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  • Hungarian Academy calls for regulation of alternative medicines

    The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has called for a regulation of alternative medical practices such as homeopathy, esoteric healing and bioenergetics, saying there is no proof that these are effective.

    The Medical Sciences Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) issued a position paper in which it called for a comprehensive regulation of alternative medical practices, most of which are currently unregulated, Magyar Idők reports.

    “Performing healing without any proof is a serious risk, but these activities are currently not regulated by professional or legal means in Hungary,” the MTA paper said.

    Complementary healing practices such as homeopathy, esoteric healing, bioenergetics or detoxification should only be allowed if their effectiveness is proven and can cause no harm. While conventional medicine is required to only use such methods, alternative healing is not subject to any regulations, posing serious risks.

    Some alternative practices border on quackery and are still allowed – or at least not prohibited – by law.

    The Academy asks that medical professionals and the relevant ministry should work together on drafting comprehensive legislation. The paper also says that the term “complementary” should be used instead of “alternative”, as the latter can be misleading.

    After a series of national and international studies proved that homeopathy is ineffective, the Semmelweis University discontinued its homeopathy program while the Hungarian Chamber of Stomatologists issued a statement that no university course in homeopathic dentistry will be accredited in Hungary.

     

  • The naiveté and political correctness of “Democrats” boosts populists

    Naiveté in the interest of the general good and sweeping things under the carpet will not solve anything.

    The two things mentioned above may seem like two completely different and unrelated things, however, as recent news from Sweden shows, they may share more than you think.

    Swedish activist Elin Ersson tried to prevent deportation of a 52-year-old Afghan from Sweden back to his country. But it turned out that the Afghan was a former convicted criminal. The girl showed her “pathological altruism”. In her naive pursuit of doing good, she actually helped the opposite. She supported a person who committed a serious crime.

    Similarly naive is Swedish politics since the mid-70s, when Sweden began to aspire to become a multicultural humanitarian power, welcoming people from all over the world

    The situation in Sweden has worsened also by efforts not to talk about things that are not consistent with the predominant thinking. The problems of mass immigration have been overlooked for a long time, and any criticism has been rejected by the constant repetition of the mantra that the presence of people from other cultures must always be beneficial and enriching for the society in question.

    Obvious and eye-catching problems can not be overlooked indefinitely. Especially after 2015, when Europe was shocked by the migratory crisis, and Sweden became one of the most sought targets for asylum seekers because of its generous immigration policy. It is no wonder, therefore, that immigration has also become one of the main topics of this year’s Swedish elections.

    When the problems are not discussed it helps the populists as Swedish Democratic Party and Germany AfD to succeed. Similar parties have already been successful in most European countries. They point to real problems, but they do not offer any feasible and legally possible solution.

    Therefore, it is absolutely silly if all democratic politicians who draw attention to the problems of migration, are labeling such as fascists and agents of the Kremlin.

  • Czech Republic is a small country but influential

    The first day of the Czech Ambassadors’ meeting, held from August 27th to 31st in Prague was devoted to the direction of Czech foreign policy.

    In addition to Prime Minister Andrej Babis and a number of diplomats, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Hamacek also took part.

    The main direction of Czech foreign policy does not change. It´s about continuity and strong anchoring in European and transatlantic structures. Priorities include the promotion of the Eastern Partnership and the opening of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania.

    Among discussions surrounding the main challenges faced by the Czech Republic and Europe, the head of diplomacy included violent conflicts around Europe, climate change and related population movements. Our main goal must be to create a belt of security and prosperity around Europe. Therefore it is necessary to give people the vision of a dignified and meaningful life in their homelands.

    The Czech Republic will therefore strengthen its international engagement through participating in military missions, and also by increasing resources for humanitarian and development aid.

  • Babiš-Conte meeting in Rome

    “Conte understands us,” says Czech PM Babiš after discussions with Giuseppe Conte in Italy.

    Once again, Babiš said to Conte that the Czech Republic will not accept a single migrant. “He understands because this simply is not a solution,“ the Czech PM said.

    Conte invited Babiš to visit Italy in an open letter in July after the Czech PM refused an Italian request for help with 450 migrants rescued from a fishing boat in the Mediterranean sea. Babiš then justified the rejection by saying that the EU must send a signal that illegal migration is inadmissible and accepting more migrants worsens the issue.

    Babiš repeated this position to Conte in Tuesday´s meeting. Illegal migration and smugglers must be stopped in front of the borders of Europe, which is why it is necessary to provide financial support to the southern European coastal states, the North African countries and those states where the refugees usually come from.

    In Rome, Babiš also visited the European Union Naval Force headquarters, known in the Mediterranean as the EUNAVFOR MED Sophia, where Czech soldiers are involved. The aim of the military operation is to fight smugglers trying to get migrants from North Africa to Europe.

    From Italy, Babiš departed for a visit to Malta, where he met with PM Joseph Muscat. The focus of discussion was migration, as it was in Rome. After talks with Muscat, Babiš reiterated his opposition to migrant sharing in the European Union.

  • Orbán to Salvini: Don´t give up

    According to Orban, Salvini is the first politician in the Mediterranean who has taken responsibility when he tries to stop migrants sailing across the sea from Africa to Europe. Hungary supports Italy in its attempt to defend the Italian maritime border.

    „European security depends on your success,“ Orbán said. He also reminded, that he has been criticized a few years ago for protecting Hungarian borders.

    Hungary, at the time of the mass wave of migrants coming to Europe through the Balkan Way, built a plot on its borders in 2015 to stop the wave. Afterwards, other European countries have also tightened controls at the borders.

    According to Salvini Europe is very close to the historical turning point for its future. Without further details, it has also been mentioned that in Europe an alliance with right-wing ideals is formed. It will emphasize the European identity and its associated values.

  • Polish actor to play young Polański in Tarantino’s film

    Polish actor Rafał Zawierucha will play a young Roman Polański in Quentin Tarantino’s newest movie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, it has been announced.

    “I am very proud! The role of Roman Polański in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a big deal! I can finally speak out about this today!,” Maciej Gajewski wrote on Facebook, the head of the Studio Gama agency representing Zawierucha:

    https://www.facebook.com/maciej.gajewski.7/posts/10216547142206748

    “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is meant to tell the tale of former Western TV series star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his double Cliff Boothe (Brad Pitt). One of the plotlines concerns the murder of Polanski’s wife Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) by Charles Manson.

    Other household names starring in the movie include: Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, Lena Dunham, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, James Mardsen.

    Rafał Zawierucha (born 1986) is most known for his roles in the Polish films “Warsaw 44” and “Gods”.

    Murder that shook Hollywood

    On August 9th, 1969, Sharon Tate and four others were murdered by members of the Manson Family in the home she shared with Polanski. At the time of her death, she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with the couple’s son.

    “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” will premiere on July 26th, 2019, two weeks prior to the 50th anniversary of the murders.

  • NATO investments in Polish airfields

    New NATO investments are to focus on the development of military airports to support allied aircraft landing in Poland.

    The investment plan for this year accepted by NATO’s strategic command foresees heavy development of Polish military airports. The investments will be overseen by the Ministry of National Defense (MON).

    The number of American aircraft landing in Poland has significantly increased. The most recent include the F-22 Raptor fighters. They mainly use the military airports in Powidz and Łask.

    Developments in military airports will include the construction of additional airport aprons, including an apron for an air tanker, road repairs and runway waysides. There will also be ammunition storehouses, CARGO terminals and a hangar for the air tanker. New ICT systems and fuel deposits will also be constructed.

    Top secret

    The Polish minister of national defense has classified the details of the investment plan. The press officers of MON have stated, this is because “the parameters of the works able to identify their range, location and level of funding are sensitive information due to national safety.” The same goes for this years’ investment budget.

    Last year, the investments planned for developing the military amounted to PLN 235,1 million. Only 25 percent of the total value of the investments come from Poland’s budget. The rest are paid from the contributions of other member states. This year, Poland’s contribution to the NATO fund is PLN 60 million, an increase compared to last year.

    Poland is also the first country among those accepted after 1989 to house an element of the NATO command structure – the Joint Force Training Centre.

  • Macron wants to include Russia in European defense

    Emmanuel Macron supports Germany’s Heiko Mass’ vision of foreign policy and goes even further by postulating that Russia be included in European defense. Bartłomiej Radziejewski explains why it is make or break time for Poland.

    The French president needed but a week to speak in the same vein as Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Mass in his article in Handelsblaat. 

    In his annual speech to French diplomats, Macron did not only agree with Maas’ new world order and the idea of a sovereign European Union. He also supported the idea of an EU army but even went a step further and underlined the need to include Russia in creating an independent European defense, if the situation in Ukraine were to improve.

    Macron announced that French proposals on the subject would come in the following months.

    History has not only “returned” – it is rushing forward uncontrollably

    While Poland is excited by its local elections’ trival events, history has not only “returned” – it is rushing forward uncontrollably. Maas’ article in Handelsblaat did not even capture the interest of Polish mainstream media. Meanwhile, another hit has struck – Macron is supporting Germany’s new world order.

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    Simple times have passed. Poland is in a demanding and often unfavorable international dynamic. No one will grow up for Poland and hurry the country up. There is not only a lot to lose but also much to win. To win, however, you need to play. To play you need something to play with. To have something to play with, you need to work and not frolic about. 

     

  • President Trump to receive Duda at the White House

    The first official visit of president Andrzej Duda to meet President Trump at the White House will take place on September 18th.

    “The schedule foresees a face-to-face meeting between the two presidents, the delegation’s plenary talks and a joint press conference,” the president’s Chief of the Cabinet Krzysztof Szczerski said. “Amongst the issues to be discussed by the presidents there will be security, geopolitics, alliance cooperation, military and economic contacts,” he added.

    Duda will be accompanied by his wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda. The first ladies will have a separate schedule during the trip.

    TT

    While in Washington, Duda will also visit the US Senate and in the evening the Polish president will hold a cocktail reception on the occasion of 100 years of Polish independence.

    After Three Seas summit

    “What is symbolic, is that the president will fly to Washington right after the Three Seas summit,” underlines Szczerski. Therefore, Andrzej Duda will also be representing the entire region during his meeting with Donald Trump.

    In the week following his visit to Washington, Duda will return to the United States to take part in the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

  • Low Danube levels reveal remains of WWII U.S. bomber

    Staff of the Szolnok, central Hungary aircraft museum are recovering the remains of a World War II American bomber from the Danube river revealed by record low water levels, news portal Pesti Srácok writes.

    Museum employee Zsuzsa Csepke said private citizens reported the find to the Military History museum and the remains have since been recovered and transported to Szolnok where they will be displayed after restoration.

    B-24G

    Remains of an American B-24G “Liberator” bomber in the Danube river bed near Budapest

    The bomber with the official designation B-24G but better known as the “Liberator” was manufactured by Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, California.

    The aircraft was part of the 485th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force operating in the Mediterranean during WWII.

    According to Air Force records, the bomber, piloted by First Lieutenant Frank Wodzinski was hit by anti-aircraft artillery during a bomb run on the Danubian Aircraft Factory and plunged into the river. One aircraft crew member survived.

     

  • S&P may increase Hungary’s rating

    S&P analyst Karen Vartapetov has said that the credit rating agency may improve Hungary’s rating in the next twelve months.

    Currently Hungary’s sovereign debt rating is BBB- with a positive outlook both at Fitch and S&P, and Baa3 with a stable outlook at Moody’s. Of the three big rating agencies, S&P last upgraded Hungary’s rating in August 2017.

    S&P finished its second annual review of Hungary on August 17th and it was somewhat disappointing that it left the country’s rating unchanged at one notch above junk. Those in charge of Hungary’s economic policy and Hungarian economist both believe this rating to be unfair in view of good macroeconomic indicators.

    Vartapetov said the major credit rating agencies normally take a longer view and change a country’s rating every two years or so and Hungary is still within that timeframe. She said the longer view is needed to assess the effect of changes such as the lending program of the Hungarian National Bank or the effects the changes in U.S. and eurozone monetary policy had on Hungary.

    She also said that while employees may be happy with a double-digit growth in real wages, S&P regards it as a sign of an overheating economy and a threat to the country’s competitiveness. Another uncertainty is the amount of EU subsidies Hungary will receive in the 2021-2027 budgetary cycle.

    Fitch Ratings is scheduled to update Hungary’s rating on August 31st and Moody’s in November.

     

  • Opinion: Orbán and Salvini tackle actual problems

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini are not interested in safeguarding an antiquated European political regime, they are rather intent on solving actual problems.

    Technically, the Orbán-Salvini meeting cannot shake Europe, but it did cause a commotion, Magyar Idők columnist Levente Sitkei writes.

    The two have no interest in sustaining the old – but also antiquated and inefficient – political system: they want to address actual problems. Migration is a serious issue for Europe, and not only a matter of gaining votes.

    The problem is that Western European elites’ main preoccupation remains the same as it was before the migration crisis broke out in 2015: to reinforce their own positions. Across Europe, various political parties born after World War II warn against the gains made by so-called “populist” movements.

    The Northern League and the Five Stars Movement in Italy are among them, as is Fidesz in Hungary. The “compliant” mainstream parties want to maintain their inherited status and are busy trying to stay in power for one more season, one more year, one more electoral cycle.

    It is nowhere near certain that new movements have all the answers, but Europe fundamentally works along democratic principles, giving people alternatives to choose from. And if the people decide to support these new movements, they cannot be blamed.

    There have been and will be articles branding Hungary as a dictatorship. But these will always be the wailings of an atrophying elite incapable of reacting to the world.

    Hungary, on the other hand, can and does react. Those who want to solve problems must look forward and ignore the syren songs proclaiming that Hungary is too small to effect any change in Europe. Hungary is not small, just like there are no small or large ideals.

    Does this meeting mean that Italy and Hungary will from now on be allied forever? Not by a long way. But they have the common goal of stopping illegal migration and replace haphazard actions with order. And that is a common interest to build upon.

  • PM Orbán: Immigration top issue in Europe

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini’s meeting in Milan this week mainly revolved around the issue of migration and the two leaders shared similar opinions.

    “Hungary is the country which proved that migration can be stopped”

    According to Origo.hu, PM Orbán praised Salvini for his efforts to tackle immigration via the Mediterranean:

    “(…) he has undertaken the historical mission to prove that migration can be stopped at sea as well. The security of Europe hinges on his success,” he said.

    PM Orbán also expressed his gratitude to Salvini for defending Hungary when it came under attack in the European Parliament for its new constitution.

    The two also shared the opinion that next year’s European elections should result in a new European Commission with clear policies to defend the borders and halt migration. They both criticized French President Emmanuel Macron.

    “There are two camps. One is led by Macron. He wants to blow up the (European) People’s Party, as he did in France. He is the leader of the pro-migration forces. Then there is us, who want to stop migration,” PM Orbán said

     

  • Italy’s PM threatens to veto EU budget

    “Above all, there is no dogma about approving the Multiannual Financial Framework of the next seven years,“ Di Maio wrote on Facebook. He pointed out that Brussels will insist on the approval of the budget in a hurry before the next European election and that is something that Italy will not allow.

    Di Maio’s threat was in relation to the dispute over who will take in the migrants from the Diciotti boat. The Italian authorities had refused to let the refugees disembark because the government demanded other EU members take some of the migrants.

    Italy has long been seeking help from other EU countries. In June and July, some countries helped Italy and Malta with migrants disembarking at their ports.

    In May, the European Commission proposed a budget of €1.135 trillion in commitments, which is about 1.11 percent of the EU´s Gross National Income (GNI) for the years 2021-2027, which is the period directly after Brexit.

    The plan, which counts higher contributions from the 27 states, is slightly reductive in the areas of structural funds and agricultural policy, but it adds money to areas such as security, defense or migration. The Commission also wants to link access to European money to the quality of the legal state law in the recipient countries.

  • Hunt for migrants and protests in Germany

    Protests took place in the German town of Chemnitz. The reason of the tension is a quarrel that ended up with the murder of a German citizen. The suspects are two men from Iraq and Syria, who have been detained by the court.

    Due to the protests of right-wing radicals who declaim slogans such as “We are the nation” and attack immigrants, the City Hall prematurely cancelled local town festivals.

    The events in the city were sharply criticized by the German Federal Government. “What happened in Chemnitz yesterday, and what is visible on some records, does not have a place in our state,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday. Attacks were also condemned by opposition politicians. Some of them doubt that the Saxon authorities still have the situation under control.

    Organization RAA Sachsen, which helps victims of right-wing violence, has called on migrants to avoid the Chemnitz centre. There is a threat of further violence.

  • Babiš: We are part of both the West and the EU

    According to PM Andrej Babiš, the government is criticizing the EU when it promotes Czech national interests. That does not mean an anti-European attitude, he says.

    PM Babiš delivered a speech at the Ambassador’s Annual Meeting. He said that Czexit would be a dangerous path for the Czech Republic to take and pointed to the fact that 83 percent of the Czech Republic’s exports were to other EU states. The European Union must, however, return to its essence – a safe and prosperous continent based on the internal market.

    The EU should focus on ensuring the safety of the continent and searching for an agreement on the return of refugees with North African countries following the example of the agreement with Turkey. Babiš also reiterated that he would not accept a single migrant in the Czech Republic.

    The next European election will be extremely important, Babiš believes. The Czech Republic has to fight for Europe to change, to strengthen the role of the European Council and the Member States, so that we do not play the part where someone dictates to us.

  • Thanks to the V4, we were able to reject migrant quotas

    We have lost three years through pointless debate, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said in an interview before heading to Italy.

    Babiš also pointed out a need for intensive cooperation on migration. He praised the V4 partnership, because thanks to co-operation, the Czech republic have made a major step forward in preventing itself from accepting quotas.

    The PMs´way is the result of his public argument with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte about the reception of migrants. Babiš has long refused to accept even a single migrant saying it´s a key gesture, symbol and message to migrants and smugglers that it makes no sense to sail to Europe.

    The EU must have a clear concept and plan, but Babiš doesn´t see it even though the problem is huge.

    “We have solved only our problem and the problem of the V4 countries, but not the overall problem of European illegal migration,“ Babiš said. There needs to be a discussion about the budget and the rational use of €35 billion planned for border protection.

  • Riots in Chemnitz

    Two immigrants from Syria and Iran are suspects in the knifing of a man in Chemnitz. The attacks sparked two days of riots which amounted to clashes between the Left and the Right. six people are wounded.

    The spokesman of the German police admitted that they had not anticipated so many protesters. The mobilization of the police was too weak, during the clashes people tried to catch immigrants and lynch them.

    “We do not accept behavior such as manhunts on people of different color or spreading hate on the streets. There is no place for that in our country of law and we strongly condemn it,” said the government’s spokesman Steffen Seibert.

    Blogger Wawel on Salon24.pl draws attention to the fact that none of the main Polish media outlets: TVP, Polsat and TVN reported on the issue. They focused on a shooting in the US but did not care about what happened just across the border:

    https://www.salon24.pl/u/wawel/891152,chemnitz-teraz-po-wczorajszej-rzezi-przez-migrantow-marsz-8-tys-mieszkancow-i-walki-z-antifa

    Chemnitz

    Many people have commented under the blog post, many arguing over media outlets, including those in the US and UK, not reporting on the matter.

    Blogger Wawel, who reported live on the event claims that 8,000 people had taken part in the riots. He also claimed that the two Middle Eastern immigrants had been molesting women during a town celebration. Three German men came to help the women but were attacked with knives. The assault left one of them dead and the other wounded.

    DPA underlines that anti-immigrant moods are on the rise in Germany since Angela Merkel’s decision in 2015 to open borders to migrants from North Africa and the Middle East.

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  • Parliamentary immunity restriction targets extremists

    Parliamentary chair Andrej Danko (SNS) believes that members of parliament should not be protected by immunity in some cases, such as anti-Semitic statements.

    Danko wants to address the issue in a multilateral meeting with the other parliamentary parties, the change in laws could reflect one of the anti-fascist measures of the government.

    According to Danko, who is also the president of the Slovak National Party, some MPs are frequently offending other states and religions, partially because they recognize their protection by parliamentary immunity.

    The politician also believes that the Supreme Court of Slovakia should decide in six months in cases connected with effectively banning a political party. Currently the radical right ĽSNS is targeted by an investigation.

    According to Danko the Slovak laws against extremism are weak and ineffective, the judicial process started in 2017 with no visible progress. 

  • Talk of Polexit is hogwash

    No one in the Polish government is considering Polexit, not even jokingly. Polexit is the opposition’s dream as a means of returning to power.

    It is the opposition’s dream about Law and Justice (PiS) wanting to leave the EU, writes Jacek Karnowski. The reason for this is simple: they hope that in that case, Poles will get rid of the PiS “yoke” and abolish the government’s programs. Just inserting Polexit into the public debate is meant to scare voters into changing the government.

    The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has denounced any claims of a Polexit by saying  that: “Whoever frightens with leaving the EU is harming Poland”.

    There is no way of predicting how Polish society would react if voters started to believe Polexit was truly possible. What social forces would become active? What mechanisms? Who is sure they know the answers to these questions?

    Whoever frightens with leaving the EU is harming Poland

    The last three years have proven, however, that the opposition’s chatter about it isn’t enough for anyone to take Polexit seriously. Meanwhile Polexit could be much more hurtful to the opposition than to PiS. This is because the government is defining the rules of the game.

    Polish society is one of the most pro-EU on the continent. Similar indicators of EU acceptance have been noted in Hungary. The opposition has tried to build the alternative of: either us and Europe or Orbán and the wild Balkans, for a very long time. As it is well known, without much success.

  • Košice Pride collides with beatification

    The sixth Pride in Košice is being organized at the same time as the beatification of Anna Kolesárová. The organizers believe this coincidence should not cause conflicts.

    According to Róbert Furiel, Pride week, which started on Saturday will culminate on September 1st with a march through the city. The events connected to the Pride event include a discussion with transgender people and to create a city for everyone.

    On the day of the Pride march another mass event will take place in Košice, the beatification of Anna Kolesárová, a Slovak Roman Catholic girl who died at the age of 16 in 1944, after an alleged rape attempt by a Soviet soldier. The beatification process opened in 2004, in March pope Francis confirmed that she had died “in defensum castitatis” (meaning to preserve herself as a virgin).

    “Unfortunately according to a few these two events are conflicted and suggested rescheduling the Pride to a different date. We categorically refuse this, there is no moral conflict and with the help of the police we can coordinate the events,” Furiel said.

  • Poland in the new world order

    Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister says it is time to think about European defense without American participation. However, that is completely against what Warsaw wants, warns professor Bogdan Góralczyk.

    The world order is changing. Multilateralism is fading under Donald Trump and the unipolar order of the USA is shifting to a multipolar one. It may now include not only Russia and China, but even India and the rest of the BRICS.

    World powers are beginning to settle once more, this time fighting over interests and no longer over values. This is the largest change brought about by Donald Trump and his administration. However, as Maas has exposed, this is a deeper process which goes beyond Trump.

    What is the most shocking about this new balance of power? The European Union is not present as a force. There is Germany or the Berlin-Paris tandem, which is even stronger since Brexit.

    There is the problem of “returning to the classics”: the ally (the US) far away and Europe’s hard core without or even against Poland

    Heiko Maas wrote in “Handelsblatt” that it is time to consider European defense without the United States:

    https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/making-plans-new-world-order-germany-us-trump-trans-atlantic-relations-heiko-maas-europe-956306#.W30v1EXjSfI.twitter

    This is completely opposed to what Warsaw is looking for. If we add Germany wanting to “unify forces with France” and support for Emmanuel Macron’s “concentric circles” then there is the problem of “returning to the classics”: the ally (the US) far away and Europe’s hard core without or even against Poland.

    What can Poland do, when its Atlantic sympathies clash with Maas’ “Atlantic antipathy” which could give a chance to “redefine the EU”?  Maas’ words must be considered when he talks about “a review of alliances” and the possibility of a European superpower. All of this is in context of saying “no” to single sided American egoism and new trade demands.

    This vision also includes the construction of a power which cannot be created by nation states, which have been recently endorsed by Warsaw and Budapest.

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  • Berlin to cooperate with Three Seas Initiative

    Berlin has put forward a proposal for Germany to take part in the work of the Three Seas Initiative as a partner country. Poland has supported the idea.

    If the remaining Three Seas countries also support this proposal, then it is possible that a German representative will take part in the September summit in Bucharest as a guest. They would do so alongside the representatives of the US and the President of the European Commission.

    Krzysztof Szczerski, the Chief of the Cabinet of the President told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that “the Three Seas Initiative is seen positively by more outside parties. This proves its growing importance in European and euroatlantic politics.”

    If an important country like Germany supports the idea, then the Initiative is right and has a chance at solidifying its role in international politics

    Szczerski also reminded that ever since the establishment of the Initiative, Andrzej Duda had aimed for it to become an “important mechanism of cooperation of countries for harmonious development and safety of Europe.”

    “If an important country like Germany supports the idea, then the Initiative is right and has a chance at solidifying its role in international politics,” says Szczerski.

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    The Three Seas Initiative is an international economic initiative between 12 countries in the region between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas. The first summit was held in 2016 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was initiated by presidents of Poland and Croatia: Andrzej Duda and Kolinda Grabar–Kitarovic.

    The next summit will be held in Bucharest between September 17th and 18th.

  • Slovak drunk driver who killed four released from Hungarian prison

    Eva Rezešová, whose reckless drunk driving killed four innocent passengers in a car she crashed into in 2012 is being released today from a Budapest prison.

    On the dawn of August 21st, 2012 Eva Rezešová, while driving inebriated in her BMW X5 SUV on Hungary’s M3 motorway at 165 km/hour (102 miles/hour) she slammed into a Fiat Punto that immediately caught fire. Three of the four passengers died there, while the fourth died in hospital. The speed limit on Hungarian motorways is 130 km/hour (81 miles/hour).

    At the time, the accident garnered extensive media coverage both in the Hungarian and Slovak press, due to Rezešová’s celebrity status and a previous accident in Slovakia in 2010, when she rammed a Skoda with her Mercedes. Nobody was injured in that accident. Her father, Alexander Rezeš (1948-2002) was transport minister during the Slovak Mečiar-government in 1994-98 and was at one time the second richest person in Slovakia.

    She was sentenced to six years in prison at the first instance in 2013, which was subsequently increased to nine years in 2014. Both prison staff and her inmates had a very good opinion of Rezešová, who worked in the prison’s sewing shop and learned fluent Hungarian.

  • Hungary set to veto 2021-27 EU budget

    Hungary cannot accept the European Union’s 2021-27 budget in its present form and will veto it if unchanged, state minister for EU developments Tamás Schanda said in an interview.

    The EU budget for the next seven-year period will cut cohesion funds for Hungary by the maximum possible 24 percent, while the overall reduction will only be 10 percent, Tamás Schanda (pictured above), deputy state minister at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology told Magyar Idők in an interview.

    “Brussels is intent on punishing those states – predominantly Central European ones – who fight for their sovereignty”

    We cannot accept a budget that takes money away from European citizens and gives it to migrants. This clearly shows that the European Commission believes it is a kind of political committee. Fortunately, the final decision is not theirs – it will be made by the European Council consisting of the member states’ leaders.

    Schanda said that compared with the current seven-year budgetary cycle the EU’s more affluent states would receive more funding while for example the Central European states would get less. According to the current budget draft the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will have their cohesion funds reduced by 24 percent while Greece would see an increase of 8 percent, Italy 6.4 percent, Finland and Spain 5 percent.

    “This goes both against the EU’s fundamental treaty and the very principle of cohesion,” Schanda said. In addition, they also want to reduce agricultural subsidies by 16 percent and make them less accessible.

    He said the current commission intends to close budget negotiations before next year’s European elections (to be held on May 23-26), but Hungary is of the opinion that all open issues should be solved before any agreement.

    “It is quite possible that a different policy will emerge after the elections. (…) There is no rush, we still have plenty of time to work out a mutually acceptable solution before 2021.”

  • PM Orbán to meet President Putin in Moscow

    As part of his busy agenda upon returning from vacation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will meet President Putin in Moscow, Magyar Idők reported.

    This will be the two leaders’ ninth meeting since 2010, when PM Orbán’s conservative Fidesz party won the general election. Also winning the two subsequent elections, Orbán has been at the helm of Hungary since then.

    Havasi did not provide any details regarding the topics of the Moscow meeting. Still on the Prime Minister’s international agenda, he had a meeting on Monday in Milan with Matteo Salvini, leader of the Northern League, the largest political party in Italy’s seven-party coalition government formed this May after lengthy negotiations.

    Over the weekend, Orbán will fly to Kyrgyzstan for the Nomad World Games, where he will meet the leaders of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

    His domestic agenda is also quite busy, including a two-day meeting of the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition in a holiday resort near lake Balaton and his traditional autumn speech scheduled for September 12th.

  • French oppposition leader borrows Orbán’s thoughts

    The leader of the French opposition party The Republicans (LR), Laurent Wauquiez opened the political season with a speech that echoed many of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s policies and thoughts, mainly regarding immigration.

    Wauquiez held his season-opening speech in his home constituency of a Haute-Loire, a department in south-central France. This was his first season opening as president of LR, a position he assumed last December. Wauquiez held several government positions during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency and at one point also served as government spokesman.

    In a 35-minute speech full of literary references, Wauquiez heavily criticized President Emmanuel Macron for what he said was the president’s inability to solve any problems. In addition to a high unemployment rate and declining real wages, France had to raise taxes (Macron introduced eight new taxes), the budget deficit is on the rise and economic growth is slowing down.

    But the focal point of his speech was immigration, which neither Brussels nor France can handle. He said French people reject foreigners in their own country.

    Quoting from “The Leopard” by Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Wauquiez said

    “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change”

    Macron, on the other hand, is unable to defend French values, meaning that he cannot leave those values as they are, nor is he capable of making changes where changes are necessary.

    “We should not preoccupy ourselves with the redistribution of migrants but with preventing more migrants to come to Europe,” he said. Migration should be the central issue both in Europe and France.

    He also said that when the future of the country is at stake, it is incomprehensible why the leaders of France are unable to understand that the country cannot accept any more migrants who threaten European civilization.

    “it is not true that migrants have the right to live wherever they want to,” Wauquiez said in his closing remarks.

  • Sebastian Kurz – Austrian political superstar

    Meet Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz – a 32-year-old politician who is one of the most influential politicians in Europe. His view of migration is close to that of the Visegrad Group and not only because of the rejection of migrant quotas.

    Kurz unexpectedly won the Austrian election not only because of his charm, but also because of his decisive attitude towards migration policy. During his first months as chancellor, Kurz introduced a series of measures to deter migrants from choosing Austria for a new life.

    His voice has been even more strengthened since Austria took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU with the motto “Europe that protects”. He agrees with the V4 countries that the decision on partial questions should be taken at a national level. Among other things, he promotes the setting-up of detention centers outside the Union and also the strengthening the power of the Frontex Agency.

    And there´s more. Even as the youngest Foreign Minister in EU, he focused on the crisis in eastern Ukraine and also hosted an international meeting on the Iranian nuclear program in Vienna. And he did not hesitate to oppose Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the time of the culmination of the refugee crisis in Europe, it was also him who set out to close the Balkan route.

    It is also important to highlight the fact that Austria is the only country in Europe, where the so-called right-wing populists party (FPÖ) is part of the cabinet.  However, Europe does not protest against them because the time has changed. Once again thanks to Kurz.

  • Aggressive Muslims are under protection

    Political analyst and university lecturer Alexander Tomský criticized the approach to Islamic migrants as well as today’s so-called neo-Marxists, in which he sees one of the greatest dangers for Western civilization.

    According to Tomský, the problem is not immigration (to a certain extent), but the arrival of people who believe that their sectarian puritan and patriarchal habits are superior to our democracy and way of life.

    This has strong political consequences. They have already induced censorship and punishments for disagreement. The tragic human victims of Islamist assassinations are in this context a marginal affair; terrorism does not defeat the West.

    Today’s neo-Marxists (though this term is inaccurate) advocate the egalitarianism of bizarre sexual groups, ethnic minorities, and the style of their lives. They believe in the united humanity of abstract rights, mixed society without borders, without any difference in cultures. In their anti-discrimination efforts, Tomský sees hatred of the majority or normative civilization of the West (or what has left of it).

  • Jakub Landovský to become new Minister of Foreign Affairs

    Social Democrats´ chairman Jan Hamáček will resign as the head of Czech diplomacy and will be replaced by Jakub Landovský, according to Právo.

    Landovsky will probably replace the current nominee of CSSD, the political secretary of the ministry and also MEP Miroslav Poche. The nomination of Poche has long been opposed by President Milos Zeman and many Social Democrats believe that the party should not fight with Zeman.

    Landovsky, who is currently the Social Democrat leader in Prague, did not comment on the news. Accourding to several rumors, however, president Miloš Zeman would accept his nomination with no problem.

    The CSSD presidency will discuss the issue on Friday, but it is expected that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš will discuss the situation around the Foreign Ministry at today’s meeting with President Zeman. Babiš has already said that the CSSD should agree with Zeman, which means he did not recommend Poche´s nomination.

    However, Poche insists on his nomination and is not willing to give up voluntarily. He feels strong also because he recently helped Jan Hamaček to become the chairman of the CSSD. Hamacek is therefore in a difficult situation.

  • Poland’s economy is booming

    Poland’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the European Union. Statistics Poland (GUS) estimates that in the second quarter of the year Poland’s GDP increased by 5.1 percent.

    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says, that “what’s more important is that Poland’s economy has finally started to base itself on three engines: investments, consumption and export.”

    The European Commission released the GDP growth rates for 23 EU countries – Poland is at the top.

    The Polish minister of development Jerzy Kwieciński claims that this result is also due to low unemployment rates and high consumer trust. He is sure that GUS will confirm a 5.1 percent increase in the second quarter at the end of the month. He also foresees a 4.5 to 5 percent increase in GDP in the third quarter.

    Poland’s economy has finally started to base itself on three engines: investments, consumption and export

    Analysts criticized the government for low investment rates and basing the economy solely on consumption and export. Meanwhile, GUS released data showing a 10.3 percent increase in investments.

    The prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki reminded that this is the highest increase in investments since the 2015 elections.

    Morawiecki stresses that we are now witness to the effects of the government’s actions to strengthen Poland’s entrepreneurship. These include the lowering of corporate tax, the introduction of the Business Constitution and the government aid package for companies.

    He also underlined that large infrastructure projects are underway, such as the construction of roads, bridges and railways.

  • Zeman: Kiska will not be our Shadow President

    Miloš Zeman has broken his silence over ignoring the commemoration of 1968. The Czech president believes that he is not affected by the historical events.

    “Due to the anniversary those people should speak, who were affected by the invasion. If the so-called normalizational communists are talking, who were members of the Communist Party until 1989, we should also know they had to approve the soviet occupation. It is bizarre that now they are taking stance against it. This is the reason why I was not joining,” said Zeman.

    He also pointed out that the crowd were cheering Milan Štěch, the president of the senate and the member of the party from 1978 to 1989, while Andrej Babiš and Radek Vondráček were booed because they were members of the ANO.

    “Andrej Kiska is voluntarily ending his period in Slovak politics next year and that is not possible that he would be our shadow president. But he could be the shadow president of the TOP 09,” Zeman said.

    Zeman is convinced that the Czech Republic is not threatened by occupation from Germany and even the Soviet Union, due to the fact that it fell apart and believes that the protesters before the Russian embassy were not recognizing this fact.

  • Polish deputy PM: ECJ verdict may be ignored

    Poland may ignore the decree of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) concerning its judiciary reforms, says deputy PM Jarosław Gowin. The assessment of the proposal of the Polish Supreme Court (SN) in the ECJ started today in Luxembourg.

    “This is a dramatic moment in the history of the EU,” says Polish deputy prime minister and minister of science and higher education Jarosław Gowin in an interview for DoRzeczy. “If the ECJ sanctions the decision of the Polish judges, then the decree will become fuel for Eurosceptic movements in all of Western Europe,” he adds.

    Gowin is sure that such a decision would be a precedence in EU history. He also affirms that one precedence would follow another as “Poland’s government will have no choice but to ignore the ECJ’s decree as it is against the Lisbon Treaty and the whole spirit of European integration.”

    If the ECJ sanctions the decision of the Polish judges, then the decree will become fuel for Eurosceptic movements in all of Western Europe

    If the ECJ accepts the decision of the judges of the Polish SN to block the work of Poland’s new judicial laws, it will be a “contest to the fundamental EU principle of the sovereignty of nations”.

    The deputy prime minister calls the judiciary reforms in Poland a “transitional period”. “To be frank, we need to start work on a new constitution,” he argues. The reforms are meant to lead to a new “judiciary order” based on the new constitution.

    Earlier this year, 22 Supreme Court judges, nearly a third, were forced into early retirement. There has been opposition to this precedence, however, as some have refused to go. Including chief justice Małgorzata Gersdorf who remains adamant that her term does not expire until 2020 in accordance with Polish Constitution.

    The judges turned to the ECJ in hopes of abolishing the new reforms. They also suspended the practice of the new laws for the duration of the ECJ’s assessment, which the Polish government has deemed illegal.

     

  • Radom Air Show 2018

    Aerial performers from 22 countries participated in the International Radom Air Show over the weekend. More than 160,000 people came to see what is one of the largest air shows in Europe.

    This year’s air show commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the Polish Air Force. 150 aircraft took to the skies during the event. Despite the bad weather, organizers managed to fulfil everything that had been planned.

    “It was a real treat for aviation lovers. The shows were great and safe,” said the general coordinator of the Air Show, Krzysztof Żabicki. He also added that the audience left the event extremely satisfied.

    The performances which drew the most attention were the aerial acrobatics. This year, there were twelve with participants from, amongst others: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Croatia, Latvia, Jordan and Pakistan. There were also aerobatics of military aircraft such as the RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoon Display Team:

    https://twitter.com/RAFTyphoonTeam/status/1033257408397811712

    Poland was represented by teams such as Czerwone Iskry i Orlik, Cellfast Flying Team and Artur Kielak Xtreme Acrobatics. Polish fans were extremely excited by the displays of Polish pilots and were very proud, suggest reports.

    https://twitter.com/xenazawadzka/status/1033644461962747904

    TT

    The Italian team Freece Tricolori were perhaps the most anticipated group to perform at the show:

    https://twitter.com/PolicjaMazowsze/status/1033390275799003136

    In addition to the performances, there was also a static display of military tech and weaponry which drew interest:

    https://twitter.com/AirShow2018/status/1033731678982877186

    The organizers also made sure there were thematic displays, which focused on the history of aviation including the famous Polish Squadron 303. These were pilots who were crucial in winning the Battle of Britain in 1940 during the Second World War.

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  • Czech economic confidence rose in August

    Overall confidence in the Czech economy rose by 0.4 points to 99.1 in August, following a decline in the previous month.

    According to official figures, the construction sector is doing well thanks to a very high demand.

    In month-to-month terms, while the confidence indicator of entrepreneurs increased, the consumer confidence indicator decreased by 1.5 points to 110.3.

    Apart from raising prices, consumers fear a worsening of an overall economic situation. But people want to save less, and they are also not afraid of losing their jobs

  • Germany with Russia against USA

    Berlin and Moscow will work together to block certain elements of US foreign policy, writes Michał Kuź.

    There’s nothing shocking in Merkel meeting Putin a second time in Meseberg. Nor is there in the continuation of work on Nord Stream 2. What is shocking is that Berlin and Moscow are together blocking aspects of American foreign policy.

    No one in Berlin denounced the words of the Kremlin spokesman when Moscow asserted that Berlin and Moscow will be working together to block elements of American foreign policy. Stefan Meister of the influential German think tank DGAP commented that “both countries wanted to show Washington, that they won’t be blackmailed by president Trump.”

    Three days after a Merkel-Putin meeting in Meseberg, the German foreign minister announced Germany’s new strategy concerning the US. He argues, that the European Union and Germany must build a “counterweight” against Washington and create an “alliance for multilateralism”. He also claimed that ever since the end of the West-East conflict, the differences between Europe and America had broadened.

    If Germany really wants to challenge the United States, then no one in Europe will be able to stop them. It’s important to remember, however, that the US can be brutal when it comes to such cases

    If Germany really wants to challenge the United States, then no one in Europe will be able to stop them. For a long time, Berlin has wanted to increase its sovereignty when it comes to relations with Washington. Therefore, it is looking for new levels of cooperation.

    It’s important to remember, however, that the US can be brutal when it comes to such cases. And it doesn’t matter whether the president is Trump, Obama or Clinton.

    The US’s recent weakening is a reversible trend not a reality waiting around the corner. America still possesses the most powerful army in history and the largest economy. When Turkey decided to buy weapons from Russia, they did so on their own accord.

    Poland is economically dependent on Germany and is in no position to make demands of Berlin. All Poland can do is warn and remind Germany where such ideas can lead to and hope that we don’t get hit by the rebound.  

  • Hungarian team success at kayak canoe Sprint World Cup

    Hungary’s kayak canoe national team exceeded even the most optimistic expectations by winning nine medals, finishing second behind Germany at the Kayak Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal, news portal Origo.hu reported.

    On the last day of the event, the K4 women’s team of Dóra Bodonyi, Erika Medveczky, Anna Kárász and Danuta Kozák (pictured above) defended their title in the 500-meters race, the canoe double Virág Balla and Kincső Takács won silver and the men’s K4 team (Sándor Tótka, MIklós Dudás, Péter MOlnár, István Kuli) placed third.

    Germany won seven gold, four silver and two bronze medals. This year the Hungarian team even managed to beat last year’s performance when it won five gold medals. In the points table, Hungary was placed first among women’s teams and in the combined points standing.

     

  • Hungarian opposition parties in disarray ahead of EU elections

    Among Hungary’s opposition parties the radical nationalist Jobbik and the green-liberal LMP have practically collapsed while the Socialist Party (MSZP) has become a colorless-odorless entity under the helm of party president Bertalan Tóth, political analyst Dániel Deák tells Magyar Hírlap.

    Last week saw the resignation of LMP president Bernadett Szél, the party’s last public figure with any significant national pull. She was co-chairman of the party since 2013 and the party’s leading candidate at the 2018 elections. Deák said none of her peers (Erzsébet Schmuck or Márta Demeter) could effectively replace her.

    These inner crises have also been reflected by the losses registered by these two parties in recent opinion polls. Deák also said that 21st century parties have only limited traction in Hungarian society, as they are not reflective of the electorate’s real-life dividing lines. The issues these parties represent are also secondary compared with the economic and immigration issues that most voters care about.

    Deák said former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány – who established the social-liberal Democratic Coalition with dissidents from the MSZP in 2011 – seems to be waiting on the sidelines and his current political activity is reduced to social media.

    All of the above factors suggest that Hungarian opposition parties are approaching the next May EU elections with a serious handicap, where immigration will probably be a central issue, just as it was at recent national elections in Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany. In all these elections pro-immigration parties – who were incidentally also the most vocal critics of the Hungarian government’s immigration policies – have suffered setbacks.

    Next in line may well be Sweden, with elections there to be held on September 9th. Barring a major change in voter preferences in the two remaining weeks, the ruling Social Democrats may be facing their worst election result in the past 100 years. If current opinion polls are right and the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats win the elections, it will mean the fall of one of the last pro-immigration bastions in Europe.

     

     

  • Hungarian Socialists sell real estate to stay afloat

    The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) is selling off some of its properties due to financial difficulties, party president Bertalan Tóth wrote in a letter to members of the party’s National Committee.

    The letter obtained by conservative news portal Pesti Srácok said MSZP is selling off all its party offices in settlements where party membership has dropped below 30 and is also selling its Conference Centre located in a prestigious area on the Buda side (right bank of the Danube river) of the Hungarian capital.

    After losing the 2010 elections, MSZP saw splinter groups depart and form new parties and its popularity has been on a downward slope for the better part of the last eight years. In the country’s 199-seat single-chamber parliament it only won 15 seats, down from 29 seats at the 2014 elections.

    In the letter, Bertalan wrote that after the elections the party’s financial possibilities have been reduced. It still hasn’t paid back the loans for the 2018 electoral campaign and is currently spending most of its budget on its national network of offices and party employees.

    But the biggest single chunk of real estate is the Conference Centre in Budapest (pictured above). It was built during the last decade of Communist rule in Hungary and was originally a Marxist-Leninist evening university. It has six floors, a large auditorium and a total area of 6,000 square meters (64,600 sq. ft.). After the regime change, MSZP – heirs to the former Communist Party – became the owners of the building, which is now the only significant real estate item the party still holds.

     

  • September family grants brought forward

    The school year in Hungary traditionally begins on the last Friday in August while family subsidies and other forms of state support are normally transferred in the first week of the month, but to help families with the increased spending EMMI has brought forward bank wire payments to August 27 while families without bank accounts will have the money mailed to them in the first half of this week, Magyar Idők reported.

    Katalin Novák, state minister for family affairs said the money will help some 1.2 million children and depending on social status, the amount will be in the tens of thousands of HUF per child. In case of a large family, the total state help can reach HUF 100,000 (US$360), she said.

    In the past eight years the conservative government has implemented a series of measures to reduce families’  financial burden, such as free textbooks and free meals for children in the first nine school years.

    Nóra Király, leader of the Young Families’ Association said that this year’s state support for free meals during school has increased by 10 percent. Earlier deputy finance minister András Tállai told the newspaper that total state support for families has doubled since the current administration came to power in 2010. He said the various forms of family support – such as tax and duty rebates, child rearing assistance and housing grants – have helped tens of thousands of families.

  • Hungarian billionaire finances Slovak flying car

    Hungarian businessman Zoltán Varga has invested billions into Slovakian flying car project AeroMobil.

    Varga has a history of investing in successful projects and actively endorsed the development of Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz air when it was relatively unknown.

    Now the billionaire has turned his attentions to AeroMobil. “In case of involving other investors we are always making principal strategic decisions, because it has long-term effect on the company,” Juraj Vaculík, the co-founder of AeroMobil, told Hospodárske Noviny.

    The AeroMobil flying car is a prototype roadable aircraft which was first flown in 2013, designed by Daniel Klein. Vaculík believes that the vehicle, which is intended for wealthy buyers should be available for preorder in the near future. 

    The flying car can carry two passengers with the maximum air speed of 200 km/h, up to 700 km in air. After an accident of an early prototype in 2015 a new version of the car is being developed by the investors who are competing in a dynamically evolving environment, other multinational companies (such as BMW and Mercedes) are also researching their own versions of flying cars and drone taxies.

    According to experts the AeroMobil should be one of the first companies to provide a functioning, reliable prototype able to both fly and travel on the ground.

  • Frontex: More intensive expulsion of migrants is a necessity

    FRONTEX chief Fabrice Leggeri says the EU cannot get rid of illegal immigrants and a more intensive expulsion policy is a necessity, otherwise the problem cannot be solved.

    Although a number of immigrants who illegally entered the European Union has decreased to around 75,000 this year compared to 1.2 million in 2015, the number of those who illegally stay in the EU is constantly rising.

    “If we continue to do so, we send all potential immigrants a message: Try to get to Europe at all costs because event if you are caught you have a huge chance of staying there,“ Leggeri said and also appealed to EU countries to harmonize their rules and procedures related to expulsion.

    Another question to ask is where should the ships with immigrants disembark and why can’t there be some entrance center somewhere else in Europe.

  • No deal on redistributing migrants? No more money from Italy to EU

    Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Five Star Movement to suspend funding to the EU unless other states agree to take migrants. The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, then criticized the V4 for their unwillingness to accept migrants.

    On Thursday night, 29 underage migrants disembarked in Italy. However, 148 migrants still remain on board a vessel in port and according to Di Maio they will stay there until EU states promise to redistribute them.

    “If tomorrow nothing comes out of a European Commission meeting on redistributing migrants from the Diciotti ship, the 5-Star and I will not be willing to give 20 billion euros each year to the EU,“ Di Maio said on Facebook.

    Di Maio further said that his goal is to introduce an Australian approach to migration. Australia does not allow refugees to settle in its territory and prefers to pay for operating camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

    The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, criticized V4 countries for their unwillingness to accept migrants from another EU country. According to Tajani, if the EU countries had approved the European Parliament’s proposal to reform the Dublin system, they would not be dealing with the Diciotti problem now. This was the key to solution, in his point of view, because it supposed an immediate redistribution of migrants.

  • Poland is pressing US on Nord Stream 2

    Poland has urged the United States to impose sanctions for Nord Stream 2, according to Rzeczpospolita.

    Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, the deputy foreign minister and man responsible for relations with Germany says the Polish government sees Nord Stream 2 as a particularly damaging investment to Poland. “That is why it is justified to stop it by any means necessary. These include US sanctions on the consortium responsible for the pipeline,” he said.

    Sources quoted by the newspaper claim that Poland is not only communicating with the United States but also with Denmark. Sweden and Finland bent under pressure from the Kremlin and gave permission for the pipeline to run through their economic zones on the Baltic. Not Denmark, however. Denmark has geostrategic reasons for why their Ministry of Foreign affairs refuses permission for the investment.

    NS2

    A few months ago, the spokesperson for the United States Department of State Heather Nauert claimed that the US is against the construction of Nord stream 2. She also added that foreign companies involved in the project are under the Congress approved threat of American sanctions.

    Berlin sees Poland’s appeal to Washington as breaking of European solidarity. German sources also state that the realization of the gas project is far from certain. In their opinion, Angela Merkel is still looking for a compromise with Kiev and Moscow, to guarantee some of the gas transmission to flow through Ukraine.

    Nord Stream 2 is meant to be a 1200km the second gas mains between Germany and Russia running through the Baltic Sea. The owner is Russian Gazprom with European investment partners: Engie, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall. The construction is opposed by Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic States and the USA.

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  • Scandalous verdict of German federal court

    The German Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe defends the usage of the term “Polish Death Camps” as freedom of speech. It also determined that German TV station ZDF does not need to acknowledge the verdicts of Polish courts. Tomasz Pietryga explains how this verdict is against EU laws and is an odd extension of freedom of speech.

    The Court of Justice in Karlsruhe stated that ZDF does not need to apologize to Auschwitz survivor Karol Tendera for using the term “Polish Death Camps”, despite the fact that both other German and Polish courts agreed that ZDF must apologize, and EU laws mention acknowledging and executing verdicts of other member states.

    The court explained that in Germany, there is freedom of expression and freedom of media. Do such freedoms warrant ignorance and lack of knowledge as well as lies and manipulation? Freedom of expression does not give the right to lie, whereas the German court gladly does so in such a shameful subject for the German nation as Auschwitz.

    It’s a shame that the predecessors of the German judges did not care about the rights to freedom and dignity of Karol Tendera when they sent him to the German death camp Auschwitz

    Much has been said about the German leadership moving away from the policy of guilt and towards the process of whitewashing German crimes. Is the verdict of the Court of Justice proof of this? It’s a shame that the predecessors of the judges in the court did not care about the rights to freedom and dignity of Karol Tendera when they sent him to the German death camp Auschwitz. The “freedom” to make a murderous ideology reality was more important to them.

    The Polish side has vowed to put forth the issue to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. This will be an opportunity to explain the relationship between courts in the EU as well as put the term “Polish Death Camps” to European public debate writes Tomasz Pietryga in Rzeczpospolita.

    The verdict of the court has provoked outrage among the Polish public as well as media.

    Journalist Grzegorz Jankowski wrote on twitter: “This makes my blood boil! The German Court of Justice determined that using the term “Polish Death Camps” is freedom of speech. To put it bluntly: they say that it is right to lie through your teeth. Who needs such courts and such justice?”

    https://twitter.com/GrzegorzJanko12/status/1032019229648797706

    Karol Tendera is an Auschwitz survivor and the secretary of the club of former prisoners of German death camps. After ZDF showed the term “Polish Death Camps Majdanek and Auschwitz” on their website in 2013, Tendera sued the tv station. Although he won in Polish and German courts and ZDF was forced to apologize, they did so in a disgraceful manner by putting the apology in a barely visible part of an article. That is why Tendera turned to the German Federal Court of Justice.

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  • Poland to introduce exit tax

    The Polish government is to introduce an exit tax for companies and private persons who leave the country. The tax is planned for 2019. It will amount to 3 or 19 percent, depending whether it is possible to give an accurate value of the assets.

    The tax office will deduce 19 percent for companies with a value of over PLN 2 million (US$540,000). When it comes to private persons the tax will be 3 percent if they can give an accurate value of their assets or 19 percent if they can only supply an estimate.

    The exit tax is meant to limit tax optimization accomplished by moving company headquarters and parts or whole of businesses to different tax jurisdictions or abroad, explains “Puls Biznesu”.

    Private persons will fall under the tax only if as taxpayers, they have lived in Poland for at least five years. Apart from private businesses, the exit tax will also cover shareholding, derivative instruments and investment funds also with a value over PLN 2 million ($540,000).

    The idea of an exit tax is not out of the ordinary as it functions in many other European Union countries. “We are doing what is commonplace in many countries. We’d also like for this tax to function as early as next year. The whole legislation process should be completed by November this year,” Minister of Finance Teresa Czerwińska explained.

  • Budapest denies Croatian extradition of MOL chief

    The Budapest Capital Court has denied Croatia’s request for the extradition of Zsolt Hernádi, President and CEO of integrated oil and gas company MOL Group.

    The court said it denied the Croatian request because “there is a danger that the charged may not be subjected to a fair trial”.

    Croatia is accusing 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.

    Sanader

    Ivo Sanader in a Croatian court

    At the time, MOL and INA, the flagship companies of Hungary and Croatia, respectively, were valued at US$7 billion each. MOL eventually got the desired stake in INA. Hernádi has always denied any wrongdoing during the negotiations with Croatia.

    Sanader was Prime Minister of Croatia between 2003-2009 and during his tenure he was accused by the opposition of taking bribes, war profiteering and selling state assets, with damage to the Croatian budget estimated at HRK 207 million (US$32 million).

    In 2012, Sanader was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a first-degree verdict, the sentence was reduced to 8 and a half years in 2014. In 2015, the verdict was quashed by the Constitutional Court based on procedural errors made during the trial. He was released after spending nearly 5 years both in custody and prison. He is set to stand in a retrial. In 2017, he was sentenced to ​4 and a half in another case, yet to be confirmed by the upper courts.

  • Record investments in Central and Eastern Europe

    Record number of investments from private equity and venture capital in Central and Eastern Europe. Polish companies are what really drew the investors. In 2017, the value of the investments reached EUR 3.5 billion according to Invest Europe.

    Compared to 2016 there has been a 113 percent increase. The sum also surpasses the previous investment record in 2008 by 40 percent.

    According to the Central and Eastern Europe Private Equity Statistics 2017 report conducted by Invest Europe, almost two thirds of capital was drawn by the consumer goods sector. Second was the technology industry with 11 percent.

    Companies from Poland, the region’s largest market, were what really drew investors – 71 percent of all the money went to them. Second were Romanian companies followed by Hungarian and Latvian.

    Good management

    “International investors are drawn by the attractive economic growth of the region, high consumer spending but also the private equity financial managers’ ability to identify investments with high growth potential,” said Robert Manz of Enterprise Investors.

    Examples of companies which benefited the most from the investments are Czech Avast Software, which made a debut on the London Stock Exchange. In Poland, the food network Dino Polska had dynamically increased its number of stores up to 630, just before their debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

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  • Speaker of the House: Taking in every refugee is absurd

    The demand itself of taking in every migrant simply because they would live a better life in Europe is an absurdity, Speaker of the House László Kövér said at a conference in Balatonszárszó, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton. 

    Kövér said at the conference that as in the past, Hungary will continue to shelter persecuted refugees and those in real need of help,

    “Both the Hungarian government and Hungarian people refuse automatic acceptance and this behavior does not go against Christian ethics”

    Kövér said the international community, Europe and the European Union all have their share of responsibility in handling and solving problems occurring in other parts of the world that are also to some extent the source of migration, but that these issues should not be solved at a national level, but rather within an international framework and international forums.

    Szárszó

    From left to right: Gergely Gulyás, minister in charge of the prime minister’s office, Speaker of the House László Kövér and István Bogárdi Szabó, head of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church. (image: MTI)

    He said international agencies should not force individual states to accept mass migration, but rather devise international programs to improve living conditions at the sources of migration.

    Kövér said that while this may not be obvious, the real conflict isn’t between Islam and Christianity, but between those without roots who also want everyone else to renounce their roots and those who have a religious conviction and faith which they are willing to defend.

    While Hungary continues to uphold the freedom of conscience, this should not mean that the state remains idle when “a culture of a thousand years is being dissolved into nothingness and some kind of multiculturalism”.

  • The rise of Central Europe

    Central Europe’s shores reach three seas and that – as demonstrated by the Polish Trimarium (literally Three Seas) initiative – is quite meaningful. Another defining trait of the region is that for the better part of the last 300-500 years our fate has been decided by the elites of other power centers or empires.

    Central Europe is also the buffer zone and the clashing ground of German and Russian interests and for the past century it hasn’t had a capital of any of the European powers. It is painful to admit that after such historical precedents as the Hungarian Kingdom or the mighty Jagellonians we have been denied self-determination.

    With the collapse of Communism, the region’s states became part of the Western European economic and alliance structures, offering a modicum of justice and security guarantees against the re-emergence of Russian imperial ambitions. But what we did not do was to become equal partners in this Europe. We mumbled our way through these institutions with a good dose of awe.

    But that is also changing. My Western European friends have lately been quite surprised to see that instead of obediently following the cues from the major power centers, countries such as Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria or Latvia have their own proposals regarding the future of Europe and the functions of the Union.

    But now that we have found our own voice and the Budapest and Warsaw express is running at full steam, we have a historic opportunity. But this opportunity also means added responsibility, especially for the region’s political leaders. In order to carve our own path, we need some signposts.

    First: we should not be afraid to listen to our constituents. These are hard-working and clear-headed people who can prove themselves at home or abroad, from Austria to the United Kingdom. So we should represent their stance, be it about the overall reform of the Union or the way the migration crisis is mishandled in Brussels.

    Second: Central European leaders must seek closer economic cooperation and – as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán put it – invest in one another’s economies. We should also use this historic opportunity to develop critical infrastructure: oil and gas pipelines, roads and railroads, 5G internet connections, air and water highways.

    Last, but not least, we should promote the further enlargement of the European Union towards the Balkans and later towards Eastern Europe, to improve bot security and create welfare.

    And the Visegrad Four is a good example. It does not need new members, but its model of cooperation should be a blueprint for the entire Central European region: value-based cooperation and focusing on common interests instead of pointless political posturing while jointly promoting our best interests in our relations with other regions.

  • Peacefully or otherwise, the EU must change after elections

    This is the last political season of the current EU leadership, its regime and its policies. In a European Union riddled with crises, change must come, Pesti Srácok columnist Botond Bálint writes.

    Even the ruling liberal elite admits that there are demographic crises across Europe. It is also obvious that several countries struggle with economic crises and in yet other countries the political system is far from stable.

    In addition, the continent’s most affluent states must also dismantle the vestiges of the previous multicultural idealism – but these countries no longer control all the people on their territory. Put more bluntly, they cannot even enforce their own laws as they lack the police and military forces to do so.

    Over the past twenty years, the ruling liberal elite has gotten used to a state of affairs where neither the media, nor the reality questioned their so-called “liberal values” and their claim that these would lead towards the creation of an ideal society. Were it not for the 2008 global economic and financial crisis, Europe may well have become yet another federal state of the U.S., quite possibly led by a Romanian Social-Democrat at the helm of some committee.

    While liberalism is currently the dominant force in the European Parliament, where even the European People’s Party must make concessions to them, this cannot remain so. It is quite clear that after Juncker no rational conservative will again make the mistake of electing a mentally ill alcoholic, they may well choose some very talented deranged person, who will announce a nice program to avoid urgent reforms or another crisis. The EU and the liberal governments certainly aren’t equipped to handle such a crisis.

    “For the happy and quiet years of bliss are always behind us, never ahead.”

    The current European economic and political system may well limp on for years, possibly even a decade, but the signs and trends point towards a weaker Europe. Based on its economic strength and military potential, Europe could be the world’s third or fourth largest power. Instead it has shown that it is incapable of self-defense, buying and bargaining its way to security.

    This Europe is less and less the guarantee of security, but it rather creates the problems which we could solve just fine in a Central European defense system.

     

  • Kidnapping scandal: Slovakia offered a plane to Hanoi

    According to the spokesperson of a German court which is investigating the kidnapping of businessman Trinh Xuan Thanh, Slovakia offered the Vietnamese a direct flight to Hanoi, which was refused by the Asian delegation.

    The judges who are investigating the case believe that the Ministry of Interior in Slovakia offered the diplomats a direct flight to Hanoi and to Moscow as well, but the Vietnamese officials were not called for the longer Vietnamese trip, said Lisa Jani.

    The German police believes that arranging a direct flight to Vietnam would require longer preparations, securing the necessary permissions could take two days, but even a flight to Moscow cannot be arranged in an hour. According to media sources the travel services were paid by the Slovak side as a friendly gesture.

    The officials of the Slovak ministry are denying the offer of the Hanoi flight, while Robert Kaliňák the former Minister of Interior declined to answer journalists’ questions. Despite the willingness of Slovak authorities to cooperate with the Vietnamese it is possible that the government didn’t know about the real purpose of the visit and the flight, which was the kidnapping of Trinh Xuan Tranh.

  • Who was right about the Greek crisis?

    Since Monday the leaders of the European Union have been celebrating, writes Dag Daniš. Greece is successfully leaving the financial assistance programme and starting to finance its activities independently, through market loans.

    A few politicians and the media are reporting that the latest events are proof that the programme, which resulted in shared guarantee for the Greek debt were effective. According to these views the skeptics who criticized the approach of the Eurozone and the ability of the Greeks to pay their debts were incorrect. This view is false, the reality is different.

    Greece is not leaving the economic adjustment at all, it simply finished one of its chapters and started another. In the new era the fourth, fifth, tenth assistance programmes of the member states should not be coming, the market is overtaking the task of financing the country. This is the formal end of one important phase, but Greece stays in the emergency mode with constructed conditions up to the year 2060, when it repays the last financial portion guaranteed by the member states of the Eurozone, including Slovaks.

    The country is rolling over debts, old loans are being paid by new loans and refinancing. Greece is unable to pay everything even to the countries of the Eurozone. A big part of the missing sum needs to be written off. Which is exactly what the skeptics warned of, the Greek debt is affecting the other member states. This is a partially controlled bankruptcy of a country, what the Eurosceptic and realist branch was trying to achieve decades ago. After 2009 the Greek case should be solved by a controlled bankruptcy.

    In 2009, Greece recorded a debt of EUR300 billion equivalent to 130 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. After the rescue programme this proportion went up to 180 percent and the economy was shrinking. One project became three. To sum it up the rescue efforts resulted in three outcomes. The debt was raising, the economy crippled and the holders of the risk are the Eurozone member states instead of the financial institutions, which were simply investing badly.

  • How does Babiš´ cabinet fulfill promises?

    Some of the Czech government’s promises have not made any progress, others have been postponed, but most are carried out. The Cabinet is now working on investments of CZK 56 billion.

    The first promises are being finalized, besides the state loans and fare reduction for young people, it is also a betterment for senior citizens.

    The tax reduction proposal was postponed, which was supposed to be part of the tax package to be valid from next year. It was eventually put off for lack of political support. Alena Schillerová, the Minister of Finance, will try to push its amendment next year in the framework of the new Income Tax Act.

    What’s more, a lower amount than Babiš originally announced will be used for increasing the salaries of teachers. Slightly less money than Babiš originally promised will also be invested in sports and especially sports infrastructure. On the contrary, larger funds will be used for the development of the Mladá Boleslav District.

    Promises to increase wages in drug prevention and to reduce public transport fares for students and seniors have been achieved. Money has also been granted to regions for transport infrastructure.

    The government continues to promise to reduce VAT on some services and products, including water, draught beer and fresh-cut flowers. However, the change is linked to the last phase of EET, which should cover the budget deficit. A possible increase in medical salaries is also still unclear.

  • I support Czexit, the EU is risky for us

    Ladislav Jakl, Secretary of the ex-President Václav Klaus, criticized bureaucracy in the EU and also explained why he had decided to be a Senate candidate for the far-right SPD.

    If he succeeds in the election, he intends to vote in the Senate against all specific implementations from Brussels bringing new orders and prohibitions and against similar Czech-made proposals, as well as against any concessions on immigration. He would support, for example, the exit of the Czech Republic from the European Union, as he sees the country’s membership as more and more risky.

    Jakl sees SPD as the only functioning party that consistently protests against Brussels centralization and organized mass migration. “SPD does not ask me to change in any way and adopt all its policy. It wants support in the two main points that I fully agree with,” Jakl explained.

    “My relationship to the far right? I am the far right. If the left promotes a high degree of redistribution and prefers collective decision-making, while the right is individualistic, defends the freedom of the individual and fights against the expansion of the state, then I am definitely the right-wing extremist,“ Jakl explained his attitudes towards the extreme right.

  • Putin should apologize for August 1968

    Russian non-parliamentary opposition politician Leonid Gozman reproached President Vladimir Putin for not apologizing to Czechs and Slovaks for the suppression of the Prague Spring on the occasion of the Soviet invasion´s 50th anniversary.

    “The Russian Federation is the legal successor of the USSR. The country that invaded Czechoslovakia 50 years ago, burying not only the Prague Spring but also the hopes of reforming the communist system,” wrote Gozman on Facebook. But not only the past, also the relationship to it, is important. As a citizen of Russia, Gozman therefore called on the one who now leads the country to appear on television and ask the Czechs and Slovaks for forgiveness.

    In 2006, Putin recognized Russia’s moral responsibility for the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968, condemning the act, but declined that Russia should apologize for it, as he thought it held no responsibility for this action.

  • Jan Zahradil, future head of the European Commission?

    Jan Zahradil (ODS) is interested in being the leader of the Conservatives in the upcoming election, but his chances are not high say critics.

    Zahradil wants to win an influential post as a candidate of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) where his ODS within the European Parliament belongs. According to media, however, Zahradil has small chances if the political power distribution in the European Parliament remains the same as it is now.

    Leaders of EU member states will elect a new Commission head after the European Parliament elections which take place in May. After that, MEPs must confirm the choice. Most MEPs are pushing for the new head of the European Commission to be a politician who announces his candidacy ahead of the European elections. So the member states cannot propose whoever they would like.

    ECR, unlike in 2014, has accepted these conditions but, according to Zahradil, insists that the Commission’s chief should not automatically be one of the so-called lead candidates. According to the ECR, such a candidacy system limits the powers of the member states to choose their own candidate.

    Even if Zahradil became a top candidate of the ECR, his chances of eventually becoming president of the European Commission are not high. His faction is now the third largest in the European Parliament, but the main word has the alliance of European People´s Party, socialists and liberals. They have a clear majority of votes.

    In addition, the ECR will lose its main pillar due to Brexit – the British conservatives. Question is, whether the ECR will survive after Brexit but according to Zahradil, the distribution of forces will change significantly after the elections. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to “hunt” members of the current faction and to form his own European political group. Also, it is expected that the current main factions, especially the Socialists, will be weakened in the elections.

  • Archive hunter of communist agents receives death threats

    Renowned Polish historian Sławomir Cenckiewicz has received death threats after revealing former communist agents and police officers working in the Warsaw city hall.

    Cenckiewicz has revealed that Ewa Gawor, the head of the security and crisis unit in the Warsaw city hall, had been an officer in the communist police (MO). He also revealed that Gawor has been hiring former communist Special Service (SB) agents, such as Jarosław Michoń and Andrzej Szymaniak to work in the city hall.

    Jarosław Michoń, for example, in 1982 willingly joined the MO. This was during the Martial Law period in Poland (1981-83), when the MO attacked protesters and civilians. He later applied to join the SB. Cenckiewicz posted on twitter archival photos of Gawor, Michoń and Szymaniak.

    https://twitter.com/Cenckiewicz/status/1032368612160368641

    Cenckiewicz confirmed that for the past two weeks he has been receiving death threats. These include at his home address as well as scenarios of his funeral. He remains adamant and has promised to unearth even more information about Gawor and other former SB agents.

    https://twitter.com/Cenckiewicz/status/1032243899518132224

    Gawor recently caused controversy by disbanding the legal march of far-right the National Radical Camp (ONR) in Warsaw on August 21st. It was meant to celebrate the heroes of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

    Wałęsa’s dark past

    Sławomir Cenkiewicz is a Polish historian and the director of the Central Military Archives in Warsaw. He is the co-author of the breakthrough historical work “SB, a Lech Wałęsa” (“SB and Lech Wałęsa”, 2008) where he proved that in the 1970s former Solidarity leader was a paid informant “Bolek” of the communist SB.

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  • The Three Seas Fund progresses

    The Three Seas Fund is being developed in cooperation between the banks of 12 member states. The project will be presented to leaders at the September summit in Bucharest.

    The Three Seas Fund will have a budget of EUR 5 billion and will be used to generate investments worth EUR 100 billion. The banks of the 12 member states are to sign a letter of intent which will establish the investment fund. The project will be presented to the Three Seas leaders at the summit in Bucharest between September 17th and 18th.

    It will be used to generate investments worth EUR 100 billion

    The banks of only three countries are needed to put the project into action. The Polish national development bank (BGK) is the initiator of the Fund. The project is meant to finance infrastructure and energy investments in the Three Seas region. It is meant to be inspired by the Marguerite Fund – the European Commission’s project – which is made up of the five largest European banks, including the BGK.

    Via Carpathia

    One of the main projects is the Via Carpatia. This is an international highway meant to connect the Baltic States with Greece. Further investments are foreseen in the development of railways between the twelve countries. The lack of proper train connections leads to the issue, that a trip from Tallinn to Sofia takes three days. In comparison, a trip from Berlin to Madrid takes only several hours.

    Via Carpathia

    For countries such as Poland, however, the most important are the energetic investments. Poland and Croatia are especially keen on connecting the gas terminals in Świnoujście and Krk island. This will help countries in the region become independent of Russian gas supplies.

    The Three Seas Initiative is an international economic initiative between 12 countries in the region between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas. Its members include: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. The first summit was held in 2016 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was initiated by Polish president Andrzej Duda and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar–Kitarovic.

  • Boyle quit Bond over Kot

    The news that Danny Boyle has quit the Bond movie franchise over the issue of Tomasz Kot has thrown Polish media into a frenzy.

    Oscar winner Boyle, who is best known for his “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Trainspotting” films disagreed with Daniel Craig over the casting of Tomasz Kot as the new Russian villain.

    Further controversy was possibly caused by Boyle’s scriptwriting decisions. The new Bond (Bond 25) was meant to reflect current political tensions between Russia and the West, a “modern day Cold War”. Hence the Russian villain. It is uncertain whether producers will still want to use Boyle’s script.

    Tomasz Kot became famous internationally for playing the lead male role in Oscar winner Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” which took home the prestigious Palme d’Or award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

    Danny Boyle is not known for being highly cooperative. Described often as a “maverick”, when he joined the Bond set he demanded the replacement of the entire film crew. This replacement had angered Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, reports The Telegraph.

    Shooting is to start in early December, if producers are able to find a replacement for Boyle of course. The film will premiere on October 25th, 2019.

  • Danube water levels at record low

    Due to a prolonged drought record low water levels have been registered at three Hungarian stretches of the Danube, Europe’s second longest river. 

    The drought that has hit water transport and passenger shipping companies weeks ago is now visible to the naked eye: on the Budapest stretch of the Danube, the southern tip of Margaret Island (pictured above) now peeks out from under the water – a rare sight.

    News portal Origo.hu wrote that in Ercsi, some 35 km south of Budapest, the level of the Danube was 31 cm (12.2 inches) below the previous low registered in 1970. In Budapest the Danube level was 61 cm, still somewhat above the 51 cm registered in 2003.

    Water freight on the Danube already came to a standstill two weeks ago, when water levels only allowed barges to be loaded to one-third of capacity, forcing freight companies to divert their loads to road transport. River cruise ships normally an obvious presence in Budapest during the peak tourist season are also absent.

    But to Budapest residents the most telling sign is that the “Hunger rock” has also peaked out from under the water.

    Hunger_rock

    The Hunger Rock in Budapest, just north of Szabadság Híd (Liberty Bridge)

    The rock’s name is self-explanatory: it is only visible during severe droughts when the level of the Danube falls below 95 cm.

  • Buenos días from Sliač

    On August 21st the Slovak public marked the anniversary of the 1968 invasion of then Czechoslovakia by five countries of the Warsaw pact. The crowds saw the parliamentary chairman and the prime minister, but a few of them ask “Where is the president?”

    In the evening of August 21st, Andrej Kiska replied “Today I am talking to you from Sliač”. Martin Krno from Pravda points out that due to the sad anniversary the president chose a symbolic place, a bathing city which gives place to the monument dedicated to the pullout of the Soviet army.

    According to various sources, he is on holiday in Spain. It is possible that the television speech was recorded in Sliač, but the president had already packed his bags and his family were waiting for him on the airport.

    Ordinary people booking their holidays in advance. Kiska surely knew that on this day Slovakia and the whole democratic world will remember the history of the invasion, however he preferred sunny beaches to attending the commemorations.

    Similarly on another occasion, when five days after the murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušňírová he was skiing in the Alps. Kiska was not just deceiving Slovak viewers but also Czechs, who criticized their president for not having a speech for such an important occasion. If Kiska preferred the holidays, he should be silent as well.

  • Win at the Supreme Court, get harassed even more

    When the United States Supreme Court ruled in a favor of Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual couple, he didn’t expect that he’ll face more problems weeks later.

    The court ruled in Phillips’ favor in June, after he said to a same-sex couple in 2012 that he would not bake a cake for them exercising his freedom of expression. The baker subsequently became the target of unusual client requests after the decision, writes Lukáš Obšitník on Postoj.sk.

    Phillips was called on June 2017 by lawyer Autumn Scardin, who asked for a blue-pink cake for the seventh anniversary of her coming out as a transgender individual. Phillips refused again because the product would carry a message what is contradictory to his religious beliefs.

    “I serve anyone but I do not bake cakes for any occasion,” said the baker who got another sentence from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) because of Scardin’s plea.

    The lawyer was posing as an ordinary customer, but she is a classic example of a provocateur harassing a company. Turned out that Scardin was ordering other products as well, in September 2017 in a mail ordered a swastika, another requests were made regarding a cake of Satan smoking weed or a pentagram.

    The CCRC favoring similar customers to enterprises is telling much about the atmosphere in some areas in the United States. When Phillips was sentenced with the Colorado commission in 2012, he decided to temporarily stop baking cakes, losing 40 percent of his income. What will the CCRC do next? Force Phillips to close his company due to his beliefs?

    His example shows that the American left is not motivated by the fight for tolerance. Scardin could go elsewhere to get a cake, however her goal is to force an entrepreneur to provide services against his will and beliefs. And if by any chance she’ll win at the Supreme Court, she can do this with the assistance of local authorities.

  • Examining relations between Germany and Russia

    Last weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Russian president Vladimir Putin, confirming the warming of German-Russian relations. This is the result of American tariffs on German products, which forced Merkel to look for allies in Russia. Ukraine will be one of the main casualties of this phenomenon.

    The recent meeting between Merkel and Putin in Meseberg was more harmful than the recent one between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. The anti-Polish and anti-Ukranian Nord Stream 2 was confirmed despite American objections and threats of sanctions.

    The Polish public opinion was on the edge of hysteria when it came to the Helsinki meeting. When it comes to the Meseberg one, not so much. “So typical of Polish public debate!,” Radziejewski, director of nowakonfederacja.pl writes on Twitter.

    Dark times are not a prediction anymore – they’ve become a reality. Even if we can’t feel it yet

    Although Poland’s situation is far from the noose tightened around Kiev, the situation is getting worse. Poland has gone all in on Trump, who has in effect – willingly or not – brought Merkel and Putin closer. By attacking the German economy Trump also hurt Poland’s, which is very dependent on its neighbor’s.

    No one in Poland should have to be reminded about the threat of German-Russian agreements which shrug off Western alliances and guarantees of independence.

    What can be done? First of all, carefully navigate between the powers. Don’t stick your head out or provoke any of them. Be the last to enter into a conflict. This requires much more sophisticated and clever diplomacy than Poland has had before.

    Secondly, Poland should develop its own strength as quickly as possible. Dark times are not a prediction anymore – they’ve become a reality. Even if we can’t feel it yet.

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  • Lebanese bishop: People must be helped to return to their homes

    The Hungarian government was quick to realize that the proper way of helping Middle Eastern Christian communities is to assist them in creating the conditions to return home, the head of the Lebanese Maronite Church, Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi said.

    The religious leader told Magyar Hírlap that the biggest difference was that the Hungarian government provided assistance in rebuilding homes in Syria, churches in Lebanon and also making similar efforts in Iraq.

    “Other western countries aren’t doing this. We fully support the Hungarian government’s intention to help people return to their homes,” the bishop said. We are of course also grateful to Western European countries who take in our refugees and help them in their daily lives, he added.

    “But in the long term, this does not serve the interests of Eastern communities. Ultimately, it will do just what the war has done so far: they have destroyed our homes in the war and now they are removing our history and our culture from the region”

    Boutros al-Rahi said Western governments – with the exception of Hungary – don’t help them because they fail to see the difference between political issues and assisting people in returning to their homes. But they should make this distinction sooner rather than later and help Christians return to their homes in Syria or Iraq, because only this serves peace in the long-term.

    The head of the Lebanese Maronite Church visited Hungary on the country’s national day and had meetings with President János Áder, Speaker of the House László Kövér and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén. He asked that Hungary should raise its voice on international forums and call for an end to the war in Syria.

    “The (Hungarian) government has already given us enormous financial and other help. Other European countries should also do more, because if they encouraged the war, now they must encourage and offer assistance in establishing peace,” he said.

     

     

  • Hungarian publicist hit with Facebook ban

    Well-known conservative publicist and ballet dancer Bence Apáti was hit with a 30-day Facebook ban after sharing a link to the political talk show Keménymag on Echo TV, which he is a regular guest. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/ImGewNapYfw

    Apáti told Origo.hu he was surprised because he didn’t even comment on the video.

    “I just received a short notice saying I have violated community rules. I somehow managed to do that by sharing a link to a single instalment of Keménymag without any comment,” Apáti told Origo.hu

    This was the second occurrence in the same day that a conservative received a Facebook ban. András Bencsik, editor-in-chief of conservative weekly Magyar Demokrata was also banned on August 22nd, without even a notice from the social media site.

    Apáti said he first began receiving bans in the campaign running up to this year’s April parliamentary elections, but those were only three-day bans. He said the fresh 30-day ban was a double blow to him, because this was both his private page with over 2,500 acquaintances and the only account with administrator privileges to his official Facebook page which has over 11,000 followers.

    Having no access to his official page means that he cannot remove comments with malicious intent (or “trolling” in social media parlance). Apáti sees a clear trend in the Facebook bans which hit conservative public figures in a disproportionate manner while liberal opinions have free reign.

  • Hungarian wages rise by 11.2 percent year-on-year in June

    The finance minister has revealed that Hungarian net wages rose by 11.2 percent year-on-year in June due to a better economic performance.

    Data from the Central Statistics Office (KSH) shows that after a 10.9 percent increase in May, the year-on-year growth in June was 11.2 percent and 11.9 percent in the first half of the year. This means that the average net wage in June was HUF 219,200 (US$784) or HUF 227,700 after tax rebates for families.

    “This (increase) indicates that wages continue to catch up and this is also helped by the reduced duties included in the (national) wage agreement and the changes in taxation,” Minister Varga told national television channel M1.

    The minister expects wages to continue their dynamic increase in the coming months. Minister Varga also said that it was especially good that the regional wage gap was diminishing, as incomes rose the most in the trailing counties.

    In a per sector view, the highest wage rises were in public administration, construction, tourism and healthcare. Minister Varga said this was of particular importance because it meant that workforce resupply in these sectors will be assured.

    KSH data also showed that the number of full-time employees in the private sector rose by 98,000, in the public sector by 11,000 while the number of employees in the government’s public employment scheme fell by 38,000 to 131,000.

    The wage rise was also fuelled by an 8 and 12 percent increase in minimum wages for unskilled and skilled labor, respectively.

  • Integration of refugees is successful, claims German Labor Office

    The integration of refugees into the German labor market has been successful, claims the German labor office.

    According to the Federal Employment Agency, more than 300,000 people from countries whose citizens are granted a right for asylum have found a job in Germany, roughly 88, 000 more employed refugees than a year ago.

    A total of 238,000 employed refugees are required to pay social insurance. On the flip side, 187,000 refugees are officially registered as unemployed.

    The report found that the integration of young people is very successful. Nearly 28,000 young refugees, according to the agency, have started attending training courses.

    “We have always said that those who come as children or adolescents have the greatest perspective in the labor market,” said Detlef Scheele, head of the Federal Employment Agency.

    Last year, a total of 292,000 refugees attended training courses to increase their employability in the German labor market.

  • A ship carrying 177 migrants has docked in Sicily

    The Italian coastguard ship Diciotti docked in the Sicilian port Catania on Monday night. The fate of 177 people on board, however, is still uncertain as Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini has not given authorization for the refugees to disembark until the Italian government has received a promise from EU countries to redistribute the refugees.

    The Italian daily La Repubblica wrote on Tuesday that the Diciotti ship officially had a “technical break” in Catania to refill fuel, water and food. The Italian Minister of Transport, Danilo Toninelli, authorized the entry of the ship into the port on Monday. Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, then repeated that he would not allow any single refugee to disembark until the EU confirms the refugees would be received by other EU countries.

    There were originally 190 refugees on board, but after an intervention of the Italian Coast Guard, 13 refugees in a serious medical condition were transported from the ship to Lampedusa Island. The ship with the remaining migrants on board was staying in international waters while Rome tried to negotiate the conditions for the refugees to be received by Malta. Malta refused to accept them.

    Malta itself applied a similar procedure for redeploying the migrants across several EU countries, like last week after it allowed the Aquarius ship with 141 migrants from the Libyan coast to dock in Valletta.

  • Babiš booed off stage? Disrespect for the whole act of reverence

    Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was booed on Tuesday at a ceremony to honor the victims of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.

    Reports highlight that when politicians are unveiling a memorial plaque to the people killed by Soviet gun barrels, they stand there as representatives of the state. The state that does not have either too many heroes or too much time to celebrate bravery. Catcalls at such a moment – however directed against a particular politician – are an expression of disrespect for the whole ceremony.

    The objection that the current government relies on the voices of the Communists can’t succeed even for a second. Such an objection itself distorts any piety. It makes sense to confront the government with the support from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) on February 25th, but not on August 21st when the Communist elite had the biggest support.

    Let’s boo Babiš off the stage some other time and somewhere else. Maybe today at the Government Office, maybe tomorrow at the Czech radio building. But do not make noise during acts of reverence.

  • Protest against PM Babiš overshadowed 1968 memorial

    A memorial ceremony outside the Czech Radio building was one of the key events of the anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion. But it turned into a demonstration against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

    Among the speakers at Tuesday’s ceremony were Senate chairman Milan Štěch and the station’s director general, René Zavoral. Both of them met with applause from the crowd.

    When Prime Minister Andrej Babiš attempted to speak he was drowned out by protestors, who whistled and screamed. Protestors reminded the crowd of the fact that Babiš has been accused of collaborating with the StB (Communist-era secret police).

    “Thank you all for your support, I thank our fans for raising preferences,“ Babiš said at the end of his speech. The media pointed out that this sentence was not in his original speech transcript and was therefore taken as a provocation against the protesters.

    “When the former member of StB recalls the victims of occupation, it is an insult to those victims. But what can be done. He became the Prime Minister in legitimate way and PM had had to speak before the Czech Radio. But when, at the end of the speech, he thanked to ANO fans for preference, he consciously brought shame on the Act of piety,“ former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek /TOP 09/ wrote on Twitter.

  • The curious case of Lyudmyla Kozlovska

    Liberal media and politicians fiercely defend Lyudmyla Kozlovska after her expulsion from the European Union. She was expelled at the request of the Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) as posing a security threat following allegations that she works for Russian interests.

    These same individuals, including former president Lech Wałęsa and members of the Polish opposition demand that Kozlovska’s ban on EU entry be repealed. Together they have created an online petition in which there is a demand to give Kozlovska any EU citizenship to bypass the expulsion.

    When Kozlovska arrived in Brussels last week, she was denied entry on the grounds of being entered into the Schengen Information System (SIS) with the highest alert by Polish authorities. She was compelled to return to Kiev.

    We are dealing with a person who is deemed by our security services as someone who should not have the ability to function in Poland and the EU

    Earlier, Kozlovska had requested long-term resident status in the European Union. Stanisław Żaryn, spokesman for the security service minister, explained that the negative opinion is due to “serious doubts” as to the sources of funding for Kozlovska’s organization.

    “We are dealing with a person who is deemed by our security services as someone who should not have the ability to function in Poland and the EU,” said Jacek Sasin, chief of The Permanent Committee of the Council of Ministers.

    Connections to Soros

    Lyudmyla Kozlovska holds Ukrainian and Russian citizenships and is the chairman of the “Open Dialogue” foundation, and NGO connected to George Soros’ liberal think tanks. Kozlovska and her Polish husband Bartosz Kramek actively supported anti-government opposition in Poland. Kramek also instructed the opposition on how to carry out acts of disobedience against the functioning of the Polish state.

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  • Fox News pulled up on “Polish death camp” comment

    During the show “Fox and Friends” the term “Polish Death Camp” appeared on the banner when discussing the deportation of Ukrainian Nazi war-time criminal Jakiw Palij.

    The Polish ambassador to the US, Piotr Wilczek quickly intervened. He asked Fox News not to mislead their viewers by using the term “Polish Death Camp”:

    https://twitter.com/PolishEmbassyUS/status/1031893379607683072

    Fox News was swift to respond, correcting themselves and saying that it was not a “Polish Death Camp” but a death camp in German occupied Poland:

    https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/1031953153984540672

    The Polish public opinion is very sensitive to using the term “Polish death camp”. Nazi Germany set up dozens of death and concentration camps in occupied Poland. The citizens murdered by German occupants were Polish as well as Jewish from Poland and all of occupied Europe.

    Using the term “Polish death camp” is considered in Poland as distorting the historical truth that the camps were German

    Using the term “Polish death camp” is considered in Poland as distorting historical truth that the camps were German.

    Polish Americans for many years have led the struggle to eliminate disinformation concerning concentration camps and death camps. As a result, many American media outlets such as the “New York Times” have included special guidelines for their journalists as to how to call those camps.

    Holocaust Law

    In the beginning of 2018, The Polish Instituted of National Remembrance (IPN) introduced what is called the Holocaust Law. The law as it went into effect in March imposed jail sentences of up to three years for anyone who used the phrase “Polish death camps” or suggested “publicly and against the facts” that the Polish nation or state was complicit in Nazi Germany’s crimes.

    After an outcry from the US and Israel, the law has since been changed to the offence being a civil and not a criminal one.

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  • Duda defends migration policy

    After a meeting with the New Zealand prime minister, President Duda responded to a question concerning polish immigration laws. “There are no anti-immigration activities in Poland. We simply do not agree to having people be forcefully brought into our country,” he said.

    The question was asked in the context of the Polish president meeting with the “children of Pahiatua”. These are Polish immigrants who were taken in by the New Zealand government in 1944.

    Duda also underlined that it is erroneous to compare the situation of those Polish immigrants to the ones currently arriving in Europe. “The Poles wanted to come to New Zealand and the Poles living here do so because it was their decision,” he added.

    There are no anti-immigration activities in Poland. We simply do not agree to having people be forcefully brought into our country

    When the EU discussed refugee quotas, Poland did say it was unacceptable to force people to come to the country and to force them to stay. That would be enslavement. 

    There are also about one million Ukrainian immigrants living and working in Poland.

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    The “children of Pahiatua” were mostly children of Poles deported by the Soviets to Siberia. They arrived in Wellington in 1944. The New Zealand government had prepared a Camp of Polish Children in Pahiatua to accommodate them. After its closure in 1949, the children were sent to boarding schools. Later some of them remained in the country or went to live abroad.

  • New US approach to Polish security

    The United States Congress ratified the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) earlier this year. It changes the US approach to military as it foresees a permanent presence of the US Army in Poland. The question of “What can we do for your security without angering the lord of the Kremlin?” has turned to the direct opposite.

    The NDAA also includes issues such as: “how many military units would have to be distributed in Poland to successfully dissuade Russia and how to improve in that regard the so called eventuality plans?” And “the feasibility and purposefulness of installing a permanent American armored presence?”

    This bill is an expression of a new political line in the USA, which sees the military strengthening of Poland as a gain and not a cost in the American global strategy 

    President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to deliver a full report in answer to those questions by March 1st, 2019.

    “Paris Act Syndrome”

    Poland’s security has been an issue because of the “Paris Act Syndrome”. When president Bill Clinton signed the Paris Agreement in 1997 he declared to not install a permanent American presence in Eastern Europe. This was meant to better relations with Russian president Boris Yeltsin.

    The “Paris Act Syndrome” is the West’s mindset of not treating Eastern and Central Europe as a global security issue. Historically, its protection has fluidly fallen under either Western or Eastern defense. The West’s need to tame Russia and use its resources remains more important than Central-Eastern European protection. It is a peripheral issue which politicians cannot put above the Russian one.

    With the new NDAA named after senator John McCain, America shifts from the Paris Agreement.

    This bill is an expression of a new line of political thought ruling in the USA, which sees the military strengthening of Poland as a gain and not a cost in the American global strategy. 

    The US defense budget has seen a 13 percent increase compared to last year. This makes the budget almost thrice the size of China and Russia’s. American lawmakers, along with the president have decided to end the US’s long era of military decay and have opened a new arms race period.

  • Hungary keeps benchmark interest rate at 0.9 percent

    The Monetary Council of the MNB decided to keep both its key one-week lending rate at 0.9 percent and its overnight deposit rate at -0.15 percent.

    According to Origo.hu, the move was in line with analysts’ expectations.

    The lending rate was last reduced by 15 basis points in May 2016, while the overnight deposit rate was reduced by 10 basis points last September.

    The Monetary Council said in its decision that while crude oil prices resulted in a temporary spike in inflation, the inflationary effect is transitory and the targeted 3 percent inflation was well within sight.

    In July, year-on-year inflation was 3.4 percent in Hungary, while core inflation (which does not take into account changes in volatile food and energy prices) was 2.5 percent.

    The Monetary Council said the rise in domestic wages only has a moderate inflationary effect while according to forecasts of the European Central Bank (ECB) core inflationary processes will also remain low. The ECB also expects continued lax monetary policies in the Eurozone.

    The fundamentals of the Hungarian economy remain strong, GDP growth is on a strong and sustainable path, foreign debt has been substantially reduced and debt servicing capabilities are also solid.

     

  • Why can’t Hungary do what Austria does?

    The Austrian Foreign minister got married over the weekend in a private ceremony, but the presence of Vladimir Putin  – who danced, spoke German with the couple and enjoyed a traditional Styrian wedding – did trigger vehement reactions from domestic opposition parties and the Ukraine alike. The whole thing was most unconventional, Magyar Hírlap columnist Mariann Őry writes.

    But there is a lesson in it for Hungary as well. Namely that we should take note of how Austria is protecting its neutrality and is fighting for independence. Amidst the West’s general dislike of Putin, every time an EU member state invited him it was taken as a statement.

    Austria – currently holding the rotating EU presidency – has shown to both Berlin and Brussels how to invite Putin and welcome him with the respect every state leader deserves. Neither Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz nor the Freedom Party (FPÖ) members of his government took an oath of allegiance to Putin. Nor does it make any sense to even question Austria’s commitment to Europe, especially at a time when it is taking a firm anti-immigration stance in defense of European values.

    Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also seems to be more amenable to Putin and despite the misgivings of the United States, Germany will go ahead with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

    Washington is already talking about sanctions against Russia, as is British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who even wants the EU to pass new sanctions against Moscow.

    Hungary keeps saying that sanctions against Russia hurt Europe more than they do their intended target and won’t bring us closer to solving the Ukrainian crisis either. The increasing number of Putin’s visits to EU countries is by no means a sign that Europe has “sided with the East”. It simply means that an increasing number of European leaders are keen on representing European interests instead of blindly following the United States.

     

     

  • Hungary refutes migrant mistreatment allegations

    Hungary respects all regulations regarding the treatment of asylum seekers, the Immigration and Asylum Office (BAH) said, according to Magyar Hírlap.

    “We are proceeding exactly as prescribed by (the relevant) legislation, taking into account the rights of those with special needs and above all those of the children,” BAH said.

    Last week the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (MHB) raised the issue of the unfair treatment of asylum-seekers whose requests have been rejected by the first instance but were waiting for their appeals to be processed.

    MHB also filed a related lawsuit against Hungary at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Until the completion of legal proceedings, the ECHR implemented a number of interim measures, among which it “demanded Hungarian authorities to feed all members of the families kept in the transit zones”.

    This was based on claims by the MHB that only children were being fed in these zones, but not their parents awaiting the outcome of their appeals.

    BAH also said that international and EU organizations are constantly monitoring the situation in the transit zones and that Hungarian authorities comply with relevant legislation and EU directives.

     

  • Hungarian budget to benefit from Brexit

    The United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union will improve the balance of the Hungarian state budget, the Finance Ministry said.

    The “UK rebate” (also known as UK correction) is a financial mechanism that reduces the United Kingdom’s contribution to the EU budget, in effect since 1985. The rebate is calculated based on a complex formula. In 2015, for example, the UK’s contribution was reduced by EUR 6.2 billion (US$7.17 billion). Although the rebate is not set in the EU treaties, it is negotiated as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) every seven years and must be unanimously agreed.

    The Hungarian Finance Ministry said that from 2004 when Hungary joined the European Union until last year this contribution amounted to a cumulated budget expenditure of almost HUF 250 billion (US$894 million).

    “Next year we will contribute HUF 22 billion,” the Finance Ministry said.

    Although the planned Brexit date is at the end of March 2019, the current preliminary agreements say that the United Kingdom will remain part of the EU budget for 2019 and 2020, meaning that other member states’ – including Hungary – contribution to the UK rebate will end in 2022.    

  • Murdered journalist remembered in Košice

    A memorial has been inaugurated in Košice to remember investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová who were killed in their home in February.

    The table-like statue was made by Peter Kalmus and erected six months after the tragic murder, in the presence of several dozen participants. “The tragic event happened half a year ago. The remembrance to the innocent victims of a brutal execution is still with us, this is the first, but hopefully not the last similar memorial table,” Kalmus said. The statue contains the names of the victims and a QR code, which provides basic information about the circumstances of their murders.

    The parents of the victims were in attendance at the ceremony, which also happened on the 50th anniversary of the communist invasion of Czechoslovakia. “I never liked politics and I don’t like that the conversation about the murder is too politicized,” said Jozef Kuciak, the father of the investigative journalist.

    Ján Kuciak was working on various stories before his death, including the activities of the Italian organized crime syndicate ‘Ndrangheta. He was shot in his home in Veľká Mača with his fiancée, the police have been unable to solve the murder, while the killing caused a political crisis in Slovakia.

  • Slovak company blacklisted by the United States

    Slovak-owned Lacno s.r.o. has been sanctioned by the United States in connection with helping the Russian company Divetechnoservices to bypass the consequences of a previous sanction.

    According to the American authorities, the Russian company, which is focused on producing diving systems and involved in cyber-related activities, is also connected to the Russian secret service. Divetechnoservices was blacklisted from December 2016.

    Lacno s.r.o. is based in Bratislava, however the U.S. Treasury believes that the company provided material, financial and technological aid for the Russian company. Lacno was also considered as a potential buyer of goods for Divetechnoservices.

    What’s more, the company does not have a website or official contact numbers in Slovakia. It is connected to a certain Natalia Jakovlyeva, who is unknown to Slovak authorities.

    In connection with the American ban two other Russian citizens and a company were sanctioned. Marina Igorevna Careva, Anton Nagibin and the Russian Vela-Marine also provided cover for Divetechnoservices’s operations.

  • Lesson of 1968? Those who deny that we belong to the democratic West betray the nation

    Chairman of ODS, the largest conservative party in the Czech Republic, criticizes statements of Communist Vojtěch Filip and recalls the historical and symbolic role of August 1968.

    The gradual bagatelization of communism and the rehabilitation of various forms of socialism led us to the left-wing merging government, directly involved by the Communists.

    According to Fiala the public space overwhelms the ridiculous statements. Unfortunately, sense is no longer what decides the media.

    The fragile existence of our independence can only be defended through the democratic system. Only democratic states with their rule of law, public decision-making and guaranteed freedoms are a guarantee of security and sovereignty for other democratic states.

    Not nations and sates, but ideologies, authoritarian regimes and lack of freedom are a threat for us. This is the lesson from August 1968. Our future must be democratic. Another journey will sooner or later bring only tanks.

  • Ample Strike will take place between September 3rd and 14th

    Almost 1,200 soldiers from 19 countries will participate in one of the biggest military training exercises in the Czech Republic, which will include the US B-52 bomber, the Gripen, German tornadoes and the Eurofighter.

    The aim of the training is to reconcile the activities of the pilots and air guides, the so-called JTAC, who guide pilots of planes and helicopters to the target, serving as their “eyes”. On that account, they often move in battlefields or in enemy territory.

    Almost all bodies of the Czech army will participate in the training. “We need to secure, for example, healthcare, provide training ammunition, technology as targets, allocate resources for transporting people and material, and secure food preparation,“ said Zdeněk Gabriel, head of the training. Costs related to the training are paid by each of the participating countries on their own.

  • Brave Czechs contributed to a united Europe, Merkel says about August 1968

    Angela Merkel regards the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries in 1968 as a sad culmination of the Soviet Union’s policy of oppression. This was stated by her spokesman, Steffen Seibert. Brave people in Czechoslovakia, according to Merkel, have contributed to a united Europe in the following years.

    According to the head of the German government, the events of August 1968 have to be seen in one line with the suppression of the rebellion in the GDR in 1953 and the revolution in Hungary in 1956 or the declaration of the state of emergency in Poland in 1981.

    “All these very different historical events have in common the fact that people behind the Iron Curtain did not want to reconcile with their fate having been imposed on them by the elites of the Communist parties,” says the Chancellor.

    She thinks that the year 1968 brought at least the basis of the demands which were then fulfilled in 1989 when the will of the people finally broke through. In particular, it was the desire to overcome the communist regime and live in democracy and freedom. 

    Today, Germany as well as Europe are fortunately united according to Merkel. “And it is quite clear that brave people in the today’s Czech Republic and Slovakia have contributed to it a lot,” says the head of the German government.

  • Zeman and Babiš will visit Germany to meet Chancellor Merkel

    Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and President Miloš Zeman will visit Berlin in September. According to reports, they both have the chance to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on their official visits to Germany. Zeman will also have a meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

    The head of the Czech government is to be received by Angela Merkel with military honors on September 5th. The Berlin Chancellery will push negotiations on bilateral relations and co-operation on modernizing the cross-border infrastructure. Furthermore, both politicians are unlikely to avoid discussion on European issues and the topic of migration on which their opinions are fundamentally different.

    Czech President Zeman will arrive in the German capital several weeks after Babiš. His two to three days long visit should take place around September 20th, according to reports.

    Zeman, who could also be heading to other parts of Germany during the visit, should meet Chancellor Merkel as well even though she rarely meets with foreign heads of states who are not heads of the government. The meeting of the politicians, who are widely perceived as counterparts in the issue of migration, is very important for Czech diplomacy.

  • Sapkowski’s “The Witcher” on Netflix

    The casting scripts for Netflix’s “Witcher” tv series adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s bestselling “The Witcher” novels were leaked on the online forum “reddit”. Although the show will arrive in 2020, fans are already discussing the importance and meaning of the leaked content.

    Showrunner Lauren S. Hissirch has confirmed that the leaked scripts for Netflix’s “The Witcher” are authentic. She is not disappointed about the leaks and has expressed delight in seeing fan discussions. She wrote on twitter:

    “It’s fascinating to watch the PASSIONATE debate about Geralt’s and Yen’s thoughts/emotions/intentions on the casting sides. Everything from “this reads like canon” to “Geralt would NEVER say that word.” I only hope Witcher fans are as invested in the, you know, actual series.”

    https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/1030089352200650753

    The phenomenon of Sapkowski

    So far, each leak has been promising but fans are cautious. Movie adaptations of Sapkowski’s novels haven’t been successful. One of the most infamous ones is Polish production “The Witcher” (2001) by Marek Brodzki which was very coldly received by audiences.

    A wide success has been CD Projekt’s video game adaptation of the books, which has sold more than 33 million copies worldwide.

    Andrzej Sapkowski’s books have been translated to close to twenty languages, making him the second most translated Polish fantasy and science fiction author in history (Stanisław Lem is first). He was awarded the Gloria Artis Medal for distinguished contributions to art in 2012.

    Netflix’s tv series is expected to air in 2020. The first season will run eight episodes.

  • Polish video game industry is booming

    Polish video games have become a worldwide phenomenon. Even at Gamescom in Cologne, where household names such as Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts or Ubisoft display their upcoming titles, Polish CD Project and Techland shine. 

    There probably won’t be a public showcase of the newest Polish titles. This will keep fans all across the world waiting but the Polish companies will still be present at the convention.

    Warsaw’s CD Project will hold a closed-door press conference for “Cyberpunk 2077” and Wrocław’s Techland will reveal an expansion to “Dying Light” called “Bad Blood” which will include a Battle Royale mode (an online battle mode in which players fight to the last man standing).

    The sole fact that Polish games are so heavily discussed proves the strength of Poland’s electronic entertainment market. They are as anticipated as “Diablo 4” or “Battlefield V”.

    Apart from CD Projekt and Techland, Polish 11 bit studios and The Farm 51 may also rise to prominence. The former recently released the well-received “Frostpunk” and the latter is soon to release the much anticipated “World War 3”.

    Legendary “The Witcher”

    The Polish market’s strength is shown in the sales of CD Projekt’s “The Witcher” series, which over three instalments sold 33 million copies. These numbers put “The Witcher” in the same league as games such as “World of Warcraft” or “Assassin’s Creed”.

  • August of 1968, a lesson from geopolitics

    The Warsaw pact invasion of 1968 is usually being seen as an attack of soviet Bolsheviks on the freedom of Czechoslovakia. This is however a somewhat simplified view, the country lost its independence in 1938 and never regained it, writes Dag Daniš.

    The Czech Republic and Slovakia from that point were part of the Nazi and later the communist totalitarian regimes. The country also became a battleground of geopolitical struggle. The reformist communists lead by Alexander Dubček were not radicals nor revolutionaries. They wanted to preserve Czechoslovakia as a socialist country which will stay in the communist bloc. On the other side were the orthodox Stalinists who felt threatened by the reformists. None of these sides is important when we are reflecting on August 1968.

    The decisive forces were the West and Moscow and their geopolitical interests and fears. Moscow feared that similarly to Austria a country will not act neutral but rather getting close to the West. The Austrian way and the urge for neutrality was inspiring Hungary which left the Warsaw Pact in 1956 and was invaded by the Soviet Union.

    Neutrality however does not work, geopolitics has its rules – it doesn’t preserve vacuum. Every neutral country, such as Austria, Switzerland, Sweden were acting as a strong part of the Western bloc. That is why the Hungarian uprising ended with Soviet invasion and why Czechoslovakia was facing a similar problem in 1968. Moscow feared that loosening ties with communism predicts the end of the communistic regimes as well. And they were right. The totalitarian regimes of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and other countries were not here because they were chosen by the people or they were working well. They were here because the Soviet Union enforced them. The invasion of 1968 was a preventive “war.” It sent a message: no experiments with neutrality.

  • Security needed for the Gas Triangle

    The navies of Poland, Denmark and Norway are currently incapable of operating in the Baltic Gas Triangle which contains three of the most important EU gas infrastructures: Nord Stream, Świnoujście LNG Terminal and the future Baltic Pipe.

    The Triangle is located between the towns Świnoujcie and Niechorze in Poland and Lubmin in Germany.

    The Świnoujście LNG Terminal accepts gas from ships from Qatar, Norway and the United States. The Baltic Pipe in Niechorze is a planned pipeline between Norway, Denmark and Poland.

    Nord Stream and the planned Nord Stream 2 pipelines transfer gas between Germany and Russia.

    One of the main threats to the Gas Triangle is sabotage as part of hybrid warfare

    One of the main threats to the Gas Triangle is sabotage as part of hybrid warfare. To tackle this threat modernization of Norwegian, Danish and Polish navies is necessary. Denmark doesn’t possess any submarines and both Norway and Poland own heavily outdated vessels.

    When it comes to fighting submarines, the situation is slightly better. Poland’s navy is equipped OHP frigates and Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. Norway possesses the Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft and Denmark has based its fleet on modularity and can adapt their navy to the required combat.

    Any modernizations should include the need to protect the critical gas transmit infrastructure. Its liability to attack has already been proven when in 2015 Swedish media informed about a drone carrying explosive devices found near the Nord Stream pipeline. Although it turned out to be a device meant to disarm mines during the Second World War, the transmission of gas had been halted.

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  • Europe is aging fast but Slovakia even faster

    The European Union is struggling with productivity problems, people of working age are disappearing. The ratio between senior citizens over 65 years and workers is one to three, which will be reduced to two to one in 2042.

    Slovakia has one of the youngest populations in the European Union with an age median of 39.8 years, only Ireland, Cyprus and Luxembourg is in a better position.

    Ľubomír Koršňák, analyst at UniCredit Bank Slovakia, warned that due to demographic tendencies, within just 15 years, Slovakia will reach the European average and after 2050, when the generation of “Husák’s children” reaches pension age, the demographic crisis will culminate. However, this issue is common for most European Union member states – in 25 years the average age of the population of member states will rise from 42.9 to 46.7 years.

    Monika Čambáliková from the Slovak Academy of Science pointed out that the issue is complex and cannot be solved with a sole state provision. The scientist stressed the importance of several measures, including strengthening financial stability for future pensioners, promoting the idea of active aging and providing better healthcare services, which in the long run will result in less expenses for the health industry. 

    Similarly to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithania, Spain and Greece are also facing a demographic crisis within 25 years, while Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain will remain relatively young due to the age structure of the population.

  • No Australian Frigates deal

    PM Mateusz Morawiecki has blocked the PLN 2 billion (US$535 000 000) Australian frigates deal.

    The move comes despite president Andrzej Duda’s and minister of national defense Mariusz Błaszczak’s trip to Australia.

    “We’ve been holding talks on the matter, and we still are. This is an issue of inside talks, on one hand they have a military aspect, but also a business side because of the matter of the Polish shipbuilding industry. I assure, however, that the subject hasn’t been dropped,” Andrzej Duda told PAP in Sydney.

    Poland, the largest country on the Eastern flank, is yet again showing its NATO allies that it has a serious issue with acquiring weaponry.

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    One of the previous disagreements was the purchase of the Caracal helicopters. First, the Civic Platform (PO) government negotiated the military contract and the Law and Justice (PiS) government was meant to deal with the offset. The talks did not end in a signed contract. Also, nothing is yet clear about the purchase of new submarines for the navy.

    Agreement on priorities when it comes to purchases for national defense is not only impossible between two of the largest political parties, but also between members of the same ruling party.

    To protect its citizens, the Polish military needs stability and continuity. Because of the lack of these in terms of military purchases, protecting the country’s borders as well as its independence is impossible. Not even the biggest “Great Parade of Independence” will change that.

     

  • Hungary wants strong and successful neighbors, minister says

    Hungary is interested in having strong and successful neighbors, Gergely Gulyás, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said on Hungary’s national day in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), the fourth largest city of its eastern neighbor, Romania.

    Gulyás visited Kolozsvár on the occasion of the Hungarian Days there, a cultural event of the ethnic Hungarian minority. The city has a population of 324,000 of which 50,000 are ethnic Hungarians.

    Gulyás said Hungary would like to see an overall strengthening of the region. Referring to lingering ethnic tensions, he said the Hungarian card is mainly played by those participants of domestic politics who don’t have the strength to build political capital based on their own performance.

    It is not ideal that in relations with neighboring countries Hungary “has to deal with leaders of countries struggling with permanent internal crises sovereignty issues” but despite that Hungarian foreign policy would stay its course.

    Answering journalists’ questions, he said that to his knowledge Romania remains receptive to Hungary extending its economic development program to Transylvania (the part of Romania where most ethnic Hungarians live). He said realistically the economic development program could be launched next year.

    Gulyás said Hungary welcomes the fact that in the first half of 2019 Romania will take over the rotating presidency of the EU and that one of the main tasks during this period would be to provide seamless operations during EU parliamentary elections. The elections are scheduled for May 23rd-26th.  

     

  • Life-size marzipan replica of Hungary’s Holy Crown

    The team at Koko confectionery in Veszprém celebrated Hungary’s national day, the foundation of the Hungarian state with a marzipan replica of the revered Holy Crown.

    The holiday falls on the feast day of Stephen I, later known as St. Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state, who was canonized in 1083. He was crowned December 25th, 1000 A.D. (or, according to other accounts, January 1st, 1001) with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II.

    Confectioner Zsolt Pintér and his team have put the replica – complete with red velvet display pillow and glass display case – in the window of their shop.

    Korona

    Every detail of the crown – down to the gemstones, pearls and icons – is as close to the original as possible. Patrons of the confectionery can also purchase miniature Crown cakes, a limited edition specially made for the occasion.

  • Immigration tax comes into effect in Hungary

    The Hungarian Tax and Customs Office (NAV) is ready to enforce the special immigration tax on NGOs that will come into effect on August 25th, László Sors, the head of NAV told Magyar Idők.

    The Hungarian parliament this June passed an amendment to the country’s tax legislation, requiring NGOs who help migration to pay a 25 percent tax on all types of financial assistance to migration. The organizations will also have to register these activities with NAV by August 25th and the first tax payment is due on September 15th.

    Sors said that NAV will do exactly the same as with other taxes: inform, verify and – if required – sanction. The NAV homepage has a separate page informing NGOs of their duties and also offers guidance and assistance in completing the forms.

    He said activities helping migration are defined by the law as media campaigns and media seminars, building and operating support networks and propaganda presenting migration in a positive light. The law also stipulates that income from the immigration tax can only be spent on border defense.

    The law also says that political parties and their foundations as well as international organizations protected by international or bilateral treaties are exempt.

  • Hungarian surgeons separate Bangladeshi conjoined twins

    A team of Hungarian neurosurgeons successfully completed the second, most critical phase in the separation of Bangladeshi conjoined twins in a groundbreaking five-hour operation, neurosurgeon András Csókay told Magyar Idők.

    The hospital in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka made a worldwide appeal for help but the Hungarian team was the only one that would undertake the surgery. In February they completed the first phase of the operation, separating the twins’ head arteries and in the latest, five-hour intervention they also managed to separate their veins. 

    András_Csókay

    Neurosurgeon András Csókay, head of the Hungarian team

    Csókay said they introduced a catheter in the femoral vein through which the surgery on the head veins was performed.

    “During the five-hour operation we employed this unique method for the first time in the world, successfully closed all common major veins which is a huge towards the final separation of the twins” Csókay said.

    The procedure is far from over. The craniums and brains will also have to be separated, but the most critical phase – the separation of the two circulatory systems – is now complete.

    The birth of conjoined twins is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southeast Asia and Africa.

  • Agreements on returning of migrants do not address the problem

    Recent and pending agreements between Germany and Spain or Greece to regulate the return of migrants to their country of entry do not solve the problem because the law makes it technically impossible to return the migrants. The laws and conventions must be changed so that the migrants could be unconditionally returned to where they came from.

    The agreement between Germany and Spain (or Greece) concerns the migrants who have applied for asylum in another EU country before coming to Germany. The agreement is certainly better than ongoing disagreement and as such it will probably be well received, at least in Germany. After all, Angela Merkel needs it at a time when her popularity is steadily declining.

    The agreement could perhaps be applied in reality in some cases and migrants will be returned. So far, however, experience has not offered anything to believe that it will function on a large scale, and there is nothing to suggest that this is a solution to the problem.

    Those who entered Europe in these recent migration waves are on the territory of Europe, and if they refuse, it is technically impossible for many reasons to return them to where they came from. The new Italian government is trying to fool itself when it promises to return 600,000 migrants. This can’t be done simply because it is technically impossible. This, of course, will have permanent social and political consequences, and those countries that have allowed it will leave it for future generations.

    More practical considerations demand that attention be directed to other challenges – how to prevent things that happened from getting worse. Specifically, that requires stopping mass migration, and this possible only by blocking the Union’s external terrestrial borders and protecting the sea border and by unconditionally returning refugees to where they came from. But that would violate current laws and conventions, and that’s why those laws and conventions must be changed. That, however, runs counter to the interestes of those states that support migration. They should be pressured into co-operation, for example by economic sanctions targeted at specific persons responsible.

  • Malta sends ship with migrants to Italy

    The dispute between Italy and Malta continues over a ship carrying 177 migrants. According to Maltese Minister Michael Farrugio, the ship must be docked in an Italian port, but Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini insists that EU members should share the migrants.

    “The only definitive solution is to disembark (migrants) in Lampedusa or another Italian port. If Italy wants to keep on solving such cases as a rescue at sea, Lampedusa is the closest safe place according to the conventions,” Farrugia said.

    The Maltese minister was addressing a situation in which migrants are traveling on a ship of the Italian Coast Guard, which let them embark on August 16th in Maltese waters, allegedly after Malta refused any assistance and attempted to escort them into Italian waters. The Maltese authorities claim that the ship previously carrying the migrants was not in need and lives of the migrants were not at risk.

    “Either Europe decides to really help Italy and starts by accepting 180 migrants aboard the Diciotti ship, or we will be forced to do what definitively stops the smuggling business and start escorting the people rescued at sea to the ports of Libya,” said Italian Minister Salvini.

    Last week, Malta allowed the Aquarius ship with 141 refugees aboard to anchor at its shores. Five countries of the European Union (France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg) have agreed to admit them.

  • Berlin and Athens to conclude an agreement on the return of migrants

    Berlin and Athens have reached an agreement on the outlines of a deal concerning the return of migrants who have already applied for asylum in another EU country before coming to Germany. The announcment follows news earlier this month of a similar agreement between Berlin and Madrid, while negotiations are currently under way with Italy.

    “The agreement (with Greece) is to be finalized imminently,” said a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Interior, adding that the outlines of the pact were settled last Thursday evening and only a final piece of correspondence remains.

    Meanwhile, negotiations with Italy on a planned migration agreement “have already gone a long way” at the ministerial level, the spokesperson said. Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that she would also engage in the talks with the Italian government, if necessary, DPA reported.

    The agreement that Berlin and Madrid concluded earlier this month has already entered into force. It says that migrants arriving from Spain can be returned there within 48 hours of arrival at the German border.

    The pending agreement with Athens concerns persons detained at the Austria-Germany border who have previously applied for asylum in Greece and, similarly, would allow those migrants to be returned within 48 hours.

    Spain did not request any reciprocal measure from Germany. Italy and Greece, however, asked Germany to accept additional incoming migrants. Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer, however, rejected it, saying that Germany cannot possibly accept more migrants than the number that are sent back.

  • Babiš: Europe must send a clear signal to migrants: Sorry, we’re closed

    The notion that when migrants are at sea Europe must take them in is a road to hell, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said in the interview. On the contrary, Europe must send a clear signal: Sorry, we’re closed. 

    The prime minister was responding to remarks by MEP Miroslav Poche of the Czech Social Democratic Party asserting that the Czech Republic could show solidarity with Italy by handling some asylum applications on its own territory. Migrants would then be granted asylum in another country or repatriated, an idea flatly rejected by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in an interview with the daily Právo.

    “Together with Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán and the V4, we campaigned at the EU summit for quotas to be abolished and we succeeded,” said Prime Minister Babiš. “Our opinion is that nobody will impose anybody on us and that Czechs will decide who will live in the Czech Republic. That is the basis. And now we should engage in pan-European migration. First of all, we must send a clear signal that it is closed, that nobody can get into Europe any more. The message must be: You must stay home, we will help you there.”

    First of all, we must send a clear signal that it is closed, that nobody can get into Europe any more. The message must be: You must stay home, we will help you there.

    “[M]igration is a big problem and must be stopped,” he said. As a deterrent example, he mentions Sweden where gangs set 80 cars on fire, but MEPs keep publicly silent on this issue. 

    “Everything must follow a certain set of rules. Ukrainians, for example, can come to the Czech Republic on the basis of a working visa and after being checked. It’s not like embarking on the Aquarius ship without papers, disembarking in Europe, and wanting asylum. We must clearly say that the security of our people is the highest priority for us,” the prime minister said.

    Regarding th meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte planned for later this month, Babiš said that the Czech Republic is preparing a comprehensive proposal to address the issue of illegal migrants. “In the first place, we have to change the rhetoric. We can no longer make the impression that when migrants come to Europe, we will distribute them among individual countries. For illegal migration to end, we need to improve the conditions in the countries the migrants come from.”

  • Most Wanted! Hammer and sickle

    A working group under the Ministry of Justice has proposed changes to the penal code. The new regulations will criminalize “the offering of print, recordings or any other item possessing fascist or totalitarian content” as well as “disseminating fascist, communist or any other totalitarian symbols.”

    Commentators point out that the tightening and singling out of regulations concerning communist symbols became necessary because these symbols were trivialized. Tomasz Rzymkowski MP of Kukiz’15 argues that the communist ideology as well as its icons aren’t prosecuted as strictly as fascist ones.

    How is the Soviet Gulag different from German death camps?

    Some lawyers argue, however, that changing the laws is not sufficient. There are enough laws concerning the persecution of totalitarian symbolism. The issue is the judiciary’s approach to the matter. “This is why we must reform the judicial system,” argues Bartosz Kownacki, a Law and Justice MP.

    There is a double standard when combating communist ideology. It is completely trivialized compared to fascism or nazism. “What’s the difference between these genocides? How is the Soviet Gulag different from German death camps?” asks Jerzy Bukowski, a spokesman for the Veteran’s Union.

    Bukowski cited the example of the Polish Communist Party, which is still active and has not lost its registration by the Constitutional Tribunal despite many calls for its closure.