Angela Merkel’s party, CDU, came in first in the German national election. However, this is not a great victory because what’s important here is that for the first time in post-World War 2 history, an extreme right-wing party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), came in third in the national election, getting around 13% of the votes.
Spain is facing nowadays crucial issues for the national integrity. Approximately 40,000 people have taken to the streets in Barcelona after Guardia Civil has arrested 14 people in the offices of the Catalan government, some of whom are senior officials, like Josep Maria Jové, secretary general of economic affairs.
Indeed, binding European funds with clear commitments from recipient countries sounds like a good idea. The big problem of a number of European policies and institutes is precisely the lack of an enforcement mechanisms, for example real penalties, which could help as a correction to a “misbehaving” member state.
The Swedish think tank Timbro has presented its “Authoritarian Populism Index”. The index “aims to shed light on whether populism poses a long-term threat to European liberal democracies” (it includes the EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, and Montenegro)
The great divide has been extensively fed by a colourful palette of issues, from the support/disapproval of the current or former president, through a worldly perspective either from a cosmopolitan or traditional standpoint, all the way to the question of the future direction of the US.
In Slovakia, political discourse around Central Europe continues to be dominated by the growing popularity of extreme solutions. This trend is expressly demonstrated by current popular preferences attributed to parties on both the extreme left and right in all countries of the central European region.
Despite the craziness of the whole situation, this affair should not be underestimated. Given the escalating relations between Russia and Poland, it is not a very wise move for Warsaw to open another battlefront with Germany. If Poland should hold its positions against Russia, it needs as many strong allies as it can get.
On July 26, 2017, Marek Tatala, Vice-President of the Civil Development Forum, spoke at the U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing about democracy in Central & Eastern Europe, which was organized in Washington D.C. In his speech, Tatala emphasized challenges to democracy and rule of law in Poland, including independence of judiciary.
We don’t have a lot of time. If we don’t act now, we will entrench the semi-feudal, crypto-communist government. Our current situation is like extinguishing a fire: We shouldn’t care who hands us a bucket of water, the most important things is to put out the fire.
For over three decades, the position of the Constitutional Tribunal seemed to be solidly grounded in the Polish institutional landscape and the pluralistic public discourse. However, with the recent demolition of the Tribunal, we are faced with an end of an era.
