Democracy Digest: European Court’s Polish Ruling Echoes Over Eastern Europe

The fine is the latest development in an ongoing conflict between Warsaw and Brussels over rule of law, which reached a critical moment earlier this month, when the politically controlled Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that some articles in EU Treaties were not compatible with the Polish Constitution.

Legal experts warn that Poland's refusal to implement rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU could start to unravel the EU legal order.

The Commission has promised action, including by withholding 36 billion euros in grants and loans from the EU recovery and resilience fund, and activating a rule of law conditionality attached to the next EU budget that could mean the loss of further tens of billions.

Poland to expand army Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, 21 October 2021. EPA-EFE/Olivier Matthys

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski also vice-premier in charge of national security and defence) and Poland's Defence Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, on Tuesday presented the basic principles of a plan to modernise the Polish army, which includes almost tripling the number of soldiers.

"If we want to avoid the worst, which is war, we must act according to the old rule 'If you want peace, prepare for war," Kaczynski told a press conference on Tuesday. "The situation has worsened - we have a hybrid war, provocations, the Russian army and Russia's imperial ambitions, the constant exercises of the Russian army," he added.

While the text of the draft law is not on the table, the two politicians presented basic principles that would guide the transformation of the army. One goal, they said, is to increase the number of professional soldiers to 250,000 plus a...