E.U. superstate punishes Poland

The European Union is cracking down on Poland, claiming the nation's conservative government is interfering with the judiciary system. If Poland does not address the bloc's concerns within three months, the country's voting rights within the European Union could be suspended.

Poland's governing Law and Justice Party is trying to push a number of reforms designed to remove leftover judges from the communist regime.

The conservative government argues the courts were never "decommunized" following the collapse of the Soviet puppet government.

However, the E.U. contends the Polish government's moves to remove judges violates the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.

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The European Commission triggered Article 7, which forces European member states to consider whether there is a "clear risk of a serious breach" of the founding principles of the European Union.

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The Polish government has responded with defiance.

President Andrzej Duda signed the judicial reforms on Wednesday and dismissed concerns the move would weaken democracy. Instead, he argued it would strengthen democracy.

"The judges will no longer rule themselves," the Polish president said. "They aren't some extraordinary caste; they are servants of the Polish people."

A similar situation also may be developing in Romania, where judicial reforms also are under consideration.

The European Commission's move is widely being interpreted as the beginning of a showdown between the more leftist Western European nations at the core of the E.U. and more nationalist, conservative Eastern European nations. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania have been posing problems for the European Union as populist, nationalist and anti-immigration parties continue to grow in power.

The leftists within the European Union suffered a further blow earlier this week when the Austrian People's Party and the Austrian Freedom Party formed a new right-wing coalition government that promised to halt immigration and Islamization in the critical Central European state.

The next step is a push by the European Commission for 22 of the 28 European Union member states to vote for a formal warning to be issued to Poland. In the long run, a unanimous vote by member states could strip Poland of its voting rights within the E.U.

However, that is unlikely given the opposition from the government of Hungarian President Viktor Orban.

Orban's deputy prime minister slammed the action against Poland on Wednesday, calling it an attack on Poland's sovereignty.

"It is unacceptable that Brussels is putting pressuring on sovereign member states and arbitrarily punishing democratically elected governments," Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen said.

Hungary's governing Fidesz party also backed Poland, claiming the European Union's true agenda is to punish Poland for that country’s opposition to mass immigration.

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