Eastern Europe market social and political insights
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The EU FDI Screening Regulation’s impact on foreign investment procedures to Member States.
The EU’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Screening Regulation was enacted on 11 October 2020. The new legislation aims to increase transparency and information exchange between EU Member States by standardising the regulatory FDI review procedures across the EU. However, the Regulation’s enforcement rights ultimately remain in Member States’ hands.
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4Liberty.eu REVIEW #14: The Effects of COVID-19-Induced Transition to Remote Work on Gender Equality
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a boom in the use of digital solutions like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, enabling employees across the world to continue working at home, away from their now empty offices. Some companies have struggled to adapt, clinging to the hope of a speedy return to the old normal. Others, like Google, Microsoft,…
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Real Target of Lukashenko’s ‘Hybrid Attack’: EU’s Moral Authority
With the help of Poland’s right-wing PIS government, the Belarusian leader Lukashenko engineered a humanitarian crisis on Europe’s doorstep. In doing so, he is successfully eroding the European Union’s remaining claim to moral authority, qualified by its commitment to the indivisibility and universality of human rights. “Let’s call it what it is: this is a…
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Death by Thousand Cuts: Erosion of Media Independence in Poland
Since coming into power by an overall majority in 2015, the right-wing Christian-nationalist PiS party has engaged in a systematic effort to weaken and destabilize independent media critical of the government, creating a severe concern for political and cultural media diversity in Poland.
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The end of Poland’s “Europeanisation” or an opportunity for European federalism?
In Poland’s presidential election, Andrzej Duda, the incumbent with strong ties to the Law and Justice (PiS) party, secured his re-election by a tiny majority of just 1.2% over his liberal rival, Rafał Trzaskowski. Duda’s campaign was an example of a very divisive, culture-war type politics, which amplified existing social divides and created new ones.…
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Who is in Charge? Poland’s Presidential Election Chaos Exposes Power Outside of Commander in Chief’s Office
On Thursday night, the nation tuned in to watch the presidential debate aired on national television in the absurd reality in which neither the audience, nor the candidates themselves yet knew whether the elections would go ahead as planned on May 10, just four days later. In hindsight, the only candidate that must have been…
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Abortion Debate: Sex Discrimination, Poland’s History, Catholic Church
Poland has one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws, yet the government hopes to reduce healthcare provision for women even more by criminalizing abortions in cases of severe fetal abnormalities. It does so in the hopes to take advantage of lockdown measures that prevent women from protesting in the streets. Such extreme legislation is highly barbaric…
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Failing to understand diplomacy, perhaps Poland will realise the value of money.
The conservative PiS government has conducted a calculated attack on the rule of law in Poland since it came into power in 2015, securing an overall majority in Sejm, the lower house of Parliament. Its strategies have undermined the integrity of Poland’s democratic institutions, the separation of powers and independence of the media, in effect…
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“Thou Shall Not Be Indifferent”: What Holocaust Survivors Can Tell Us about Poland’s LGBT-Free Zones
© Bart Staszewski // Facebook Most European countries have made significant developments in LGBT+ rights: legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption, easing access to gender reassignment surgery, strengthening anti-discriminatory measures at work, schools and public institutions. Poland, however, has fallen drastically behind. The country ranks among the most restrictive European countries for LGBT+ rights, notably worsening…
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Amid pandemic outbreak, PiS party in Poland shows no intention of postponing the Presidential elections. Will this be the last straw for polish democracy?
As countries across Europe and the world struggle with the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus, life for many has come to a sudden halt. In these uncertain times Poland finds itself in the run up to the Presidential elections, scheduled to take place on May 10th. Should none of the candidates secure an overall majority, a…
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