As Europe comes under increasing energy and inflation pressures after COVID and the war in Ukraine, Brussels is yet again piling pressure on conservative Catholic-majority states in central and eastern Europe in what the latter sees as an ongoing thinly-veiled attempt to impose liberal values on the conservative-nationalist region. Yesterday, the EU told Hungary and Poland to improve judicial and media independence, as well as anti-corruption measures, as part of conditions to unlock billions in aid, as part of a new rule of law report. The European Commission is currently withholding access to over €15 billion. On Wednesday, the Commission said “serious concerns persist related to the independence of the Polish judiciary”.