As the Members of the European Parliament’s ninth term closed their books, we tracked the views of incumbent MEPs on authoritarian regimes. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to build an accurate picture of MEPs’ positions on authoritarian countries. We have analyzed 152 votes cast by MEPs between 2019 and December 2023 to determine the potential openness of these MEPs to authoritarian influence, particularly from Russia and China.
In recent days, the media in Poland have been dominated by information about the dispute over the election subsidy for Law and Justice (PiS), as well as the intense actions of the new government aimed at addressing the abuses of the United Right authorities. The awaited decisions by the National Electoral Commission and the arrest of former Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski are the main topics captivating public opinion.
On April 7, 2024 millions of Polish citizens went to the voting commissions to cast their ballots in this year’s local elections. Following the recent triumph of the “democratic coalition” over Law and Justice and a subsequent change of government in December, many got their hopes up for a landslide victory in early spring.
In Poland, the word ‘family’ is tossed around by Law and Justice (PiS) politicians all the time. It has become their trademark, and a buzzword woven into every single political activity – both in areas of economy and cultural worldview.
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 times of galloping inflation, the Polish government creates another inflation impulse – the “Coal allowance”, the payment of which is expected to cost as much as PLN 11.5 billion.
Recently the Polish ministry of education announced the creation of a new mandatory school subject called “Historia i Teraźniejszość”. The coursebook that was written by a former PiS EU Parliament deputy, Wojciech Roszkowski, specifically on that purposes includes numerous political and ideological biases, presenting “the one and only, proper” worldview inclined towards the policy of Polish government.
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish Law and Justice government began to work on creating two new funds in the state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego to finance “systemic aid” and additional military spending.
Mobilization of Polish society to help refugees is beyond all expectations. Facebook groups where ordinary citizens offer their help have mushroomed in recent days, gathering hundreds of thousands of users.
The Polish Deal was a new socio-economic programme of PiS for 2021-30. It was announced in May and approved by the government in September 2021, before coming into force at the start of 2022.
