Articles

Globalization is an integral part of everyday life. However, so called \"hyper-globalization\" challenges national interest in favour of deeper integration. Academics debate what values governments should prioritize and how they should interact with the international community. Countries can either sacrifice too much to find a place in the world economy or may focus wrongly on domestic public opinion alone.

\"The income tax rate could be reduced to 13-15%, sending all income tax to local governments and reducing labor taxes\" suggested the Minister of Finance Keit Pentus-Rosimannus (Reform) on Monday. Writing on social media, the minister said this move would help local governments to finance maintenance and care costs. She also wrote that Estonian labor taxes are too high while health care and social care costs need to be better funded in an aging society.

After a promising start the Hungarian political system could not turn into a liberal democracy. It is not a special occurrence, in some other \"third wave countries\" democratization slowed down or stopped as well. The democracy crisis has many reasons: fragmented political culture, economic problems, problematic challenges to fundamental rights.

The solemnly proclaimed \"Polish Order\" confirms the philosophy of the PiS government. Moreover, it is nothing less than the beginning of its election campaign. The strategy of the Law and Justice consistently aims to weaken civil society and to strengthen an infantile society because it is easy to rule. Civil society consists of socially mature people.

\"Digital services of the European Union member states must be made available to all citizens of the EU\" says the Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Andres Sutt (Reform). Sutt made his comments at a time when the Union has rolled out a timetable for greater and more integrated pan-EU digital services, including digital wallets.

In order to defeat the Law and Justice party, it is essential to take the microphone away from the “scary grandpas”. Poland is still ruled by metrical and mental old-timers, who built their position in the early day of the Third Polish Republic. They are described as the creators and symbols of the Third Republic – the Deserving Ones.

In recent years, the LGBTIQ community in Hungary has suffered a great deal of discrimination as a result of governmental policies. Until recently the peak of this discriminatory wave against the above-mentioned minority group could be considered to be the law passed in December 2020 that ensures that only married couples are allowed to adopt children, apart from well-based exceptions.

July 1, 2021 is a special day for the former member states of the Warsaw Pact – the day marks the 30th anniversary of the disintegration of the military alliance. At Vaclav Havel’s invitation, Czechoslovak President, the official document heralding the end of the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact was signed in the Černín Palace in Prague on July 1, 1991. This closed a historic chapter for the eight member states of the Eastern alliance.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia, wants to analyze the existing use of e-receipts and to propose a new service to be introduced by 2025. \"Although e-receipt has been available as a service in Estonia for a long time, it is still used relatively little. Larger stores offer the possibility of a digital receipt already now, but more often it\'s still paperwork that we can see today. (...)\" said Andres Sutt, the Estonian minister.

During his first trip to Europe, Joe Biden kept repeating that ‘America is back\'. We have to wait for the long-term effects of this visit, though. Only after some time we will see whether specific political decisions will follow handshakes and declarations. Nevertheless, we can already see that America under its new leadership is more pragmatic, predictable, and surrounded by allies, and therefore stronger.