How to build an illiberal democracy in the EU

As Poland’s new government introduces measures which curb democratic checks and balances, just as Hungary’s Viktor Orban did in the past six years, it is time to examine the steps it takes to dismantle a weak liberal democracy and turn it into an illiberal one.

The original templates are there from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey. Now there’s an EU one - Orban’s Hungary. While each country differs in its history, democratic traditions and reasons to do away with...