Politics

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.

On Friday, May 26, in the Sejm there was the passing and the signing of a bill to establish a commission on Russian influence by Andrzej Duda. This development marks a concerning step towards the establishment of an undemocratic state in Poland, where the principles of the rule of law are disregarded. The Commission, lacking any appeal standards, provides a platform for politicians from one party to potentially eliminate their opposition counterparts from the political arena.

Under the pretext of investigating the Russia\'s influence in Poland, the newly formed polish parliamentary commission has been granted the authority to silence the opposition and impose a ban on individuals holding public positions for up to 10 years. In the light of the upcoming fall parliamentary elections, this tool strikes at those seeking to run in the elections or get appointed.

The migration crisis in 2015 posed a significant challenge for Europe. It has also become a contributor to legitimizing political action in Hungary, as well as in Poland after the parliamentary elections held in the autumn of 2015.

Several years of caretaker governance, frequent elections, and inability to form a stable, legitimate, and broadly supported coalition suffice for breaking the spirit of many who believe Bulgaria could thrive as a proper democracy, and the result of the April 2023 general election also points in the same direction.

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.

Gaslighting is a psychological term that we hear more and more. It covers serious emotional and mental abuse, a manipulation technique whereby the perpetrator controls the victim by invalidating their perception of reality. In particular, the term political gaslighting is spreading in a new wave of political science mainly in Western Europe and the United States.

Accepting Russia\'s presidency of the UN Security Council is the worst thing the international community can do. This situation should be treated as an opportunity to start a serious discussion on the reform of this institution, which apparently no longer fulfills its role. To put it bluntly, it\'s time to kick Russia out of the UN Security Council.

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 Hungary, women received full suffrage in 1945, after which their number in the parliament increased continuously until 1980. In the most favorable periods female representation was one third of the parliament, which can already be considered a \"critical mass of women\".