Europe‘s Eastern Rebels Expose New Fault Line for EU Leaders

A battle between European Union regulators and the Polish government over its plans to weaken the judiciary‘s independence is splitting eastern and western Europe in a way that the euro region erupted along a north-south fault line. As Greece returned to the bond market last week, Poland faced the threat of unprecedented EU penalties from the first-ever probe of a member‘s respect for the rule of law.

The government in Warsaw is at the sharp end of a campaign to rein in errant states. Populist leaders in Poland and Hungary have been emboldened by Donald Trump‘s U.S. presidency and Britain‘s decision to quit the EU. Yet the continent‘s center has held together. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now joined by French President Emmanuel Macron in an active defense of Europe against those centrifugal forces. Opponents in the east face the prospect of being marginalized politically and even economically.