INESS, Bratislava 7.3.2012 We added to our The State Waste database the whole proceeded year 2011. Database now consists of 824 documented cases of waste, clientelism and lawsuits brought up by the printed media since the year 2007. The total sum of revealed inefficient use of public funds in the year 2011 in the categories Waste and Lawsuits reached EUR 553.5 mil. It is not only the waste during this period of time but also…
John Nadler writes in Time that young Hungarian, dissatisfied with ruling Fidesz, are becoming more and more active protesting and demanding change. Surprisingly, a lot of young people are attracted to extreme right-wing, anti-Roma Jobbik. According to research of the think tank Demos and Hungary’s Political Capital Institute done on the group of Jobbik’s FB fans 36% of them were students, 22% held university degrees and 6% had postgraduate or professional degrees. Experts find reasons…
The results of BBSS Gallup’s survey from March 19, 2012 can be found in The Sofia Echo. Polls show that ruling party GERB has 30% of support while the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) would gain 18% of votes if the parliamentary elections were held now. The Sofia Echo points out that the support for the ruling party is stable in spite of controversies such as Cabinet changes, negative outcome of the European Commission report…
As Bloomberg Businessweek writes current coalition government may be dissolved, which brings about an option of early elections or working in minority government until elections in October. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, leading Homeland Union requested Internal Affair Minister Raimundas Palaitis to resign, which he (with support of President Dalia Grybauskaite) refused to do. It led to tensions between Homeland Union and the Liberal Center Union which seem to make the further work of coalition impossible….
As The Slovak Spectator writes Robert Fico was asked to form a one-party government – situation like this has not happened since the fall of communism in 1989. Robert Fico initiated last week talks with other parties in the Parliament but all of them refused to be a part of coalition with Smer. 83 seats in the Parliament which Smer gained in the latest elections will suffice to set up a government of one party….
According to The Lithuania Tribune 3,000-3,500 people participated in the protest against new rules concerning education in the minority schools held in Vilnius on March 17, 2012. Demonstration started in front of the parliament and then moved on to the government’s offices where rally took place. Protests were of a peaceful character, no serious incidents were observed. Protests concern a new Law on Education, adopted a year ago, which extends the use of Lithuanian language…
On March 15, 2012 Wenseclas Square in Prague became a gathering point for thousands of demonstrators against the coalition government and President Vaclav Klaus. Estimations as to the number of participants vary from 2,500 to 5,000 people. As The Prague Post writes protests were organized in various cities in the whole country under the name “Holešov Appeal”. According to the newspaper demands of the protesters include among others government’s resignation, halt of the church restitution,…
As The Budapest Times writes the EU presented Hungary with ultimatum: either the coutry will prove to the EU that it has its budget under control until 22 June or it will lose a big share of development funds for 2013. In order to meet the EU deficit target (below 3% of GDP) further cuts on spending are necessary. They will most probably affect mainly subsidies for transport and medicines. More about financial situation of…
As The Lithuania Tribune writes Lithuanian GDP increased more than expected in the last quarter of 2011. When it comes to investment data the growth reached 10% and growth of the export, even though slowed down, still exceeds growth of import. At the beginning of the year income of the central government exceeded its expenses. Additionally, in January there was growth of over 16% in the retail sector. Newspaper points out “decreasing unemployment, lower inflation…
On Saturday March 10, 2012 Smer won parliamentary elections in Slovakia receiving 44.41% of votes. The Slovak Spectator publishes today official results, confirmed by the Central Electoral Commission (ÚVK). They are as follows: 1. Smer – 44.41% 2. The Christian Democrats – 8.82% 3. The Ordinary People and Independent Personalities – 8.55% 4. Most-Hid – 6.89% 5. SDKÚ – 6.09% 6. Freedom and Solidarity – 5.88% The Slovak National Party SNS received 4.55% and Hungarian…
