The past decade has witnessed growing controversy surrounding the erosion of the rule of law in and outside the European Union. In Hungary, Serbia, Turkey and other European states the concentration of power in the hands of the executive at the expense of the autonomy of legislatures and judiciaries has triggered popular protests over a drift to authoritarianism. More recently, attempts by the Polish government to exert direct control over Poland's Constitutional Court have led to a confrontation with EU institutions concerned over the impact of these measures on the rule of law in Poland. In the wake of these clashes between Poland's governing party and the EU, concerns have grown that these tensions could lead to the kind of deterioration of relations that unfolded between the EU and parts of the UK's political system before the Brexit referendum of 2016.
This week we have been joined by Jan Grzymski, whose research on the politics of migration at the Center for Migration Research of the University of Warsaw can help us explore some of the key factors shaping tensions between Poland and the EU. His work on populism and the the impact of migration debate on Poland's relations with its neighbours can also provide fascinating comparative perspectives with the dilemmas faced by the UK and other European states experiencing fraught debates over the politics of migration and the rule of law.
The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.