The fact that the Polish public TV is the biggest fake news factory in the country has been well known for some time. But the news about the Ministry of Justice becoming a national center of hate speech truly electrified Poland in July.
Poland, Latvia, and Estonia started their rainbow revolutions much later than the West – when Stonewell riots happened in NYC, all three countries were still deep in the communist regime with no hope for emancipation.
Analysts investigating the roots of the PiS’s dominance agree that one of the strongest pillars of its success is a massive universal child benefit scheme called “Family 500+”, providing each and every Polish family with a monthly payment of PLN 500 (ca. EUR 115) for their second and every next underage child.
The new director of the National Museum of Warsaw announced in April that he intends to remove the 1973 video “Consumer Art” by artist Natalia LL, which depicts a naked woman eating a banana in a suggestive manner. This raised concerns that the museum was censoring its content.
For the first time in years, the citizens of European Union actually proved to be somewhat interested in the future of our Union – the voting turnout turned out to be incredibly high this year. Over 50% Europeans have raised their voices. What can we learn from the results?
The revolution will not change the Polish Church, but neither will waiting for the self-reflection of the hierarchs who govern. The Church can be changed by its members: parish priests, curators, politicians, publicists, prosecutors, teachers, journalists, and so on, and so forth.
A few days before the European elections we already know one of the results that will appear on the TV after the polling stations are closed. And although we are not able to estimate it precisely, no one has any doubts – the turnout in Poland will be record high.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary decided that good relations with Israel would bring them more benefits than solidarity with Poland. Not only did their representatives fly to Israel, but they seemed to be really satisfied with the meeting.
Countries and organizations have often suggested ideas and changes based on the US economic/healthcare or educational system. Even though there are elements which we can learn from and desire to implement, some other parts of that system might seem much less attractive and desirable.
By most standards, Austria’s democratic credentials are sufficient to warrant a position at the top of rankings. Regardless of whether you take Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), or Freedom House’s landmark report on Freedom in the World, Austria fares well.
