You're reading: Reuters: Empire strikes back: EU to combat eastern strongmen with funding threat

The European Union will deploy a new financial weapon next week to try to rein in what Brussels sees as illiberal nationalism rising in the east of the bloc and threatening its democratic foundations.

A big electoral triumph on April 8 for Victor Orban, the Hungarian leader E.U. chiefs call “The Viktator”, and a battle to save the independence of courts in Poland have sounded alarm bells about the Union’s future when Britain leaves next year.

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