Europeans are rejecting the EU’s unworkable vision

The recent election in Poland has been presented by some as a triumph of liberalism over the dark forces of populism, but this is a misreading of events. It’s said that the Law and Justice party, which has ruled Poland for the past eight years, was trounced, but it won the largest share of votes (35 per cent) and the largest number of seats in parliament. It is nevertheless almost certain to lose power because three other parties – Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO), the centre-right Third Way and the Left party – will likely form a coalition against it.

The result does little to reverse Europe’s rightward drift, and neither does it turn Poland back in the direction of the EU (Tusk is better known in Britain as the former president of the European Council).Tusk made a big issue of abortion rights, promising to reverse the near-complete ban introduced by the Law and Justice party.