Why Europe needs to get serious about promoting democracy
European leaders like to claim they care about democracy. But too often, their policies ignore it — damaging Europe’s own interests in the process.
Democracy and the rule of law are necessities, not idealistic luxuries. In fact, Brussels’s ongoing standoff with Hungary and Poland brings the question dangerously close to home. In defense of their increasingly authoritarian domestic practices, Budapest and Warsaw are threatening to veto the European Union’s long-term budget and the post-pandemic recovery package, worth 1.8 trillion euros. Meanwhile, Russia and China have been using their proxies to divide and paralyze the E.U., especially on decisions affecting diplomacy, energy, and technology policy.… Seguir leyendo »