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The Most Important Election in Europe? — On the Polish Election
Europe has just had what many are calling one of its most important elections. So, I decided to go over what this could mean for the European Union, EU support for Ukraine, and Poland’s democratic institutions, by inviting an expert on my podcast, Loosely Eastern Europe (the links will be below).
It is no secret that the ruling party, Law and Justice, undermined Polish democracy. Law and Justice have indeed followed the authoritarian playbook, so to speak, in undermining democracy in Poland.
This was done by turning state television into propaganda for the party; appointing judges that would favor the party; using state companies to fund Law and Justice political campaigns; manipulating electoral laws; and so forth.
In this blog post, I highlight some of the questions I asked Olga Byrska in my podcast. I hope you enjoy it and that you check out the interview.
Brief Background
Poland has significant influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Since the collapse of communism and its re-establishment as a democratic nation, Poland has relatively friendly relations with its neighbors, Slovakia, and the Czech R., but has increasingly been hostile toward Germany and France because of their violations of Rule of Law principles.
