Olivier Bault | Visegrád Post

Restitution of property: tempers flare between Israel and Poland

Olivier Bault August 23, 2021

Poland – Accusations of anti-Semitism by Israel’s foreign minister, after the Polish president ratified a law on the restitution of property unlawfully confiscated after World War II, have plunged Warsaw and Tel Aviv into a crisis unprecedented since the fall of communism…

Politics

Poland – Open warfare between president of supreme audit institution and Morawiecki government

Olivier Bault August 13, 2021

Poland – The conflict between the President of the Polish Supreme Audit Office (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, NIK) – Poland’s highest audit institution – and the Morawiecki government continues to escalate, now with a request for a waiver of Marian Banaś’s immunity. “This…

Society

Polish academic sentenced in Germany for his work on homosexuality in the Church

Olivier Bault August 5, 2021

Poland/Germany – The conviction in Germany of Dariusz Oko, a Catholic priest, professor of humanities and lecturer at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, has caused a stir in Poland. The story has even made it to the cover…

Politics

The Three Seas Initiative shows what Europe could be without the EU

Olivier Bault July 26, 2021

Central Europe – “America is eager to expand our partnership with you. We welcome stronger ties of trade and commerce as you grow your economies and we are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy so Poland and its…

Politics

The European Commission has just issued an ultimatum to Poland. Will it do the same to France?

Olivier Bault July 22, 2021

Poland – The European Commission has given Poland until 16 August to suspend its Supreme Court’s new Disciplinary Chamber, failing which it will again refer the matter to the ECJ to apply a daily fine. The financial penalty will increase with each…

Politics

PiS accused of undermining media pluralism and freedom, again

Olivier Bault July 20, 2021

Poland – Already dubbed “Lex TVN” by its critics, a law that would force the American owner of one of Poland’s two major private television groups to sell at least part of its shares is worrying the opposition and setting American diplomacy…

Politics

Contrasting reactions reveal real stakes in conflict between ECJ and Polish Constitutional Court

Olivier Bault July 19, 2021

Poland – The major significance of the rulings delivered between 13 and 15 July by the European Court of Justice and the Polish Constitutional Court is not lost on anyone in Poland. Outside of Poland, few media outlets seem to understand what…

Politics

Polish Constitutional Court denying ECJ right to extend its own powers

Olivier Bault July 16, 2021

Poland – Can the EU extend the scope of its competences, without member states having a say, through the decisions of the European Court of Justice? That was the question the Polish Constitutional Court had to answer when it considered, on Wednesday…

Society

Polish democracy sick with Covid like many others, but still breathing

Olivier Bault July 14, 2021

Poland – On 7 July, the PiS group announced that it once again had a majority in the Sejm thanks to the return of one of the three MPs who had left at the end of June. The government formed by the…

Politics

Back to the Tusk–Kaczyński duel? Not sure that’s what Poles want…

Olivier Bault July 10, 2021

Poland – The virulent hostility between Donald Tusk and the Kaczyński brothers, which had lasted since 2005, took a back seat with Donald Tusk’s departure for Brussels in 2014. Unusually, Tusk gave up his post as Prime Minister of the Republic of…

Politics

Orbán, Kaczyński, Salvini, Le Pen, Abascal and other right-wing leaders united in defense of true European values

Olivier Bault July 5, 2021

The leaders of fifteen parties from fourteen different countries, all hostile to a federal Europe and generally representing conservative views, signed a joint declaration on the future of Europe at the same time on July 2. Among the main signatories are Hungary’s…

Politics

Restitution issue once again at the center of tensions between Poland and Israel

Olivier Bault July 3, 2021

Poland – The issue of the restitution of real estate that belonged to Jewish families returned to the forefront with a new Polish law adopted by the Sejm on June 24, and a new emotional reaction – largely disconnected from reality –…