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The European Union has recently been going through a silent but profound crisis: a crisis of citizens’ trust in the fundamental institutions of the state. The latest poll carried out by Polling Europe on behalf of the ECR Party confirms what many of us have been feeling for years – the European citizen no longer believes that the justice system is independent. According to the poll conducted in March 2025, only 36% of EU citizens believe that the judiciary in their country is not politically influenced. In some countries, such as Romania, this percentage drops to a worrying 28%, with Romanians’ opinion certainly influenced by the cancellation of the presidential elections at the end of last year. For genuine conservative thinking, these figures cannot be treated as mere statistics. They are symptoms of a deep fissure in the resilience structure of European civilisation. Justice, seen as the balancing pillar between liberty and authority, is losing its legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens, and without Justice, the whole architecture of the social order becomes fragile.
Conservatism and justice: an organic relationship
The conservative doctrine cannot be considered a simple set of right-wing political options. It is a vision of man and society centred on the idea that order precedes liberty, and liberty without rules becomes arbitrariness. For citizens who embrace conservative ideas, justice is a sacred element of public order. That is why justice must be: independent, to resist the temptation of power; moral, to be respected; soberly efficient, to ensure stability. The current crisis of public confidence in the judiciary must not be used to demolish these institutions, but to restore their genuine authority. Instead of casting scorn on judges and making them scapegoats for political failure, true conservatism calls for prudent but firm reform that restores public confidence without destroying the institutional fibre of the state.
Anti-justice populism – a dangerous deviation
Unfortunately, what is today claimed to be the ‘conservative right’ in Europe (and especially in Eastern Europe) is often a vulgarised, populist and anti-establishment version of conservatism. Parties from the Patriot or Europe of Sovereign Nations groups (such as AfD or Rassemblement National) constantly use in their political discourse phrases like: ‘justice is being sold out’, ‘judges are controlled by Brussels’, ‘judges are controlled by the system’ or ‘the system is corrupt to the marrow of its bones’.
According to the recent public poll, only 27% of the voters of these parties trust the judiciary. It is a figure that not only reflects the distrust of EU citizens in the institutions, but also a calculated political strategy whereby anti-justice rhetoric is used as an electoral weapon. But a genuine conservative cannot look on serenely as state institutions are rhetorically demolished for immediate electoral gain. This is not a ‘healthy’ rebellion against progressive excesses, but a major risk that can lead to anarchy. We all know that when the rule of law collapses, it is not national order but the law of the strongest that takes hold.
Romania is the experimental laboratory of a drifting right
The political situation in Romania is emblematic of what is happening at the European level. Worryingly, 65% of citizens believe that the judiciary is politically controlled, and overall confidence in the system is among the lowest in the EU. At the same time, some of the parties in Romania that declare themselves conservative are promoting a virulent anti-justice, anti-elite, anti-Brussels discourse, moving towards a right-wing version that is more a tributary of popular frustrations than of conservative values. For Romania, the chance of a real conservative alternative lies not in the noise of the streets, but in the construction of a moral, coherent and institutional right. A right that defends the family on one side and the rule of law on the other. A right that defends the nation, but also the politically uninfluenced judge. A right that understands that to be conservative is not to fight against the order, but to strengthen it with lucidity and firmness to serve the interests of the citizen.
What is to be done? A conservative reconstruction strategy
In the face of these challenges, European conservatism has a clear mission: to restore citizens’ trust in justice and the institutions, without turning them into ideological bastions. Among other things, this would mean fighting corruption without creating media hysteria. Not through culture wars, but through clear regulations, meritocracy and transparency. So-called political appointments to key positions in the judiciary should be made responsibly, based on competence and reputation, not obedience. On the other hand, civic education in the spirit of respect for law, authority and order – deeply conservative values – should be emphasised. Politicians should embrace the rejection of anti-establishment demagoguery, even when it gets them votes. Conservatism owes it to backbone, not just favourable polls.
European conservatism, not a reactionary instinct but an act of construction
Conservatism is not about nostalgia or fear. It is about responsibility for the legacy of European civilisation, which includes not just cathedrals and families but independent and respected courts of justice. The recent Polling Europe survey shows us where we stand, but at the same time it gives us a direction in which we should be going. That is why rebuilding citizens’ trust in the judiciary requires a lucid, moral and courageous political endeavour. It is precisely for this reason that true conservatives must be at the forefront of this reconstruction, not as revolutionaries of the right, but as guardians of order.