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  • Unregulated entry of Muslims is a security threat

    As put by the Centre, there are signals showing an increasing number of companies and agencies owned by people from Arab countries that are arranging Czech visas and residence permits for Muslims. The visas and permits are often covered up as an accompaniment of another sick person and for a treatment in one of the many Czech spas. Additionally, Muslims entering the country like this have large sums of money for which it is almost impossible to identify an origin or a sender, and a planned purpose of use.

    Fortunately, the Czech police hasn’t had to handle an open act of terrorism so far. However, the Centre stresses the importance of an ongoing monitoring of Muslim communities. Only then it would be possible to prevent attacks and uncover radicals and groups with beliefs in contradiction to Czech law.

    The report also mentions that as conflict in the Middle East is coming to an end, fighters of the so-called Islamic state and their relatives may move to Europe, which would also pose a security threat as they can radicalize and plan an attack on European soil. Moreover, a trend of ‘travelling jihadists’ to Syria via the Czech Republic is still present, as well as their return to Western European countries.

  • Czech parties announce nominees for European election

    Ruling Babiš’s party ANO will be led by Dita Charanzová, one of its three remaining MEPs. According to Babiš, she is the best possible candidate, because she is successful and a visible MEP. On the other hand, Babiš has a rather reserved attitude to nominations of ANO MPs. He explained that he would like to have them in the Czech Republic.

    ANO coalition partner ČSSD also puts up one of its MEPs. Pavel Poc has been in the European Parliament since 2009 and got elected from the third spot in the last elections. 2014 leader Jan Keller expressed he doesn’t want to run again. Other well-known persons such as former Foreign Minister Zaorálek and Unions’ leader Středula have rejected their candidacy.

    The Civic Democrats are expected to nominate Jan Zahradil, who is a natural choice given his experience and recent Spitzenkandidat nomination for ECR. Officially their leader will be selected via party primaries and announced no later than in January. 

    Pirates are also waiting for a result of party primary elections. People’s party announced MEP Pavel Svoboda as a leader, backed by Zdechovský and Šojdrová, who sit at the European Parliament as well. Communists are likely to nominate MEP Kateřina Konečná.

    Although all the leaders will have to be officially confirmed by wider party structures, those are most likely the final nominees. 

  • Kövér: EU leaders disregard their people

    Kövér said in the interview he was optimistic about the outcome of next year’s European elections.

    “I expect that after the elections the European Parliament will begin its work in a new composition and will be much more amenable to Hungary and the interests represented by the country,” Kövér said. He added that the assumption that the trends that began two years ago will last at least until the elections is a realistic one. Asked what would happen if – despite the expectations – pro-migration forces would acquire a majority in the European Parliament, he said “in short, (that would be) a major problem”, adding that conservative politics does not have a plan B for such an outcome.

    He said the Western European democracy model is in crisis and election results indicate that voters are looking for alternatives to the traditional parties. Kövér said that in their attempts to create consensus, center right and center left forces have by now essentially merged and are unable to find solutions to the problems life is throwing at them all the time while people are very much preoccupied by these problems.

    He said all those who accuse Hungary of not being a democracy are “speaking nonsense” and only show their intellectual inadequacy. He said freedom of opinion and diverging opinions are much more present in the Hungarian press than in the so-called “excellent democracies”.

    Asked about the situation of the ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries, he said the situation in the Ukraine was complex and democratic tradition was lacking there. Despite remaining problems, Slovakia and Serbia are both showing more sensitivity to the issues of national minorities. In Romania, however, the prolonged domestic political crisis could at any moment trigger the use of the “Hungarian card” to which Hungary will have to respond appropriately.

  • Pro-migration paradigm alive in Germany, analysis

    After the Visegrád Four countries, the United States, Italy, Australia, Austria, Israel and Bulgaria rejected it, the German Bundestag voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of the United Nations migration pact.

    The migration pact works from the assumption that migration is a fundamentally positive phenomenon, akin to a right, with the “only problem” being that it is largely unregulated and illegal.

    The solution, according to the U.N., is to legalize the currently illegal forms of migration and erase the differences between refugees fleeing from danger and economic migrants coming in hope of a better life.

    Some proponents of the document argue that it would not impose its rules upon national legislations. Others, however, such as German Professor of Law Matthias Herdegen say that supranational tribunals have a tendency to base their decisions on such “soft” laws, meaning that the U.N. pact’s effects will seep through courts into national legislations.

    The fact that several countries rejected the pact is a clear indication that the current proposal is exclusively based on the interests of the issuing countries, without regard to the interest of transit and target countries.

    The German vote clearly shows that the pro-migration paradigm remains very much in effect in Germany and despite some German modifications and restrictions on immigration, the “Willkommenskultur” is still in effect. This will inevitably have an effect on the tone and direction of the upcoming European elections.

  • Hungary Q3 GDP exceeds preliminary data

    The final figure came in showing a year-on-year growth of 5.2 percent compared with a preliminary 5 percent, mainly driven by services and retail, analysts said.

    This growth is two and half times higher than the average of the European Union. We haven’t seen such growth since 1995

    “The data shows that we are the second fastest-growing economy of the European Union.”

    Erste Bank analyst Orsolya Nyeste said the final data reinforced the preliminary ones and domestic consumption was the biggest single growth factor, boosted by increasing real wages, a favorable labor market and more bank loans.

    Takarékban analyst Gergely Suppan said the growth had a solid base as almost every sector of the economy contributed to it, including constructions with a 28 percent year-on-year growth. He said growth could have been even higher, but the output of car plants in Hungary only increased by 2.7 percent as they were struggling to meet more stringent emission rules.

    Analysts also said that economic growth next year will inevitably be lower – estimates range from 3.5 to 4.2 percent – as the comparison base will be much higher.

  • Europe in hybrid war against radicals

    The fact that the number and severity of terrorist attacks has declined since 2015 is both undeniable and also serves to mask a deeper truth, Horváth said.

    While in 2015 – in parallel with massive waves of immigration – there has been a surge in terrorist attacks claiming hundreds of lives, since then most such attacks were smaller scale and sometimes “budget attacks” with knives or hijacked vehicles.

    On the one hand, this indicates that secret services – and the governments behind them – have understood the threat and are ramping up their work despite the fact that they did neither receive a huge boost in numbers, nor a better legislative background. But the heads of governments have understood that the peace that followed the cold war is over.

    The other reason is the significantly weaker position of the Islamic State in the Middle East. They are no longer coordinating massive attacks against Western Europe as they are too busy reorganizing and maintaining their illegal networks for the future.

    But even if the Islamic State was completely eradicated, that would not be the end of terrorism. The spread of radical Islam, organized crime and no-go zones are parts of a struggle for political influence. Islamic parties have made their appearance, their members are learning the ways of democratic systems and are grabbing for power.

    They are now removing crosses from classrooms, unilaterally renaming Christmas the fir holiday and Europeans are giving up their very identities. It is totally misguided to think that we can persuade a tiger to convert to vegetarianism. And we are vegetarians, Horváth said.

  • Polish companies need to expand to foreign markets

    The last thirty years saw an unprecedented growth of the Polish economy which is catching up to the West after the civilizational holdbacks of the communist era. Poland is a prime example of a well accomplished economic transformation with a balanced economy that could efficiently use EU funds.

    Since 1991, Poland has not gone into recession and her GDP per capita increased not much less than in South Korea. The GDP gap between Poland and Germany is the lowest since the end of the Second World War. The Polish economy today produces 50 percent (90 percent if you include the parity of purchasing power) of what Western ones do, compared to the dozen or so percent during communism. 

    Since 1991, Poland has not gone into recession and her GDP per capita increased not much less than in South Korea

    If the next thirty years are to look as good, then Poland needs to further integrate with the European economy, and Polish companies must take part in the European economic circulation.

    Poland’s previous assets: a young educated population, good geographical location and lower salaries are at an end. Poland’s companies could flourish in such an environment. Now, work resources are running out, the price of work is growing and the inner market prognostics aren’t as good as ten years ago. 

    Poland must remain an open country which invites foreign investments, but also sends out its own companies abroad

    The main challenge is to catch up with Western Europe. To do so, Poland must remain an open country which invites foreign investments, but also sends out its own companies abroad. The internationalization of Poland’s businesses will be the biggest challenge and Poland is ill prepared for that.

    Polish companies which have succeeded abroad are few and those who have are private companies. Governmental ventures either ended in embarrassment or in huge losses.

    Without achieving a certain scale of operation by Polish companies and the Polish economy it will be difficult to maintain the good development trends of the last thirty years. 

  • Thousands of illegal immigrants storming Spain

    Some 52 thousand illegal immigrants made their way to the country via boats, the majority descending in the Balearic Islands, according to the Spanish foreign ministry. Compared to last year, this is three times as many undocumented immigrants arriving in Spain through seaways. 

    An estimated 6,300 immigrants made their way through the fences on Morocco’s border and into Ceuta and Melilla, 1,900 and 4,400, respectively. 

    In November this year, Spanish Foreign Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska travelled to Rabat, Morocco to negotiate the deportation of citizens of that country, especially children. 

    More than 12 thousand underaged persons from Morocco may be illegally residing in Spain and without any care. 

    Although the Spanish government previously supported the “open door” policy towards migrants, they have now decided to tighten their laws. In the last weeks, the Spanish foreign ministry has ordered several mass deportations of illegal immigrants to return them to Morocco. 

  • France’s “clock master” bows to the anger

    Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande all threw money at the problem when protesters took to the streets. Which is why France is the only country aside from Italy, which is still waiting for reforms to fix its economy. 

    Macron’s situation is dire, however. The crux of his power system was the vision of an all-knowing president, after all. He’d be the one to direct course of the nation, a “clock master”, who decides when to quicken and when to slow down reforms. Now, someone else is influencing the president’s agenda. “Macronism” might not get up from this blow, as less than a quarter of the French trust their head of state.

    He’d be the one to direct the course of the nation, a “clock master”, who decides when to quicken and when to slow down reforms. Now, someone else is influencing the president’s agenda

    This decision has consequences in the context of Europe. Macron travelled to Berlin immediately after his election with a clear deal: France will reform and cut the deficit budget to below 3 percent GDP and in exchange, Berlin will agree to changes proposed by France within the Eurozone.

    It turns out that France will probably be unable to fulfil their part of the deal. The worsening economic situation in Europe probably isn’t enough to convince Germany that France is a serious partner with whom they can rebuild the EU.

    In Poland, who for the last 18 months has been constantly insulted by Macron, such a weakening will probably be received with relief.

    The increase of taxes on oil was meant to be part of the strategy to combat greenhouse gases. Macron wanted to paint himself as anti-Trump, who wanted to save the world. Meanwhile, neither Macron nor the French PM showed up to COP24 Katowice, because they had to make concessions towards the Paris protestors at the cost of environmental changes. 

  • Wałęsa attends Bush funeral, makes political demonstration

    A short video showing the legendary “Solidarity” leader has been making the rounds on Polish social media. In it, Wałęsa is dressed in a “Constitution” shirt and looked lost at the funeral. No one was paying attention to him.

    https://twitter.com/PolskaPartia/status/1070383694119165954

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    Wałęsa appeared in the same shirt, a symbol of Polish opposition, at the airport in Warsaw and on the flight to Washington D.C. His Twitter account recounted the journey as it was happening: “Waiting for the flight to Washington at the airport in Warsaw.”

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    Flight with Duda

    At his own request, Lech Wałęsa was invited to join President Andrzej Duda on his flight to George H. W. Bush’s funeral.

    Wałęsa was likely hoping to cause a stir dressing in the “Constitution” shirt. His twitter feed was followed by people who were waiting for an argument to explode. Nothing happened, and the flight proceeded without any negative interactions. President Duda’s spokesman Błażej Spychalski emphasized that “taking former President Lech Wałęsa on board was an important gesture from President Duda.”

    Spychalski also commented that Wałęsa and Duda of course conversed during the flight, as the two men were sitting next to each other. “We are above the current, political conflicts in our country,” he said.

    Other twitter users were displeased with the fact that Wałęsa wore the provocative opposition t-shirt on his way to the funeral: “I’m so embarrassed by you!!! This is behaviour worthy of a kindergartener! I feel sorry when I think that me and my family used to support you!” 

  • Fear of migrants cannot be underestimated

    As the Paris protests demonstrates, it does not take much to radicalize citizens. Many people are still concerned over migrants fleeing to Europe. The more radical ones even call for tougher measures in order to not allow them to change the face of European countries.

    Only a third of people are convinced about any improvement of the refugee situation in the EU. Two thirds of them support the immigration policy of our government. Many people are offended when migration supporters blame them for fear of the unknown. However, according to security experts, people are rather afraid of the growing number of Muslims in Europe than of terrorists.

    The reason is because of Muslims´ high birth rates and uncoordinated immigration of family members using the advantage of family reunification law. Czechs are critical of their reluctance to integrate, creating closed communities, promoting a legal system incompatible with ours, and focusing on social benefits. They are afraid Muslims will abuse our democracy to grasp at first the local power, and that those who come to Europe will usually never leave.

    More radical citizens even demand tougher measures, and some predict a coming conflict that will decide our future.

    At present, about 22,000 Muslims live in the Czech Republic. There are around 27 million in Europe and up to 37 million are expected by 2050. In Russia, as a result of imperial politics, there are 23 million Muslims, 16 percent of the population. That is every seventh inhabitant!

    It is believed that France will be the first European Muslim country. Resistance to this reality also increases; Marine Le Pen is now more popular than President Macron.

    Also, the burning of Paris does not indicate a good situation and shows that any incitement is sufficient for radicalization – like the problems with migrants, as demonstrated by the recent protests in Germany.

  • France – a troubled and obese welfare state

    Discontent among French citizens is apparently bigger than expected, reaching far beyond the fuel tax issue. The tax increase itself couldn’t jeopardize living standards of the French. The problem is, people think they spend increasingly more on taxes while public services do not improve.

    Regarding the taxes, they have every right to feel under pressure. France is the second most expensive welfare state after Denmark as its tax revenue accounts to more than 45 percent of its GDP. Already back in 1965, France had tax-to-GDP ratio of 33 percent, which is approximately what the Czech Republic, Poland and the UK have now.

    But at the same time, with 31.5 percent of its GDP, France spends the most on the social welfare, leaving behind above-mentioned Denmark. When socialist Mitterrand took office in 1980 with a support from the Communists, his radical leftist government started to spend public funds generously. A habit adopted by all following administrations. Economically speaking, these days every French politician is to some extent a Communist.

    The French also love their welfare state and vote for those who sustain it. Therefore, even the far-right Marine Le Pen has a leftist economic doctrine and there is not a single relevant politician who supports economic liberalism. French people demand a social welfare but someone else should pay for it – businessmen, bourgeoisie and the wealthy.

    Because taxation has its limits and France spoils its prominent companies, funds are to be found elsewhere. France has a national debt of 97 percent of its GDP, debt of French private companies accounts to 193 percent of its GDP, and household debt is also high etc. All in all, it means that any reform will be hard to sell to the public. Thus, France has to constantly increase its debt in order to feed the obese welfare state.

    There is another dimension to this problem. While France is proud of its education and research, economic literacy of its citizens isn’t great. According to a Standard & Poor’s survey, only 52 percent of French adults understand fundamental concepts for financial decision making, such as compound interest and risk diversification.

  • Ledecká nominated for BBC World Sport Star of 2018

    Ledecká is one of the four sport starts shortlisted for the award and she may become the first Czech to ever win. The Czech double-gold Olympian will compete against American gymnast Simone Biles, Ukrainian boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk and Italian golf player Francesco Molinari.

    In PyeongChang, Ledecká became the first woman to win a gold medal in two different sports – super G and snowboard parallel giant slalom. Molinari won all five matches at the Ryder Cup and orchestrated his European’s team triumph. Usyk is this year’s WBC, WBA and IBF world cruiserweight champion.

    Last year, Roger Federer won for a fourth time in a row. The 2018 winner will be selected based on public votes and for the first time, people outside the UK are able to vote on the BBC’s website. The results will be presented on December 15th.

  • Feri in Politico’s Class of 2019 is a joke

    Feri, the youngest Czech MP ever elected, has achieved nothing in politics so far. His success has been solely built on his excellent PR campaign. Politico noted that he is not only the youngest MP, but he is also an extravagant person of color. All of which is true, of course, but that is it.

    Feri hasn’t been able to transform his success into something of substance and value. Moreover, his political party TOP 09 is basically in a coma. Politico compiles its list of people who may not hold a powerful office but shape their countries and Europe. Feri has been listed among the so-called dreamers.

    How exactly is Feri shaping the Czech Republic and Europe? Have you ever heard him say a unique and inspiring quote that could shape something? I haven’t. Try to ‘google’ him and you’ll end up with nothing but articles praising him as the youngest MP. There is an ideological and intellectual void.

    Ironically, Feri himself recently said in an interview that he enjoys studying law and he would like to pursue a career as a lawyer, and escape politics.

  • The golden age of Central Europe

    A long, long time ago in the 14thcentury, very peculiar things happened throughout the world. It turned out that Western Europe, which had until then radiated civilizational and cultural achievements and had been the engine of universal development, had begun to fall into the abyss of chaos and regression.

    This was due to many internal frictions, a disease which arrived from the Middle East and religious conflicts.

    Central Europe bloomed and over the course of the next few decades of the 14thcentury its countries: Poland, Hungary and the Kingdom of Bohemia, became world powers

    In the East, the Byzantine civilization was degenerating, mainly due to the pressure and vassalling of Byzantine emperors by the Ottoman Turks. 

    Meanwhile, Central Europe bloomed and over the course of the next few decades of the 14thcentury its countries: Poland, Hungary and the Kingdom of Bohemia, became world powers. 

    Hungary lost that status after the Turkish incursion in the 16thcentury. The Czechs lost it due to religious wars in the 15th. Poland held its position of power for the longest – up until the middle of the 17thcentury. 

    The international situation of the 14thcentury eerily reminds us of the one of today. I hope that history really likes to repeat itself. 

  • Budapest museum wins world’s best public building award

    The award at the London ceremony was accepted by Benedek Gyorgyevics, CEO of Városliget Kft., the main contractor of the Liget Budapest Project.

    The Liget project is Hungary’s most ambitious urban architectural project since 1990. It consists of the complete overhaul of the Liget city park, its existing museums, bath, zoo and other landmark buildings, as well as the construction of three new museums, a theater and a restoration and storage center serving all the museums.

    Gyorgyevics said the Museum of Ethnography was automatically shortlisted for the award after having previously won the best European public building award.

    “This is a victory of historic proportions for Hungary, especially because the jury consisting of 80 experts from around the world chose a state investment,” Gyorgyevics said. “The award draws attention not only to the excellent performance of Hungarian architecture but also to Hungarian innovation and culture in a more general sense.”

    Title image: architects’ concept of the Museum of Ethnography, Budapest (photo: developer website)

  • Bosch bring US$49 million investment to Hungary

    “Hungary has a traditionally very good relationship with German mechanical industry and 29 percent of the foreign investments in the country came from German investors,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó said at the announcement of the investment. He added that the state will contribute HUF 3.5 billion, mostly in the form of necessary infrastructure development.

    The investment will go towards establishing a battery competence center and expanding the assembly capacity of Bosch power tools in Miskolc.

    László Fükő, CEO of Bosch Power Tools Hungary said they will build a new 20,000 square meter assembly plant and other ancillary buildings such as laboratories, a mess hall and parking place. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

    Bosch Power Tools GmbH – the power tools subsidiary of German Robert Bosch GmbH – had revenues of EUR 4.2 billion in 2017 and has 19,000 employees globally.

    Title image: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó at the announcement of the investment (MTI/Lajos Soós)

  • Polish economy may slow in 2019

    The first survey in four years, carried out among managers of several hundred Polish companies implies a slowdown in Poland’s industry sector. The drop of Poland’s PMI is below 50 points and is also a warning in the context of the entire Polish economy. 

    Poland’s PMI compares poorly to that of not only Western European countries, but other V4 members such as the Czech Republic and Hungary.

    After five quarters of intense GDP growth the economy’s slowdown will lower the growth from 5 to 4 percent during 2019

    Arkadiusz Balcerowski of brokerage XTB points to the decrease in export, the first drop in production since 2016 and the lowering of employment. “The drop of PMI itself is but a warning signal of the slowdown in industry. The details coming from the survey do not fill us with optimism,” Balcerowski said.

    He underlined, however, that this is part of a cyclical nature and that the economy’s growth dynamic has to simply slow down in the next quarters.

    Poland was in the lead as a developing economy, now it is at the tail end of developed ones.

    Economists from Santander Bank Polska predict that after five quarters of intense GDP growth the economy’s slowdown will lower the growth from 5 to 4 percent during 2019.

  • Budapest to host 2023 Athletic World Championship

    The event will be held at a new athletics stadium that will be built in the southern part of the Hungarian capital (see image above). It will have a permanent capacity of 15,000, and for the event will be extended to 40,000.

    “In the past 30 years Hungary has organized every single world and European Championships, indoor and out – on the road, cross country – available to us except for the World Athletics Championships, and we are incredibly proud that this collection will be complete in just under five years’ time,” said European Athletics Council member Márton Gyulai, CEO of the Bid Committee for Budapest 2023.

    Budapest_Athletics_World-Championship

    The Budapest bid delegation in Monaco after the decision (L to R): government commissioner for international sport bids Balázs Fürjes, World and European indoor shot put champion Anita Márton, deputy mayor of Budapest Alexandra Szalay-Bobrovniczky and Márton Gyulai. (Image: Balázs Fürjes, Twitter) 

    Title image: architect’s concept of the planned Budapest athletics center (photo: KKBK)

  • The world order is changing

    The last few years have seen serious change in the world order. Russia and China are trying to negate the order established on American dominance. Although the US’ authority is still far from over, their advantage is not as large as a few years ago. Which is why the scenario of a return to the Concert of Powers is likely. This time, however, it would be between the USA and China.

    Such a change in world order provokes the strongest European countries, such as France and Germany, to increase their own spheres of influence. Poland’s geopolitical position in the world is key in the upcoming conflict between world powers. The bridge between the Baltic and Black Seas is key to controlling Europe. 

    Poland’s geopolitical position in the world is key in the upcoming conflict between world powers

    China has been trying to utilize developments in technology and transport to promote the One Belt One Road project – the new Silk Road. Russia, on the other hand, is using its military strength to secure Central-Eastern Europe, which would protect them from a foreign attack and allow for direct cooperation with Germany. 

    A key US base in Poland

    This is why a permanent American military base would be a means to halt Russian and Chinese influence. Such a base would increase Poland’s security in an age of uncertain global politics. The base would also be a guarantee of help if Germany or Russia decided to undertake more active ventures to dominate Central-Eastern Europe. 

    Although Poland would then stand on the side of the United States, it shouldn’t also rule out potential cooperation with Beijing. That would require great dexterity in politics, however.

    Building up Poland’s position by America, while also strengthening its own economy and military, would also increase Poland’s credibility and make it more valuable to potential allies and partners. 

  • Opinion: Not from my tax money!

    In the beginning (i.e. in Communist times) everything belonged to everybody. It followed that what is yours is also mine, but you should not be concerned with what is mine. Then came capitalism and the concept that everything is made from my tax money, so I also have a right to say what to spend it on.

    This has degenerated to the point where everyone has an opinion on what should or should not be built and where. Build this, don’t build that, here and not there. After all, this is my tax money, so I have a right to decide on what it should be spent on.

    Except you don’t.

    Let me hesitantly explain the essence of popular representation. In times of old, the King (Emperor, Czar) derived his power from God himself and the populace accepted this as the prime rule. The ruler simply said what will be built and where and – with or without checks and balances in place – that is exactly what happened.

    In the present world without God or authority we govern ourselves. But if everyone just came forward with their proposal, there would be nothing but endless debates. So that’s why we came up with a convoluted system where we vote who should represent us in legislature, making for a functional system.

    But the members of this system cannot be replaced on a whim – that would result in anarchy. So your tax money only exists within these confines. In a modern democracy you can cast your vote, send a representative but in the end, if you are in a minority, you must accept that you will be ignored to a certain degree.

    If you don’t like how the money is being distributed and you would like to see 50 percent of the GDP spent on solar power, you can establish or support a party that wants to do exactly that. One thing you cannot do: you cannot question the majority decisions of a government elected three times in a row with a two thirds majority.

    You have a right to voice your opinion that things aren’t going as they should, they steal everything and the system is corrupt. But you must also accept if the overwhelming majority disagrees with you, seeing how political majority is not decided by the loudness of any given voice.

    So we should stick to democracy and the rule of law, now that we already have it.

  • Polish businesses like Czech climate

    Out of the Czech Republic’s 490,000 registered companies, only four out of five had Czech owners. The others were foreign investors whose numbers have been on the rise. The majority of these come from Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland, reports analytical company Bisonde Ceska republika. 

    According to their data, more than 5,000 Slovakian companies came to the Czech Republic, as well as 2,500 Ukrainian and 2,300 Polish ones. The numbers do not include sole traders. 

    Poles establish activity in the Czech Republic for one reason: there is a much more clear and friendly settlement climate, with lower costs

    The most dynamic were the last three years, in which 3,700 Polish entrepreneurships registered in the Czech Republic. 56 percent more than in 2015. Only Romanians (from 630 to 1,350 companies) can boast of a higher number. The United Kingdom is third with a 50 percent increase.

    According to Zdenek Rosenberg, a Cyrrus broker analyst, the influx of Polish and Slovakian capital might be an attempt to utilize the closeness of economies. 

    “Poles establish activity in the Czech Republic for one reason: there is a much more clear and friendly settlement climate, with lower own costs,” explains Tomasz Starczyk from Bisonde. He also argues, that this influx is due to the shared cultural and lingual elements of Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as similar experiences during political system changes.

    An opposite phenomenon is visible in the companies from Russia, Holland and China, where their businesses have seen a decrease. 

  • Protests in France show the new wave of social injustice

    If the French go out to the streets, it does not have to be a revolution. In France, it’s rather a tradition. However, the “Yellow Vests” event is high on the list, and the French government has even been considering declaring a state of emergency.

    This year’s protests do not have any distinct originators, as it was in the autumn of 2005. It does not include migrants, fascists, or bearers of any other -isms, but simply people who disagree with the rise of gas and diesel fuel prices. But beware, it may be a preview of the next social conflict in Europe. It will not be a duel of the traditional right and the left, but a conflict of perceiving justice as a contradiction between global justice and local, state or national justice.

    It is only a coincidence that the French protest against higher taxation of gas and diesel fuel at the time when the UN climate conference in Katowice begins. But both events illustrate a conflict of justice in a way. The climate issue is about how to reduce global emissions. It offers a way of changing consumer behavior and higher taxation of pollutants (fuels, flights, meat). On the other hand, demonstrators in France are concerned about how to keep the availability of car traffic so that it does not turn into a hobby just for the rich, which is a matter of justice from the states´ and redistribution´s point of view.

    It is not an abstract topic. This is illustrated by the fall of the traditional left-wing parties that have not captured this conflict and its actors and did not stand up for them. The German blogger, Don Alphonso, has portrayed it accurately: A city hipster gets into a Tesla electric car, which starts at 78,000 euros and goes to the countryside to buy organic food from a farmer. But the farmer uses a diesel van to get his product to the city.

    Is this a question of attitude for the farmer? Or rather a question of economic survival? If the left does not find understanding for these people, it will end up like Marie Antoinette, who asked during protests over bread: So why do they not eat pies?

  • The BIS report warns of Russia and China

    The Czech Republic faced extensive computer spy attacks from Russia last year. Most active in attacking Czech institutions was the APT28/Sofacy campaign of Russian military intelligence service GRU. This campaign is not only aimed at data acquisition but is increasingly focusing on thefts of personal data and logins to various systems.

    At the beginning of last year, Czech counter-intelligence uncovered, for example, unauthorized access to more than 150 mailboxes of employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including top officials. The Russians thus obtained data useful for future attacks and a list of other possible targets in state institutions. Attacks on emails of people associated with the Ministry of Defense and the Czech Army have also been reported.

    The second most active secret service in the Czech Republic was according to BIS the Chinese one. While the Russians have focused on influence operations and extraction of resources, China has focused less on influence and more on intelligence penetration. The BIS warns of Russian and Chinese diplomats and businessmen and the frivolity of some Czech politicians and state employees who keep in touch with them.

    Russia’s goal, according to BIS, is to weaken NATO and the EU through the member states of these organizations. In the Czech Republic, for example, it uses freedom of speech, and disinformation websites that serve Russian interests without Russia initiating it. The BIS report also deals with the growing economic activities of foreign investors, especially from Russia and China.

    In the Czech Republic, supporters of traditional extremism – the far right and far left – are in decline. Their numbers are decreasing, and they cannot reach the young generation. In connection with extremism, the report also describes the reorganization of the movement, which, in the wake of the migrant crisis, opposed Islam, in the “anti-government” movement. As a result of the low number of migrants flowing to Europe, Czech anti-immigration rhetoric is not being addressed by Czechs, and so these people have focused on other themes that evoke an emotional response from the public.

  • Babiš dismisses EU report

    Babiš repeated that due to European subsidies for Agrofert companies, he was not in a conflict of interest. An analysis published by Minister of Justice Jan Kněžínek (ANO) is going to be sent to the European Commission. According to the Minister, Babiš’s procedure corresponds to Czech law.

    “The question of who is the beneficiary is not decisive,” Kněžínek reported. Stated by him, the law is not inconsistent with the European regulation. At the same time, however, lawyers did not investigate European law. “It’s not our responsibility,” he said.

    Minister of Regional Development Klára Dostálová (ANO) stated that she does not plan any changes in the distribution of subsidies, because PM Babiš does not participate in budget implementation – does not provide subsidies, does not participate in financial management or audits. Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (ANO) therefore added that returning of subsidies is currently not an option.

    Also, Kněžínek said that lawyers see no reason to change the current version of the law on conflict of interest, according to which Babiš has transferred his assets to the Trust Fund. “If it is a well-functioning trust fund, then it is ensured that there is no conflict … the trusteeship manager is the third person, and it is his responsibility,” Kněžínek said.

  • Same-sex marriage: What an irrelevant thing to vote about

    The Chamber of Deputies will be discussing the same-sex marriage act, which would provide homosexuals with the possibility of getting married. This act seems to be irrelevant if we consider the fact that Czechs are already tolerant of homosexuals. The Czech Republic has many other problems to deal with. Education, lack of highways or support of business. Despite this, the Chamber of Deputies will be discussing same-sex marriages which are quite a sensitive topic.

    When the Czech government accepted civil partnership as a law in 2006, activists said that this is the end. They would not require any further “benefits” such as adoptions or marriage. Numbers say that they are not interested in having a civil partnership. So, why having marriages? Political homosexuals are starting a campaign, but they do not have the right to decide for others. They simply just divide society, and that’s not good.

    Austria-Hungary during the era of Emperor Joseph II was the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty for homosexual behavior. Even in the abolition of the crime itself, Czechoslovakia was among the most liberal countries in the world (in the 1960s). Homosexuals enjoy all human rights, sit in parliament, and are successful in several economic sectors. And people do not care. The Czech Republic is a tolerant country.

  • Whisky vs fruit brandy debate ignites in Hungary

    The first shot in the war between whisky (specifically scotch whisky) and the Hungarian fruit brandy pálinka was fired by columnist György Szalma on opinion portal Mandiner, in which the author went as far as to say that “the Anglo-Saxon nations in their great inventiveness (…) are able to sell for good money the world’s lowliest spirit by marketing it as a lifestyle, an image”. Adding insult to injury, he called whisky “foot-washing water”.

    Such insults, of course, could not not be tolerated in the whisky camp. So one of them, only identified as Friar Malt (maláta barát) countered with saying that “the seed of hatred took roots in the deep Hungarian soil, fetishizing the local drink as a demigod”.

    Friar Malt – as opposed to Szalma – is of the opinion that disparaging whisky just because it originates from grains as opposed to fruits is an infantile argument at best and the Scots should rather be admired for their ingenuity in making the best of their limited resources and building a multi-billion industry as well as one of the richest aroma varieties in the world of distilled spirits.

    Szalma says that in the past even the British only drank whisky to sanitize water in the distant provinces but given a choice, even they preferred Spanish sherry. Friar Malt, on the other hand, says that while he also enjoys the occasional pálinka, the ugly truth is that home-brewed pálinka is borderline unpalatable and can by no means stand up to whisky.

    Szalma, however, concluded his opinion piece by stating – something Malt Friar ignored completely – that while pálinka comes closest to being lovable, no distilled spirit is worth such affection. The only alcoholic drink that carries a higher, spiritual meaning is wine.       

  • Rail Baltica will connect Helsinki with Warsaw

    The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications reported that Finland is willing to join in constructing the Rail Baltica. This railway would connect Warsaw with Tallinn and then, via an underwater tunnel, with Helsinki.

    “Rail Baltica is an important new trade route into Central European markets for Finland. This is why we have decided to join the enterprise joint venture RB rail, which coordinates Rail Baltica, as to hasten the completion of the project,” said the Finnish Minister of Transport Anne Berner.

    Rail Baltica is an important new trade route into Central European markets for Finland

     

    According to the previous Rail Baltica schedule, the railway would be around 1,000km long and would be completed in 2026. 

    The trains would travel at a speed of 160 km/h. The whole venture, financed mostly from European Union funds, has been estimated to be EUR 6 billion. The project has been made a part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

  • “Lampart ’18” tested V4’s military cooperation

    The “Lampart ‘18” maneuvers involved the cooperation of more than 1,500 soldiers from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. They took place in Nowa Dęba, South Poland. The exercises are meant to confirm NATO’s preparation to protect its Eastern flank from external aggression. 

    “The cooperation went really well,” says Polish captain Adam Trela. “We spent twenty-four hours a day with each other. During that time we planned and carried out combat together. We also had the opportunity to learn and see the different strategies of our allies.” 

    We have a common identity and close work environments allow for understanding

    Czech Major Libor Tesar also acknowledged the professionalism of cooperation with other V4 troops: “Our forces have many common attributes. Even if we encounter any difficulties, we are able to overcome them. We have a common identity and close work environments allow for understanding.”

    To conduct the difficult military operations, the main language used was English.

    The “Lampart ‘18” maneuvers will be continued next year and will take place in the Czech Republic. The exercises improving the cooperation of forces of the V4 are cyclical and each year they are hosted by a different member of the alliance.

  • Finance Minister: Hungary does not support eurozone budget

    A separate budget for the eurozone is against the interests of Hungary, Varga said at the meeting.

    The creation of stabilization budget for the eurozone was first brought up by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and at the time it was intended to be worth several percent of the European Union’s gross domestic product and aimed at increasing the area’s resilience to crises. Germany was behind the idea, but some eurozone member states – most notably the Netherlands – opposed it.

    Last month France and Germany agreed on the concept that the money should be placed in the EU’s common long-term budget, but the size of the fund was not specified.

    Varga said that if the eurozone member states had a separate budget at their disposal it would result in serious risks and that is why Hungary does not support the plan. He added that a separate eurozone budget would also unnecessarily widen the gap between member states within and outside it.

    He also said economic development, cohesion, innovation, research and development are all areas of common interest for every member state and no group should be allowed to have special privileges.

    Varga said the plan would exclude member states outside the eurozone from additional funding for joint EU economic policy goals and impose stricter coordination of national economic policies, something Hungary does not support.   

  • UN Climate COP24 started in Katowice

    Although COP24 in Katowice is a large and prestigious event, there is also a worry that nothing will be realized if the gathered countries won’t reach a consensus and convince the largest ones to participate. “Europe is a region where the discussion about energy is the strongest, but it is only one region in the world and others create much more damage,” said publicist Karol Gac.

    The international guests of the event were greeted by Polish President Andrzej Duda, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Polish Minister of the Environment Henryk Kowalczyk. The talks are meant to focus on guidelines concerning climate policies.

    tt

    According to Karol Gac, a common way must be achieved and without radical actions, otherwise the darkest of scenarios from science-fiction movies might fulfil themselves. The absence of certain leaders at COP24 is not surprising, as these are only work meetings. Similar situations have occurred at G7 and G20 summits.

    30,000 guests in 12 days

    Over the next 12 days more than 30,000 people are to arrive in Katowice, including heads of state, prime ministers and institutions responsible for climate and environment. Entrepreneurs and non-government organization representatives are also meant to be present. 

    The first legally binding agreement concerning climate change had been accepted at the Paris conference in 2015. The international community had agreed to attempt to halt global warming at 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than before the Industrial Revolution.

  • Hungary rejects second vote on humanitarian visas

    Contrary to what the European Parliament plans, humanitarian visas should not be allowed as they are “insane, absurd and dangerous,” Gál told journalists in Brussels.

    She said that according to the proposal of the LIBE committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, all member states of the European Union should issue refugee visas without preliminary security screening and asylum procedure.

    “We can see that anyone who is already here, be they dangerous people, migrants, illegal or economic, cannot be sent back, so they will remain here. This is absurd and also raises security concerns,” she said.

    Gál said visa applicants will flood the embassies “by the thousands”, which will put extraordinary strain on all member state representations outside the EU. She said the pro-migrant politicians of the EP want to force the issue through despite the fact that it has already been voted down once.

    “This only shows the creativity of those who want to bring the migrants into Europe at all costs. We can only say that we oppose this because the whole situation is insane and absurd,” she said. 

  • Archbishop urges politicians to “stop killing Polish hearts”

    “Do not kill hearts. Especially those tiny hearts beneath the heart of their mother. The heart of a child has a right to live under the heart of its mother,” the Archbishop pleaded. 

    The Archbishop emphasized, that the time for choice was now – to either be godly or godless. “But those who will remain godless, will be judged by God himself,” warned Dzięga.

    The Archbishop said that “killing Polish hearts, is killing Poland.” 

    “My dear Polish politicians, do not look at the far away world which is on the edge of madness,” Dzięga continued. “Be wise and free in God’s way.” 

    Killing Polish hearts, is killing Poland

    The gathered believers applauded the Archbishop’s defense of the lives of Polish children. This confirmed the expectations of Poles, who want the issue of protecting lives to finally be taken seriously by the Polish government. 

    For over a year the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has been unable to take a position concerning abortion laws. This has not allowed the Polish parliament or Polish judges to properly evaluate the laws. 

    This situation is a source of some tension between the PiS leadership and the Catholic Church in Poland.

  • PM Orbán: Hungarian-Croatian relations need mending

    “I don’t know of any single economic issue whose value would surpass 800 years of Hungarian-Croatian friendship,” Orbán said, referring to the controversies surrounding the two countries energy companies, MOL and INA.

    In a recently begun trial, Croatia is accusing MOL President-CEO Zsolt Hernádi of bribing then-Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader with EUR 10 million in 2008, when MOL was negotiating with the Croatian state to increase its stake in Croatian oil and gas company INA to 49 percent.

    He referred to the issue as a “thorn under the nail” causing discomfort to an otherwise healthy organism. Answering a question, he said he regards the issue a purely corporate matter while the legal proceedings are something “politics does not interfere with”.

    Orbán also said that he wants the legal issues to remain firmly separate from inter-state relations.

    The two leaders also discussed the issue of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal being built in the Croatian port of Krk, about which Orbán said that while Hungary is expanding its nuclear reactor and investing heavily in solar power, natural gas will remain an important energy source in the coming years.

     

    Title image: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (L) meets his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković in Zagreb. (MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)

  • Mosbacher comments on her letter to Morawiecki

    “Freedom of speech, freedom of press are key values. I don’t really understand the frenzy around this whole issue. Maybe these are values that we take for granted, but I don’t believe so,” Mosbacher explained in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita”. “You have freedom of press in Poland, just like we do in the United States.”

    Mosbacher admitted that some of the reactions of Poles had struck her hard and hurt. “But have they weakened me? No. I believe in my values and the mandate given to me by the President. I will continue to fulfil my duty as best as I can.”

    I don’t really understand the frenzy around this whole issue

    The Ambassador also retorted that she does know how politics work. “I’m not naïve. I have been observing politics for a very long time to know what happens when you enter someone else’s territory,” she said.

    Mosbacher underlined that although life can be brutal, as long as you are open and fair, you can go on. “We see that in Poland, where we have dynamic, bilateral relations,” she said.

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    Poland as a bastion against Russia

    “You are an important country lying between Russia and Germany,” Mosbacher said and emphasized Poland’s importance in combating Russian aggression. “Poland is a kind of bastion against Russian aggression in the region.”

    “Poland has a fundamentally strategic value for the security of this region. Because we are in NATO, a strong Poland means a safer United States,” the Ambassador said.

  • “Silent night” turns 200 years old

    In 1817, a young priest named Joseph Mohr was appointed to the Austrian village of Oberndorf near Salzburg. The previous year he had written a Christmas poem and just before Christmas Eve in 1818 he brought the lyrics to composer Franz Xaver Gruber, asking him to set the m to music: two solo voices and guitar accompaniment – as the small congregation had neither a proper choir nor an organ in their little chapel.

    Gruber finished the composition the same day and it was first performed in the chapel that year.

    Oberndorf Chapel Silent Night

    The chapel in Oberndorf, Austria where the song has first been performed in 1818. (source: Wikipedia)

    But the song only began its world conquest after an organ builder by the name of Karl Mauracher fell in love with it and performed it in a church in Leipzig, Germany. The song has since been translated into 140 languages and Bing Crosby’s version has become the third best-selling single of all time.

  • Twain’s Huckleberry Finn censored

    This isn’t the first time that Mark Twain’s books and columns are being censored, as during his life he had been a typical Southerner who was sceptical about American unity. He considered it to be forced by the federal government in Washington. He wasn’t shy to hide his aversion to US imperial policies and was a staunch opponent of Theodore Roosevelt. 

    Twain understood that some of his views would not be understood by his contemporaries, which is why he ordered his autobiography – a 5,000 page manuscript – to be published 100 years after his death. He feared that it would be harshly censored by “progressives” from Washington in the early 20thcentury.

    Even he couldn’t foresee what would become of an America shackled by political correctness in the 21th century. 

    The word “nigger” cannot be exchanged for “slave”, because it has a completely different semantic meaning 

    What would he say if he learned that after his death, some haunted corrector of the world would dare to censor one of his best works? Twain mercilessly shows the simplicity, xenophobia and racism, but also the good, helpfulness and the diligence and sense of freedom of the Southerners. The dialogue in the book is not pretty, it is authentic with all its bloodiness and vulgarity. 

    The word “nigger” cannot be exchanged for “slave”, because it has a completely different semantic meaning. That is why it is at the very top of the pyramid of banned phrases. Even saying the word, without using the euphemism “N-word” is regarded as racist.

    Americans feel that they have been called to defend freedom of speech and freedom of press throughout the world. This is very commendable. Which is why they should give an example, that history, literature and art shouldn’t be censored under any circumstances.  

  • Opinion: Macron, the symptom of a systemic crisis

    French policy has had some tough times recently. It all began with the terrorist attacks three years ago followed by the introduction of a state of emergency, its extension, yet more terrorist attacks followed by the customary suburban riots.

    The crisis, in fact, began during the presidency of François Hollande, but the complaints of the police syndicates – insufficient staffing, lack of equipment – have simply been ignored. Last year sixty-six officers committed suicide.

    The troubles police are faced with in France are just the symptoms of a systemic crisis that has been plaguing France for years and to which no government was able to find a workable solution. Yes, of course the French love to protest. They love strikes, they hate to go to school, and defend their 35-hour work week to the last.

    But as an explanation this is clearly inadequate. The recent riots are way past just being about fuel taxes: they are about a general increase in housing costs, high unemployment, a widening gap between rich and poor, immigration and the difficulties of integration.

    And Emmanuel Macron is not the solution, but part of the systemic crisis. He is himself a symptom. He is the symbol of a division characteristic not only of France but of the entire Western world.

    Let us not forget that should the satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné not have exposed the corruption scandal of François Fillon, Macron wouldn’t even merit a footnote in the history books. Macron navigated the election process quite well and in the second round of the presidential elections it was either him or Marine Le Pen.

    His real problem is that he still only enjoys the support of about 20-22 percent of the population, but there is no second round of voting any more, there is no more 66 percent support for fear of having Marine Le Pen instead.

    Recent opinion polls show that 84 percent of the population supports the cause of the “yellow vests”. Meaning that Macron has lost his voter base.

     

  • 100 years of Romania from a Hungarian perspective

    As we all know, December 1st has been the official national day of Romania since the regime change. It is debated to this day why the legislators chose this particular day. One thing, however, is beyond debate: it is a cause for celebration for Romanians but not Hungarians.

    The historic truth is that the fate of Transylvania was not decided on December 1st, 1918 (the date when a popular meeting of Romanians proclaimed the unification with Transylvania), but on June 4th, 1920. This means the Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, Romania) popular meeting was nothing more than a similar meeting in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) on December 22nd of the same year, where the Hungarians proclaimed their belonging to Hungary.

    When the Romanian legislators decided on having December 1st as the national day, they had not been very circumspect: it is clear that said date is only a celebration for Romanians. This means that 1.5 million (ethnic) Hungarians with Romanian citizenship are being disregarded.

    The problem with Romania – and its political elite in particular – is that it is unable to rise above the “victorious” position a century ago. They would also expect us to celebrate when we have every reason to mourn. But not all Romanians think like that: fortunately, some of them have diverging opinions, even sympathetic with the Hungarian one. The problem is that they will not declare this publicly, lest their lives become impossible.

    As long as this remains the case and the majority of Romanians can be scared with the prospect of “revisionism” we, the Hungarians of Transylvania have little hope. That’s it.

    Title image: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi

  • Morawiecki: Renovation complete, time for stability

    The PM claimed his party’s main objective is to let Poles live at a European level. He said he sees a positive social energy throughout Poland and hopes that this will allow for further development of the country.

    Morawiecki recounted that it is the versatility of PiS’ program that is its main strength. “Combating smog, electromobility and lowering taxes for small and medium sized companies is a wide offer for entrepreneurs. That is what we are focusing on,” he said.

    We want to decrease political tension, we don’t want these political fights to be reminiscent of tribal warfare. We don’t want people to be divided

    “After the three years during which we have renovated our home, it is time for peace and stability,” said the PM and underlined that he wanted the country to steadily develop economically.

    Morawiecki also claimed that his party is one of “political change” which understood the need for stability. “We want to decrease political tension, we don’t want these political fights to be reminiscent of tribal warfare. We don’t want people to be divided,” said the PM. 

    “We invite the opposition to substantive cooperation, to discuss our programs. We’ve made mistakes, but who doesn’t make them won’t achieve anything. When we make them, we get up, fix them and go on,” Morawiecki emphasized.  

  • PM Orbán: UN migration pact is a serious risk

    “I am pleased that the Czech Republic and the Czech government have established and held a very bold position in several complicated and hard questions in the past, which gives a good chance for the two countries to be able to follow their own path on difficult issues, in cooperation with each other.

    I am pleased to note that we evaluated the migration compact or pact of the UN in the same way, which is I believe a flawed document which lays down principles that will actually stimulate illegal migration and not reduce it.

    Anyone who signs this compact, this UN agreement –whether they admit it or not – will impose a very serious risk on his own people

    Image: Viktor Orbán Facebook page

  • Waters calls to resist Kaczyński

    Pink Floyd’s co-founder and former band member displayed the slogan during his concert in Mexico City.

    Brudziński was quick to respond on Twitter, criticizing the musician’s display: 

    “Although Roger Waters definitely isn’t an old communist, he is an old, useful idiot of Putin’s.”

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    During his concert in Poland in August, Roger Water displayed similar slogans, criticizing the Polish government and labelling them neo-fascists.

    In his list of “neo-fascists” he listed names such as Viktor Orban, Marine Le Pen, Vladimir Putin and Jarosław Kaczyński.

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  • Future of Europe: The potential of the V4 alliance

    Welcome to the new, ECHO television magazine. Surveys show that the majority of Hungarians do not know much about the economic and political life of Central Europe and the potential of the V4 alliance. The purpose of our current magazine program is to bring Visegrád cooperation closer to everyday people and to show its political and everyday use and the fight of the Visegrád countries for their future during the European Parliamentary election campaign. It is my honor to welcome Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás in the studio. Thank you for accepting our invitation as the first guest in our newly launched magazine.

    Good evening.

    Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that V4 became a brand in politics. Do you think the V4 is a strong brand today in international politics?

    I think if we look at the best cooperating member states, we find that everybody mentions the cooperation among the V4 countries, besides the French–German and Benelux cooperations. It shows that today Europe is also counting on—and should count on—the fact that the V4 countries have recognized their common interests and that they are able to jointly represent them.

    If we talk about interest, we often hear that associations are born from interests or values. Do you think the alliance of the V4 is based on interests or values today?

    Both, and I think it is necessary to collaborate with each other successfully. Let’s be honest; it is very important that the values are the same, but if the interests in the long term and in many questions are different, then it makes it very difficult to cooperate. In the instance of the V4 countries, it is not the case. These Member States joined the EU in 2004 or later, and we can see countless common interests. The migration triggered a value crisis that is mainly about the identity and about how we want to see Europe in the upcoming decades and what we want to keep from traditional European values. This issue clearly showed that there is and what we want to treasure from traditional European values. It showed that there is a close cooperation between the countries. If you think about the political situation of the Visegrád countries, you can see that no government belongs to the same party. The Czechs are in the liberal faction, the Poles are in the conservative faction, we are in the people’s party, and the Slovaks are in the socialist faction. However, this cooperation is closer than anything else in the EU. It shows well that there are common values in different societies beyond borders, which further strengthens this cooperation.

    A few weeks ago, an international conference on V4 was held in the Czech Republic. Let’s see what Jan Kovar, an expert in international relations, was thinking about the topic.

    If we take a look at the debates in the EU, most of the coalitions are case-specific, which does not mean that the east and west or north and south are opposed to each other, but that there are certain issues along which coalitions are emerging. The Visegrád 4 can be interpreted along this logic. There are also problems where we have a common view and we can persuade other states to support us. In other cases, however, the political interests of the Visegrád states are not the same.

    Minister, are there still any values or issues that can overcome these political interests in the near or in the far future, for example, after the elections of the European Union?

    We cannot see what is going to happen in the next decades in this region. If I had to predict I would say that integration will be strengthened in this area. If we look just a few years ahead, I am optimistic because the first most important parliamentary decision of the European Union will be the decision about the next seven-year budget. The Commission had an intention to get it accepted in this legislative cycle, but there is no realistic chance to do so. In this case, we should agree on the seven-year budget, and the standpoints of the four countries are very close to each other, and the interests of the four countries are fundamentally congruent. Migration will remain as a long-term topic in the European Union, but it may change. However, I should admit that it has already changed. It is not just about discussing how to defend the external borders; it is also about discussing what is going to happen to Europe and how Western society can keep its own national values when 42% of children under the age of six are no longer born as children of the majority nation. These questions arise— whether I look at identity or at financial values, I come to the conclusion that the interests and the values of these four countries are the same.

    Although this is the case, the political system and structure at the governmental level have been quite changeable in recent times. It is enough to think of the Czech Republic or Slovakia. A couple of months ago, a conference on V4 took place in Budapest, Hungary, and I had the chance to talk to former Czech President Vaclav Klaus. He was very critical of his own country, the Czech Republic, and its current government. Let me show you what he thinks, and then l look forward to hearing the response of the minister.

    I think that the inner strength of Visegrád 4 is not so great because although Hungary is strong through the voice of Viktor Orbán, and Poland is strong as well, my own country, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia as well, are weak. I am afraid that the basically non-existent Czech government has no policy that could help the situation, so there is no cohesion of interest in the V4.

    It was a strong criticism. The former Czech president obviously wants to send a message to the Czech government. How much can these weak countries weaken the future unity that would be very important, especially during the campaign?

    The basis of the V4 is that we do not interfere in each other’s domestic politics. It is different from the operation of the European Union. If we should secretly identify which party or politician we would like to see in the prime minister’s office, of course, we could decide, but we came to the conclusion that it is irrelevant because we must cooperate with the one that was elected democratically. The words of the Hungarian ministers and the Hungarian government are more respected and more severe than the power of the country based on the numbers of its inhabitants and its economic weight. It is because of the viewpoints of the country on the migration crises and partly because Viktor Orbán is the longest-serving prime minister in the European Union after the German chancellor. Poland will always have a prominent role among the V4, because 40 million of the 65 million people in the V4 community are Polish. Mr. Babis has been leading the prime minister’s office of a non-stable government for almost a year. If we look at the current situation or the political personality, we might really feel that the Hungarians and the Polish have a bigger say. However, if a prime minister would run Slovakia or the Czech Republic for 7–8 years and win a third election, but someone in Hungary would be the Prime Minister only for half a year, it would change the situation. In the long term, we can say that these countries are much better at understanding each other than being understood by Western European societies. I think that this is the key point.

    A sensitive point of the V4 is the Slovak government crisis and Robert Fico’s resignation. On the 1st of July, Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Bellegrini took over the leadership of the V4 under those circumstances. We are now connecting Titus Németh, the correspondent of ECHO TV in Bratislava. What are the objectives of Slovakia regarding the V4 alliance?

    The aim of Slovakia aligns with the objectives of the previous presidencies. The goals are to achieve the following: 1) a strong Europe that is dealing with the Eurozone; 2) a safe environment, which includes energy policy and migration; and 3) intelligent solutions for renewable energies. In those matters where the viewpoints of the V4 countries differ among one another, Slovakia has only formulated general statements. One of the key objectives of Slovakia is to actively engage in the work of European events and to strengthen relations with the Baltic States and the North, including France, Germany, and the Benelux countries.

    Peter Pellegrini, Prime Minister of Slovakia, said when he took over the presidency of the V4 that Slovakia is trying to reach meaningful solutions. What does he mean by that?

    There is no specific target area; the Prime Minister Pellegrini always emphasizes the importance of dialogue. He believes that only in this way can concrete results be achieved and can have a positive impact on the lives of people in the region. He always highlights the clear European orientation of our V4 countries, which is indispensable for the whole region.

    What is the standpoint of Slovakia in relation to the Article 7 sanctions proceedings against Hungary and Poland?

    In Slovakia, this opinion is strongly divided.  Many believe that supporting Hungary would ruin the image of Slovakia. Andrej Danko, President of the Slovak National Party and President of the Slovak Parliament, said that the Slovak Parliament plans to adopt a decision by which Slovakia stands in favor of Polish and Hungarian sovereignty. However, he did not state when it would be submitted to the parliament and accepted. He stated that nobody will harm Poland and Hungary. Prime Minister Pellegrini reacted and agreed that if politicians do accept such a decision, then it should be respected by the government. He found the moves of Poland and Hungary that were criticized by the Sargentini report to be controversial.

    Thank you, Titus Németh, for the newscast from Bratislava, and we are counting on you in the future. What does the Hungarian government expect from the Slovak presidency?

    We would like to see the implementation of the common goals. The presidency of the V4 is passed on annually, and it aims to support the continuity, since independent programs cannot be implemented within one year. The objectives that have been outlined here and which are clarified by the Slovak government, everyone can agreement with. It was about the relationship with Germany. It is clear that the V4 countries do not want to isolate themselves in Europe. If we talk about the relationship with Germany, it is difficult to measure it objectively, because the German public life and mass information are limited or roughly unbalanced, and the main point is often not visible. The main thing is that the foreign trade of Germany with the V4 countries (where 65 million people live just like in France) is 55% higher than its trade with France. This shows that Central Europe is a key region for Germany from an economical viewpoint. If we look at financial politics, we can see that it is mainly realized in the Central European region besides in Germany. The implementation of energy security is also very important even if there were to be differences in relations with Russia. We have no reason to sympathize with the Russians, but it is still a fact that the Hungarian economy cannot function without Russian energy. We have a much more pragmatic cooperation with Russia, while for Poland, it is an ideologically driven question, which is also understandable. In these questions, we need to find a status quo that is acceptable to everyone.

    Is it possible to have some progress in the sensitive issues of the Slovak–Hungarian relationship, for example, in the adoption of the Slovak citizenship law?

    We hope that it will be a solution, but it depends on the Slovak parliamentary decision. Once it was very close but failed due to one to two missing votes. However, we need to see how much the Slovakian relationship has changed. I do remember the elections of the European Parliament in 2009, when the Slovakian legislation decided to condemn Viktor Orbán, who was the leader of the opposition and the entirety of Fidesz, for a single sentence. The situation today is that the chairman of the Slovakian legislation considers it necessary to adopt a parliamentary resolution to support Hungary in the situation of the Sargentini report. I believe that this environment may be suitable for settling disputes. We believe that it is not contrary to the interests of Slovakia. There are no differences in the living standards between the two countries, and dual citizenship is accepted worldwide.

    On the 1st of July, Slovakia took over the V4 presidency from Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that there is only one feeling that is better than receiving the Presidency: handing it over. How would you briefly explain the balance of the Hungarian presidency? Could you take the V4 closer to the ordinary people of the V4 countries?

    I may be biased, but I believe that the Hungarian presidency was the most pressing presidency to date. It was not just about successfully carrying out the management of concrete programs, but we tried to give a face to the whole collaboration at a European level; and, therefore, the appearance of the Várkert Bazaar was necessary. For the most important questions, not only the prime ministers of the V4s, but also the Israeli or other leaders met. What we have achieved is a good example to follow.

    Mr. Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, said in Tusványos last year that he would find it important to build circles around V4 to include states that can give more power to the current V4 countries but not harm their unity and homogeneity. The question is how realistic is this homogeneity and what countries do we talk about?

    The V4 countries will stay as the core of the cooperation, but this does not mean that it would not be a common interest to extend the circle from time to time. Obviously, we talk about those countries that joined the European Union in 2004 or after. After the British exit, there will be 13 countries from the 27 that joined the EU in 2004 or later. So, we talk about the majority of the Central Europe, and here’s a way to expand V4.

    Is there any aspiration to have a formal framework for this?

    There has been a V4+ Austria for a long time, and there have been several negotiations with other prime ministers lately, but it is a question of whether or not we need to establish a V4+ other country formation and meet annually. It will be the decision of the current presidency and if it works, it can be continued from year to year. It is important to enforce the interests of the V4s countries at the European level that the other Member States do not regard as hostile. We do not have a good chance for this to happen everywhere today, but in Central Europe we certainly have a good chance for it. For the Western European countries, it is easier to negotiate with the presidency once the issues are already settled. This could be interpreted as reinforced cooperation, which is originally a little different, but it is part of the Lisbon cooperation, and it has not happened unintentionally. On the one hand, it can guide the European Union. On the other hand, if it works well, we can join it, and it can make the life of the people from 27–28 countries easier.

    Gergely Gulyas, thank you for accepting our invitation.

    Thank you for the invitation.

    Dear viewers, thank you for being with us.  Please join us next week.

  • Lajčák to resign after Slovaks reject Migration Pact

    With no further details, the Ministry announced that Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák has decided, following today’s vote to resign. The spokesman of president Kiska stated that they had not received any resignation yet. According to the Slovak Constitution, Lajčák must give his resignation into the PM and president’s hands. The Migration Pact was being prepared at a time when Lajčák served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly, ending this September. That is why he supported the Pact.

    Smer-SD as the strongest coalition party voted with the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Sme Rodina for refusing the pact. The Most-Hid and the opposition group Freedom and Solidarity abstained from voting, deputies of another opposition party Ordinary people and independents (OĽaNO) did not take part.

    Finally, deputies were added to a resolution that Slovakia is a sovereign country with its migration policy, and that the economically motivated migration is negative and poseses security risks as well. They also confirmed the country’s refusal attitude towards the mandatory redistribution of refugees.

    Rumor has it that former PM Robert Fico could be the new foreign minister, but Fico said that he wants the current minister Lajčák to stay in position. In recent months, Smer-SD officials have repeatedly labeled Lajčák as the best possible candidate for the direct election of president next year. Lajčák himself had previously refused to run for president because he wants to stay in diplomacy. According to opinion polls, Lajčák was a favorite for winning the presidential election.

  • Germany takes a different path to the V4 and Austria

    The text proposed by the CDU/CSU and SPD is convinced that the pact should help international cooperation and migration management. At the same time, however, it stresses that the document is non-binding. The V4 states, Austria and Australia, have rejected the pact.

    372 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution, 153 voted against it, and 141 abstained from voting. The text highlights cooperation and consensus of the “vast majority of states” within the United Nations on common goals regarding migration.

    German MPs expressed a belief that the document is in the interest of Germany and can help reduce the migratory pressure on Europe. Still, according to the Germans, individual states have to decide on their migration policy independently.

    “Germany carries much more responsibility in migration than other countries, even in the European Union. We want to improve this – among other things, through a fairer distribution of refugees “. 

    By this, the German lawmakers seem to emphasize the fact that the Visegrad states in the EU have long been opposed to the redistribution of refugees under mandatory quotas.

    However, differences in the view of these countries and Germany on migration policy also appear in other areas, including the UN migration pact. Every V4 country rejected it. Austria and Australia are also against the pact.

    On the German political scene, all the parliamentary parties supported the pact, except the oppositional anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AFD). However, members of other parties voted on Thursday against the pact, too.

    Especially in the conservative union CDU/CSU, the agreement has been repeatedly debated in recent weeks. That is why these parties came along with the Social Democrats (SPD) with a resolution to highlight their attitude.

  • Foreign ministers of the V4 address Libya and Ukraine

    The former head of Slovak diplomacy Miroslav Lajčák said that ministers had praised the existing cooperation of the V4, for example in the field of migration. He stressed that support for Libya is a specific activity through which the V4 contributes to dealing with the causes of migration.

    Lajčák has confirmed that the V4 states will provide 35 million euros to strengthen, among other things, Libya’s coast guard capability, including the purchase and maintenance of four ships, as well as the marine coordination rescue center. Part of the special fund’s budget will be used to build the capacity on the western and southern borders of Libya.

    Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček welcomed the agreement on the projects that the European partners are jointly implementing in Libya because he believes they have an impact on the security and prosperity of European countries.

    Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjartó added that similarly to Libya, the V4 should also work with Tunisia.

    Petříček said that the V4 is also planning meetings with the Baltic and Nordic states. “I consider it a step towards strengthening the coalition potential of the V4 in the EU,” the Czech minister said.

    Ministers, regarding the current situation around the Kerch Strait, expressed their support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the EU’s common opinion condemning Russia’s conduct.

  • Zeman to apologize to Orbán for Petříček

    According to Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček, out of 96 Czech embassies, only 17 can be denoted as being of prime importance, but the figure will be reduced by four at the beginning of next year. For example, Italy and Hungary, as well as Ukraine and Turkey are no longer on the list of top embassies.

    While President Zeman has no problem with the exclusion of Turkey and Ukraine, the situation around European allies makes him upset. Zeman is about to propose to withdraw Petříček’s decision at a planned meeting in January.

    Saying Petříček is making gross mistakes and is unprofessional, Zeman criticized the foreign minister for not discussing the whole plan with him. Also, Zeman reminded that Petříček is an unsuccessful politician who did not win the support of voters in the last local elections.

    “I will apologize to the Hungarian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Petříček´s decision,” Zeman said in an interview for TV Barrandov. He also stressed that Petříček and the foreign ministry are negatively affected by MEP Miroslav Poche.

    The president also criticized Petříček last week. Asked by the daily Mladá fronta Dnes whether he would accept the appeal for Petříček’s dismissal, he said he would not oppose PM Andrej Babiš from doing so.

  • Budapest bridge dons Scottish colors

    There will be of course a festive speech by British ambassador Iain Lindsay and a bagpipe band, a press release from the British Embassy said.

    The festive lighting is a joint initiative of Duncan Graham, President of the St. Andrew’s Association gathering the Scots in Hungary and Ambassador Lindsay.

    Duncan_Graham_Iain Lindsay

    Duncan Graham (L) and Iain Lindsay (image: St. Andrew’s Association, Facebook)

    But what makes the Chain Bridge so special for Scots? The fact that it was designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by the Scottish engineer Adam Clark. It was also the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary, opened in 1849.

    After completing the Chain Bridge, Adam Clark stayed in Hungary, married a member of the Hungarian aristocracy and died of lung disease in 1866. While practically unknown in Scotland, he is a household name in Hungary and even had a square named after him in 1912, the square that connects the bridge he built with the tunnel he subsequently designed and built, the Buda Tunnel.

  • An invitation to the next Anschlusses

    Frederick the Great in his political testament wrote that Poland should be picked at “like an artichoke, leaf by leaf.” The Prussian king’s idea must have been picked up on by Vladimir Putin, because that is what he is doing to Ukraine. The blockade of the Kerch Strait has turned the Sea of Azov into Russia’s inner body of water.

    What’s more, the Ukrainian lands around the region must die out, therefore falling into Russian hands.

    Vladimir Putin should share his recent successes with Angela Merkel, because it was her actions that gave the Russians an invitation on handmade paper to further Anschlusses

    The world has proclaimed many bold resolutions, which don’t really matter. Maybe they’ll even decide to cancel a few meetings and dinners with today’s Imperator of Russia, but let’s not kid ourselves, the lord of the Kremlin has got what he wanted. But only for now!

    The world’s powerlessness stems from the ethical and intellectual collapse of European elites, too busy chasing after their own interests. Meanwhile Germany, the only strong subject in Europe, has decided to fight for the German-Russian gas deal to every last living Ukrainian. 

    Vladimir Putin should share his recent successes with Angela Merkel, because it was her actions that gave the Russians an invitation on handmade paper to further Anschlusses. 

  • Spokesman: Central European identity is born

    There have and always will be social, economic and institutional reason for which Central Europe is different from Western Europe and these factors are coalescing into a new Central European identity, Kovács said on national televison M1.

    He said the Visegrád cooperation (between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) is a very good example of this separate identity. These countries share a heritage – including “fifty years of Communism” – that makes them see things similarly.

    Kovács also said that while the 2015 migration crisis was instrumental in the four countries finding a common voice, there is also an increasing number of social, economic and institutional reasons making it possible that the states of Central Europe have a common voice and also demand to be accepted as equals (with the other member states of the European Union). He said several recent studies have also indicated that such an identity is being born.

    He was speaking about this related to the news that after the three other Visegrád countries the Slovak parliament rejected the U.N. migration pact and consequently Slovakia will not attend the ratification of the pact in Morocco this December. Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak – as he had indicated in advance – resigned in protest of the decision.

    Lajcak was President of the U.N. General Assembly when the migration pact was adopted.

  • Brain drained Poland

    Although migration within the EU itself concerns only a small number of Europeans, it has led to the brain drain phenomenon in some regions, according to a report on brain drain conducted for the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). 

    Out of approximately 511 million European citizens, 17 million have migrated to different EU countries. Germany (33%) and the United Kingdom (20%) have drawn over half of that number. Every fourth (4.2 mln) of those migrants had completed higher education. This number had been on the rise between 2014 – 2017. The highest increase was recorded among workers from Hungary (51%), Croatia (46%) and Slovakia (41%).

    The highest number of most educated workers “on the move” in 2017 came from Poland (576 300), Germany (472 000) and Romania (467 000). 

    Educated people chose countries in the Northern regions of the EU – Sweden, Ireland, Estonia and Denmark, as well as Great Britain. The least attractive location was Italy. 

    The ease of migration in some regions of the EU has led to a significant migration of higher educated people, the so-called brain drain. This is due to rising competition for talent and the limited capabilities of home countries to create attractive environments for those workers. 

    In the regions affected by a brain drain, the mobility of migration is increased by negative conditions on the work market – high unemployment and low salaries. Other factors include administrative barriers, recession and a bad political climate.

  • Hungarian armed forces to receive 35 percent pay rise

    Benkő said wages will rise by 20 percent next January, followed by a five percent increase each in the subsequent three years. Benkő said the increase also required legal changes, namely the introduction of a new category of state employees called “defense employees”. The minister had already consulted the leaders of the parliamentary groups to get their support for the change.

    Benkő said next year’s 20 percent pay rise will not affect the development project of the armed forces, as the budget will provide an additional HUF 1.7 billion (US$6 million) for 2019. He also said the new defense employees category will also include support staff such as technicians, IT personnel, kitchen and medical staff and the total number of employees in this category will be over 7,000.

    Last month parliament also approved Benkő’s plans to increase the maximum allowed number of Hungarian troops to 37,650 from the previous 29,700. Hungary has a fully professional army and no conscription system.

  • Lesson of diplomacy

    No ambassador acts without support of their government. What Mosbacher and Azari did had the support of their respective leaders. Their recent, unseen before in international politics stance towards the Polish Prime Minister, raises the question of whether PiS has not been too conservative in its foreign policy.

    Israel’s Ambassador Azari criticized Poland’s Holocaust Law and the B’nai B’rith organization demanded the dismissal of Piotr Gliński. Azari herself reprimanded Gliński by stating that she “wouldn’t want to see more quotes like that,” referring to the Holocaust Law.

    Now we have US Ambassador Mosbacher sending a letter to the Polish PM with tips on how to approach the TVN news station. This definitely surpasses her authority and good taste. What’s surprising is that Mosbacher is essentially defending hurtful to Poland material and accepts a TVN journalist “heiling” under a swastika. 

    It is impossible to build the authority of your government,when a foreign ambassador can come out at any moment and instruct your PM or deputy PM

    Heather Nauert, the US Department of State’s spokeswoman claims that “Ambassador Mosbacher is doing a great job in Poland and represents us well,” which leaves no illusions. 

    It is impossible to build the authority of your government, when a foreign ambassador can come out at any moment and instruct your PM or deputy PM. 

    Now is an opportunity for PM Morawiecki’s government to show its quality. All they need to do is fine or even repeal TVN’s journalist licence. The US Ambassador would then understand that she doesn’t rule in Poland and that Poland has its own sovereign government.

    Bravery and the seeking of freedom is what the United States values the most. We should stick to that. 

  • Budapest e-tickets system cancelled, cost unknown

    The Budapest Transit Center (BKK) has cancelled its five-year project to develop an e-ticket system and while deputy mayor Gábor Bagdy told news agency MTI that the Hungarian capital “has incurred no losses”, the price of the failure is as yet unknown.

    Bagdy said the original development contract was signed and later coordinated by BKK, thus neither he nor mayor István Tarlós had any oversight on the project. BKK cancelled the project after the supplier failed to produce required bank guarantees, Bagdy said. Mayor Tarlós has also initiated the dismissal of BKK CEO Kálmán Dabóczi.

    In 2013 Budapest took out an EUR 54.5 million (US$62.1 million) loan from the EBRD for the project and this February the Budapest assembly approved a HUF 1.5 billion (US$5.28 million) loan to BKK for testing the system. The hardware for the system was supplied by German company Scheidt&Bachmann, but BKK said they have no reference for the software part.

    Budapest’s attempts at introducing an e-ticket system have been plagued with setbacks – the original introduction date was the end of this year, which was later pushed back to 2019 and this September the introduction deadline had been removed altogether. In a related development by T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom – the developers of a mobile payment system – an ethical hacker proved that the system could be fooled into handing out free tickets. The hacker has been taken into custody and the project scrapped.

     

  • EP criticizes German Jugendamt

    The EP’s resolution was passed with 307 MEPs in favor. 211 were against and 112 abstained from voting. Polish MEPs from PiS and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) supported the resolution. Civic Platform (PO) either abstained or voted against it.

    Although this wasn’t the first time Jugendamt was touched upon in the EP, only Law and Justice MEPs raised the issue recently. This time, MEPs from other countries were also critical of the institution. This is the first time that a German institution has been criticized so harshly.

    The resolution does not have any legal power, however, EU member states fiercely protect their family law competences. 

    The EP calls for better protection of the rights of transnational children, so that they may retain their national identities and family ties

    More than 300 complaints had been sent over the last decade to the Petitions Committee of the EP by non-German parents. These include Poles, the French, Swedes and Italians. The accusers explain that there is discrimination when it comes to marriage disputes in transnational families. There is also insufficient advice and law support from the state.

    The EP calls for better protection of the rights of transnational children, so that they may retain their national identities and family ties. The EP also decreed that German authorities must supply documents including full and comprehensive information in a language completely understandable to the parent who is not German.

    Jugendamt intervenes in the cases of divorce in transnational couples annually. In practice, it takes the children away from the foreign parent and puts them under the care of the German one. This is so the children are raised in Germany, amidst German culture and the German language. This is often accompanied by serious restrictions for the foreign parent, including a ban on the language of the said parent.

  • Online hate speech is punishable with jail time, warn police

    “Limitless virtual freedom and anonymity have their legal framework and boundaries too. Many actions online could easily constitute a serious offense or even a crime,” the police posted on Facebook to alert its followers and other readers.

    The list of a punishable wrongdoings goes on – a crime of libel, false accusation, defamation of a nation or a race, spread of a hoax, and expressed sympathy with a movement leaning towards oppression of human rights and freedoms.

    Some of the above mentioned could lead to many years in prison. For example, for a false accusation online, one can be sentenced to up to eight years behind bars. Other offenses have a heightened sentence when an openly accessible computer network is used, including a libel and a violence incitement. 

    Former MP Otto Chaloupka of a defunct party called Věci veřejné (Public affairs) got a half-year long parole for a hate speech targeting Roma people. Last year, a district court of Kladno sentenced a student to a hundred hours of community service for hateful comments about Roma singer Radek Banga. Most recently, a woman got a 20 ,000 CZK fine for hate speech comments on Facebook against a multi-ethnic first-grader class from Teplice.

  • Macron – the biggest populist of them all

    An ordinary populist understands it is impossible to flatter everyone. A good example is Donald Trump, who is liked by some while others cannot stand him, which is understandable given that different groups of people have different interests. But Macron is different; he is a much bigger populist than Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini combined.

    Macron believes he is a superman. He demonstrated it last year regarding migration when he was beating Central European countries for rejecting the quotas. At the same time, however, France adopted one of the toughest immigration laws in Europe. Some politicians and political scientists, including Salvini, pointed out that Macron is the worst when it comes to a real number of rejected immigrants.

    Then there is the green agenda and Marcon’s proclamations that he is going to be a green president despite the public discourse in his country. His high fuel taxes led to mass protests known as the yellow vests. Additionally, due to an outage caused by lower tax income, he is struggling with the state budget. And the EU has already sent him a warning for irresponsible handling of public funds.

    With both migration and the energy issues, it is the same. Macron has been desperately trying to please all sides, but reality hit him hard. Populism for all doesn’t work. If someone is trying to flatter the whole electorate, usually isn’t flattering anyone in the end. Now, Macron’s approval ratings has hit a record low.

  • Babiš: NYT allegations are an outrageous disinformation

    Czech troops were not involved in the death of Afghan commando Wahidullah Khan, said the Czech Defense Minister Lubomír Metnar in reaction to recently published allegations. Our soldiers strictly abide by international humanitarian law during their deployment on missions, added Metnar.

    Babiš strongly rejected the NYT allegations as well and expressed his support and esteem to the soldiers. He claimed he saw evidence that indisputably proves their non-involvement and thus innocence.

    Khan, who opened fire against Czech troops at the Shindand base and killed Cpl. Tomáš Procházka had been held in NATO custody. Khan was accused in one of the four cases of an insider attack against NATO troops in Afghanistan. Allegedly, as reported by the NYT based on claims of Afghan officials, Khan was beaten to death while in custody.

    “I am sure that our soldiers proceeded in accordance with the law and regulations in force,” Gen. Aleš Opata, Czech Army Chief of Staff said to the media. Opata and Metnar also reminded that both deaths of Cpl. Procházka and commando Khan are subjects of ongoing investigation.

  • Orbán and Babiš to discuss defense cooperation and migration

    The Czech government announced that the two leaders will talk about security and defense cooperation within the Visegrad Group, migration, a new multiannual financial framework, and the upcoming European elections. Orbán is also due to meet with new Senate chief Jaroslav Kubera and Cardinal Dominik Duka.

    Several members of Orbán’s cabinet are set to join him during his state visit to Prague. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Defense Minister Tibor Benkö have been invited for a meeting with the Chamber of Deputies chief Radek Vondráček.

    Vondráček will also meet with Orbán as well. Gergely Gulyás, the Minister heading Orbán’s Office and the Czech Defense Minister Lubomír Metnar will join them for a discussion focused on mutual cooperation of the two countries in the EU.

    Following their meeting in August, when Babiš visited Orbán in Budapest, the Czech PM said that he sees great potential for collaboration in the arms industry. The Hungarian PM, on the other hand, welcomed an opportunity to meet such “an unconventional politician with innovative ideas.”

  • The battle against apricot extinction

    Researchers and agronomists from four Hungarian institutions (the Research Institute for Fruit and Ornamental Horticulture, producer Gyümölcsért Kft., the Plant Protection Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Horticultural Department of the Szent István University) have joined forces in an attempt to save the country’s remaining apricot trees.

    As elsewhere in Europe – most notably in France – apricot trees are threatened by a phytoplasma disease called chlorotic leafroll, or Witches’ broom by its popular name. The disease is spread by insects that inject the pathogens in leafs while feeding.

    Apricots are appreciated by Hungarians in their natural form, as apricot jam – an indispensable pancake filler – and last, but not least, arguably the most popular variety of the country’s fruit brandy pálinka, a designation protected by the European Union.

    Apricot brandy
    Hungarian apricot brandy

    The disease has been a major concern in Hungary since the early 2000s and current research focuses on two possibilities: creating apricot trees resistant  – or at least more resistant than the current ones – to the disease and the behavior and control of jumping plant louse, the most common vector of the disease.

    As a result of the disease, the area planted to apricots has been reduced to just under 5,000 hectares in the entire country.

  • Hungarian employment rate at all-time high

    With the number of people in a job having exceeded 4.5 million, the Hungarian employment rate is higher than ever and the positive outlook of investments means that the trend is sustainable, Varga said.

    According to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office, the number of people in a job was 4.502 million in the August-October period, 57,000 higher than in the same period of 2017 and has for the first time exceeded 4.5 million. In the same period, unemployment was 3.7 percent, a 0.3 percentage points reduction from last year.

    ING Bank analyst Péter Virovácz told Magyar Hírlap that looking back at unemployment statistics over this year, the rate – excluding seasonal variations – has remained essentially unchanged, meaning that “the current structure of the labor market leaves no more room for significant improvement, that is why we have reached full employment”.

    Takarékbank analyst András Horváth said that given the size of the active-age population, a further 250 to 300,000 people could find employment before full employment is reached. He said that while the Hungarian labor market has a reserve of up to 500,000 in those still unemployed, working abroad or in communal employment, a significant part of them lack necessary qualifications.

    K&H Bank analyst Dávid Németh is also of the opinion that Hungary has achieved full employment and any further increase in employment ratios would require structural changes such as training for those in communal employment, part-time jobs and teleworking.

  • Cocaine in bananas floods Polish stores

    In the span of a few days, the cocaine was found in banana crates in three different voivodships: Mazovian, Lower Silesia and Łódzkie. Altogether, the police have secured 220kg of the drug. 

    “We can confirm, that in the popular supermarkets in those three voivodships, the workers had revealed large amounts of what probably are intoxicants,” says junior warrant officer Antoni Rzeczkowski of the Polish Police Headquarters. “For the good of the investigation, we cannot reveal more information.”

    We can confirm, that in the popular supermarkets in those three voivodships, the workers had revealed large amounts of what probably are intoxicants

    Police officers have begun an investigation to determine the exact route of the bananas and who was responsible for their transport from South America. 

    The workers in whose stores the cocaine was found are also being interrogated.

  • The vulnerability of Polish foreign policy

    The prime example of this issue is Georgette Mosbacher’s recent letter to PM Morawiecki. Since she’s a businesswoman, it’s no wonder that she’s acting like one when protecting her country’s interests and using the US’s advantage over Poland. Who’s to blame for this disadvantageous position? The Polish government. 

    Poland has no counterweight to the alliance with the US in international politics. No one in the government is even considering playing different sides, which is surprising as one of PiS’ idols, Viktor Orban, is great at that. He uses his country’s small size to successfully navigate between the East and the West. Despite his conflicts with the EU, energy companies from Russia and Germany are offering him deals. 

    No one in the government is even considering playing different sides, which is surprising as one of PiS’ idols, Viktor Orban, is great at that

    Meanwhile Poland is stuck with its one powerful ally across the ocean, who is almost suffocating it with its embrace. And there doesn’t seem to be anyone who Poland can turn to.

    If not Russia then China?

    Who could possibly act as a counterweight? Russia isn’t the best partner, but perhaps China could be. There was a project for a new Silk Road running from Asia to Europe through Poland after all. 

    Despite early confrontations with Chinese intelligence, it was possible to diplomatically reprimand them and then negotiate the new Silk Road. Maybe there’d even be investments from the Chinese side, such as an airport? The US would be writing completely different letters if they saw Chinese representatives in the Polish foreign minister’s hallway. 

    Or at least they wouldn’t be making typos in the Prime Minister’s surname. 

  • Timmermans interferes in Hungarian politics

    After a friendly handshake with George Soros, who spends billions on his off the wall open society concept, Timmermans immediately met the delegation of the Hungarian Socialist Party. After a jovila conversation they aired their common opinion that if Hungarians continue to support Viktor Orbán, Hungary will be isolated within the European Union. This came from the same Timmermans who earlier accused Orbán of anti-Semitism and then went on to speak about how next year’s European elections will boil down to a choice between nationalist clashes and a “real community of values”.

    It seems that the leading candidate of the European left thinks that democracy is when people follow their word and vote accordingly. This is the way of Brussels with which we are quite familiar. But based on recent trends and Hungarian opinion polls this recipe is not working, especially not in Hungary. Though we are still six months from the elections, it is likely that the next European Parliament will have a very different composition, one that is more observant of national sovereignty – something that will likely also be reflected in the composition of the Commission.

    So the urgency on their side is quite understandable. Time is a-wasting, the end of the Juncker-era is in sight and they want to achieve as much as they can before the people stop them. As for the illustrious delegation of the Hungarian Socialists, President Bertalan Tóth said that his party has indelible merits, such as Hungary’s accession to the European Union and also spoke about some pro-Europe and pro-NATO alliance, whatever that is supposed to mean.

    Brussels may have forgotten all the damage the Socialists and their predecessors have caused Hungary, but we didn’t. Now, however, the winds are also shifting in Brussels and the consequences are inevitable. Not as a result of word from up-high, but as a result of everyday experiences. This is what democracy is supposed to be. 

  • Hungary creates large media holding

    Hungary’s largest conservative media owners have ceded their stakes in print, broadcast and electronic media to the Central European Press and Media Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at bringing stability to the media market, Magyar Idők writes.

    “The aim of the foundation is to establish a structure which, in cooperation with the other media branches (TV, radio, online) can ensure the long-term financial and professional viability of the traditional printed press,” it said.

    The foundation will be led by 62-year-old Gábor Liszkay, a lawyer by training and a long-time prominent figure of Hungarian conservative media. Magyar Idők said that there are several international examples of such non-profit media holdings, most notably the Norwegian Amedia Stiftelsen (Amedia Foundation), the owner of 50 local and regional newspaper with online newspapers and printing presses, and its own news agency, Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. The corporation also owns and operates a group of printing plants under the brand name Prime Print in Russia.

    Hungary’s media watchdog NMHH did not raise any concerns regarding the deal, nor did the country’s market watchdog, GVH. The Article also gave a brief account of Hungary’s print media market following the regime change in 1990 and said advertising revenues in print media amounted to HUF 38.33 billion last year.

  • VAT scandal uncovered during Civic Platform’s rule

    “Someone purposefully opened the doors to the state treasury, so that thieves could take the money and that happened during PO rule,” Sakiewicz said in an interview for TVP Info.

    He believes that PO politicians who had forced tax bills proposed by lobbyists committed an “open-door crime”. 

    According to former deputy finance minister Elżbieta Chojna-Duch the VAT scandal concerned gigantic sums of money.

    “It was the size of the Polish annual budget,” she said. The tax hole was PLN 250 billion, whereas the Polish budget is between PLN 200 and 300 billion, depending on whether it concerns spending or earnings.

    Someone purposefully opened the doors to the state treasury, so that thieves could take the money and that happened during PO rule

    Sakiewicz also commented on Donald Tusk’s possible return to Polish politics. “It is unknown whether he is a wave, or just a particle. He himself probably doesn’t know whether he is a Polish or a European politician, but he tries to do both. And it’s even working out,” he said.

    The publicist also doubts that Tusk’s return would bode well for PO leader Grzegorz Schetyna, despite the politician’s delight at the idea. 

  • 100 years of women’s voting rights in Poland

    On November 28th, 1918 Polish women received voting rights. The first elections in the newly freed Poland occurred in January 1919.

    When women first went to vote in 1919, only 2 percent of them managed to gain seats in the Polish parliament. Today, about 23 percent of MPs and 14 percent of senators are women. 

    Full citizenships for women was not commonplace or obvious in Europe at that time. Polish women were given voting rights before countries like the USA, UK, France and Switzerland. 

    Polish women were given voting rights before countries like the USA, UK, France and Switzerland

    In terms of voting rights for women, Nobel Laureate George Shaw’s words “Give women voting rights, and in five years they’ll install deadly taxes for bachelors” became famous. In the man’s home country, Ireland, women were allowed to vote in 1928.

    In the Second Polish Republic, women were allowed to hold the same public offices as men. The resolutions of the 1918 decree were upheld by the March constitution of 1921. The constitution did not allow to put forward any limitations due to gender and fully repealed the limits on married women having legal and process abilities. 1929 saw the imposition of the rule of equality among both spouses when it came to personal relations.

  • Babiš’s ANO may seek revenge

    The most important upcoming vote in Parliament will be on the draft budget for 2019, and there isn’t much time left to polish it. Many sticking points remain to be solved among the coalition partners. Adjustments requested by the Social Democrats to the Ministry of Finance draft prepared by Alena Schillerová from ANO add up to more than 1.5 billion CZK. Although the Social Democrats claim these adjustments are crucial for them to keep the faith in the coalition, rejecting the draft budget won’t be an option for them.

    ANO already slapped Social Democrats on the wrist regarding social topics and repeatedly postponed related negotiations. The Social Democrats are only lucky that their demands are to some extent overlapping with demands of the Communists, an unofficial coalition partner who actively supported Babiš’s government on Friday. The government would hardly push the draft budget through without Communists’ votes and as their demands all together make about one billion CZK; they are likely to be heard.

    On the other hand, proposals by the opposition are not going to be reflected by the government. Civic Democrats demand cuts of 40 billion, mainly for the subventions that distort the market, TOP 09 ask for 22 billion worth of changes and Pirates for 10 billion. Only Mayors have a chance to succeed as they are aiming for an additional amount of 4 billion CZK for road repairs, which could be tempting for the Social Democrats.

  • Humanity is our biggest weakness, the terrorists are not afraid of us

    This case immediately generated a huge international debate, but it is necessary to look at it from a different perspective. The Afghan soldier was not suspected of any crime, the guy was shot and killed but he has comrades waiting in the wings. So, what to do? behave humanely or tougher? The attackers are not afraid of us.

    For a better understanding, we can simulate the case in the Czech Republic. Let’s say, there is a terrorist attack in Prague; several people are killed. The terrorist is detained, but he arrived in Prague with a larger group of people of the same nationality. He refuses to communicate, and you know that in any moment another terrorist attack may come.

    You have to decide whether to treat him humanely and hope he voluntarily reveal something, or to get tougher and try to get key information. The decision is up to you. If you do nothing, there may be more dead people. But when you get tough, you risk being prosecution. And now, how to decide.

    A similar scenario could have played out in Afghanistan. The biggest problem is that the terrorists we are fighting against perceive our humaneness as our weakness and count on it in their plans. Those who attack us are not afraid of us.

  • The Convention on Migration: Invitation or law?

    So far, nine countries have refused to sign the UN migration pact, with representatives of other countries expressing hesitation over the plans. Some states are concerned that a legally non-binding convention and set of recommendations will become an unwritten law over time. Others worry that the text of the document inconsistently differentiates legal from illegal migration.

    The Pact has been refused by Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Israel, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and the USA. Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Italy, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Slovenia are hesitating to sign it. The country can be divided into several groups on the basis of the reasons why they oppose the pact.

    The United States was the first to refuse the pact. The reason for Trump’s approach could be paraphrased as “it is not going to happen“, which is probably based on the fact that it was Obama who came up with it and secondly, the pact concerns immigration.

    Then Hungary and Austria followed. The Hungarian Prime Minister considers the pact “the UN´s worst possible answer to migration”. According to Orban, the number of migrants will only increase as a result of this agreement. According to Austria, the pact establishes a “human right to migration” and also a part of the Christian Democrats in Germany has similar fears that the text will become legally binding.

    The Czech Republic has the problem of an inconsistent distinction between legal and illegal migration, and Australia, which is a country with very strict immigration policy, also has concerns about “encouraging” illegal immigration. Also, Poland and Slovakia reject the pact for the same reasons.

    Threats to national interests and the uselessness of the pact are the reason for the rejections by Israel and Bulgaria. “We are taking responsibility for protecting our borders,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.

  • Trust in the EU is falling as the East lags behind

    According to Coeuré, countries formerly under Soviet rule are still trying to catch up with the West. Now, more than 30 years since the fall of the Iron curtain, if there is no credible prospect of lower-income countries catching up soon, their citizens will start to question the very value of the EU or eurozone membership, added Coeuré.

    The falling trust in the EU is evident in Hungary, Bulgaria and other countries. Coeuré believes the main issues are the big drop in productivity growth, the lack of capital and partly the fact that the drop in foreign direct investment may very well be permanent. Due to rising wages, companies rely more on automation that can replace labor.

    Coeuré sees three ways for how Europe can help these countries. It can provide the market that allows for the development of new industries to be profitable, it can channel funds to sectors where they could be used most productively, and it can also provide direct financial assistance to foster convergence and support national reform efforts.

  • PM Orbán to visit Prague

    PM Orbán is also scheduled to meet with President Miloš Zeman and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Radek Vondráček during his trip. The prime minister will most likely be accompanied by some of his government’s ministers, more details are yet to be confirmed.

    Even though Babiš often refers to Orbán as the one who swept the migrant quotas aside, according to a recent comparison published by Süddeutsche Zeitung, they don’t have much in common. SZ wrote that Babiš is closer to pragmatism while Orbán emphasizes national and religious dimensions of politics and often adds in historical parallels.

    Last month, the Czech Chamber of Deputies supported Hungary in its dispute with the EU and labeled the European Parliament’s decision as wrong and unfortunate. It reminded that there are many politicians who support Orbán in the Czech Republic. Babiš earlier criticized the sanction process as an act showing a lack of solidarity with Hungary.

  • 7,000-year-old well found in Hungary

    Archeologist Judit Tárnoki told Origo that during the exploratory excavations along the line of a planned motorway – required by law in Hungary before any major constructions – the team from the museum found the remains of a neolitic settlement, with clay pits, house remains and a well.

    She said the well was more or less of the same construction as the ones used a mere century ago by local peasants, a square pit going below the water line, lined with wood.

    “This several thousand years old well was lined with wood and it is incredibly lucky that the wood has been preserved. In our clime, wood objects hardly last one hundred years, let alone seven thousand. This wood was preserved because it was four meters deep, surrounded by wet, sandy soil.”

    7000_year_well_lining

    Archeologist Judit Tárnoki showing a piece of the well lining (photo: Csaba Talán, Origo)

    This is by far the oldest well ever found in Hungary, Tárnoki said.

     

  • Eastern Europe safer for Jews than the West

    The author of the article, Evelyn Gordon, disagrees with the notion accepted by American Jews that “right wing governments allow anti-Semitism and liberal rule gives prosperity to Jewish communities.” 

    Jews feel safe everywhere, according to a survey carried out by Join Distribution Committee’s International Center for Community Development on 893 Jewish leaders from Europe. However, Gordon adds, that there are strong differences between West and East Europe.

    In the East 96 percent of respondents felt safe, whereas 76 percent feel so in the West

    In the East 96 percent of respondents felt safe, whereas 76 percent feel so in the West. “Respondents from countries such as Poland, Hungary or Romania – often accused of having anti-Semitic governments, bordering with fascism – felt safer than Jews in liberal countries such as France or Germany,” Gordon outlines.

    In the report, Western European respondents also expressed that they are more ready to see anti-semitism as a threat than their Eastern European counterparts. 

    Different research shows that Jews are more susceptible to physical violence in the West than the East. As an example, out of Hungary’s population of 100,000 Jews there were no complaints about physical attacks. Meanwhile, in Great Britain where the Jewish society numbers 250,000, there were 145 reported attacks.

  • Macron blames far-right for riots

    The French president has promised to find economic and social solutions to the problems leading to the recent riots in France, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that he neither can nor really wants to solve the issues.

    The events took a turn for the worse over the weekend when “yellow vest” protestors decided to take over Paris. Authorities almost immediately lost control: the protestors tore up the pavement, erected barricades and turned violent against law enforcement, which responded with rubber batons, tear gas and water cannons.

    On November 27th, Macron unveiled his energy program that seems to have hit a nerve. Despite this, he remains determined to carry it through saying that the environment is more important than the everyday problems of people.

    Macron wants to promote electric cars, close 12 nuclear plants and spend EUR 8 billion on renewable energy sources. He said “we cannot do something for the environment on Monday and something else against high petrol prices on Tuesday”. The program and his comments indicate that the only thing he can actually do is blame the far-right for inciting the riots.

    This – despite what Macron and friends say – is not true: the far right is cautiously avoiding any involvement, seeing how the rioters come equally from the right and the left. So far, beyond his rhetoric, Macron only seems to be able to “treat the symptoms” of the problem with batons and rubber bullets.

  • Macron blames far-right for riots

    The French president has promised to find economic and social solutions to the problems leading to the recent riots in France, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that he neither can nor really wants to solve the issues.

    The events took a turn for the worse over the weekend when “yellow vest” protestors decided to take over Paris. Authorities almost immediately lost control: the protestors tore up the pavement, erected barricades and turned violent against law enforcement, which responded with rubber batons, tear gas and water cannons.

    On November 27th, Macron unveiled his energy program that seems to have hit a nerve. Despite this, he remains determined to carry it through saying that the environment is more important than the everyday problems of people.

    Macron wants to promote electric cars, close 12 nuclear plants and spend EUR 8 billion on renewable energy sources. He said “we cannot do something for the environment on Monday and something else against high petrol prices on Tuesday”. The program and his comments indicate that the only thing he can actually do is blame the far-right for inciting the riots.

    This – despite what Macron and friends say – is not true: the far right is cautiously avoiding any involvement, seeing how the rioters come equally from the right and the left. So far, beyond his rhetoric, Macron only seems to be able to “treat the symptoms” of the problem with batons and rubber bullets.

  • Polish general: Want to stop Putin? Act now!

    Polko has evaluated that President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of establishing a post-Soviet empire is effective. He believes that the EU and the USA are both proven to be powerless against Russian aggression, despite the strike on Ukraine being a very predictable move. 

    “I remind you of Lech Kaczyński’s words: first Georgia, then Ukraine, and then maybe Poland,” Polko said in an interview with TVP Info.

    Russia would lose a conflict in the style of World War 2. This is why Putin is using local conflicts, prejudices and emotions to his advantage

    Polko underlined that Putin does not understand the language of gestures, protests and annotation. “He understands the language of action. President Lech Kaczyński knew this perfectly, when in the face of a similar aggression in Georgia he gathered the presidents of smaller countries who felt threatened and spoke with a strong voice in the capital Tbilisi.”

    Polko urged the EU to do the same.

    The general also assured that Poland’s army is well prepared for battle. A situation in which Russia would conquer Warsaw in three days or the whole country in a matter of minutes is untrue. 

    Polko argued that Russia would lose a conflict in the style of World War 2. This is why Putin is using local conflicts, prejudices and emotions to his advantage. 

    “This is creating conflicts and barriers between countries in the EU and the conversation deliberately targeted at the EU’s particular member states and not the EU as a whole,” Polko said. As an example, he gave an example of pitting Poland against Germany with the Nord Stream projects.

  • Tobacco trafficking remains big business in Hungary

    Currently the average retail price of a 20-pack of cigarettes is HUF 1,119, of which 75 percent consists of excise duty and value-added tax, meaning that any tobacco products sold by circumventing taxation yield a huge profit margin to organized crime groups. And Hungarian excise duty has yet to reach the minimum 60 percent of retail price required by the European Union.

    NAV said that in the first month they seized HUF 1.8 billion worth of cigarettes from smugglers and the biggest single source were the so-called “sherpa”, carrying the loads in huge backpacks across the borders.

    Bootleg cigarettes come from several sources: first, legally produced and sold cigarettes in Ukraine – where the excise duty is significantly lower – are smuggled into the country. Second, workers of many legally operating cigarette factories in the Ukraine, Serbia and Romania run “black shifts” at night, producing extra batches of big brand cigarettes. Third, there are also complete production lines established illegally – last year Hungarian police shut down such a facility ran by a Romanian and operated by locals in southern Hungary.

    Title image: MTI

     

  • PM Orbán and Chuck Norris in photo with counterterrorist unit

    The only text accompanying the picture was “Elite squad”, but it is evident the image was taken at the Budapest headquarters of the counter-terrorism unit (TEK) of the Hungarian police. There were no related news items in the Hungarian media about the event.

    Norris is in Budapest promoting a Christmas charity event for the Baptist Church.

  • A bit of Poland on Mars

    InSight landed on Mars on Monday and has begun its two-year mission as the world’s first space craft meant to investigate the inside of another planet. It will help scientists understand the history of the creation of rocky planets. 

    The probe’s successful landing was confirmed by signals from Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) miniature satellites sent alongside InSight.

    The Kret HP3 (Kret means ‘mole’ in Polish) is a sophisticated Polish-built penetrator which will drill itself five meters under the surface and reveal just how much heat is flowing out of the interior of the planet. 

    tt

    A part of The Kret HP3, Astronika.pl

    Designed and built by Warsaw-based space company Astronika, the ‘mole’ will journey deeper into Mars than any instrument ever built for space exploration.

    “Our participation in the InSight mission has confirmed that Astronika is in the top league of producers of technologically advanced mechanisms for planetary missions. I’m proud that on the occasion of Poland’s 100 years of independence anniversary, thanks to us a small Polish flag has landed on Mars,” Bartosz Kędziora of Astronika said. 

  • Mosbacher’s letter revealed

    The letter begins with a typo: it misspells the last name of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and addresses him with the wrong title, as well as misspelling the name of the interior minister Joachim Brudziński. Journalist Bartek Godusławski from Dziennik Gazeta Prawna posted the letter on twitter: “This how the Lady Ambassador’s letter to the Prime Minister looks”:

    tt

    “I hope that members of your government will refrain from attacking, let alone prosecuting, independent journalists, who articulate public interests and strengthen our societies,” wrote Georgette Mosbacher in the letter.

    In a handwritten note she added: “We have to figure this out, it is getting in the way of the really important things.”

    She should avoid using arrogant statements towards the United States’ partners

    Former Polish head of diplomacy Witold Waszczykowski pointed out in an interview for wPolityce.pl, that Poland’s foreign minister not a PM is meant for an ambassador’s direct line of contact. The letter addressed to the PM was a break of protocol and convention. 

    Waszczykowski also expressed confusion as to whose evaluation it is in the letter: “Are these her [Mosbacher’s] own thoughts, or maybe this is the evaluation of some American institution to whom TVN complained? Or maybe it is that of the American owners?”

    No comments from US embassy and Department of State

    The former foreign minister also said that although he understood that Georgette Mosbacher was taking care of her country’s interests, the form as well as the tone of the letter was the issue. It is said that she should avoid using arrogant statements towards the United States’ partners. 

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    Waszczykowski urged for the leadership to show the US ambassador how Polish politics works and invite cooperation and set up meetings with her. 

    On Tuesday evening, the US embassy in Warsaw released a statement stating that “the Embassy cannot comment on official diplomatic correspondence.” 

    Heather Nauert, the spokeswomen of the Department of State, refused to comment on the letter itself. She only told journalists during the briefing: “Ambassador Mosbacher does a great job of representing the State Department and the United States government in Poland. She’s of Polish descent, as a matter of fact. She also represents our ideals and values. Those values include freedom of the press”.

  • Piťha: Your families will be torn apart

    1. Your families will be torn apart. It will be enough to say to your children that men and women are different.
    2. They will take your children, not telling you where they moved them to. A false accusation will be sufficient to do so.

    The first two points of the sermon are based on Article 45, paragraph 3, of the Istanbul Convention, whereby parental rights may be withdrawn in the best interests of the child. A new law in the Canadian state of Ontario from 2017 allows the removal of a child from the family if the parents do not respect its gender identity or disagree with LGBTQI or gender ideology. The Convention would allow the same.

    1. Determining the sex of your newborn baby by looking into their lap will be canceled.
    2. The child will decide on its sex.

    These points are based on an interpretation of a paragraph in Article 53, which defines the categories of persons who do not correspond to the “male” or “female” categories. Such an agenda is already successfully pursued, for example, by introducing gender-neutral language.

    1. For every disagreement, you will be deported to an education/detention center.

    The Istanbul Convention seeks to project the gender ideology into children’s education as well as a “re-education” of adults. For example, according to Article 14 of the Convention, there are, in the formal curriculum at all levels of education, materials on, among other things, gender non-stereotypical roles or the right to personal integrity. These principles are already reflected in existing legislation. In September, the Swiss Chamber of Deputies has included homophobia and transphobia in the Criminal Code as well as discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

  • Václav Klaus Jr.: The EU is destroying our republic

    At the beginning of the interview, Klaus Jr. commented on the internal political situation. He labeled the unsuccessful no-confidence vote against Andrej Babiš’s cabinet as a waste of time which did not bring any points to the opposition ODS. Even though he is in dispute with some of his party colleagues, Klaus Jr. is not leaving the ODS and has no plans to set up his own political party.

    The Chamber of Deputies is currently discussing an amendment to the Civil Code, which seeks to transform the definition of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman into a two-person bond. Klaus Jr., on the contrary, has signed a draft constitutional law designed to guarantee that marriage is a bond between one man and one woman and will make a great resentment to the adoption of the amendment.

    According to Klaus Jr., nowadays it is required to defend anything obvious, like marriage or family. Marriage is a bond of a man and woman only, and there is no such thing as a non-traditional family. Political shielding of private sexual preferences does not belong to the public space. Only dozens of registered partnerships annually prove that even homosexuals are not interested in an amendment that would allow them to enter into marriage.

    Regarding foreign policy, Klaus Jr. considers the length of negotiations about Brexit terrible and devastating for democracy. People, according to him, have decided on the change to be made as soon as possible. The Czech Republic is similarly paralyzed, which demoralizes and disgusts people.

    The ODS declares a commitment to liberate the Czech Republic from the obligation to adopt the euro. Klaus Jr. hopes that the party will actively seek to fulfill this election promise, as well as MEP Jan Zahradil (ODS), the leader of the ECR for the elections to European Parliament, who will represent a strong voice of the Czech Republic against the adoption of the euro.

    Klaus Jr. and some of his colleagues disagree with the fact that the ODS is officially profiled as a pro-European party, although it is also pushing for reforms of the EU. However, Klaus Jr. personally hates the EU; he thinks that the Czech Republic is losing sovereignty every day because of the membership. He criticizes, for example, that the number of laws that the Czech Republic has adopted from the EU has already exceeded 50 percent. Currently, it is 56 percent. On the other hand, Klaus Jr. admits that at present it is not possible to assert something like Czexit for economic reasons, because the Czech Republic is a small country and depends on exports to a great extent.

  • Seehofer: Border inspections could return at the border with the Czech Republic

    At the police union congress, Seehofer said he could well imagine “giving the police the opportunity” to carry out exceptional border inspections for a limited time, for example, “when many lawn mowers disappear in Saxony once again.” By this, he implicitly mentioned the complaints of some inhabitants of the municipalities at the border with the Czech Republic and Poland, according to whom criminality has increased at the borders after the entry of these countries into the Schengen area.

    The intention to amend the police law, which would allow stricter inspections and deployment of face recognition programs, was endorsed by the Saxon government at the end of October. The plans of Christian and Social Democrats were criticized both in Germany and in the Czech Republic.

    Since autumn 2015, Germany has been inspecting its border with Austria. The reasons leading to the implementation of this measure was not a cross-border crime, but tens of thousands of migrants flowing to Bavaria through the so-called Balkan Route from Turkey via Greece, Hungary or the Western Balkans and Austria.

  • Over 85 percent of Czechs still fear refugees and Islam

    According to recent research by the STEM agency, opinions of the Czech citizens regarding refugees remain the same if compared to 2015 when the migration crisis peaked.

    Despite the fear, more respondents think the migration issue overall improved over the past two years. Thirty-one percent of them believe it got better, which is twice as much as in 2016.

    An out of touch attitude to migrants among Czechs persists. Only 23 percent of them are willing to help refugees, which is about the same as in 2016 and 2015.

    Additionally, while in 2015 only 52 percent of people considered the Czech policy towards migrants to be right, now it is 67 percent. Over half of the respondents also stated that the policy is comprehensible. Overall more people approve the government’s approach than disapprove, the majority of them also better understand the government’s actions in this regard.

  • Zeman in Israel: The European Union sometimes acts cowardly

    Zeman said he would do his best to make the third step happen after both the Czech Honorary Consulate and the Czech House opened in Jerusalem and reminded of his intention to have the Czech Embassy there as well.

    The Czech President claimed solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people and condemned a recent appearance of “a Palestinian terrorist” in the European Parliament. “Sometimes, we as the EU are cowards and act with hesitation. We cannot betray Israel because it would mean we are betraying ourselves,” added Zeman.

    Dozens of members of the Czech delegation together with Israeli journalists witnessed Zeman’s speech, and in the end, he received a standing ovation from the Knesset. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier thanked Zeman for his kind words on the occasion of 70 years of Israeli independence and called him a great leader who protects the truth.

    During his visit, Zeman is set to inaugurate the Czech House in Jerusalem. It is supposed to mark a first step in the relocation process of the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital city.

  • Workforce shortage hits Christmas tree prices in Hungary

    Prices of spruce trees in the Christmas season could reach as much as HUF 3,200 per meter this year, a 30 percent rise over last year, the Hungarian Association of Ornamental Horticulture warned on Monday.

    They said the main reason is the increasing workforce shortage. The latest data from the Statistics Office showed that Hungarian unemployment was at a record low of 3.6 percent and that employers were finding it increasingly difficult to hire qualified and even manual labor.

    Spruce is the most popular Christmas tree variety in Hungary – where virtually every household will have one -, followed by the more expensive blue spruce (HUF 5,500 per meter) and the Nordmann or Caucasian fir (HUF 6,500 per meter). The prices of the latter two more expensive varieties are expected to remain unchanged.

    An estimated 2-2.5 million Chirstmas trees are sold every year in Hungary, over half of which come from domestic production.

  • Hatred is rising

    Konrad Kołodziejski condemns the Civic Platform’s (PO) smear campaign of a dissented politician. He warns that these actions are reminiscent of persecutions during Poland’s communist era.

    PO and Modern’s irritation with councilman Wojciech Kałuża’s decicision to leave their coalition is understandable. After all, it allowed Law and Justice (PiS) take control over Silesia. Their persecution of Kałuża, however, should build dread in any normal person.

    Although Kałuża’s transfer should be taken with a grain of salt, because such politicians should not be treated seriously, you cannot call it “political prostitution” as PO has. This is simply careerism or weaselling. PO itself is full of such people.

    In Kałuża’s case, however, we are dealing with a phenomenon unseen since Poland’s communist era. He has become the target of mass persecution. We have even seen odd mass party protests, where people are carrying banners with obscenities such as “Kałuża you d*ck.” 

    Journalist Piotr Semka has warned “Hatred is rising” and shared one of the posters on twitter, in it, Kałuża’s face is behind the words “Let every Silesian see the SNOUT of the TRAITOR”:

    tt

    Although during the Stalinist mass rallies people were forced to carry such banners, here we can see some sort of possession. If this carries on, then during PO’s possible return to power, people like councilman Kałuża will find themselves dragged through the streets. This is going too far. 

    PO MP Paweł Olszewski is an example of this, as he shared a tweet with Kałuża’s face and subtitled it: “Although you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, this face fits PiS perfectly.”

    The reason for this persecution? To strengthen the ranks before the deciding elections next year. This is so anyone, not only councilmen, who support the opposition, will not break ranks: judges, journalists, clerks. If they do, they can be sure they’ll be treated like trash, publicly shamed and hunted down.

    This isn’t just sick. This is dangerous.

  • Romania: Centenary celebrations and a harsh reality

    The 1920 Treaty of Trianon that formally ended World War I resulted in 72 percent of the then Kingdom of Hungary’s territory being divided between the Kingdom of Romania, the Czechoslovak Republic, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Romania received the largest chunk of over 102,000 square kilometers.

    While Romania – understandably – has ample reason for celebration, many Hungarians at home and in neighboring Romania can hardly wait for it to be over. For lack of a better approach, they would rather say that December 1st is World AIDS day.

    There may have been a popular assembly on December 1st, 1918 in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, Romania) deciding the unification of Transylvania with the rest of Romania, but in truth that had little to do with the historic reality that the winning side of World War I decided the fate of the region.

    We, Hungarians would even be inclined to respect their feelings if the reverse would also be true, but the majority of the Romanian politics and press keeps asking the insensitive question of why don’t (ethnic) Hungarians celebrate alongside us?

    But ethnic Hungarians in Romania have no reason for celebration: their minority rights are being disregarded and they are constantly being harassed for using their mother tongue. The Transylvanian transport infrastructure has seen little development in the past decades and four million Romanians have left the country looking for a better life in the West.

    The upcoming celebrations will certainly cover the country in tricolor flags (the red-yellow-blue Romanian flag), but these can only hide the reality for so long: a perpetual government crisis, lack of workforce, inadequate infrastructure and political infighting. So after the celebrations they will wake up with a hangover and the unanswered question of how to proceed.

    Title image: December 1st military parade in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, Romania)

  • “Crime on a city, this is what Germans did to Warsaw,” claims Mularczyk

    In an interview for “Sieci” weekly, Mularczyk underlined that what Germans did in Warsaw during the Second World War is termed as a “crime on a city” by international law. “Even today, Germany has not compensated Warsaw or Poland for what they had done, by turning a capital of a million into dust,” he said.

    According to Mularczyk this is an important “contribution” in the debate concerning reparations, which is “currently ongoing.” 

    If we really want to build unity between our nations, if we do not want to sanction the crimes of the past, then we cannot just sweep this under the rug

    The MP drew attention to an increased interest in the topic of reparations by the German media and politicians. “This interest has become serious. They are asking for details, inquiring, also there the topic has stopped being underestimated,” Mularczyk explained. 

    Mularczyk underlined that if “we really want to build unity between our nations, if we do not want to sanction the crimes of the past, then we cannot just sweep this under the rug.”

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    The MP argued that it is impossible to overlook the scale of Polish casualties. “Let me remind you, that it is almost 6 million Polish citizens slain and the destruction of almost 40 percent of Poland’s economic potential. Germany, currently the richest country in Europe has still not paid for that. They have not compensated those causalities to our homeland,” said Mularczyk. 

  • Chuck Norris: Leftist elites dominate Hollywood

    The effect of Hollywood productions promoting liberal values should be counterbalanced with credible history teachings, Chuck Norris said in Budapest, praising Donald Trump’s presidency.

    “Donald Trump does his job very well, he is not your average politician,” Norris said. He added that despite the success of his policies, Trump is the permanent target of attacks by a spreading liberal world view. This is partly due to Hollywood productions being used as platforms by the leftist cultural elite in order to influence the younger generations.

    “If we fail to teach history properly to the next generations, we may lose them,” he said.

    Norris – who posts his conservative views on social media – has for three decades been a Republican supporter, including donations to the party. During the 2016 election campaign he also warned against the dangers of a second Clinton-administration.

    Title image: Chuck Norris and spouse Gena O’Kelley at a charity auction in Budapest. (MTI/Tamás Kovács)

     

  • “Scandalous letter” from US ambassador to Polish PM

    According to “DoRzeczy”, the letter criticized the Polish investigation into neo-Nazi environments in Poland and the news material emitted by TVN on the subject. TVN is an American owned TV station belonging to the Discovery Communications company.

    “It is hard to call this letter diplomatic. Its tone is very arrogant. There is a talk of a scandal in the PM’s inner circle,” says an aide close to PM Morawiecki.

    It is hard to call this letter diplomatic. Its tone is very arrogant. There is a talk of a scandal in the PM’s inner circle

    “Do Rzeczy” reports, Mosbacher writes in the letter that the United States will not tolerate publicly spoken criticism of the TV station by Polish politicians. She even claimed that she finds it preposterous that public persons are undermining TVN’s credibility. 

    Another governmental aide argued that these demands “aren’t because the last three years of American diplomats taught that they can behave like that. They are just used to us giving into pressure from them.”

    Deputy PM cancelled meeting

    Deputy PM Jarosław Gowin has cancelled his planned meeting with the US ambassador, which she herself had initiated. The reason was Mosbacher’s speech about a harsh reaction of the American Congress to potentially violating freedom of speech in Poland. 

    During a meeting between the Polish and American parliamentary teams, Mosbacher reminded Polish politicians that Democrats and Republicans alike cherish freedom of press: “Will there be a project, which we would be interested in, or perhaps which should worry us?,” she said.

    Will there be a project, which we would be interested in, or perhaps which should worry us?

    This speech was received by the Polish representatives as an example of informal pressure on the legislator and lobbying in favor of a particular TV station. 

    The Polish government will not officially comment on the matter. It might happen if the letter goes public, but that decision is up to the PM Morawiecki. 

  • “Overtourism” threatens Hungary

    Mass tourism has not yet reached Hungary, but the warning signs are already present and the country should be ready to deal with the phenomenon, a study by auditing firm KPMG indicated.

    Dániel Indra, head of KPMG Hungary’s tourism section told Pesti Srácok that these warning signs included a local vote in Budapest’s 6th district last year. This downtown district is famous for being the favorite destination for Western European youth’s party weekends. Last year the locals, fed up with all-night partying organized a vote to reduce the opening hours of restaurants and pubs. Voter turnout did not reach the required 20 percent.

    Overtourism_Szimpla

    Szimpla kert, the heart of Budapest’s party district

    Indra also said that locals around lake Balaton – the second most popular Hungarian tourist destination after Budapest – have also begun complaining about their quality of life being compromised by too many visitors in the summer months.

    While the danger is not yet present, Indra says the warning signs of bottlenecks are already obvious: the number of passengers at Budapest’s airport has grown from 8.5 million in 2013 to over 15 million this year and hotel occupancy rates in Budapest remained as high as 86 percent this September.

    The solution is twofold: on the one hand, agencies should try to stretch out the tourist season and convince visitors to turn their attention to the countryside. The latter, however, also requires additional hotels. This is already happening: next year in the countryside 1,300 new hotel rooms are expected to be built in various investments at other popular tourist destinations.

  • Duda emergency talks with Poroshenko on Azov Sea crises

    Szczerski recounted the telephone conversation between President Poroshenko and President Duda. According to him, Poroshenko had told Duda about the Sunday events and proposed possible scenarios of action for the following days.

    “According to President Poroshenko, Russia’s actions have exhausted any nevi of aggression acts as defined by international law,” Szczerski said. The Ukrainian President explained that the Ukrainian vessels had been attacked when they were located in neutral waters. He claims that his country’s ships did not respond aggressively. 

    According to President Poroshenko, Russia’s actions have exhausted any nevi of aggression acts as defined by international law

    Martial law

    The two presidents also discussed Poroshenko’s notion to introduce martial law in ten of Ukraine’s regions bordering Russia. “The Ukrainian President assured that this is an extraordinary and limited measure and will not influence democratic procedures, including elections in Ukraine,” said Szczerski. 

    Szczerski assured that the current situation in Ukraine will not affect Poland’s security. He added, however, that after the annexation of Crimea the Azov Sea and Mariupol are “the next, very susceptible to danger region of Eastern Europe.” 

    On Sunday, Russian special forces fired upon and took over three Ukrainian navy vessels which were travelling from Odessa to Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Russia explained the attack by accusing the Ukrainian units of entering Russian territorial waters.

  • There is a good reason to build fences

    The first photo depicts the installation of a fence in Hungary in 2015. “Do you remember how the whole “decent Europe” was spitting on the Hungarian government at that time?,” Kechlibar commented, sharing an article from Spiegel magazine from the same year entitled “Welcoming culture á la Guantanamo “.

    2016

    The other pictures included the Dortmund logo of the “Bridges instead of the fences” campaign of 2016, and a photo of this year’s security measures at the Christmas markets at Breitscheidplatz square in Berlin, where the attack of a truck driver Anis Amri happened two years ago. “As far as I know, the Budapest Christmas market is not that fortified,” Kechlibar said.

    2016

    The failure of external security (border) must necessarily be reflected in internal security. The fences, according to Kechlibar, have been created for a good reason because some people belong behind them. “If there is a policy that leads to fortifying the Christmas markets, I do not care whether its original motivation was glorious or not. I simply refuse such a policy as bad, regardless of its attractive packaging, because it has bad consequences,” added Kechlibar.

  • Muslim migrants are behind the rise of anti-Semitism

    In Berlin alone, the NGOs recorded more than 900 occurrences of anti-Semitism last year, sixty percent more than in 2016. It was mostly insulting or propaganda on the street or the Internet. According to Mareš, however, the problem is that historical anti-Semitism is often hidden under the cover of anti-Zionism, under the resistance to the state of Israel.

    “Anti-Semitism is sometimes hard to distinguish from anti-Zionism and resistance to Israel. To a certain extent, a new wave of migrants from Muslim countries is responsible for it,” Mareš warned and added that those Muslims often have critical attitudes to Jews referring, for example, to quotes from the Koran directed against the Jews.

    The prejudices and hatred of the Jews are not manifested only by the Muslims, but also supporters of the far right demonstrate it increasingly. Also, the number of violent acts increases, not only in Germany but also in France or Italy. Therefore, it’s not only Israel trying to persuade European states to intervene and accept a declaration on anti-Semitism.

    “The problem for Israel is that there is a huge wave of resistance, which is not justified by rational arguments, but rather by the fact that Israel is perceived as an evil,” Mareš said.

  • Thousands of Germans have to pay large sums for migrants

    The German authorities and colleagues from the organization Help for Syrian Refugees (Flüchtlingshilfe Syrien) assured Christian Osterhaus that if he wants to guarantee protection for refugees, he will only be responsible for them until they get an official asylum status. Osterhaus then paid for flight tickets, accommodation, and meals for two Syrian children.

    In the West German city of Bonn, where the Osterhaus lives, 450 people guaranteed protection for refugees. In Germany, there are more than 7,000 guarantors who have received an unpleasant letter from work centers in recent months, as well as from city or municipal authorities demanding compensation of refugee costs.

    “It’s like a slap, totally absurd,” says Osterhaus, who has been involved in the development and social assistance projects all his life. In recent months, he has collected a number of documents relating to a refugee guarantee dispute. The last letter sent to him by the Bonn Work Center was in June. Osterhaus, according to him, has to pay 7,239 euros and the amount can increase.

    The Bonn Work Center based its demand on a law amendment from 2016 when the ruling coalition tightened rules for moving to Germany. According to the new version of the legislation, the Declaration of Commitment does not expire even if the migrant´s status changes.

    Work centers continue to send reminders, though notional “debtors” may not pay until the Federal Administrative Court decides, as Deutsche Welle has informed. Even though they wanted to help the Syrians, many Germans cannot afford such expenses.

  • The no-confidence vote has failed

    According to Babiš, the only purpose of Friday’s no-confidence vote was to give the opposition an opportunity to insult him. “I have no reason to resign… You either have to dismiss me or try to defeat me in democratic elections. You cannot get rid of me in any other way than through the one based on the will of the citizens,” PM Babiš said during his speech in which he also called the whole situation a “pseudo-affair”.

    Tomio Okamura, chairman of the opposition party SPD considered the no-confidence vote “an attempt at a coup, which has previously been successfully realized by the Brussels´ globalists in Slovakia”.

    Jan Hamáček, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of CSSD, expressed his understanding of the public concern, but he refused “the fury of the opposition”. Hamáček assured that while he is the Minister of the Interior, he will support the police “to solve all the cases and questions without feeling under political pressure”.

    Talking about the final result of the vote, Petr Fiala, leader of the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS), pointed out that the vote in the government has proven that PM Babiš lost the majority in the Czech Chamber of Deputies.

    According to a CVVM poll released on Friday, ANO would win a Czech general election again with 29.5 percent of the vote if it took place now. However, the support of the Babiš movement has slightly dropped by 0.5 percent since October.

  • “Protests in France are the rage against Macron,” says Czarnecki

    Czarnecki primarily urges readers to look into the genesis of the protests, and not the protests themselves, which are brutally subjugated by the police: “These increases in petrol costs have not happened because the French budget is on edge and President Macron is looking for money.” Instead, Czarnecki says, that this is all an effect of forcing a pro-climate and pro-ecology policy. 

    “This is a signal that the so admired European climate policy, very risky for Poland, has fatal economic and social consequences,” says Czarnecki. He also drew attention to French hypocrisy in that they like to “teach others” and become judge and jury in economic matters, whereas they have an increasingly massive public debt. “If not for the European Central Bank buying out the debts of Southern Europe, including France, this situation would be much worse.”

    The French are showing what they think of a president who cares more for external affairs, than those of his country

    Czarnecki believes that the economic factor is only a pretext for the protests. “This was the rage of French society against President Macron, who has the lowest approval rates after one and a half years of any president of the 5thRepublic.” 

    The MEP reminded of Macron’s call for abandoning nation-states and focusing the Union’s future on EU institutions. “The French are showing what they think of a president who cares more for external affairs, than those of his country.”

    If the police brutality in France had happened in Poland, then the European Commission would have taken action. “This shows that the EU is a Union for the strong, a Union of double standards. What is allowed in France is not allowed in other countries,” says Czarnecki.

  • Columnist: Romania, where time has frozen

    Last Thursday, The Supreme Court of Romania rejected an appeal by the Transylvanian Reformed Church, effectively re-nationalizing the Székely Mikó College in Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfântu Gheorghe in Romanian).

    The school was built by the Reformed Church from private donations and operated until Communist Romania nationalized it – along with most larger private properties in Romania. In May 2002, after lengthy legal proceedings the school was restituted to the church.

    Following a long series of appeals, the Romanian Supreme Court rejected the appeal, effectively giving the school back to the state. Reformed Church officials said they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

    In a few days, Romania will celebrate 100 years of unification (which meant that as one of the winners of World War I it received a significant chunk of what was Hungary), and the leader of the European Commission is expected to celebrate the event in Bucharest. He is seemingly unperturbed by the fact that Romania still does not adhere to the rule of law in the European sense and – as one Hungarian cabinet member put it – “property restitution there remains based on Stalinist principles”. 

    The respect for private and community property is one of the pillars of the rule of law. Lately, however, in Romania the restitution of nationalized church properties has not only come to a virtual standstill, in many cases these are being re-nationalized in a blatant misuse of the law.

    As of January 1, Romania will assume the revolving presidency of the European Union. This could be a good opportunity for the country to show that it is breaking with the political principles and practices of past extreme left and extreme right oppressive governments and is in fact accepting and observing European values and rule of law.

    Title image: The Székely Mikó College in Sepsiszentgyörgy (Romanian: Sfântu Gheorghe) on a pre-WWI postcard.