Poland

The Visegrad Group — comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia — has been declared dead, barely alive or at least unconscious a number of times due to disagreements on a wide range of issues such as democratic values, rule of law, European Union as well as foreign policy in a broader sense.

In Poland, the word ‘family’ is tossed around by Law and Justice (PiS) politicians all the time. It has become their trademark, and a buzzword woven into every single political activity – both in areas of economy and cultural worldview.

We are pleased to announce that the next edition of the event will be held on September 15-17, 2023, in Lodz, with the leading topic being “Turning Point”!

I, Citizen [Ja Obywatel(ka)] is a project aimed at primary school teachers in Poland. Through this platform, teachers gain access to a free database of teaching materials that supplement the core curriculum in the form of additional content.

While the time remaining until the parliamentary elections in Poland is shrinking dramatically, the opposition still cannot decide in what configuration it will go to fight the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which is gathering wind in its sails. The endless confusion was deepened by the so-called \'civic poll\', the results of which were to be the crowning argument for \"one list\".

In this episode, we talk about democratic backsliding and why does it matter for the EU, the issue with Bulgaria and Romania, EU tools to address democratic backsliding among its members, and whether the EU is capable of using its tools more effectively to prevent it.

According to Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS’ government is not decidedly fighting inflation, not to repeat Leszek Balcerowicz\'s alleged mistakes from the times of transformation: \"We were making up for this shock for several years.\" In reality, however, reforms of Leszek Balcerowicz turned out to be a huge success, and Kaczyński himself was once a supporter of radical solutions.

A slight decrease in inflation measured by the CPI (Consumer Price Index) at the end of 2022 should be treated with great caution because it is accompanied by an increase in core inflation, which is calculated by excluding food and energy prices from the market basket.

The past year was full of events related to the ongoing crisis of the rule of law in Poland. The last few months have been dominated mainly with the issue of the \"milestones\" attached to the National Reconstruction Plan and the disagreement within the ruling coalition as to how to achieve them. Among other things, for this purpose the infamous Disciplinary Chamber was abolished and replaced with Chamber of Professional Responsibility.

Poland\'s national railway system has left much to be desired in terms of quality of service, starting from the frequent delays and cancellations. However, since January 11, 2023, there has been an additional factor refraining potential customers from relying on the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation.