The June 2024 EU elections had a tremendous influence on the political landscape throughout Europe. That was especially the case for Polish liberals, since after the Civic Coalition secured new European Parliament seats, the Nowoczesna Party obtained four new MPs in the Polish Sejm, including Aleksandra Kot, the youngest member of the Polish Parliament.
In June 2024, the European Commission assessed that it was justified to open the excessive deficit procedure, among others, for Poland. In the EC’s assessment, the published report justifies the initiation of the excessive deficit procedure for seven countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia.
As the Members of the European Parliament’s ninth term closed their books, we tracked the views of incumbent MEPs on authoritarian regimes. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to build an accurate picture of MEPs’ positions on authoritarian countries. We have analyzed 152 votes cast by MEPs between 2019 and December 2023 to determine the potential openness of these MEPs to authoritarian influence, particularly from Russia and China.
In recent days, the media in Poland have been dominated by information about the dispute over the election subsidy for Law and Justice (PiS), as well as the intense actions of the new government aimed at addressing the abuses of the United Right authorities. The awaited decisions by the National Electoral Commission and the arrest of former Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski are the main topics captivating public opinion.
Despite the efforts of various political parties in the European Parliament, the elections to the EP are first and foremost national elections, and as Enrico Letta remarked, they will be “a sum of national, domestic debates in a frame named European elections.” As such the EU member states also differ in the campaigns and the narratives mostly used before the June votes.
On April 7, 2024 millions of Polish citizens went to the voting commissions to cast their ballots in this year’s local elections. Following the recent triumph of the “democratic coalition” over Law and Justice and a subsequent change of government in December, many got their hopes up for a landslide victory in early spring.
After the rising number of immigrants in 2015, the implementation of the Common European Asylum System became a priority for EU member states. Nevertheless, it has been documented by many studies that the V4 group countries drifted away from these intentions. During 2016, the members of the Visegrad group worked together as a united bloc on migration issues in Brussels.
Poland has proudly joined the EU 20 years ago. However, the European Parliament still lacks credible representation in the eyes of many voters, in particular the country’s youth. As the EP elections approach, one must question the true purpose of these elections in Poland. Are these elections genuine democratic exercises or merely opportunities for aging politicians to secure pensions and receive a last token of appreciation from their parties?
Europe woke up in a different reality on February 24, 2022. Shocked, angered, frightened, stressed, outraged – we can probably find many words to describe the primal and visceral feelings of people. But there was one very clear-cut line: whether or not one supported Ukraine which fell victim to the barbaric and criminal Russian invasion. This was a turning point for many things, including shifting identities for many Latvian Russian-speakers.
Poland pledged to adopt the Euro when it joined the European Union in 2004. The adoption of the common currency will have a significant impact on the country’s future and will define our position in Europe. It should be noted that entry into the Eurozone is not only an economic issue but also a major political and social change.
