Prague
In 2004, the Central European and Baltic countries joined the European Union as new members. The Prague office seeks to strengthen liberal forces, both political and intellectual, in the region. Our project office particularly supports the 4liberty.eu network, which serves as a centre of competence and a platform for dialogue.
News
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Attacks against mainstream media dominate Slovak information space, military aid to Ukraine is still a prevalent topic
The war in Ukraine is still a popular topic among disinformation actors in Slovak information space. The main narratives include alleged widespread corruption in Western countries and calling for “peace” from supporters of Russia. The decision of the Slovak government to donate MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian armed forces has also been a prevalent topic of many dubious actors.
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From Poland with Love - February
The first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominated the news from Poland in February. The news of the month was clearly the visit of the US President to Poland. Meantime in Belarus, a Polish journalist who reported on the protests against Lukashenko in 2021 was imprisoned. And on a more positive note, Warsaw was named European Best Destination 2023.
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From Poland with Love - January
Poland continues its internal fight for money from the European Recovery Fund in 2023, and so far things are not looking very good.The Poles have again asked Western partners for more support for Ukraine, most recently in the form of delivery of modern German Leopard 2 tanks. In contrast, Germany's reluctance to do so has drawn criticism from the Polish side. And surprising news from the society, only 32% of Polish women say they are planning to have children.
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Hearts and Minds
The Mathias Corvinus Collegium is a Hungarian organization providing scholarships for studying abroad, organizing events with international speakers and offering interesting study programmes to its students. However, below the surface, it is yet another tool of Orbán's regime, which connects domestic and international actors, who promote the ideology of illiberalism.
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Outlook for Hungary 2023
How it is possible that the populist autocrat Orbán won the 2022 parliamentary election despite the economy crisis, the severity of which can be linked with his rule in the preceding ruling period? Which similiarities exist between his rule and communism? How did the EU respond to the rule-of-law backsliding in Hungary? And what are the prospects of Hungary for the year 2023? Eszter Nova tries to answer these questions in her publication "Outlook for Hungary 2023".
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Dirty election campaign with a good ending?
After ten years, the Czech Republic will have a new president: Retired General Petr Pavel clearly won the run-off election against former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. His victory is good news for the country's pro-Western development. After years of dividing society under outgoing President Miloš Zeman, who was known for his love of Russia and China, the new president will have his hands full in bringing together the currently highly polarised society and charting a new course.
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The Czech Republic is looking for a president
Since 2012, the Czech president has been directly elected by citizens in two rounds of voting. Czechs enjoy this right to vote and the last presidential election in 2018 saw the highest turnout in a national election in 20 years. Thus, the presidential election has become a great show that people discuss for months and years ahead, arousing great emotions. The bookmakers are sure about the winner of the election, the polls are groping in the dark and a third of the voters are still undecided. So what can we expect in the first and second rounds of the presidential election?
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Countering Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and its hybrid attacks on European societies
This strategy paper is the joint product of 14 liberal youth organizations from Eastern and Central-Eastern Europe elaborated at the second Eastern Europe Summit. The organizations met in November 2022 in Prague and are planning to hold another summit to expand deliberations and common demands.
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From Poland with Love - December
An explosion at the office of Poland's police chief, the visit of President Zelenskyy and the audition of the popular hip hop band Black Eyed Peas in Poland´s small town Zakopane with rainbow armbands sending message to the ruling PiS party are the highlights of December 2022 in Poland. LGBTQI+ community is still a big topic in Poland. Read more in our newsletter!
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False narratives about the European Union dominate Slovak information space, including allegations of widespread corruption in the EU institutions
In the past two weeks disinformers are spreading allegations of widespread corruption in the EU institutions. For this, they are massively utilising the recent “Qatargate” scandal. Additionally, dubious political actors focused their attention on the recent visit of the European Parliament delegation to Slovakia. And false narratives about the war in Ukraine re-appear among the topics, including blaming the West for intentionally prolonging the war.
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Slovakia in chaos before Christmas: the collapse of the government is only the beginning
In Slovakia, the conservative-populist minority government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger has been brought down by a vote of no confidence. President Zuzana Čaputová dismissed the government the following day. However, the political crisis in Slovakia is far from over. Apart from the fact that Slovakia does not yet have an approved budget for next year, early elections are now likely to be held, the outcome of which could change Slovakia's foreign policy direction from West to East.
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Member States of the Three Seas Initiative in Comparison
After a thorough analysis of each individual member state of the Three Seas Initiative, it became clear that their respective engagement in the initiative is not of equal depth and dedication. Member states’ opinions on the role of the initiative are different as well. Disagreement on the structure of the initiative and its position vis-à-vis Russia also threaten the Three Seas Initiative’s success.
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Latvia’s Perspective on the Three-Seas-Initiative
Recently, Latvia joined the initiative’s fund and declared that it would host this year’s summit in Riga. The member state expects the initiative to provide valuable economic benefits by boosting regional interconnectedness and thus also the economic development in its member states. And while the core nature of the Three-Seas-Initiative is indeed economy, Latvia also finds the initiative to be an important geopolitical tool, especially for its national security vis-à-vis Russia.
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Final assessment of the Czech EU Presidency
The last EU meetings under the Czech Presidency are taking place this week. It became clear now that the Czech Republic is a credible and reliable partner for other members states. During its EU Presidency, the country had to deal mainly with the crisis agenda, focusing on energy issues and negotiating very complex packages such as the climate package and support for Ukraine. Especially in the energy sector, the Czechs proved to be good negotiators, focusing on pragmatic compromises.
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The European Union dubbed “authoritarian” by disinformation actors praising Hungary’s anti-EU stance
The narrative of the "EU dictatorship" has been revived again in recent weeks in the statements of the disinformers. Many pro-Russian and anti-EU actors used the recent actions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as an example of an admirable response to the EU’s „dictatorship“ and many of them have adopted the rhetoric of Viktor Orbán saying that the EU have to stop sending money and armament to Ukraine. Another recycled topic was migration.
Social Media
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Montag hat das ungarische Parlament den NATO-Beitritt Finnlands ratifiziert, acht Monate nach dessen Entscheidung. Zusammen mit der Türkei waren Ungarn und Schweden die letzten Mohikaner, die noch keine Entscheidung getroffen hatten. Es gibt Vermutungen, dass Ungarn die Entscheidung wegen der eingefrorenen EU-Subventionen verzögert hat. Orbán nutzt seine Machtposition aus und erpresst die EU, um seine Ziele innerhalb der EU zu erreichen. Eine weitere Möglichkeit ist seine prorussische Einstellung, die Ungarns Beziehungen zu Putin schützen soll. Artikel von Daniela Matoušová Mehr dazu: https://www.freiheit.org/de/mitteleuropa-und-baltische-staaten/ungarische-verschiebungspolitik #ungarn #nato #eu #sicherheit
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