Politics

2021 will be the year when the financial crackdown on opposition cities will gain momentum. No self-restraint can be expected in this regard.

One of the key topics of the past nearly four years has been the future face of the relations between the UK and the EU in the post-transition period era. Not many people expected that within the given time frame there would be sufficient time and willingness to reach a mutually acceptable deal.

In December 2019, it seemed that 2020 would be the key year for Poland, and that the events of the next year, 2021, would be a simple consequence of the last important political verdict of a closed election cycle – the election of the President of Poland.

Estonia’s Prime Minister Jüri Ratas has resigned over a corruption investigation in his party. He paved the way for the opposition Reform Party to form a new governing coalition that excludes the right-wing populist allies of the previous government.

The local elections in Ukraine that started on October 25, 2020, are not officially over yet. While the majority of mayors and local councils were sworn in, the Central Election Commission is still finalizing the results in some districts.

Hungary had a scandal-ridden month in the EU. As the new EU budget is connected to rule of law, Hungary fought it tooth and nail, claiming it’s not about corruption but Soros and immigrants.

Whilst waiting on the political and governmental reforms of the EU, we should be aware of our contemporary situation and stay modest in small steps: only such small steps could keep us on track with optimism of our founding fathers, both of the EU and liberal democracy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as an opportunity for many to intensify attacks on national and international norms and standards, including further weakening of checks and balances, broadening of corruption, and undercutting media freedom.

The pandemic can rule the agenda, but it cannot rule the ideology. This is the main lesson of the past few days in Hungary. The government has introduced restrictions and a crisis management plan, while PM Viktor Orbán has began writing the new chapter of the Hungarian ideological-cultural war in the meantime.

Bulgaria had its autumn of discontent. The mass protests proclaimed as a crusade against corruption and state capture have failed, while the prospects for reform of the oligarchic model from within are bleak at best. Hence, Bulgarians are looking at a winter of stagnation and political blockage.