DONALD TUSK has warned the European Union could be destroyed from within amid an internal standoff with Poland and Hungary.

The former European Council President said various quarrels brewing in Eastern Europe could start a process resulting in the destruction of the bloc. Warsaw and Budapest are at odds with Brussels over issues such as the independence of the judiciary and press freedoms.

Speaking to the media, Tusk theorised that should more countries follow the example of Poland and Hungary, the EU could fall apart. He said: ‘If more of these kinds of countries are found who insist on damaging the European Union it may simply mean the end of this organisation.’

Although he did not mention a timeline of events, he suggested an eventual end to the EU did exist. ‘We will not leave the EU tomorrow, and the EU will not fall apart the day after tomorrow,’ he said.

The European Commission launched legal action against Hungary in relation to a new law that bans schools from using materials deemed as promoting homosexuality. On Thursday, it also opened a case against Poland following the introduction of ‘LGBT-ideology free zones’ in some regions.

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled the country should not comply with the demands of the EU’s top court as the proposed interim measures was against the country’s constitution, a move praised by the country’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro.

Under law, there is no legal way to expel countries from the bloc. Source