Polish Prime Minister on strategic partnership with the United States, membership of the European Union and adoption of the euro

Polish Prime Minister on strategic partnership with the United States, membership of the European Union and adoption of the euro

Olivier Bault February 18, 2018

By Olivier Bault. Poland - An interview with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki conducted by the newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (available here in Polish) after the last World Economic Forum in Davos provides interesting insights into Polish positions on the European scene.…

Society

27 years old and stronger than ever

Ferenc Almássy February 15, 2018

By Ferenc Almássy. Central Europe - The Visegrád Group is 27 years old on February 15, 2018. Never has its influence been so important. Created on 15 February 1991 by Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia (which split into two states, the Czech Republic…

Politics

Why so much fuss about the Visegrad Group?

Gábor Tóth February 8, 2018

By Gabor Toth, President of the V4-China association. Visegrad Group - In the recent years, the international media has helped make the profile of the V4 rise significantly. It is fair to say that the V4 have never been so important and…

Politics

Triggering Article 7 against Poland: nuclear bomb or wet firecracker?

Sébastien Meuwissen February 5, 2018

By Sébastien Meuwissen. Pologne - Forty years ago, Poland lit the spark that would put an end to Communist totalitarianism in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, the European Commission has launched the first phase of Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty against…

Politics

For corruption money, would you rather have 1200 Romanian lei or 18b. $?

Modeste Schwartz February 4, 2018

By Modeste Schwartz. Romania - On the 22th of January, Mrs. Cecilia Chirvăsuţă, a cardiologist working at the state hospital in the town of Tulcea (Eastern Romania) was sentenced to 4 years in jail for “accepting” from a patient an illegal extra…

Society

Two amendments to Polish memory law make waves

Olivier Bault February 3, 2018

By Olivier Bault. Poland - Like many countries, Poland has made the denial or minimization of Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust, a crime punishable by imprisonment. Two amendments voted by the Diet on January 26 and then by the Senate on January…

Politics

N. Farage: “The EU’s goal is assimilation”

Mariann Őry February 1, 2018

By Mariann Őry. Interview conducted for the Hungarian conservative daily newspaper Magyar Hírlap and published on 2018, January 29. The former chairman of UKIP, Nigel Farage spoke in the European Parliament against George Soros’s allies, and always defends Viktor Orban in the regular…

Politics

Zeman reelected as President: Czechia toward a political stabilization?

The Editorial Board January 28, 2018

Czechia - Outgoing President Miloš Zeman won the Czech presidential election and starts a new five-year term. The 73-year-old Czech politician and economist, strongly anti-immigration, could initiate with the new Prime Minister Babiš a new period of political stability in the country,…

Politics

Hungarian governement wants to tax pro-migrant NGOs to fund border protection

The Editorial Board January 17, 2018

Hungary - The Hungarian government announced its will to introduce a package of bills aiming to tax NGOs supporting illegal migration and use this money to strengthen border protection. This new step is following a good results of the national consultation on…

Politics

When the V4 Frightens, Tudose Crosses the Szekler Rubicon

Modeste Schwartz January 13, 2018

By Modeste Schwartz. Romania - Let’s set the scene first: Apart from speculations (some more or less scientific, others frankly zany) surrounding their distant origin, the Szeklers have for centuries been a small Hungarian-speaking mountain-dwelling population, nestled in the centre of the…

Politics

Is the Polish reshuffle a way of easing relations with Brussels?

Olivier Bault January 12, 2018

By Olivier Bault. Poland - The dominant discourse in the international media after the 9th of January's cabinet reshuffle in Warsaw was all about the PiS, after changing the Prime Minister in December, trying to appease relations with Brussels. In fact, if…

Politics

Andrej Babiš welcomed in Bratislava and accused in Prague

The Editorial Board January 10, 2018

Slovakia, Bratislava - For his first official visit abroad, new Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia. Together with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, they reaffirmed their desire, within the Visegrád Group, to oppose immigration. But meantime, the situation becomes…