Towards a Paradigm Shift: How Women Create Agroecology in Central and Eastern Europe Published: 24 January 2025 Background The number of farmers in Poland is declining, but fortunately there is one group in rural areas that is trying to build farms based on new principles. These are young women who embody the ideas of agroecology: diversification of production, rural cooperation and care for the environment. By Ruta Śpiewak and Klaudia Kryńska
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not be indifferent! Published: 14 April 2023 Interview On April 19, 1943, Jews condemned to death in the Warsaw Ghetto rose up in an unprecedented heroic struggle against the German occupation. The commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the ghetto uprising is approaching. Joanna Maria Stolarek, director of the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation spoke with Zygmunt Stępiński, director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN in Warsaw about the commemoration, the nature of remembrance, and the universal message that the uprising and its commemoration bring. By Joanna Maria Stolarek
Pan-European Anti-feminist and Anti-LGBT Mobilization Published: 1 December 2021 The anti-gender movements in Central and Eastern Europe have led to anti-democratic turns in gender and sexuality policies. The best counterstrategy is to reveal such movements’ underlying objectives, strategies, participants, and stakeholders. By Iza Desperak
Everyday feminism and the authoritarian right in Poland Published: 1 December 2021 Despite the authoritarian atmosphere, the contemporary feminist and queer movements in Poland are becoming more diverse, informal, intersectional, and focused on countering misogyny and homophobia in locally defined contexts. By Magdalena Grabowska and Marta Rawłuszko
Poland and the Baltic States: A Preference for a Renewed West Published: 8 January 2021 Analysis The vision of a strategically autonomous Europe is not met with great enthusiasm in Poland and the Baltic states. On the contrary, the preferences between Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn point to a renewal of the transatlantic bond and a stronger NATO in order to contain the challenges represented by Russia and China. By Justyna Gotkowska
What to make of Hungary’s budget veto? Published: 7 December 2020 Analysis Considering the current politico-economic situation in the EU, Hungary does stand a chance of achieving some of its immediate goals. So, the key question is: What does Budapest stand to gain by using its veto? By Patrik Szicherle
Poland wants no refugees – NGO’s critical look at the New Pact on Migration and Asylum Published: 20 October 2020 Commentary Despite its tough public rhetoric, the Polish government might turn out to be more flexible behind closed doors regarding the New Pact, to prevent embarrassing defeats on issues that are far more important from a domestic policy point of view, such as the rule of law. By Joanna Maria Stolarek
Poland wants no refugees – NGO’s critical look at the New Pact on Migration and Asylum Published: 20 October 2020 Commentary Despite its tough public rhetoric, the Polish government might turn out to be more flexible behind closed doors regarding the New Pact, to prevent embarrassing defeats on issues that are far more important from a domestic policy point of view, such as the rule of law. By Joanna Maria Stolarek
Poland remains divided Published: 24 July 2020 Commentary Following a suspense-packed election thriller, Poland has elected its new president. What seemed like it would be a walkover for the incumbent, Andrzej Duda, turned out to be an attempt to shift the direction of Polish domestic affairs. By Joanna Maria Stolarek
The Controversy of Memories - 75 years after the end of the Second World War in Europe Published: 7 May 2020 Film "Different wars: National History Textbooks on the Second World War" - this was the title of a travelling exhibition by the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. It toured 22 cities in the EU and Russia over the last four years. It showed how current textbooks for secondary schools depict the Second World War in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic. The short film accompanying the exhibition will be released on 7 May.
Poland: Following the European elections, PiS maintains its dominant position in spite of the changing political scene Published: 6 June 2019 Background The European elections held on 26th May 2019 confirmed what was feared: The national-conservative party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice, PiS) won by a clear majority. What are the reasons behind this election result and how has the political mood in the country changed? By Irene Hahn-Fuhr
European election campaign in Poland: test run for autumn general elections Published: 20 May 2019 Background The figures speak for themselves: 15 years after joining the European community, 91 percent of Poles support EU membership, with only five percent against. According to 78 percent of those surveyed, the consequences are overwhelmingly positive. Moreover, 56 percent feel they are Europeans, an increase of around 13 percent compared to 2014. By Irene Hahn-Fuhr
Brexit in Poland. Irrelevant but divisive Published: 11 April 2019 Given how consequential it may be for hundreds of thousands of Poles living in the United Kingdom, the question of Brexit is strangely absent from the public debate just before European elections. By Łukasz Pawłowski
“All we want is to work in partnership with our readers” Published: 9 January 2019 Interview Journalism is in a serious crisis. Nevertheless, alternative left-wing media are still out there in Europe, providing quality news and analysis with financial backing not from oligarchs or big business but from their readers. An exchange between the makers of merce.hu (Hungary), republik.ch (Switzerland), oko.press (Poland), and taz.de (Germany). By Krisztián Simon
European Structural Change: First Meeting of the Trilateral Group in Paris Published: 18 September 2018 On July 2nd and 3rd, the French-German-Polish Forum on European Structural Change convened in Paris.
Katowice: A European coal capital goes green Published: 11 January 2018 Nowhere in the EU is smog more suffocating than in southern Poland. This year, the polluted Polish mining city Katowice will host the COP24 climate conference. Ahead of that, change is in the air — and on the ground. By Richard Fuchs
Orbán’s theatrical struggle against big, bad Berlin Published: 4 October 2017 Orbán tries to destroy Germany’s positive image in Central Eastern Europe, depicting Germany as the capital of the decadent, liberal, pro-immigration EU that is doomed to fail. Tolerating such a behaviour would be a huge long-term strategic mistake for Germany. By Edit Zgut, Bulcsú Hunyadi and Péter Krekó
Brexit – a Polish perspective from Warsaw and London Published: 22 July 2016 With Britain leaving the EU Poland is loosing one of its most important security policy ally. At the same time up to a million polish migrants in Britain are facing an uncertain future as they were already being used as scapegoats in the Brexit campaign. By Małgorzata Kopka
View from Warsaw: Loss of an ally Published: 5 July 2016 With the UK gone, Poland, under the Law and Justice (PiS) government, will lose its favourite ally within the EU.
The Polish perspective on European refugee policy Published: 16 June 2016 Poland has also taken in refugees and economic migrants from Chechenya, Georgia, and Ukraine. Any solution to the refugee crisis requires EU-level efforts, including effective implementation. By Maciej Duszczyk