Articles

The rather listless race for the position of the mayor of Budapest has been disrupted by the sudden announcement of a new candidate. Democratic Coalition (DK) started backing a new player in the campaign, a well-known TV personality and journalist, Olga Kálmán.

The Hungarian government is not anti-Semitic. It is populist. Playing right into the fears of people is a typical populist strategy. It builds on the same fears as anti-Semitic campaigns do, true, but despite the same foundations, the end results are somewhart different.

People can be divided into two groups: those for whom individual freedom is the most important value and the rest, for whom the freedom is not so important. I do not have any objection to the second group, but their position is simply unacceptable for, probably, the other way around.

Nowadays many political discussions focus on equality, diversity, representation and issues of marginalized groups such as women or people of color. Although there is a growing number of female politicians, disabled people are still underrepresented in this area all around the world.

One of the problems with the economic progress in the transition countries from socialism to market economy is the state of property rights. You can improve business environment, trade, or monetary systems but never progress if the property (rights) is not protected well.

The street protests that have started in Tbilisi on June 20, 2019, became a direct result of the mistakes of Georgian officials and a brazen behavior of a Russian politician. The majority of Georgian people thinks that, first, Russia is dangerous and, second, we cannot be partners of Russia, and instead need more integration with Europe and NATO.

The introduction of the controversial 500+ program in Poland has so far resulted in no increase in fertility rate. Noteworthy, 12% of the program budget would be sufficient to eliminate extreme child poverty. Meanwhile, 100,000 women were pushed out of the labor market.

On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, the European Court of Justice considered two preliminary requests submitted by courts in Lodz and Warsaw. Both courts are concerned whether the new system of disciplinary proceedings against judges meets EU standards.

The Nanny State Index 2019 measures the level of restrictive regulations governing the sale and consumption of food, non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol, tobacco, and e-cigarettes. The higher a country\'s ranking, the more restrictive the regulations.

Looking at the results in the V4 countries (Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary) helps gain a better understanding of the popularity of liberals. In the 2019 European elections, liberal parties performed quite well, especially in light of the popularity of the far-right in the region.