Poland and Hungary’s EU membership: On not confronting authoritarian governments

Abstract

Abstract This Reflection considers why Poland’s and Hungary’s membership of the European Union has remained in many ways unaffected by widespread, serious, and documented actions on the part of those two governments which have gravely weakened the rule of law, democracy, and human rights. The Reflection does not argue for expulsion of these states, but investigates why it is that the European Union’s political institutions and actors (rather than its supranational bodies) have not been willing to confront Poland and Hungary more robustly. The willingness of EU actors to overlook growing authoritarianism in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights these concerns even more starkly.