The Financial Times warns the EU (paywall): its silence over Catalonia weakens its tough line against Poland. In a column, the paper's chief foreign affairs commentator, Gideon Rachman, warns that accusations that the EU has "double standards" is "bolstered by events in Spain".
In an article dedicated to the situation in Poland, after the EU has started proceedings to strip the country's voting rights over accusations they're not respecting the EU's founding principles, Rachman notes that in Spain "elected politicians are in prison for staging a referendum on independence for Catalonia".
He admits that the EU can use the defence that the referendum "was illegal and that the Spanish courts have acted within the bounds of the current constitution", but warns that the government in Warsaw can say that it's "Spain — not Poland — that is currently imprisoning opposition politicians".
The EU has been accused recently by various voices of having a double standard depending on the country under discussion, turning a blind eye to Spain but splitting hairs with the poorer countries in the east of the continent.
The opinion column was written by Gideon Rachman, the paper's chief foreign affairs commentator, a role he has held for more than 11 years after 15 years at The Economist, including working as a correspondent in Brussels, Washington and Bangkok.