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At the end of 2025, Lithuania’s Parliament adopted amendments to the unemployment insurance system intended to strengthen incentives for a faster return to the labor market. However, according to the LFM, the fundamental problem remains unresolved: for the fourth consecutive year, Lithuania records the highest unemployment trap rate in the European Union, and remains the only EU country where this indicator exceeds 100 percent.

From tax reform to the launch of a major defence manufacturing project, 2025 has been a year of consequential economic decisions in Lithuania. Yet the underlying themes – competitiveness, fiscal discipline and personal responsibility – are not uniquely Lithuanian. They resonate across Europe and beyond.

The year 2025 was decisive for Lithuania – not only geopolitically, but economically. Defence spending increased significantly, while tax and pension reforms reshaped the policy landscape. Yet beneath these headline decisions lies a deeper question, one that extends far beyond Lithuania: are we strengthening the foundations of long-term prosperity, or shifting responsibility ever further towards the state?

When I first walked into the room where the Balkan Women’s Academy BAZA was about to begin in 2023, I had no idea that these meetings would become a source of strength, courage, and solidarity. Today, after three editions of the Academy, BAZA has brought together 35 women from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, women connected not only by geography, but by shared values.

Poland stands at a decisive moment in the debate over legal recognition for same-sex couples. After years of political stalemate and institutional resistance, a shift in parliamentary power in 2023 created renewed momentum for reform. The emergence of a broad democratic coalition — spanning from the left to the centre-right — has reopened legislative space for civil unions. Yet political realignment alone does not guarantee success.

Foreign influence and malign interference are most often associated with adversarial actors such as Russia or China. Yet there are also areas in which US-based actors—both public and private—exercise pressure on European decision- and policymakers in comparable ways. Disputes over freedom of speech, censorship, and digital rights have become a new front line in transatlantic relations.

In the end of 2025, progress on Ukraine’s reforms showed mixed results. While there was some improvement in certain areas, others slowed down or even raised concerns.

In nature, it is common for organisms to adapt to their environment through evolutionary processes. Giraffes in the savannah have long necks, and camels in the desert have humps with fat. However, humans are the only species that have gradually adapted their environment to their needs. We have built cities and developed sanitary and energy infrastructure. We have created our own niche.

The January issue of the 4liberty.eu Newsletter provides an overview of the articles published on the 4liberty.eu website, serving as a starting point for further exploration.

Leszek Jażdżewski talks to Wolfgang Münchau about his latest book, “Kaput: The End Of The German Miracle,” translated into Polish by the Prześwity publishing house.