News

The scale of the newly-announced report by the EC on the state of the rule of law in the EU is not commensurate with the size of the problem. The same is true of the current version of the draft legislation on introducing a mechanism for defending the rule of law – write Szymon Ananicz and Piotr Buras.

European civil society has played an unprecedented role in mitigating the impact of Covid-19 in EU member states. Yet the European Commission proposed to reduce budget for CSOs in the new MFF Rights and Values programme.
Szymon Ananicz from ideaForum and Alberto Alemanno call for European Commission to increase the budget for civil society.

The Open Society Institute – Sofia Foundation launches a call for proposals by civil society organisations seeking to support the inclusion of so far marginalized and excluded groups and communities to address climate justice issues in the countries of Central Eastern Europe.

All of Poland is applauding healthcare workers for their heroism and backbreaking work – they are heroes of our time. Yet, for the authorities, they are only heroes as long as they do not question official statements. If they do, they become seen as disloyal workers – writes Marcin Waszak.

On 26 June the Batory Foundation Council at its annual meeting elected Batory Foundation Board for the new two-years term (2020-2022). The Council elected Edwin Bendyk as a new Chair of the Board and Prof. Andrzej Rychard as a new Chair of the Council.

The signatories to this letter call on all public authorities and institutions to protect those who report or expose the harms, abuses and serious wrongdoing that arise during this period of crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with European Civic Forum and many other CSO we sign an open letter to the President of the European Commission, members of the European Parliament, President of the European Council and members of the Gov. of EU Member States.

As representatives of non-governmental organisations and scholars specialising in matters relating to the rule of law and the protection of human rights, we write this open letter so as to urge you to take immediate steps to stop the rapidly increasing legal chaos in Poland.

We present a legal opinion prepared by professor Piotr Bogdanowicz about the consequences of the landmark ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the Poland’s National Council of the Judiciary and the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court.

Lawyers of civil society group #FreeCourts Initiative comment of the current state of Rule of Law and recommend further intensive action by the European Union to provide judical protection. The most effective instrument has proved to be the EC’s complaint to the CJEU together with a request for an interim measure.

At a time when Polish politicians disagree about almost everything, one subject is hardly discussed at all: policy towards Russia. We present the analysys by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz from forumIdei.

Dorota Setniewska from the NGO Klon/Jawor Association, a leading partner in Civitates: a new set up aimed at boosting the presence of civil society organizations in Poland, explains what has changed in recent years.

Ahead of negotiations of multiannual EU budget, the Batory Foundation initiates an advocacy campaign to increase EU funding for civil society organisations which promote and protect European values within the EU.

Instances of propaganda, picture and voice manipulation, false and fake news and hate speech were recorded during the monitoring of the main news programme of Polish public TV “Wiadomości”.

Along with 75 organisations we sign an open letter to urge the EU Council to adopt the Parliament’s position on reporting channels.