Poland. Propelled in part by the Paris and Brussels attacks and the fear of terrorism, parts of Europe are drifting away from democratic pluralism.

On the face of it, the risk these regimes pose to Europe seems dire. On one hand, the EU is vulnerable. Without major structural reforms, its institutions make easy targets for nationalist movements, and so far, other states' leaders have shown little inclination to discipline member states who defy EU rules and principles – probably because they want to reserve the right to do so themselves.

But Eastern Europe’s illiberal governments may not be as big a threat to the EU as they now appear.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Will Poland’s Law and Justice government respond to international pressure? http://www.europeansources.info/record/will-polands-law-and-justice-government-respond-to-international-pressure/

ESO: Background information: Fidesz and electoral reform: How to safeguard Hungarian democracy http://www.europeansources.info/record/fidesz-and-electoral-reform-how-to-safeguard-hungarian-democracy/

ESO: Background information: Hungary and Poland’s anti-democratic turn: a new era or more of the same? http://www.europeansources.info/record/hungary-and-polands-anti-democratic-turn-a-new-era-or-more-of-the-same/

Carnegie Europe: Strategic Europe, 19.05.16: The Puzzle of Central Europe http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=63627

ESO: Key Source: The Visegrad Group http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-visegrad-group-2/

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