The central European states were the vanguards of communism’s collapse in the late 1980s, prompting a sense of inevitability about democracy’s benign coming, reinforced by the diverse figures who stepped… Read more »
Populist leaders across Central and Eastern Europe are mounting simultaneous crackdowns on nongovernmental organizations that promote open government, aid refugees and often serve as checks on authoritarian governments, The New… Read more »
There is “clear evidence” of direct Russian involvement in British elections, a Labour former minister has said. Former Europe minister Chris Bryant also warned that many believed some of the… Read more »
Divisions have heightened as the scope of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party’s ambition has become clear: to roll back the social liberalism that has flourished since communism collapsed and shift… Read more »
After years in jail as a dissident under communism, Adam Michnik took part in the groundbreaking 1989 Round Table talks that brought semi-free elections to Poland and helped bring down… Read more »
Thousands of Poles used yesterday’s anniversary of the imposition of martial law by the communist regime 35 years ago to protest against the current conservative government, the BBC reports: The… Read more »
The 2015 victory of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party is an example of the rise of contemporary authoritarian populism, say analysts Joanna Fomina and Jacek Kucharczyk. The PiS’s rise… Read more »
Europe’s populists share ideas and ideology, friends and funders, notes analyst Anne Applebaum. They cross borders to appear at one another’s rallies. They have deep contacts in Russia — they… Read more »
Russia is financing far-right political parties and critics of the European Union as part of a broader Kremlin strategy to sow disinformation and mistrust on the Continent, according to a… Read more »
Illiberalism and authoritarianism in central and eastern Europe can be successfully challenged, according to Tom Junes, a member of the Human and Social Studies Foundation and a visiting fellow at… Read more »