At last, a backlash against bad government in Eastern Europe

CORRUPTION, AUTOCRACYEUEU, overbearing government—these were the perils many hoped eastern Europe was escaping when its fledgling democracies joined the European Union in the early 2000s. Instead, the rest of Europe now worries, the eastern members have simply smuggled these vices into the .One of the biggest offenders is Poland. First the government in Warsaw stacked its constitutional court with pliant judges and then got them to rule that the Polish constitution can override the European treaties—an assault on a basic principle of membership. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s long-serving prime minister, has bullied political opponents, critical media outlets and gay Hungarians, among others.