Olivier Bault | Visegrád Post

Polish tourism businesses revolting against Covid restrictions and finding ways around them

Olivier Bault January 21, 2021

Poland - In Poland, January 18 was the day winter tourism businesses that had joined the “Highlanders’ Veto” (Góralskie Veto) protest movement had chosen as the deadline for the resumption of their activity in spite of health restrictions. All over the country,…

Politics

The third week of September was Poland’s week in the European Parliament

Olivier Bault October 14, 2020

Poland - Monday, September 14, was the day of the final ‘debate’ in plenary session on the López Aguilar report on Poland (see: A tale of two very biased reports in the European Parliament: the López Aguilar report on Poland and the…

Politics

In spite of a pandemic raging, some in Europe have reopened their borders to illegal immigration

Olivier Bault September 19, 2020

European Union - At a press conference held in the last days of August, unrepentant German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would “make essentially the same decisions” today if confronted with the same situation as during the migrant crisis…

Politics

The Visegrád Four as the driving force behind Europe’s support for Belarusians

Olivier Bault September 1, 2020

Visegrád Group - “Poland still remembers the decisive events of 1989 and always supports its neighbours. I have called for an extraordinary meeting of the European Council and strong reaction from the EU to what is happening in Belarus. We must support…

Politics

A tale of two very biased reports in the European Parliament: the López Aguilar report on Poland and the Sargentini report on Hungary

Olivier Bault August 27, 2020

European Union - The López Aguilar report on Poland was adopted by the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on July 16, 2020. The Sargentini report on Hungary was adopted by LIBE on June 25, 2018, and…

Politics

Why Hungary and Poland, and not Italy and France?

Olivier Bault August 5, 2020

Europe - “The ‘systemic threats to the rule of law’ and of democracy may not be where one would think”, and “it will have escaped no one's notice that such power left in the hands of the European institutions can be turned…

Society

Paedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church: similarities and differences between Poland and countries of Western Europe

Olivier Bault July 24, 2020

Poland - A question frequently asked about the future of the Polish Catholic Church and of Poland as a whole is whether they will go down the path followed by Ireland, where a formerly Catholic, conservative and pro-life society has become highly…

Politics

What will become of the EU after the pandemic?

Olivier Bault June 22, 2020

European Union - “Extraordinary times require extraordinary action”, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said last March, when announcing the ECB would embark on a new spending spree worth €750 billion to purchase sovereign debt from eurozone countries as an emergency response…

Society

Lifting the lockdown and reactivating the economy in the countries of the Visegrád Group

Olivier Bault May 29, 2020

Having reacted faster to the COVID-19 pandemic than their Western European counterparts, the four countries of the Visegrád Group (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) were also among the first to reduce their lockdown measures – which were less stringent than…

Politics

Eurocrats’ obsession with Poland and Hungary remains strong even in a time of unprecedented pan-European crisis

Olivier Bault May 21, 2020

European Union - Even in a time of unprecedented crisis, with a pandemic raging and economic depression looming, some in Brussels will not take a pause in their attacks against Hungary’s and Poland’s conservative governments. The unnecessary “concerns” expressed by members of…

Politics

With a pandemic raging, Europe closes its borders to illegal immigration, at last!

Olivier Bault May 4, 2020

European Union - At the beginning of March Hungary de facto suspended the possibility of filing for asylum by forbidding asylum seekers access to border transit zones. The decision was officially linked to the propagation of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was explained…

Politics

Having shown its irrelevance against the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU gets a second chance on the economic side of the crisis

Olivier Bault May 2, 2020

European Union - The European Union has had to face harsh criticism for its belated response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for its early open hostility towards member states closing their borders to protect their own populations. In the first weeks of…