In Romania, a popular presidential candidate was banned from running over campaign finance violations. In Turkey, President Erdoğan orchestrates a removal of his long-time rival, the charismatic mayor of Istanbul, as a presidential candidate on charges of fraud and links to terrorism.
On the surface, both cases seem similar but in reality there are significant differences.
With Russia and other malign actors meddling in Western elections, European nations struggle to find a response which would not cross the line between defending democracy and abusing it, argue Professor Jacques Rupnik of the French Sciences Po Academy and Heather Grabbe, senior fellow at Bruegel and a former EU policy maker.
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