Tag: European Union
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International leaders play dubious role in Bosnia’s ethno-nationalist terror
ANALYSIS As Bosnians look towards the new year, the list of challenges facing their country grows ever longer. Despite 26 years of peace-building by war survivors and activists, actors both within and without the country threaten to tear its fragile peace apart. EU officials appear to dither on imposing sanctions against the country’s far-right secessionist…
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The political games threatening human life at the Poland-Belarus border
CN: death ANALYSIS The ‘migration crisis’ between Poland and Belarus may have hit the mainstream global news cycle in early November, but the origins of the contest reach much farther back. The crux of the issue is not about migration specifically, but is in fact a broader political disagreement between the EU and Belarus’ Lukashenka.…
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‘Clarifications are not good enough’: Poles demand abortion law U-turn after pregnant woman dies
CN: death It seems to be a never-ending epic in Poland. Though one without a comforting victory. Once again, Poles are marching against the near-total abortion ban that came into effect a year ago. Protesters have linked the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman named Izabela, who died of sepsis 22 weeks into her pregnancy,…
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Poland and the EU: a case study in pandering to authoritarianism
OPINION Poland could introduce another draconian law to further restrict civil liberties. The bill, proposed by right-wing activist Kaja Godek, would amend existing legislation on public congregations, banning peaceful protests for LGBT rights. ‘Questioning marriage as a union of man and woman, propagating same-sex marriage, propagating adoption by such couples, propagating gender as separate from…
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‘We are afraid’: Polish queer families feel no safer since the repealing of ‘LGBT-free zones’
INTERVIEW Almost a month has passed since the first of four Polish regions repealed their infamous ‘LGBT-free zone’ declarations. This came after the EU put on hold millions of euros of funding to the regions. Hailed as a ‘great success’ by activists, the tide may already be turning for Poland’s queer community. Warsaw is now…
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Orbán’s crusader rhetoric and EU migration policy: a spurious discord
CN: this article contains discussion of xenophobia and Islamophobia As Afghanistan reeled from the dramatic takeover by the Taliban and thousands of people made desperate attempts to flee to safety, Europe’s enfant terrible Victor Orbán was already making it clear they wouldn’t find it in his backyard. Following a joint session in Budapest on 8…
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Ceuta and Melilla: externalised border control, systematic violence
CN: this article contains discussion of xenophobia and violence OPINION Between 17 and 19 May 2021, some 10 000 migrants crossed the border into Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco had relaxed its border controls in Ceuta in retaliation against Spain’s decision to allow Brahim Gali, a leader of the Polisario Front – a militant organisation opposed…
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Years of appeasing Lukashenko are backfiring: assessing Warsaw’s policy towards Belarus
Support Politika News on Patreon. OPINION Poland’s foreign policy as regards Aleksander Lukashenko’s regime has not been subject to much change since he became president in 1994. Relations between the two countries have tended to be warm, with Poland at times being the regime’s only ally West of Russia. This was the case until Belarus’…
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Young Polish progressives dismiss an EU incapable of punishing corruption
OPINION Why are young progressives in Poland growing disillusioned with the European Union? In December of last year, the Union was plunged into yet another crisis when Poland and Hungary vetoed the EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund. This was done in response to a proposed mechanism which sought to make access to EU funds…
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“Next Generation EU”: Italy’s youth are the big losers of the ongoing political deadlock
OPINION Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s third-way party Italia Viva has officially withdrawn from the government coalition. Renzi announced it in a press conference last night at 18:15 (local time), asking three cabinet members from his party to subsequently leave their positions. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government may now face a vote of no confidence…
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