reforms

In 2024, Ukraine demonstrated a strong commitment to its economic obligations, meeting key conditions under the IMF and EU support programs. The country remained on track with its structural benchmarks, ensuring the flow of critical financing for non-defense expenditures. Entering 2025, risks persist, but Ukraine\'s focus on reforms and its urgent financing needs make staying the course essential.

The new coalition in Lithuania has made it clear that the aim is to ensure adequate funding for defense and national security. It has promised to reform the second pillar of pension funds as a priority. In addition, it has proposed a tax reform, with a specific component: progressive taxation for higher earners, irrespective of their income.

On June 4 and 18, 1989, partially free elections for the Sejm and fully free elections for the reconstituted Senate were held in Poland. As a result of these elections, a democratic political system was established, and decisive economic reforms were initiated between 1989 and 1990, which included stabilization and free-market changes. Poland was the first socialist country to begin departing from the system imposed by force, which was flawed.

In the latest edition of the International Tax Competitiveness Index, Poland was placed 36th out of 37th OECD countries. In the international ranking of tax systems\' competitiveness prepared by the American Tax Foundation, only Italy scored worse.

June 2021 will go down in the history of improving the business environment in Slovakia. It has joined the countries that have introduced a system to reduce the costs of doing business, which stem from bureaucracy and other regulations. This will help Slovakia to recover from the crisis, increase business productivity, increase competitiveness and, ultimately, improve people\'s standard of living in general.

CEA has published its Croatia 2025 Vision which contains concrete market reform ideas for minimum 30% increase of competitiveness and economic freedom. All ideas are based on relevant world methodologies with concrete policy direction adjusted to practical challenges.

It became clear that Ukraine has failed to receive the third and final tranche of the MFA III. Initially, the MFA III at EUR 1.8 bn was agreed in 2015 under a number of conditionalities that envisaged 22 measures in the areas of energy, public financial management, anticorruption policy, etc.

We have the pleasure to present you the sixth issue of the 4liberty.eu Review. This time, in the light of the ever-changing nature of education systems, we have decided to devote our magazine to the topic of education from the point of view of the CEE states in an attempt to provide an overview of possible solutions in this regard.

Slovak education needs a consumer-selected group of people and schools that do not wish to offer quality education, and rather just teach the same curriculum year after another, not considering the well-being of children. Many people will have to leave the field of education and a lot of old structures will have to disintegrate.

The sigh in the title refers to my experiences from my trip to Brussels back in March and to Paris in April. More specifically it takes me back to a Paris restaurant, Paris streets and to Brussels meeting rooms. Even though they took place in different environment, they are a perfect display of the current state of Europe.