DPP Research Seminar: The V4, EU Security and Defence Policy: Strategic Autonomy or Illiberal Cacophony?

During the second half of the 2010s the governments of Poland and Hungary took a sharp turn away from liberal democracy and the rule of law. As they slipped down the international democracy rankings, the European Union initiated its procedures under Article 7 to investigate possible breaches of its fundamental laws and values. However, the two governments sought to distinguish between their conflict with the European Commission over the rule of law on one hand and their commitment to collective security on the other. The question is to what extent they have managed to do this, and whether and how democratic backsliding poses security challenges for the EU?