More cracks in the EU

The Eastern European countries are not backing down now that they know the costs of the EU are higher than the promised benefits:

Last week, the EU moved to punish Poland over its refusal to accept refugees by taking away its voting powers in the European Council. But if the row escalates much further it could push Poland out of the bloc, according to Renata Mienkowska, a political scientist at the University of Warsaw.

Ms Mienkowska explained the EU is unlikely to be able to punish Poland, which has refused to accept refugees into the country since the refugee crisis began in 2015. It will need a unanimous vote by all other EU members to ban Poland from voting on the European Council. But the bloc is unlikely to achieve this, given the EU has also moved to punish Hungary and the Czech Republic for the same transgression, and the three nations are likely to back once another.

Ms Mienkowska told Die Zeit: “The EU has tried to intervene on several occasions, but too little and too late. Unanimity is needed for the withdrawal of the right to vote in the European Council – it does not exist because Hungary is on the side of Poland.”

‘Warszawo, walcz!’