Articles

Politics

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The Sejm passed the Act on the establishment of the State Commission for the Study of Russian Influences on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland in the years 2007-2022. The Commission is proposed to be a public administration body and will be tasked with disclosing alleged cases of widely understood acts of espionage or actions made to the detriment of the Republic of Poland committed by public officials under the influence of Russia.

Economy

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The International Monetary Fund’s mission carried out an assessment in Warsaw on 14-24 March under Art. IV of the of the IMF Articles of Agreement. The mission pointed to the most important problems of the Polish economy and presented related recommendations. The Fund’s delegation pointed out that the most important challenge is to bring inflation down to the target (which upper band of deviations is 3.5%). Therefore, it becomes necessary to tighten fiscal policy this year.

Economy

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Mateusz Morawiecki, during the recent press conference “Stable public finances in unstable times”, bragged that under the rule of PiS’ government “the [public] debt in relation to GDP will fall” and it will be the case “despite gigantic expenses during the pandemic, despite huge expenses on the anti-inflation shield.” He stressed that “there are no catches here, there are no special operations.”

Economy

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The ongoing election campaign has become an opportunity for political parties to present populist solutions to problems that are not always real. One theme are the seemingly high mortgage rates. In reality, however, rates are much lower than the current and projected increase in prices and wages, which means that the burden on debtors would decrease even if they would not pay their instalments and the interest would increase their debt.

State Law
Society

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The “Status Law” is a bill by the Hungarian Ministry of Interior the purpose of which is to regulate the new career path of pedagogues. The educators are deeply unsatisfied with their current work conditions and have been on strike constantly for more than a year now without any success. The “Status Law” is the response by the government to the demands, but in reality, it does not offer a solution. In fact, it only worsens circumstances.

domestic violence
Society

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Domestic violence is a serious and insidious social issue that concerns anyone, regardless of gender or social status. It takes several forms, including physical, emotional, verbal, spiritual, sexual, economic, or a combination of the above. Due to the fact that it occurs behind closed doors, it is often completely invisible to society. This makes it difficult to assess how many families are actually involved.

nationality
Society

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An entrepreneurial state is one that is law-abiding, free and open. Not one that makes its presence felt in every sphere of life. Ignorance, archaic worldview conservatism, combined with years of legislative neglect by Polish politicians in the economy have made us an unpredictable business partner. Nevertheless, the upcoming elections are about more than just the economy – writes Jerzy Czubak, a Polish entrepreneur who has lived in Switzerland for more than 20 years.

repression
Politics

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Transnational repression, as defined by a Freedom House report, describes how authoritarian states reach across national borders to silence dissent and critical voices among diaspora and exile communities. It is essentially an assortment of methods that a state can use to subdue its own citizens living outside of its territory. Freedom House first drew attention to this phenomenon in their 2021 report, “Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach.”

Giuseppe Bazzani: The Education of the Virgin //Public Domain
Politics

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Academic freedom is the cornerstone of a thriving educational environment, providing researchers, teachers, and students with the independence to pursue knowledge and engage in intellectual discourse without fear of censorship or political interference. It nurtures an atmosphere that promotes the unfettered exchange of ideas, challenges existing beliefs, and encourages the pursuit of truth.