In this episode of the Liberal Europe Podcast, Leszek Jażdżewski (Fundacja Liberté!) welcomes Dr. Thomas Bagger, Germany’s Ambassador to the Republic of Poland. They talk about the EU Energy crisis, German eastern policy, EU response to the war in Ukraine, and Polish-German relations.
The true budget deficit at the end of 2023 will amount to over 206 billion PLN. The budget debate taking place in Sejm is based on the draft budget, which does not show the full picture of state’s expenditures and revenues. Pursuant to the Public Finance Act, the management of public funds is open and transparent.
On paper, Hungarian abortion policies are much like those of most EU countries: women can terminate their pregnancy on request up until the 12th week and can do so through state-funded institutions. Yet, in reality, the accessibility of abortion in Hungary is only a façade.
When we talk about illiberal democracy or populism in our European context we use the word ‘the rise’ – the rise of illiberal democracy, the rise of populism – but it is an outdated narrative. Currently, we are dealing with normalization of illiberal democracy.
The talks over the National Recovery Plan were to begin in February. Since then, the European Commission set particular conditions on which the assets would be transferred to Poland, mainly linked with the improvement of the deteriorating situation regarding rule of law in the country.
The Polish government, criticized for violating the rule of law, often refers to a sense of limited ‘sovereignty’, which, according to the opposition and some commentators, may in the future lead to a so-called Polexit.
Freedom Games 2022: “Green Independence” has just released its promotional spot. Featuring individuals of all ages, the video sends the message of freedom solidarity, with a slogan “Let’s be together!”.
Hundreds of tones of dead fish have recovered from the Oder river. First dead fish were spotted already in late July. In early August, some anglers and local politicians from Lower Silesia alarmed regional authorities. There was no reaction. The mass die-off was detected when locals came across thousands of fish corpses near the village of Widuchowa on 11 August.
In 2021, public expenditure per capita in Poland for the first time exceeded the amount of PLN 30,000. It accounted for 44.2% of GDP – less than the year before when the pandemic hit, but still much more than in 2019. Since 2015, public spending in Poland has increased in real terms by over 35%.
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.
