Coal-fuelled power plants closure is accelerating in Europe as the air pollution standards exceptions guaranteed by the EU expire at the end of June. While coal plays a significant role in electricity generation, the amount of carbon released in the atmosphere has been raising environmental concerns. While many governments attempt to comply with the Paris […]
Author: Soňa Hoigerová
Soňa holds a Master's degree in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Florence. Besides European policies, she is interested in the issues concerning Gender and Global South. She has been currently working as a coordinator of the European Solidarity Corps projects.
Many democracies around the world have decided to postpone elections due to the coronavirus outbreak, however, it seems like holding election during a pandemic is not a concern for the Polish government. Despite the complaints of the opposition and concerns expressed by the European Commission, the ruling nationalist party Law and Justice (PiS) is pressing ahead with […]
Slovaks have approached the polls on February 29th 2020 and decided on a new direction of their country. Surveys predicted that the leading social democratic left-wing party Smer-SD (Direction-Social Democracy) might lose Parliamentary elections for the first time in 14 years. However, nobody expected such a turn. The centre-right opposition party OLaNO (Ordinary People) claims victory with 25% […]
The Czech-Chinese relations have not been discussed as intensively as in recent months. The new Prague administration has dared to stand up to Beijing and to disrupt relations built through economic diplomacy. Questioning the nature of Chinese interests got in the limelight and what started as a diplomatic row between the capitals could stand for […]
‘Poland is in a critical juncture with regard to its record on women’s rights’[1] says the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women. Gender equality and women’s rights have come under a serious threat in recent years. The leading political party Law and Justice (PiS) has been raising tensions and consolidates the conservative attitudes to women. The coalition of […]
Marian Kotleba is indisputably the face of current Slovakian fascism. He is a chairman of the far-right neo-Nazi political party The People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) that officially sympathizes with the war Slovak state (1939-45) – that time an ally of Nazi Germany. LSNS expresses strong anti-Roma and anti-immigrant rhetoric, distances itself from the current establishment, proposes […]
The Czech Republic recently took over the Presidency of the Visegrad Group with a motto ‘V4 Reasonable Europe’. Can we expect reasonable behaviour of V4 (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) under the Czech lead along with the highlighted priorities? Or rather a consolidation of its spoiler image? The following year appears to be packed with challenges […]
Poland heavily depends on coal and belongs to the most polluting and CO2 emitting European countries. Not surprisingly, a majority of the most polluted EU’s cities are Polish. Despite toxic air, Warsaw is planning to open a new coal mine. It can appear being absurd in the light of environmental debates across Europe. In June, […]
Biggest Czech protests since 1989! Czechs demand the resignation of PM Babis – a billionaire accused of EU subsidy fraud. A movement Million Moments of Democracy mobilizes masses of people across the country and shows that people are concerned about the current political situation.
