Articles

Since the great expansion of the EU in 2004, we are constantly hearing concerns about so-called social dumping from hard-core, traditional EU members. What at first seems to be an action against imminent threats to social standards in Western Europe is in fact a sophisticated instrument to eliminate competition from new EU members.

Creating robotic Twitter accounts which generate automatic content on a selected topic became one of the most useful tools in the Kremiln’s disinformation propaganda. Over 80% of Russia-language tweets and almost half the English-language tweets on the NATO presence in Eastern Europe is created by pro-Kremiln robotic accounts.

Two interesting debates are being led simultaneously in Slovakia. One on subsidies to support the mining of lignite in the upper Nitra region and the other on the unconditional basic income for all. The interconnection between the two could bring so many positive effects that I am left to wonder why nobody has thought of this so far.

Business in Ukraine is slowly recovering from the economic crisis that hit the country several years ago. Entrepreneurs have little trust to the government but plan to speed up their growth and want the authorities to provide fair and favorable conditions for businesses.

In order to help fund the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, the medical device tax was implemented in the U.S. at the beginning of 2013. It is a 2.3% excise tax on medical equipment such as heart valves, manufactured hip joints, pacemakers, etc. The tax has received bipartisan criticism for its negative effect on the medical devices industry.

The Ministry of Finance proposed to reform customs in Ukraine with the aim of better transparency and predictability. The model of the reform and changes in custom procedures is currently debated between the Ministry of Finance and the representatives of the Parliament and civil society. The reform will hopefully be implemented by the end of 2017.

On July 10, 2017, Ryanair, the largest low-cost airline in Europe, announced that it cancels its plans to enter Ukraine due to the failure to sign the contract with Boryspil airport. The decision was a negative blow to the image of Ukraine, which tries to prove that the country is open and friendly to foreign investors.

I am not questioning the values of politicians. If they believe that the means of production should belong to the state, it is their right to do so. However, we are living in an independent Lithuania and so members of the parliament must at least be objective and impartial.

The development of an in-depth understanding of the European values as well as individual responsibility among young people rests upon raising their social awareness and the advancement of critical thinking on social phenomena. A proper account for social reality requires an integration of economic, political, and moral perspectives.

A new survey focused on relations of V4 countries towards the EU is finally out. Politically stable and prospering Czechs are traditionally the most Eurosceptic ones, whereas Poland and Hungary – lately a very popular target of criticism from the EU – remain adamant supporters of the EU membership.