Freedom House Index: Poland and Region Drop in Ranking
In this year’s Nations in Transit by the Freedom House, Poland loses the status of a consolidated democracy. Other CEE countries also decline with their democracy score.
In this year’s Nations in Transit by the Freedom House, Poland loses the status of a consolidated democracy. Other CEE countries also decline with their democracy score.
With the introduction of a travel ban for its own citizens, the Czech measures to contain the corona epidemic have so far been among the strictest in Europe. Two weeks ago, the Prague City Court overturned four measures taken by the Czech Ministry of Health that restricted the free movement of citizens and retailers. A number of lawyers believe that this ruling increases the chances of businessmen and entrepreneurs to claim compensation from the state….
Today is Wednesday, May 6, three days before the planned presidential election in Poland and it is still not known if and when they will be held.
The decision to remove an old statue of Soviet Marshall Koněv from a square in Prague has led to a chain of very unlikely international incidents, culminating in direct intimidation of political representatives of a member of both the EU and NATO.
Kaja Kallas, the chairman of the Estonian opposition Reform Party, said the composition of the scientific council, which is advising the government on the coronavirus crisis, could be expanded to include people of different professions not just medical professionals.
The current crisis has reminded us how interconnected the world is. Developments which seem to take place somewhere far away can rapidly have the impact on the whole world. Today it’s the virus. Tomorrow climate change.
Estonian opposition MPs want to slash the timescale for responses to Riigikogu inquiries to government ministers, from a month, to four days, for the duration of the emergency situation at least.
The increasingly autocratic tendencies observed in Poland and Hungary during the COVID-19 crisis have alarmed the EU. With street protests currently banned, human rights activists fear that the pandemic will be used by national conservative governments to consolidate their power and undermine democracy and human rights.
“System errors” are different from “ordinary errors”. For example, saying that Christmas falls on December 29. System errors are so serious that they lead to the destruction of the system itself. Either exploding suddenly or slowly imploding. Either way, the destruction of the system.
The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government has conducted a calculated attack on the rule of law in Poland since it came into power in 2015, securing an overall majority in the Sejm, the lower house of the Parliament.