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Poland joined the EU in 2004 and because of Solidarity's success, it became one of the most promising new member.
波兰于2004年加入了欧盟，由于团结工会的成功，它成了欧盟最有前途的新成员之一。
Poland was given more money than any other EU country which it used to build highways, schools, hospitals, and modern infrastructure.
它也拿到了比其他任何成员国都多的资金，用于建设高速公路、学校、医院和各种现代基础设施。
The country’s economy grew more than any other ex-communist country.
该国的经济增长率也超过其他所有前共产主义国家。
Each year after it joined, Poland received millions of Euros to help fund highways, schools, hospitals, and modern infrastructure.
加入欧盟后，波兰每年都会获得数百万欧元的资金，用于建设高速公路，学校，医院和现代化基础设施。
By 2014, Poland became one of the EU’s strongest and most resilient members.
到2014年，波兰已经成为欧盟最强大，适应力也最强的成员之一。
It even avoided the recession in 2009 that crippled economies worldwide.
它甚至还避开了2009年那场使全球经济都陷入了瘫痪的经济衰退。
Polling showed 72% of Poles were satisfied with EU membership.
民意调查显示，有72％的波兰人都对他们的欧盟成员资格表示满意。
More than any other member state.
这一比例比任何其他成员国都高。
And Poland’s charismatic, pro-EU Prime minister, Donald Tusk, was chosen to become president of the EU’s European Council.
波兰富有魅力的亲欧盟总理唐纳德·图斯克也被选为欧盟理事会的主席。
But in his absence, leaders with a very different vision for Poland's future rose to power.
然而，就在他卸任后，对波兰未来持不同看法的领导人上台了。
In 2015 PiS, Poland’s right-wing party, shocked the world and won an absolute majority in the parliament.
2015年，波兰的右翼党派PiS因获得了议会的绝大多数席位震惊了整个世界。
Since 2001, PiS had been led by former-Solidarity leaders Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who felt that Poland’s center-left parties had become elitist and corrupt.
自2001年以来，PiS就一直由团结工会前领袖，认为波兰的中左翼党派已经变得精英化变得腐败的莱赫和雅罗斯瓦夫·卡钦斯基领导。
It appealed to Poland’s conservative population in rural areas.
该党吸引了波兰农村地区的保守人口。
PiS only earned 38% of the vote in 2015, on par with the previous election results,
2015年，PiS仅拿到了38％的选票，与前几次的选举结果相同，
but after Tusk left for the EU, his coalition fell apart, making room for the right-wing party to take over.
然而，图斯克去了欧盟之后，他的中左翼政党联盟就分裂了，从而让右翼党派有了接管波兰的可乘之机。
According to PiS, after decades of Soviet control, Poland was now being controlled by the EU.
据PiS称，长达几十年的苏联控制才刚结束，波兰就又被欧盟控制了。
So when it came into power, it pledged to take back Poland’s independence … legally or illegally.
所以当它上台时，它便承诺要让波兰恢复独立......无论是否采取合法手段。
The party already controlled BOTH HOUSE OF Parliament and the Presidency, so it initiated a hostile takeover of the judicial branch.
该党已经控制了两院以及总统席位，于是它又开始着手强势控制波兰的司法部门了。
First it packed this Constitutional court with loyal judges and then forced out more than a third of the judges in this other court.
它先是将这一宪法法院的法官全部安排成对它效忠的法官，然后又逼走了这一宪法法院三分之一以上的法官。
Both acts were illegal under the Polish constitution, but the PiS-majority parliament and Presidency signed them into law anyway.
根据波兰宪法，上述两种做法都是违法行为，但PiS党员占大多数的议会和总统都准允了他们的做法。
The party also fired over 11,000 civil-service workers and at least 280 military officers, calling them ex-communists.
该党解雇了1.1万多名公务员和至少280名军官，扬言那些人都是前共产主义者。
It cracked down on the media.
此外，该当对媒体也进行了打击。
It started leveling fines on news organizations when it didn’t like their coverage.
不喜欢新闻机构对它的报道时，它就对新闻机构实行罚款。
Meanwhile, it’s been using Polish nationalism to justify these moves.
与此同时，它还反复用波兰民族主义思想来为他们正名。
Remember this 2017 controversial march?
还记得2017年这场备受争议的游行吗？
A PiS politician called it "a beautiful site" while the party cracked down on protests against their authoritarian moves.
当PiS党镇压反对其独裁举措的抗议活动时，某PiS政客还说那个“场面非常漂亮”。
As PiS tightened its grip on Poland, the EU issued several warnings to stop it from breaking its rules….
正当PiS加强了其对波兰的控制时，欧盟对其发出了多次警告，以阻止它违反欧盟的规则.......
But PiS ignored them.
但PiS并未将欧盟的警告放在心上。
"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to initiate Article 7.1,
“我们带着非常沉重的心情启动条例7.1的，
But the facts leave us with no choice."
但事到如今，我们已经别无选择。”
In December 2017, the EU invoked Article 7-- its nuclear option-- for the first time in its history.
2017年12月，欧盟破天荒地援引了欧盟条款的第7条，也是他们的核心条款。
It allows the EU to strip a member of its voting rights if it feels it is breaking the criteria it established in 1993.
该条款规定欧盟可以剥夺其成员的投票权，如果它认为该成员违反了它1993年制定的标准的话。
"A significant number of laws have been adopted, 30 in total,
“大量的法律条款，具体数字是30条，被颁布，
which put at serious risk the independence of the judiciary and separation of powers in Poland.
导致波兰的司法独立和分权而治的体制受到了严重的威胁。”
The problem for the EU is that Article 7 is not going to work.
欧盟的问题是第7条根本起不了作用。
The punishment requires a unanimous vote by all EU countries -- and there is one country that has sworn to protect Poland...
因为需要所有欧盟国家一致投票赞成才能对波兰实行惩罚，而有一个国家誓死要保护波兰。
Hungary, another former Soviet bloc country, has taken a turn towards authoritarianism under President Viktor Orban.
匈牙利，和波兰一样也是前苏联集团国家，在总统维克多·奥尔班的领导下也转向了威权主义。
And he vowed to veto any punishment against Poland.
而他发誓否决针对波兰的任何惩罚。
PiS is proving that it's possible to reap the economic benefits of EU membership while flouting the rule of law.
由于PiS的做法证明了欧盟成员可以在藐视法治的同时享受欧盟成员国的经济利益，
And that has sparked an existential crisis for the EU.
这就引发了欧盟的存在危机。
The rules that were written to prevent authoritarianism from ever re-appearing in Europe, aren’t being followed,
为防止专制主义再次出现在欧洲而制定的规则没有得到遵守，
and there’s not much it can do about it.
而欧盟对此几乎是束手无策。
The EU could try cutting off Poland’s funding, but it’s unclear how that would work.
欧盟可以尝试切断波兰的资金，但这招是否会管用目前尚不明了。
So for now, the EU remains in a crisis.
所以，就目前来看，欧盟便陷入了一场危机。
For decades it’s tried to keep Europe democratic.
几十年来，它一直努力让欧洲保持民主。
But Poland, once the EU’s most promising new addition, is threatening to unravel the whole thing.
然而，波兰这个欧盟曾经最有希望的新成员如今即将让欧盟的这一努力变得前功尽弃。
