Report 2021, No. 6

News Agency on Conservative Europe

Report 2021, No. 6.

Report on conservative and right wing Europe 20th March, 2021

GERMANY

1. jungefreiheit.de (translated, original by jungefreiheit.de, 18.03.2021)

"New German media makers"

Migrant organization calls for more “diversity” among journalists media

BERLIN. The migrant organization “New German Media Makers” (NdM) has reiterated its demand that editorial offices should become “more diverse”. To this end, the association presented a “Diversity Guide” on Wednesday under the title “How German Media Create More Diversity”.

According to excerpts on the NdM website, it says, among other things: “German society has changed, it has become more colorful. That should be reflected in the reporting. ”The manual explains which terms journalists should and should not use in which context. 2

When reporting on criminal offenses, “the prejudice still prevails that refugees or people with an international history are more likely to commit criminal offenses than biographically Germans and that their origin is causally related to it”.

Collect "diversity data" and introduce "soft quotas"

Especially now, when the media are losing sales, there is a crisis of confidence and more competition, “diversity” is important. "More diversity brings new target groups, new customers and, above all, better, more successful journalism."

The more “diverse” editorial offices are, the more it is possible “to take up issues of society without prejudice”, the published excerpts continue to say. “And just as we can no longer imagine a purely male editorial office today, we should also no longer be able to imagine white editorial offices. Precisely because of the special constitutional mandate of the media, the question of fair access and the representation of all population groups in journalism is also a question of democracy. "

Media companies are also recommended: “As a media company, get an idea of the proportion of migrant journalists in your ranks, disclose this diversity data transparently and formulate clear targets (soft 'quotas') that can be checked.

Organization is funded with tax money

The manual is addressed to all editors, but it is not for sale. "We are happy to make it available to media companies after the editor-in-chief or intendancy gives us an hour to explain why Diveristy Chef: is an internal matter."

The “New German Media Makers” are an association that sees itself as “representing the interests of media professionals with a migration history” and advocates “balanced reporting” that “adequately reflects Germany as a country of immigration”.

The board of directors includes the Turkish-born journalist Ferda Ataman , as well as the former spokeswoman for former Federal President Joachim Gauck, Ferdos Forudastan. However, not all journalists with a migration background are welcome in the association.

In the past, the “New German Media Makers” drew attention to themselves as language guards who wanted to tell journalists how they should report on the asylum crisis. Most recently, the tax-funded association bought several sponsorships for high and low pressure areas and gave them foreign-sounding names .

2. jungefreiheit.de (translated, original by jungefreiheit.de, 16.03.2021)

Alleged lesbian discrimination: Berlin wants to reform parentage law Germany

BERLIN. Berlin's Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt (Greens) has announced that it will strengthen the rights of married lesbian couples with children. "Even after marriage has opened , lesbian couples will continue to be legally worse off than opposite-sex couples, even if they are married," said the Green politician, according to the German press agency, explaining his plan.

He had prepared a corresponding motion for a resolution on the reform of parentage law, which is to be introduced in the Senate this Tuesday and later in the Federal Council. “If a child is born into a marriage, it has two parents. This self-evident right is denied to married lesbian couples. "

The right of parentage regulates legal parenting for both legitimate and illegitimate children, who have been treated as equals since 1998. The legal mother is always the woman who gives birth to the child. The legal father, on the other hand, is not always the organic producer.

The Lesbian and Gay Association has been calling for changes for years In the past, the lesbian and gay association had repeatedly called for a reform of the law of parentage because it was “at the expense of the care and security of children” who grow up in so-called rainbow families. In many such partnerships, “marriage for all” in 2017 was associated with the expectation “that there would now also be full equality in family law”.

Last year, for the first time, two married women who were expecting a child went to court because they are not both allowed to be registered as mothers under German law. More than 90 percent of all children in rainbow families live with two women.

3. tichyseinblick.de (translated, original by Georg Gafron, 17.03.2021)

YOUNG WOLF WANTED

Who this time is writing an open letter like Merkel once to Helmut Kohl?

The results of the state elections in Stuttgart and Mainz had only been on the table for a few hours, when the CDU former leader Thomas de Maizière said in his own sober and cold manner what the hour had struck. It is no longer certain that the CDU chancellorship will continue after the federal election, new majorities beyond that are conceivable. For many who still believe they are in the middle-class camp, this truth must have worked like a cold pour. Suddenly there was a picture of an aging wolf pack, the greater part of which, especially at its head, had withered to graying lambs over the long journey. With their heads hanging down and sluggish from the many meadows that have been eaten away, the pack trots after the female leader,

Now there are only two alternatives: Either one strives towards the crash with a mixture of lethargy and fatalism, with all the usual unsavory feelings, or the traditional thing happens in such situations. Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl once described it as follows: “The pack only follows the leader as long as it embodies orientation, strength and protection. If this begins to weaken, two groups of stronger young wolves form out of the pack, stalking in the shadow of the many and brutally ending the weak leadership. "

Angela Merkel as an adult wolf has experience in these things. Without hesitation, the then young she-wolf killed her foster father Helmut Kohl with an open letter in the FAZ two days before Christmas 1999 . It happened at the height of a "donation affair", ridiculous in comparison to its historical merits, the true circumstances of which will probably only be uncovered by historians. As the reason for her behavior, at least in terms of character, the future Chancellor said that this was the only way she could end the crisis of the CDU. For the sake of honesty, she should have added that the essence of the CDU can only be fundamentally changed without Kohl.

The CDU is trapped in the self-imposed trap

This most underrated, unpretentious and quiet woman from the East disposed of all of Kohl's former comrades-in-arms and also the young conservatives who were so unpleasant to her at a tremendous speed. The list of those who died from the bite of a snake is long. The most prominent now deceased victim, Helmut Kohl, once called this series the "Angela Merkel Memorial Trail". At the same time, she created a close and only her committed environment, which ensured that, over time, a climate of submission and fear spread in the bodies of the party and only compliant opportunists and executors enforced the wishes of her Highness. But here, too, history adheres to its iron laws. Or, to speak with von Kleist, “the jug goes to the well until it breaks”. What is left to do now? The diagnosis is clear: the Merkel government has come to an end. The citizens, who increasingly felt that they were being treated as subjects, have lost all trust. The best thing - for her too - would be for the Chancellor to simply resign. Because as long as she sits in the Chancellery, she paralyzes any escape from the situation and prevents the necessary new beginning. For the transition to the federal election, Wolfgang Schäuble could take over the helm, suspend his office as President of the Bundestag and be represented by one of his deputies.

The green, red, dark red framing is in place: send the expatriated Union after the AfD But the coalition as a whole may then collapse, and early elections would be inevitable after a short period of executive governance. The only one that still benefits from the infirmity is the AfD, which was only born through Merkel's years of left-wing policy. Germany is currently writing another show of strength in its history. If Armin Laschet, the man from the Ruhr, feels unable to do so, he too should end the short period of party chairmanship, which would inevitably pave the way for Friedrich Merz.

But the last drop is still missing for all of this. Who will it be this time who will write an “open letter”? Ms. Merkel would certainly understand that, because, as mentioned at the beginning, she has experience in writing letters.

4. magyarhirlap.hu (translated, original by Dániel Deme, 18.03.2021)

Autochthonophobia

Opinion and discussion

I do not understand why no one is surprised that there is no concept in the public consciousness that is contrary to xenophobia.

The Greek term for xenophobia (more specifically xenophobia) has now not only set foot deep in our daily political dictionary, but only to ask an average Western European high school student to describe his or her own culture in ten adjectives. I suspect this concept will be on the list of most of them. But why don’t we have an expression of when the home, born locally, is what becomes our own subject of fear and contempt?

This question arises in me when I read the German Government’s National Integration Action Plan published in March. The action plan seeks to address the unprecedented problems caused by Merkel's immigration and integration policy, which has gone bankrupt at all levels.

The new German integration strategy will once again be the least resistant in the future: employers will have to increase the number of employees with an immigrant background, they will call for a 35% quota in the administration, and under the “diversity in business” paragraph the government is committed to to help “free from prejudice” with your suggestions, understand the business community without dissent. As described in the action plan, the aim is to culturally transform German society itself through immigration. All the burdens and costs of integration are borne by the host society, while immigrants bear almost no obligation.

The plan also proposes providing extra jobs for immigrants in health care. Not only will health workers be judged favorably on the basis of origin, but it would create courses for domestic physicians and nurses to promote “transcultural nursing skills”. Personally, if I were worried about a loved one being kept alive by a ventilator, I don’t think my main concern would be how much the doctor is aware of the transcultural issue, but rather pray not to fall into the hands of a beneficiary climbed up in some Marxist quota system.

A quota system enforced by the Greens would rewrite the German Basic Law, which prohibits anyone from being discriminated against on the basis of race or origin, even in a positive sense. But this should not be an obstacle to a party that proclaims in its basic program the transformation of Germany into a “diverse immigrant country”.

Well, if we were to look for a term that describes the above cultural, degenerative phenomenon, I think “autochthonophobia” would be the most appropriate. If I search for the word, Google only returns four hits, which is even less than the number of articles that positively mention our country (structural racism: 44 million hits!).

The term autochthonous is used relatively often in English, meaning homeland, locally born, or local community. But even though chronic fear of local values or hatred of our own community has swelled into a dominant political trend in Europe today, there is still no concept similar to autochthonophobia to describe our current historical situation.

Yet the phenomenon is not new. Ours is also just an old, softened civilization like many others that has lost faith in God, in itself, in its heroes, and in its future. Autochthonophobia is a cultural disease of a bored society that has no why or what to fight against, in which there are no goals that would forge a community.

These societies have, in a sense, reached a final stage of development: a high standard of living, legal equality, excellent public security, and so on. But the individual, and especially the collective spirit, does not allow a community to stumble in one place without faith and vision, as Western societies do. Over time, such a community will begin to question its own raison d’être and then liquidate itself. As the Gospel of Mark writes, "If a country is divided against itself, that country cannot survive, and if a household is divided against itself, that household cannot survive."

The autochthonophobic community begins to see sacrifices in those who openly attack their most feared values, treating them as heroes to free them from fear of themselves. He treats the alien, the uninsertable, the occupier as a savior, and as a result, xenophobia, hatred of other races and religions is the greatest sin for him.

The fight against this overrides the safety of their children, the rules of the legal system and constitutionality, or even the most basic economic interests. What disintegrates the native is taboo, beyond criticism, unquestionable. Peoples who come with faith and mission will be admired. Their faith soon fills the void left by the host nations ’rejection of their own faith. 8

And while the mission consciousness of newcomers is practically a fatal fact for indigenous peoples, they - in the absence of their own identity - also welcome and celebrate this.

In Hungary, as in Western countries, this process has begun. Fear and rejection of indigenous beliefs and values already have parliamentary representation. The space created by the denial of our own culture is currently filled only by decadent dirt ideologies from the West, but there is not enough political representation to start the process of population change.

The only way to stop this process is to rediscover the belief that has been behind all our victories and successes in the last millennium without exception. Something enlightened, people-centered secularism will no longer be enough to overcome the present dangers. Without faith, there is no human space, and without the resulting sense of mission, there is no national future. So if we do not believe, in time we will believe in others.

(The author is a theologian, journalist)

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FRANCE

1. contrepoints.org (translated, original by Nathalie MP Meyer, 18.03.2021)

Covid-19: one year later, Germany is holding on and France is depressed

On the whole, Germany shows a disposition for the prosperity and freedom of its citizens that is infinitely more concrete than in France.

Exactly one year ago, Tuesday March 17, 2020 , while the bewildered and medically disarmed world noted the progression of a new Coronavirus not completely harmless, France entered a period of strict restriction on travel and meetings including two confinements at home while Germany stuck to more flexible and targeted social distancing measures.

THE GERMANY / FRANCE COMPARISON

The comparison with Germany is rarely favorable to France. Whether we are talking about unemployment, growth, industry, education , scientific research or public finances , our neighbor from across the Rhine persists in achieving performances unknown to us despite his insolent liberal disdain for our fabulous economic and social system largely collectivized.

It is true that Germany has succumbed more than us to the aberrant phobia of environmentalists for nuclear electricity and that it sided even faster than us behind the precautionary principle to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. against the Coronavirus on tiny suspicions of risk of thrombosis.

But overall, it shows a disposition for the prosperity and freedom of its citizens that is infinitely more concrete than in France - and the same unfortunately goes for the long management of the Covid pandemic. -19.

MANAGING COVID: GERMANY VS FRANCE

From the start of the health crisis, we had to face the facts: while the two countries have exactly the same (rather high) level of health expenditure in relation to GDP (11.2% in 2018), the The French healthcare system , poorly organized, poorly managed, poorly articulated between its public sector and its private sector, quickly found itself overwhelmed to such an extent that it was necessary to transfer patients… to Germany.

A year of pandemic later, the feelings of the French on the one hand and that of the Germans on the other hand crudely confirm that the French public authorities have not been up to the health, psychological and social challenges of Covid-19.

A survey carried out by the FIFG at the beginning of this month with a representative sample of 1084 French and 1003 Germans indeed reveals that the former are considerably more dissatisfied with their government than the latter and that they are also subject to a "Psychological wear" much deeper than in Germany.

Overall, 44% of French people believe that France has performed less well than Germany or Sweden, while only 34 and 35% of Germans think that their country has done less well than France or Sweden respectively (diagram below). below).

In the details of the various health policies, it is downright 69% of the French who pass a negative judgment on the implementation of the vaccine policy in France against only 43% of the Germans in their country. For the tests, these percentages become 51% among the French and 36% among the Germans; and for masks, 51% and 30% respectively (diagram below).

In other words, the Germans have a generally positive judgment on the management of the various aspects of the health crisis, while the French, on the contrary, express marked dissatisfaction in all areas.

Given the above and the disruptions that the strict French-style confinements have imposed on the daily life of citizens (whether they are young or old, students or professionals, single or in family, self-employed or employees, at work or in leisure), it is hardly surprising to note then that 30% of the French declare today to have a “bad” morale (whereas they were only 16% in this case before the eruption of the pandemic) while the Germans are only 23% to state it currently:

It follows logically that 47% of the French against only 17% of the Germans find their life difficult to bear on the psychological level (diagram below).

The related disorders most often cited are sleep disorders (46% of French people against 40% of Germans), periods of intense stress (40% against 26%) and episodes of depression (22% against 19%). Suicidal thoughts are on the rise (compared to a November 2020 survey) but remain limited to 8% of French people and 6% of Germans (diagram below).

Finally, 66% of French people believe they have lost a year of their life and 76% believe that the world after will be the same as before " but worse " , without knowing what they mean precisely. over there. For 71% of them, there will be no return to normal, even when the Covid-19 will be only a vague memory.

In short, the French grind black and see the future in black. We are not more pessimistic.

Reading the results of this survey, I first wondered if there was not an explanation to be found on the side of France's reputation as the country that consumes the most antidepressants in the OECD, Covid or not. But after verification, this hypothesis does not hold. France certainly consumes more psychotropic drugs than in 2000, but it was very largely caught up by other countries, so that in 2015, it even became slightly less consuming than Germany.

THE FRENCH AUTHORITARIAN STATE

It remains to be considered that the French are simply sick of their sprawling, authoritarian, deficit, egalitarian by the small end of the spyglass and proverbially ineffective state - unfortunate characteristics which drag the country down in normal times and which have only done grow stronger throughout the duration of the pandemic.

In France, a country "unlike any other" where the sense of justice and solidarity would be "stronger than elsewhere" according to Emmanuel Macron , the "whatever the cost" has been flowing for a long time and again no more in this moment of freedoms fossilization of all our social and economic activities. And yet the French are terribly unhappy.

In Germany, a country like any other in the sense that the federal government and regional leaders do not in any way see themselves as the head of a welfare state, strategist, nanny and castigator, public money is certainly less abundant but the degrees of citizens' freedom to live, work and innovate have not been crushed to the point where they were in France during the pandemic. And the Germans are 83% to say that life in times of Covid is quite easily bearable even very easily bearable.

From this point of view, the difference in economic results is particularly cruel for France: in 2020, its GDP fell by 8.3% while in Germany, the decline was limited to 5% . The future does not look the same between the two banks of the Rhine at all.

And yet, propose to the French to adopt an economic and social system closer to the German model, more frugal in public spending, more based on individual decisions and responsibilities, more liberal to put it in a nutshell. I am not sure that we would find many voters to try the adventure.

France is sick of a system that it does not want to abandon for anything in the world for fear of losing in the turmoil of competition the benefits of egalitarianism from below that it takes for equality and justice social. It is its corny drama and the Covid pandemic has just exposed it to the light of day.

2. origo.hu 12

(translated, original by origo.hu, 13.03.2021)

A series of far-left provocations at the French Oscar awards ceremony

With little regard for the epidemic, this year’s César Award Ceremony was held in Paris. Albert Dupontel’s film Goodbye, Pumpkin Squirrels won top awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay), but Friday night’s awards ceremony remains memorable in a sense due to far-left political provocations. Undoubtedly, there was a mask on the audience, but demanding the opening of theaters right in the middle of the third wave seemed like a pretty viral denial.

In a separate article, we dealt with the committed and militant communist French actress Corinne Masiero undressing completely naked on stage, in the middle of a third wave of epidemics, demanding the reopening of theaters.

(We note literally in parentheses: Corinne Masiero is a message to the French Prime Minister, not to Emmanuel Macron, the president with real power. It is no coincidence that Macron Not Castex, so they make bad decisions not made by the good president, but by the bad prime minister.)

Anny Duperey (by the way, a really good actress) attacked the French Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, who also came from a right-wing party family, right at the beginning, followed by Marina Fois, who also leads the evening, , mocking the conservative cult minister, of course.

But a (communist) trade union trust could also take the stage - it’s the French Oscar giver ... - Salome Gaddafi, the CGT leader who he said attacked the French government’s bad unemployment benefits policy. At a film festival.

Isabelle Huppert and Chiara Mastroianni (two other great actresses) took part in the political manifestos culturally but still, but it’s hard to say about Jeanne Balibar that she would have behaved too intelligently. According to Le Figaro’s witty remark, at a communist party assembly, viewers began to feel by this time. Jeanne Balibar's enemy was precisely the previous and current Minister of Labor.

Then came the rumor that there were too many white artists in the French film industry, a memory of a criminal treated as a French George George Floyd, who died in a police prison (Adama Traoré, the face of the French BLM movement), and someone didn’t present an award for it. , though he undertook it because he thus protested against the ideas (unnamed) dear to him.

In fact, only one artist, one of the greatest French actresses, Fanny Ardant spoke exclusively about art, movies, and her love for men. Fanny Ardant was Truffaut’s last wife, the Neighbor Lovers and the protagonist of Finally Sunday.

And finally, the winners:

The best film went to Satir, Pumpkin Squirrels, but this film also received the Best Direction and Screenplay Award. Directed by Albert Dupontel, he is also an excellent actor. He personally refused to attend the awards ceremony, though not for twenty years. The best actor became Sami Bouajila, the best actress Laure Calamy. The best foreign film was the Danish Thomas Vinterberg's Drunk.

3. hirado.hu (translated, original by hirado.hu, 14.03.2021)

French historian: Islam and the left go hand in hand

Today, the negative effects of immigration can be felt in all areas of life, says French historian Thibaud Gibelin, who said the debate on migration has been going on in his country since the 1980s, but the subject has long been taboo. According to the famous thinker, Islam and the left go hand in hand today, after the left has replaced the proletariat with Muslims. The historian, who wrote a book in French about Viktor Orbán, also told Kossuth Radio's Sunday Newspaper program about the perception of Hungarians in their homeland and how this is influenced by the media.

I know you spent a lot of time in Hungary, you have several friends here. When did you start taking an interest in our country?

Everything happened by accident. In 2012, I received an Erasmus scholarship to improve my English. I got a lot rich when I got to know you. The Hungarian people are very original. I remember well when I arrived and came up from the metro station in Deák Square, I saw a huge building that I was amazed at. At the time, I already felt that it was a European cultural people, but not Germanic and not Slavic. Then in the first months I also explored the countryside, I fell in love with small villages like Hollókő. Later I visited the regions in Vojvodina, the Highlands or Transylvania. I found a completely unique national character. This inspired me to start examining the Hungarian national character. For me, this people, while proclaiming European civilization, are always defending their own culture.

Earlier, 20-30 years ago, there was talk of this original, unique national character in connection with the French.

I don’t know if it’s worth tying all this to dates, but the fact is that the Western French character has merged with Roman culture centuries ago. The language also changed and France often thought of itself as universal. Thus, it lost its original character over the centuries. It also contributed to this that everyone was able to adapt to French culture. In contrast, Hungary has never lost. This can be an example for all peoples, as I do not think there is a people with a universal mission. Every nation is rich in its own culture. Europe is making a big mistake with this, as he himself thinks he is universal, while the other big cultures, Islam, China or India, give themselves up and do not even want to be a universal ethnic group.

I also ask you this because I remember when I was a fellow in Belgium and France in the 90s, when my classmates found out I was Hungarian, they looked at something exotic that came from Dracula’s homeland. There were those who asked if there was hot water in Budapest. That has changed since then, I think. How do the French look at us now?

I think everything has changed in the last ten years, or say since Hungary has been part of the union. Unfortunately, mass tourism has not done good, as most of the time they come here because the country is cheap, you can eat and drink good, but that’s all. Since 2015, the country has received a lot of media attention. Those who have been to the country as tourists and scholars have mostly had a great time, but there is a completely different image of you in the media. They suggest that this people are xenophobic, suspicious and retrograde. Unfortunately, this is not good for the two peoples, it rather confuses the French and they don’t really understand what is going on there then.

What you say is interesting, as we find that the French press presents our country in a more negative light, while renowned French intellectuals, Zemmour, Obertone, Puppinck and others even speak in this show, who say something completely different. So there is a difference.

Yes the difference is that the French intellectuals whose names he mentioned cover the French people. In contrast, there is the media, which in turn professes the same as the ruling political class. And they suggest globalization. The part of the French intelligentsia that respects Hungarians rarely gets a word, perhaps there is only one conservative TV channel where they can express their views. But there are either negative or positive news about Hungary, because they do not know you, so they only follow the events, but do not synthesize. And, in fact, a Central European or purely Hungarian issue is always used to argue between two agents of French politics.

Is it not because the French intelligentsia has never been really interested in what is happening in Central Europe? We were always just the unfortunate East… and not Western culture.

You are absolutely right. The French were always of interest to the Habsburg Empire and the Russians. What was between the two is not. I hope that with my book I can help you to understand that there is a real culture here, a country whose politics are very interesting to the French.

You write in your book that we need to get to know Hungarian history in order to understand Orbán's politics.

Yes, I will take the key events of Hungarian history, the Turkish conquest, and then the Habsburg aspiration, which prevented the country's independence, but against which the Hungarians constantly rebelled. This is an important element of Orbán's policy. Hungary is still part of Western culture, as it was part of the Habsburg Empire centuries ago, but always with national politics. And you are trying to reinforce that as much as you can.

I just looked at the Facebook page of the renowned publicist Eric Zemmour, who praised the Hungarian government's family policy a few days ago. It was interesting to watch the commenters. A lot of French people wrote: yes, Hungary has to follow the Hungarian path, the Hungarian is a proud, steady image. I don't even know when the French last said so many positive things about Hungary, was there such a thing at all in history that some French wanted to follow the Hungarian path.

There is a historical analogy. During the 100-year war in the 14th and 15th centuries, there was the Battle of Nikapoly against the Ottoman Empire. We can remember how the very strong French army fell on the side of the Hungarians against the Turks. At the time, a great many French people said that it was not the English who should fight, but the Hungarians, who should fight Islamic conquest. Later, unfortunately, after the disaster in Mohács, Hungary disappeared as a great power, and the French were no longer so interesting to the country.

Watching the French press lately, they often talk about left-wing Islam. What does that mean?

Yes, it is very interesting that the traditional left has relied on the working class since the end of World War II. However, from the 80's onwards, the factories and mines were closed in a row. This was noticed by the left and replaced the proletariat with Muslims. That is why today there is a French party that builds almost exclusively on immigrants. That is, Islam and the left go hand in hand. They are used by the French elite, and Muslim organizations build on them.

Do you agree with the voices that say that the great debate of the future will be about Islam and immigration in Europe?

This debate has been going on with us since the 80s. It had only been taboo before, and if anyone mentioned it, he was immediately charged with guilt. Today, the negative effects of immigration can be felt in all areas of life. It should be noted when, during disputes, the parties offer a real solution and when they want to downplay them. And let's not forget that with globalization, more and more hundreds of thousands come to Hungary every year.

The title of your book is that Orbán plays and wins. Why do you think Orban is a winning player?

Why do I say he plays? Because he is driven by national interests. And because he’s almost just won in recent years. In recent years, Central Europe, which belongs to the same culture, has become closed and less vulnerable than before in itself. Orbán felt well that the past of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia had many elements in common, and they were also under constant attack from either the Habsburgs or the Russians. And this feeling also results in a brotherly destiny. Alongside them, it is in the interest of Slovenia, Serbia and other Balkan states to be part of this community. Just as Poland will later be able to involve the Baltic states in the same place.

Will they never be Western allies? 17

But yes, but it also requires a situation. For example, Macron and Orban agree on many things about defending Europe. Then, if the right comes to power in Italy in the coming months, relations could become stronger there as well.

Your book was published a few months ago. How is it received?

From a conservative point of view, it is good, and I am also glad that the left-wing intellectuals did not attack either, which I think means that they agreed with it. But the work doesn't stop. I will continue to make Orbán's policy known, and I hope that next year, when there will be elections with you and with us, many more people will know and understand it.

4. mandiner.hu (translated, original by mandiner.hu, 03.03.2021)

The French government disbanded the Identity Generation, which organizes anti-migrant actions

According to the French interior minister, the organization “incites discrimination, hatred and violence”.

The French government disbanded the Identity Generation organization on Wednesday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter after the government meeting, saying the organization was “inciting discrimination, hatred and violence”.

Decree on dissolution

"This association and some of its activists should be seen as promoting hate speech inciting discrimination and violence against some because of their origins, race and religion."

"Due to its form and military organization, the Identity Generation can also be considered a private militia" - stated the head of the ministry in the decree on dissolution.

The rationale for the dissolution also reveals that the Identity Generation received donations from far-right Australian Brenton Tarrant, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealand last August, who massacred 51 people on March 15, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Actions of the Identity Generation

The Generation of Identity, which condemns ‘migrant invasion’ and criticizes a multicultural society, became known then,

when the Échelle Pass on the Franco-Italian border was blocked in the spring of 2018 so that no illegal immigrants could enter French territory.

On April 21, 2018, about a hundred activists went up the pass they considered a “strategic crossing point for illegal immigrants” to symbolically close it and criticize “the cowardice of the authorities” from there. The group, which consisted mainly of French, also included Hungarians, Italians, Danes, Austrians, English and Germans.

Previous sanctions by the political elite

Recently, the Interior Minister also managed to ban several associations suspected of Islamist activity (CCIF, BarakaCity, Sheikh Yassin Collective), and in 2019, at the initiative of Head of State Emmanuel Macron, several far-right groups (Bastion Social, Blood and Honor and Combat 18) were disbanded.

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ITALY

1. origo.hu (translated, original by origo.hu, 17.03.2021) 19

Matteo Salvini: In times of crisis, only one Martian is involved in supporting immigration

“Businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy and citizens are in financial crisis. But the left, which is further and further away from the needs of the Italians, only thinks of immigration, "Giorgia Meloni, leader of the opposition right-wing Italian Brotherhood party, responded to the pro-immigration statements by Enrico Letta, the new secretary general of the Democratic Party. from the inspection.

"Maybe Letta wants to overthrow the government?" Said Matteo Salvini, chairman of the right-wing League party, after harshly criticizing the new secretary general of the left-wing Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, who said in a speech to the Democrats' assembly. will continue to fight for the citizenship of the children of immigrants born in Italy and to support legal immigration.

Letta also explained in an interview that she believes catastrophic demographic conditions could be remedied by legalizing illegal migration and accelerating the acceptance of citizens ’applications.

(Note: Enrico Letta was the "technocratic" prime minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014.)

Only one Martian can deal with immigration, while the whole government deals with closed schools, kindergartens, universities, factories in difficulty, and Italians struggling with physical and mental problems. In the present situation, it is not an important question when we grant citizenship to immigrants

Salvini said in connection with Letta's statement. He added: "I remind the confused Latvia that Italy is the European country that grants citizenship to immigrants if they enter the country legally."

Democrats reject accusations that Letta's statement would shake the multi-party governing coalition, which includes the Democratic Party and the Salvini-led League. They think it's just the other way around. "Salvini makes ridiculous accusations against Letta and threatens the government," Democrat Graziano Delrio writes on Twitter. 20

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Italian Anti-Immigration Brotherhood on the right, also criticized Letta's statement.

Businesses on the brink of bankruptcy and citizens are in crisis. But the left, further and further away from the needs of the Italians, thinks only of immigration Meloni writes on Twitter.

2. magyarnemzet.hu (translated, original by Dalma Jánosi, 11.03.2021)

Giorgia Meloni's party is fighting for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants

The Italian Brothers (FdI) party has submitted a bill for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. While the government is struggling to curb the epidemic and procure the vaccine, it is forgetting border protection while immigrants arrive en masse. This would be prevented by a proposal by the center-left party left in the opposition to take up the fight against illegal immigration by radical means such as setting up a blockade.

Epidemiological indicators are deteriorating in Italy, the opening of the country and the start- up of the economy have come into perspective, and immigration pressures are increasing. There is a desperate struggle around vaccine procurement and production, with the country gradually closing in, while border protection remains unresolved. It has diverted attention from the issue of immigration to the health emergency, however, Italian policy will be forced to face the facts in the long run.

Compared to recent years, the number of immigrants arriving on the southern Italian coast has jumped. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 6,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Italy. NGOs are free to travel in the waters of the Mediterranean and then transport migrants to Europe. Provisions put in place to curb the epidemic are not always accepted by newcomers, and they rebel against the conditions of hotspots that provide reception for the duration of an 21 asylum application. Once again, several migrants have escaped from the reception centers, and locals are following the events with concern. They escaped seven earlier this week: they left the Pozzallo center in Sicily without undergoing medical examinations.

The local community is outraged that while it has been making bitter efforts to protect the health of the community for a year now, migrants are choosing the path of disobedience and rebellion and the authorities are powerless.

In addition to the right-wing League, the Italian Brothers Party, led by the opposition Giorgia Meloni, also made a number of proposals to curb illegal immigration. He would start the fight against the mass occupation of the country with radical means, erecting a naval blockade. However, this would only curb arrivals, while also clarifying the status of the thousands of people currently staying illegally in the country.

- Those who are not eligible for refugee status should even be subject to the possibility of mass return

- confesses the Italian Brothers Party, which has been dealing with the issue for months.

Italy would not be the first European Member State to use mass expulsions of immigrants: mass expulsions are allowed in Spain, and it is also possible that a decision on refugee status will be taken in African embassies.

- If the government does not accept the proposal, it means that it is not supporting refugees, but the occupation of the continent by mass illegal immigration.

- said Andera Delmastro delle Vedove, FdI representative. Andrea Delmastro delle Vedove, the FdI's foreign relations representative, has on several occasions, on behalf of the party, proposed that, as is well established Spanish practice, Italian embassies in Africa should be able to lodge and assess asylum and, consequently, mass return. This could significantly reduce the number of traffickers and the number of sea crossings that endanger the lives of immigrants, center-right politicians emphasize.

The center-right party argues that the migration policy pursued by the left does not legitimize the regulation of immigration, but the mass occupation of the continent and the trafficking of human traffickers.

3. magyarhirlap.hu (translated, original by magyarhirlap.hu/MTI, 17.03.2021)

Salvini responded to an international call from NGOs

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing League, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right- wing League party, urged clarification on Wednesday in response to an international call signed by civil ship captain Carola Rackete against prosecutors' investigations into NGOs.

Salvini responded to an international call from NGOs

The leader of the right-wing League party urged clarification of the “too many dark sides” of migration Signatories include Carola Rackete, who violated an official port lockout ordered from Matteo Salvini with the Sea-Watch3 in the summer of 2019, and Pia Klemp, captain of the civilian ship Bansky, funded by graphite artist. Several NGO members, human rights activists, intellectuals, journalists have joined including writer Naomi Klein.

The call was published on the website of the British organization Critical Legal Thinking and is a message of solidarity with Mediterranea Saving Humans, an Italian NGO involved in the prosecution. According to the statement, the authorities have "launched a mass police operation and criminalized the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)."

The Sicilian prosecutor's office in Ragusa has launched an investigation against four members of the Mediterranea Saving Humans. According to the prosecution, the organisation's ship Mare Jonio, which took over a group of twenty-seven immigrants from the Danish ship Maersk Etienne last September, transported them to the Sicilian coast for "substantial financial benefits". According to bank transfer documents seized from the public prosecutor's office, the Danish side paid the Mediterranean 125 thousand euros, or more than four thousand six hundred euros as an immigrant. 23

Trapani’s prosecutor office has launched an investigation against twenty-four members of Doctors Without Borders (Msf), Save the Children and Jugend Rettet. The investigation was based on reports from members of migrant groups who arrived three years ago: according to the prosecution, there is evidence that NGO ships carried out rescue operations in consultation with human traffickers, with human smugglers transporting immigrant groups to NGO ships in more than one case.

Matteo Salvini responded on his community page by saying that “the unstoppable Carola can be calm: Italy is being defended by Italians who are asking for transparency and justice to clarify too many dark sides of human trafficking by uncovering the business behind illegal immigration”.

At the same time, Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Italian Brothers on the Right (FdI), called for foreigners serving their sentences in Italian prisons to be returned to their homeland to serve their sentences there. According to the latest 2019 surveys, more than 32 percent of nearly sixty thousand inmates in Italian penitentiaries had a foreign residence permit, and ten percent of the latter had a residence permit at the time the crime was committed.

4. portfolio.hu (translated, original by MTI, 10.03.2021)

Coronavirus: Italian population feels poorer, angrier and more tired after a year

Fear of Covid-19 disease is associated with fears of an economic crisis in the Italian population, which feels poorer, angrier and more tired on the anniversary of the first closure ordered on 10 March last year, according to surveys released Wednesday. ad

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced in a televised speech on the evening of March 9 last year that the entire country would be shut down due to the new coronavirus epidemic.

The Italians were able to leave their homes with a permit downloaded from the website of the Ministry of the Interior. The only exceptions were grocery shopping and dog walking. Education, trade, hospitality have stopped, and factories have closed.

Italy was the first to be closed in Europe. The quarantine lasted until May 18, when restrictions were gradually eased. Another tightening began in October and then the country was closed again for the Christmas holidays. Since then, where possible, they have been eased, but now more than half of Italy is once again under partial or complete closure. In Tuscany, museums were reopened in January and are now closed again.

Surveys released on the first anniversary of the start of the first wave of the epidemic provide an insight into how the initial fear of the unknown disease has been heightened by fears of an economic crisis.

According to the Coldiretti Producers Association, Italian consumption fell by € 130 billion in one year. Of this, € 36 billion was lost due to the absence of tourists. The national consumption level returned to 1997. In his report, Coldiretti called the period from March 2020 to March 2021 an "economic disaster": the organization's calculations show that more than four hundred and fifty thousand businesses are facing bankruptcy, affecting two million jobs.

According to figures from the Istat statistical office, the epidemic plunged 9.4 percent of the population of sixty million into deep poverty, more than double that recorded in 2010. Eight percent of students who were slowly forced to distance learning a year ago were unable to participate in digital learning. Less than twenty-nine percent of Italians see only that their lives could turn right in the next five years.

In Italy, life expectancy, which was previously particularly high for women over 85 years, fell to 82.3 years, meaning that the results of decades of welfare, social and health measures have been destroyed, according to experts. The average age of those who died of a disease that claimed more than a hundred thousand lives in one year was 82 years, most of whom lived in northern Italy.

According to other research, the initial fear and despair of Italians was replaced in a year by fatigue and anger. Vaccination tops the list of expectations: 65 percent of Italians, who were still mostly skeptical last year, now want to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The first fifty days of Covid-19 since March 10 last year have "completely turned Italy on its own," Ansa news agency wrote in an analysis released on the anniversary.

Italians say they will never forget the suddenly closed cities from evening to morning, the completely empty streets and squares, the police checkpoints blocking the roads, the joint concerts on the balconies, the applause for the health workers, the truck lines carrying the coffins, the grocery store front queuing, which was the first time in the lives of most Italians.

Memories of St. Peter's Square, completely empty at Easter last year, the sight of Circus Maximus covered with a sea of heat during the lockout, the uninhabited beaches where the water became crystal clear without beachgoers, and populated with dolphins and other animals, were not left out. The director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence said he never thought something like this could happen. The gallery opened its first social networking site in March last year, reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors in a year. New excavations were launched at the Forum Romanum, taking advantage of the short circuit, but to no avail if there is no one to show the excavated palace parts, archaeologists said.

The saturation of Bologna’s hospitals, which had been in quarantine for a week, was higher than ever before, and the province of Piedmont has resumed the recall of retired doctors and nurses. In Italy, another wave of viral mutations is expected to peak in the second half of March.

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SPAIN

1. diariodesevilla.es (translated, original by RD, 10.03.2021)

Santiago Abascal calls for elections in Madrid, Andalusia and Castilla y León to "stop" the "assault" of the left

PSOE and Citizens present a motion of censure against the PP in the Region of Murcia

Moreno and Marín defend the "stability" of the Andalusian Government before the rupture of PP and Cs in Murcia

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, intervenes during a session of Control to the Government, this Wednesday.The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, intervenes during a session of Control to the Government, this Wednesday.

Vox considers it necessary to call for regional elections in the Community of Madrid, Andalusia and Castilla y León to "stop" the "assault" of the left on the institutions after the announcement of PSOE and Citizens to present a motion of censure in the Region and the Murcia City Council .

The party led by Santiago Abascal has charged Citizens for joining the Socialists to unseat the regional Executive of Fernando López Miras in Murcia and also criticizes that the PP "has been unable" to stop the advance "of the most radical left."

Therefore, it considers urgent the need to call citizens to the polls in the rest of the communities in which the PP and Ciudadanos govern in coalition, which are Madrid, Andalusia and Castilla y León. In the first two they also do so with the external support of Vox.

"A race has begun to see who agrees more with the ruined PSOE," Santiago Abascal denounced through a thread on his Twitter account , who believes that this movement is being made "at the cost of betraying the electorate.

Therefore, in addition to the general elections that Vox always claims, it insists on the need to advance the elections in those autonomies "that are at risk of being assaulted by socialism and against the will of the polls."

"Especially in Madrid, Andalusia and Castilla y León , where disloyal and unpredictable politicians threaten to hand over governments or public policies to the worst left, the one that has been kidnapped due to the lack of scruples of Sánchez and Iglesias," he denounces. VOX,

"Brake on the left"

In a statement, Vox has insisted that Ciudadanos has shown that it is not a "reliable" partner and at the same time regrets that the PP "has not been able" to stop the advance of the left, which it predicts that it will lead to the region. " dire consequences ".

"From Vox we will continue to stand up to the policies of the left as an alternative to the Government in all institutions and complying, as we have done so far, with the commitment acquired with our voters and being the brake on the policies of the left that, from the Sánchez's government, they are devastating the freedom and well-being of the Spanish, "he guarantees.

2. precedens.mandiner.hu (translated, original by Mátyás Gergi-Horgos, 18.03.2021)

Spain is shocked by euthanasia financed by tax euros

With the forced decriminalization of euthanasia, the social battle of the left-wing government continues.

Euthanasia has become a public health service

The left-wing Spanish legislature has decided to legalize euthanasia, and the euthanasia law will officially enter into force within three months. Amendments to the current regulations were initiated by the major governing party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), nearly a year ago, but the coronavirus epidemic has steadily hampered the legislative preparation and drafting process. Not to mention that the two major right-wing parties, the People’s Party (PP) and the radical VOX, vetoed the proposal in both the lower and upper houses of the legislature, but these actions were not enough against the left-wing majority.

Back in December last year, the lower house of the Spanish parliament approved a bill to allow and regulate euthanasia. In the 350-person lower house, 198 MPs voted yes, so one can already guess that the official legalization of euthanasia is at hand. By now, the legislative process is over, that is

After Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Spain is the fourth EU Member State to remove all legal obstacles to speeding up the deaths of patients deemed incurable. The law regulates that only those who have reached the age of 18 and suffer from an incurable or severe, unbearable illness can apply for their death. However, from application to life- saving intervention, those seeking euthanasia must go through a multi-stage authorization process. All applications are evaluated by two specialists and a regional review committee, and in case of a positive evaluation, the intervention can take place for five weeks.

However, the law also stipulates that patients must be informed of alternatives beyond euthanasia in all cases, and applicants can withdraw their application during four so-called screening and consideration sessions.

One of the cornerstones of the new regulation is that, in addition to private hospitals, public hospitals can also carry out the intervention, and patients can even return to final rest in their own homes, depending on their medical condition. In fact, euthanasia has become an integral part of the Spanish public health service maintained from tax euros.

The amendment of the law according to liberal morals took another blow

With the legalization of euthanasia, the left-wing Spanish government has taken another step to enact the moral liberalization of recent decades. As we have already reported, criminal law reform was first announced to include the defamation of victims of terrorism, insult to sovereignty and the defamation of religion as part of freedom of expression. This was followed by a bill in early February that would allow people over the age of sixteen to undergo hormone therapy for unchanged sex without parental permission. By allowing active, direct, deliberate euthanasia, the Spanish left is once again reshaping the legal system according to its own set of values.

Precedents have written several times about the processes taking place in Spanish society, and in light of these it is not surprising that the authorization of euthanasia is supported by the majority of the population of the southern European country.

According to a 2019 survey, nearly 90 percent of Spaniards are in favor of complete decriminalization of euthanasia,

the intervention, hitherto considered illegal, has been punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Right-wing parties have once again spoken out against the adoption of the euthanasia law, with VOX taking the law to the Constitutional Court, while more and more health professionals are opposed to the new norm.

Many health centers say the law will come into force too quickly, as hospitals have been given a total of three months to switch. In other countries, it took more than a year after legalization to prepare the professional and technical background to facilitate safe intervention, as required by law. In New Zealand and the state of Victoria in Australia, a period of 12 to 18 months has been available, and the Spanish government wants to complete the same process in three months.

It is feared that due to the forced pace, the professional aspects and guarantees included in the law will not be able to prevail, that is, the multi-stage audit process and the new regional review commissions are not able to perform their task professionally. The introduction of euthanasia seems to be an unstoppable process in the Iberian Peninsula, but now much depends on putting pressure on health centers and professional representations. This is because their effective intervention prevents the state-run health care system from financing euthanasia in such a way that patients have not received the medical information and professional assessment required by law, as failure to do so could provide scope for abuse.

3. precedens.mandiner.hu (translated, original by Mátyás Gergi-Horgos. 10.03.2021)

The Spanish left would politicize justice

The stalemate in the Iberian state continues, with the EU criticizing both the current state of the judiciary and the proposed reform.

In Spain, led by the left-wing government, the case of the Supreme Judicial Council, which is responsible for administering the Spanish courts, was once again on the agenda, ringing the alarm bells at the European Commission last year. As we reported in December, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the far-left governing coalition of Podemos wanted to submit a bill in October to amend the law on the courts so that the opposition Spanish People's Party (PP) could no longer block the Council's several-year renewal.

With this step, the government wanted to ensure that an absolute majority instead of a three- fifths majority in the lower and upper houses of the Spanish legislature was sufficient to elect the twelve judges of the Council. With this, in fact the administration of justice and the conduct of appointments would have been handed over to candidates favored by the governing parties.

The initiative has given rise to a serious debate in the professional community, and the draft reform has also provoked resentment in the EU, thanks in part to PP's European action. According to Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, the planned transformation would politicize and thus completely undermine the independence of the judiciary, which runs counter to EU standards.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez retreated in the wake of the domestic and EU fires, and initiated further negotiations with the largest opposition party in the Spanish legislature. However, the PP recently turned its back on the discussions, as the candidates proposed by the government included active politicians and Judge José Ricardo de Prada. But Prada played a leading role in the 2018 corruption lawsuit against the PP, in which Luis Bárcenas, the party’s former treasurer, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for corruption and fraud. One of the country’s biggest scandals brought with it the fall of the right-wing government and the rise of Pedro Sánchez.

Another candidate, Victoria Rosell, was previously a Member of Parliament for Podemos and currently holds a senior position in an institution of the Ministry of Equal Treatment.

In the case of left-wing candidates, the PP fears a possible merger of politics and the judiciary, a trampling on the separation of powers. Rosell still plays a political role in the executive branch, while De Prada is criticized for his lack of support from the professional circles.

However, the PSOE seems to be sticking to its candidates, meaning that the failure of conciliation between the two parties will continue its multi-year tug of war in Spanish justice. According to Constitutional Lawyer Eva Sáenz, the functioning of the Supreme Judicial Council needs a comprehensive reform, as it is basically political processes that govern the appointment of delegates.

At the same time, it is important to add that the bill passed by the left-wing government last year would further politicize the functioning of the Council for the Administration of Spanish Courts. The two major parties, although formally suspended, continue to negotiate informally, ie it is conceivable that there will be a solution to an increasingly absurd situation.

Judges currently sitting in the Council will continue to work for several years after their term expires, and the European Commission has sharply criticized not only the current situation but also the solution proposed by the government. The left-wing government can only break out of the EU squeeze by agreement between the parties, it is a question of when the Spanish leadership will see this.

4. larazon.es (translated, original by Javier Morillas, 19.03.2021)

Pablo Iglesias, desperate

He leaves the Government before ending up like another broken toy for Sánchez, knowing that the polls on his party and his own person gave him the worst of evaluations

The departure of Iglesias from the second vice-presidency of the Government should be classified as good economic news . The foreign image of Spain improves with the fall of the Executive of whom in Brussels they consider a kind of last Greek Varufakis in decline . But he leaves, not before having obtained the appropriate financing for the rescue of the Spanish- Venezuelan company Plus Ultra, from the Solvency Fund managed by SEPI..

And is that Spanish companies have until December 31 to go to the 10,000 million euros of the referred fund. And it happens that in the 8 months of his life he has barely granted 648 32 million in aid when he has pending applications of almost 2,000 million, most of tourist companies and traditionally solvent, such as Hotusa, Room Mate, Abades, Halcón-Barceló, Glovalia- Avoris (recently serviced) and the like. And when only 3 company rescues had been approved: Air Europa, Duro Felguera and Plus Ultra. The latter cloaked and masked in the "tourist" field (sic).

A clear button to show why the Government still does not want to set up an independent Joint Commission to analyze the correct allocation of European funds. To avoid aid of a clientelistic nature, or to unviable companies or without effects of drag and modernization of the Spanish economy.

Because Plus Ultra has been a mini-company in losses for years, already before the pandemic; that operates with only 4 old super-polluting four-engine engines, belonging to the Chavista international, family and business network. A financing that has been denounced by the airline sector itself as a political rather than financial aid, denying its "strategic nature".

An aid of 53 million lacking all economic rationalitywhen thousands of highly evaluable, viable Spanish companies with great added value for our productive apparatus are torn between life and death, without possible resources. Something that we hope will be formally denounced by some of our MEPs before Parliament and the European Commission, even before the Court of Justice of the EU itself. When Iglesias now , after returning a new favor to Maduro's personal network, hangs out in Madrid in desperation .

Before ending up like a broken toy, more than Sánchez, knowing that the polls about his party and his own person gave him the worst evaluation.

Javier Morillas is a professor of Applied Economics. CEU San Pablo University

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PORTUGAL

1. cmjornal.pt (translated, original by Sérgio A. Vitorino, 13.03.2021)

André Ventura wants to limit "family relationships" in the Government, Parliament and Municipalities

Constitutional revision proposal establishes "absolute prohibitions of a constitutional nature" in the exercise of political positions by family members.

Chega's only deputy, André Ventura, entered the Assembly of the Republic this Saturday with a proposal for a constitutional revision that he calls "Projeto Mortágua". It limits "family relationships (1st and 2nd degrees) in the exercise of political office" and establishes "absolute prohibitions of a constitutional nature" in this matter.

The proposed amendment provides that Article 109 of the Constitution (political participation of citizens) now has a number 2, which states: "The law will define the ineligibility of family members for the various political positions, with family relationships of 1st and 2nd degree within the Government, from the same Parliamentary Group in the Assembly of the Republic or in the Regional Legislative Assemblies, or even in the same list of candidates for Regional or Local Organ ".

André Ventura justifies the proposal by stating that "the problem of family relationships in the exercise of political positions in Portugal has never been properly studied, analyzed or even addressed by the legislator". And he highlights the "multiple news and complaints, regarding the last constitutional government, of internal family relations". "This topic has even been the subject of abundant news at the international level, contributing to the perception of Portugal as a country with diminished republican political ethics with regard to the exercise of political activity", claims Chega.

For the deputy, "Portugal never had the political and institutional courage to limit the exercise of political activities by family members in the same bodies". And he gives the example of France, where "the legislator was much more ambitious and judicious, following some controversial cases, in view of the hiring of family members for political offices".

"In Portugal we have to go even further. The law should guarantee not only the impossibility of hiring, by holders of political positions, family members for the technical or political 34 advisory bodies, but also the appointment of members of the government or the election of members of the parliamentary group who have significant family relationships with each other ", urges André Ventura, who asks:" Does it make sense for the spouse to work as an adviser or advisor to the holder of political office? Or that brothers or sisters, parents and children, share a seat in the same parliamentary group? It seems to us that it is not! "

"The designation of the constitutional revision project Mortágua is symbolic, given the presence of the two sisters in the parliamentary group of the Bloco de Esquerda, a situation that must be absolutely avoided in the name of the transparency of democratic republican institutions and the full functioning of them", justifies André Ventura.

2. observador.pt (translated, original by Inés André Figueiredo, 16.03.2021)

"I defend democracy, but not debauchery". Nuno Graciano, candidate for Lisbon by Chega, attacks "sick left"

Chega chose Nuno Graciano as a candidate for Lisbon. Former presenter criticized "sick left" and "debauchery". Presentation was made at the Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

It's official: Nuno Graciano is Chega's candidate for the Lisbon City Council. The candidacy was presented outside the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, had references to the national monument and ended with the national anthem. In his introductory speech, Nuno Graciano threw himself on the “sick left” and on “debauchery” and guaranteed that he “got off the couch” to fight the hate speech he has been subjected to in recent days.

At the end of 2016, in the podcast Maluco Beleza, Nuno Graciano had already stated “that the main enemy of democracy was democracy itself” and this Tuesday justified the statement before being questioned by the topic. “ Freedom is not the same as debauchery. I defend democracy, but not debauchery ” , he stressed, guaranteeing that he is“ a democrat ”.

A few days after being known as Chega's candidate, Graciano admitted that he “never” imagined “feeling the targets” that his sons became. “It never crossed my mind that it was this way. My name was released on Friday, I still haven't opened my mouth and at this moment my children and I have been so martyred that I ask where democracy is. Is this what democracy is? ”, He asks before an audience of about 100 people.

"There is an unhealthy left, absolutely unhealthy, in this country that does not allow us to speak, that wants to bend us, that does not want us to say our opinions because we are different" , he attacks, saying that he has received hundreds of threats on social networks , among them a phrase that he made a point of referring to in his presentation: “Good Graciano is Graciano dead.” “What a nice thing for a 52-year-old man, father of four, who just spoke out in favor of a party and a project for the country's capital. What a beautiful democracy we have in Portugal, ”he said.

Later, he returned to the topic on the left to say that “on the left, everything is allowed, everything can be said”. "It's the left caviar," he shot. “It seems that the left in this country can strictly say everything and the right if it says something is accused of the extreme right”, criticized the former TV presenter again.

The Chega a Lisboa candidate also left a word for minorities. “I don't see myself in anything better than anyone, but I also don't think it's worse than anyone else. I think we are all the same, as long as we fulfill our obligations, we are all the same, ”he said. "I am in favor of all minorities, I neither see nor know what minorities are, as long as all citizens comply with our country's patriotic rules", he justified.

Nuno Graciano stated that he does not see himself in the “hate speech without feet in the head” , which led him to “get off the couch” to join “the Chega family” who, he said, “welcomes”. "I feel at home, welcomed and loved", he added. The former television presenter guaranteed that “the first big lesson” he had at Chega “was democracy”, being able to think “in his own head and have an opinion”. The now candidate for the capital's autarchy affirmed it is this stance that “makes Chega a unified party”, in which “there are no fractures”, but “divergent opinions”.

About Lisbon, he said that the city needs “a shake”, said he was “studying folders” and pointed out “several very serious problems”. However, there is time to work on the project for the capital.

Ventura attacks Moedas, who says he would only “give to a bank manager”

André Ventura starts by saying that Chega is "proud of the history of Portugal" and that "it is the face of pride in the History of Portugal" and chose the Padrão dos Descobrimentos for the same reason and "because many want to destroy it". " This candidacy is the greatest expression that the politically correct will never muzzle us and that the system will never shut us up and that when we all think that they make us a sanitary siege we have the strength to break it, " shot the party leader . Nuno Graciano is an "excellent candidate" and Chega is an "excellent project", he said, thanking the district of Lisbon for having a candidate who "is not just for making numbers".

“Nuno Graciano is a fighter, he knows that being on top can be a passage to be able to be on the bottom. It is someone who knows that if we don't fight, nobody will give us anything. Nuno is the symbol of what we are and want to be, a party that never resigns ”, compared the leader of Chega. Ventura says that the party "will always fight for more, even when many try to muzzle them". "We could not have a candidate who was not that expression", praised the party leader, referring to the notoriety, but also for the "example of humility". Ventura stated that “at Chega, merit, work and those who never give up are rewarded”, adding that the party has “strong, firm and values candidacy” and that it is a “challenge” in the life of Nuno Graciano.

André Ventura also pointed out that Chega could have chosen a different path, but he chose to “risk convictions”. However, he did not forget the Coins mega-coalition that did not include Chega. “Here in the Lisbon Chamber, where they thought they isolated us, where they thought they would leave us out of the dispute with a candidate who has done nothing but destroy the city , as is the case with Fernando Medina, and with another candidate that I would give to a bank manager, but never to a city manager in Lisbon, ”said the party leader. “They thought that we would be out of that dispute (…) and, behold, we presented a strong, firm and values candidacy”, he shot.

Shortly before, Pedro Pessanha, president of the Lisbon district, welcomed Nuno Graciano, saying that to belong to the family it takes “character and courage”. The leader of the capital speaks of a "great challenge", but hopes to "celebrate a victory" in municipal elections.

Chega's head of list at the biggest chamber in the country is 52 years old, spent more than 20 years on Portuguese screens as a TV presenter and changed his life five years ago, now being an entrepreneur for a regional cheese brand.

The presenter gathers some conditions that Chega considers essential. First, because he is in a position to show his face for the party without fear of being investigated to exhaustion: he has a public profile, he is used to being scrutinized and he has a path taken in the media.

The party also believes that Nuno Graciano will benefit from the “André Ventura” effect in Lisbon and may enjoy another advantage: a certain distance that the party believes exists between elected officials and voters, politicians and citizens. Graciano, having no political experience, may have this advantage.

Even before the official presentation, André Ventura confirmed on Twitter that Nuno Graciano was the one elected by Chega to Lisbon. The party president thanked the former television host for "availability" and "delivery" and left a challenge: "Let's go to the fight".

The choice of where to present the candidacy to Lisbon was not innocent. Right next to the Tagus River, with the 25 de Abril Bridge in the background, Chega presented Nuno Graciano to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, shortly after the controversial proposal by PS deputy Ascenso Simões to demolish the monument. At that time, André Ventura criticized Joacine Katar Moreira for agreeing.

“We have a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic who wants to preserve 'Islamic memory' but does not hesitate to want to destroy the monuments of our civilizational heritage!” Wrote the leader of Chega on Twitter. The theme has not been forgotten and the party now responds by presenting Nuno Graciano in the Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

3. wnp.pl (translated, original by Marcin Zatyka, 19.03.2021)

Portugal: The pandemic has hurt people earning extra money

The Covid-19 pandemic is not favorable for the Portuguese, who earn extra money in other workplaces in the evenings or at weekends, according to statistical data from the state administration. The additional occupation lost nearly 17 percent. people who worked "after hours" outside their mother company in 2019.

According to the data of the Central Statistical Office of Portugal (INE), 86,000 people were eliminated in this country after the Covid-19 pandemic. jobs performed in the form of additional work.

The institution indicated that the coronavirus thus deprived nearly 17 percent of additional jobs. people who in 2019 earned extra money outside their mother company. In total, "after hours" he supplements his earnings by about 477 thousand. Portuguese.

According to INE, most of the additional jobs disappeared during the Covid-19 in the tourism, catering and entertainment sectors.

The phenomenon is confirmed by the Lisbon economist Miguel Monteiro. In an interview with PAP, he also notes that the number of people who perform tasks in their mother companies during extra working hours is lower. "For the first time since 2017, the number of people remaining after working hours has decreased. This is undoubtedly the impact of the changes taking place in the labor market, which are affected by the coronavirus crisis" - he noted.

In Monteiro's opinion, however, the coming months should bring, both in Portugal and in other countries of the world, an increase in the number of people who perform their professional tasks for a longer time as part of remote work.

"The longer the coronavirus crisis lasts, the more the number of jobs performed online will increase, and the number of people who extend their working hours in front of the computer will gradually expand" - added the economist.

4. 24.sapo.pt (translated, original by Lusa, 06.03.2021)

André Ventura re-elected president of Chega with 97.3% and leaves a message to the PSD. "It is with me that you have to think about the next Government of Portugal"

The resigned president of Chega was re-elected today with 97.3% of the votes, a percentage that he considered legitimizing him for the struggles of the next four years and to tell the PSD that he will only govern Portugal with his party.

André Ventura, resigning for the second time, returned in today's elections to be the only candidate for president of the party, with the voting results announced at the beginning of the night by the chairman of the party's convention table, Luís Graça, who, however, did not released the total number of voters.

The reelected president then made the victory speech, leaving what he called “a last warning to the PSD”, so that the party led by Rui Rio understands that he can only win the elections with Chega and not “lend a hand to the PS ”.

That is the only way, if the PSD "still hopes to have a right-wing government in Portugal," said Ventura, adding that the PSD has not yet realized "the hole it got into when giving the PS a hand".

"I will be here for the next four years and it is with me that you have to think about the next Government of Portugal", he warned.

André Ventura also referred several times to what he classified as a “vile” attempt to outlaw Chega, warning that the party will take to the streets to defend itself.

The leader said that the party in the municipal elections will run alone, having as main objective to implant itself in the whole country, being “the balance's player” where not to win, and fighting to have presence in all the municipal assemblies.

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AUSTRIA 40

1. volksblatt.at (translated, original by volksblatt.at, 20.03.2021)

Kurz continues to believe in a return to normal by summer

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) is convinced that the summer will return to normal. "Eight million vaccine doses will be available by the end of June," said Kurz in a live interview during the ÖVP Vorarlberg party convention on Saturday.

Thus, all Austrians who are ready to be vaccinated could receive at least one vaccination by then. Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) emphasized on Saturday that almost 1.3 million vaccinations had been carried out so far.

The next few months would be a "challenging phase", there is nothing to gloss over, said Kurz. The Chancellor was optimistic about the time after the pandemic had been dealt with: "As difficult as it is now, it will be so good again." Briefly pointed out that the savings rate among the population had risen sharply during the pandemic, and that they too Being able to accompany the economy well. "People want to consume, to go on vacation," said Kurz. Economically, the old strengths will be regained and the phase from autumn may also be used to promote the eco-social orientation of the Austrian economy - the relief of lower / middle incomes and greater greening.

On the subject of vaccination, Kurz said that at the European level, “unfortunately there is a lot of God that doesn't run smoothly”. But he was glad that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had confirmed the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, "a waiver would have been dramatic". AstraZeneca supplies a third of the vaccine in Europe. The Chancellor considered the vaccination rate in Austria to be “good”. Currently 30,000 people are being vaccinated every day, "the number is increasing every day".

Kurz considered the route of regionalization in opening steps to be the right one, "we want to continue that". The aim is to allow as much freedom as possible and to make as few restrictions as necessary. The comparatively good situation in Vorarlberg has to do with the general conditions in the state, but also with the professionalism of the procedure in the state. 41

The opening in Vorarlberg is justified due to the low incidence. He hoped that similar steps could soon be taken in other regions of Austria.

Health Minister Anschober said in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal” that around twelve percent of the population in Austria had at least one vaccination. In April, May and June Austria will receive around six million vaccine doses, he repeated the forecast he had made the day before. And he renewed his assessment that "around two thirds of the vaccinable population will be through" by the end of June / beginning of July.

According to a “Unique resarch” survey for the “profile”, however, Austrians' confidence in vaccination is quite modest. The question “Will all Austrians willing to vaccinate have received their vaccination by the summer?” Was answered by 42 percent with “rather no”, 28 percent with “no, definitely not”. Only five percent assume that it will be (“yes, absolutely certain”), a further 21 percent expect “more or less yes” with a stab by the summer.

2. unzensuriert.at (translated, original by unzensuriert.at, 20.03.2021)

More asylum applications again in 2020: the number of Syrian refugees is alarmingly high

An apprehension of 20 refugees in Maria Ellend (Bruck an der Leitha district in Lower Austria) in December last year, in which a police helicopter was also used, was used in the media. The “refugees” were traveling in three groups, no smugglers could be picked up. For the liberal members of the National Council Christian Lausch and Hannes Amesbauer, the action was the reason for a parliamentary question, which also generally asked about the current refugee statistics. In any case, there was a dramatic increase in apprehensions in 2020.

Tugs have not been investigated

But first about the incident in Maria Ellend. There were six police officers in three patrol cars from the Bruck an der Leitha district as well as the helicopter from the Vienna flight operations center of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. So far it has not been possible to clarify from where the illegal entry of the arrested 20 people with Syrian, Iraqi and Turkish 42 citizenship took place. The illegal entry into Austria was either by means of a small truck from Hungary or the Slovak Republic. With a probability bordering on certainty, the illegally entered people used the route across the eastern Mediterranean. Ten of the people applied for asylum in Austria.

Dramatic Increase in Syrian “Refugees”

Now to the figures from the asylum statistics: In 2020, 14,192 asylum applications were submitted in Austria. For comparison: in 2019 there were 12,886 and in 2018 13,746, which means that there was an increasing trend in 2020 - despite corona restrictions!

What is striking is that Syrians are clearly at the top. 3,453 people were registered in 2020. In 2019 it was only 797 and 7th place in the statistics. The number of Afghans (2,262) and Serbs (1,271) was also high in 2020.

Refugee numbers are increasing under Nehammer

Lausch said in a reaction that under the ÖVP interior minister Karl Nehammer the attacks by refugees in Austria are blatantly high and continue to rise sharply:

The refugees come from all over the world but mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Morocco - typical refugee countries but also increasingly from Africa. The interior minister simply does not manage to protect the Austrian population.

Lausch reminds us that under Minister of the Interior a. D. Herbert Kickl declining numbers were noted. Lauch was also told that around 2,000 apprehensions had taken place this year, which is why he would submit a follow-up request.

Balkan route not closed

Another delicacy: Nehammer let it be known that the Balkan route was closed. In fact, a different answer revealed the opposite . Lausch and Amesbauer recently asked about the smuggling attacks, which exploded in 2020. Nehammer admitted that 29 foreigners who were picked up with a smuggler said they had come to Austria via the Balkans.

3. thelocal.com (original by AFP, 16.03.2021)

Austria: Kurz slams ‘unfair’ EU vaccine distribution

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, along with five other central and eastern European Union heads of government, urged Brussels to find a "correction mechanism" to fix what they called the unfair distribution of coronavirus vaccines within the bloc.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, after hosting talks with five EU counterparts in Vienna, told reporters it was “important” to come up with a “technical” solution with Brussels institutions “so that for example, Bulgaria doesn’t receive only a third as much (per capita) as Malta”.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis and Slovenia’s Janez Jansa attended in person, with Croatia’s Andrej Plenkovic and Latvia’s Arturs Krisjanis Karins joining via videoconference.

The six countries complain that the current distribution of vaccines does not correspond to the principle agreed at between the EU 27 of distribution of doses according to population.

A mechanism whereby countries could make use of doses not claimed by other states was sharply criticised, with Kurz branding the system a “bazaar” last week.

“We were told that the EU member states should refrain from Chinese and Russian vaccines,” said Borisov, whose country is in the grip of a spike in coronavirus infections — as is the Czech Republic.

Kurz has become particularly active on the question of vaccine distribution amid growing evidence of discontent among Austrians with his government’s strategy.

Fifty-five percent of respondents to one survey published last weekend pronounced themselves “dissatisfied” with the government’s virus policies. More than a third said they supported the protests against coronavirus measures which have become more frequent in recent months. 44

The left-wing opposition Social Democrats (SPOe) has accused Kurz of seeking to distract from his own “mistakes” in his handling of the pandemic.

On Monday it was announced that the official in charge of Austria’s purchases of coronavirus vaccines, Clemens Auer, had resigned.

Ministers said Auer had failed to inform them it was possible to acquire more doses for Austria from among those not claimed by other member states.

The European Commission’s representative in Vienna Martin Selmayr observed on Twitter that “when something goes wrong in Europe, it’s “the EU’s” fault, even if governments haven’t spoken to their own civil servants”.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya also played down suggestions of problems in vaccine distribution.

“The EU has supplied member states with the number of doses that they ordered,” she told Austria’s Die Presse daily.

4. index.hu (translated, original by NECSNY, 17.03.2021)

The Austrian secret to epidemic management

The Austrian indicators are better than the Hungarian ones: half the number of new infections, those treated with a ventilator and the number of deaths, but fewer are vaccinated.

Strict restrictions began earlier, and testing is still ongoing in Austria, several of our readers wrote in response to our article comparing epidemiological data from a neighboring country called a viral laboratory by the Hungarian prime minister with Hungarian indicators. 45

After drastic Austrian bans, life resumed a few weeks ago. Since then, the population, especially students and teachers, have been tested three times a week, wrote one of our compatriots, who now has Austrian citizenship.

In the tenth calendar week, after starting school, the number of samples exceeded 1.1 million. From this number, 1247 asymptomatic positive cases were screened, including 840 students and 407 school staff: teachers and technical staff members.

ORF, the Austrian public service television, is updating the results of the tests.

Austria has a higher standard of health care, recalls another reader.

Saturday morning social program for testing

There, as of today, a total of almost 18.5 million tests have been performed among the population, and these numbers are also being updated.

Most of the tests are antigen tests available free of charge and in unlimited quantities, to which everyone is entitled at their place of residence, regardless of social security status.

"Testing is a social program on Saturday morning," writes a Hungarian working in Vienna who has screened himself four times so far and, based on his personal experience, has never waited for more than 20 minutes to test. On one occasion it was immediately queued.

The test result will be delivered by SMS within a maximum of one hour. However, the result is also available online after proper registration.

The test is a prerequisite for using cosmetic services (hairdresser, manicure), but commuters from Hungary can cross the border back to Austria with a test of up to one week.

The coronavirus test can be performed by anyone at home alone, using a very specific procedure.

“The supply can be picked up at BIPA drugstores, the sample must be returned there, and within one day an official, full-fledged, PCR laboratory certificate can be downloaded, which is accepted everywhere, even for border crossings. A prerequisite for a full-fledged laboratory result through a webcam is proof of identity (ID card or passport) and then the extraction and gargling of test fluid in front of the webcam, ”writes our reader, who added,“ As with any good credit management. ”

The so-called “Contact sports”, including amateur football matches, have been banned in Austria since mid-October, another reader wrote in response to our article. Even children who have undergone mandatory weekly school testing are not allowed to play football.

He finds this logical because contact is inevitable in football. He says restaurants can open rather than allow amateur football because the risk of direct contact in hospitality is much lower.

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GREECE

1. sofokleusin.gr (translated, original by sofokleusin.gr, 14.03.2021)

Hellenic Solution: Hypocritical confrontation between government and official opposition

Hellenic Solution accuses the government and the opposition of hypocritically confronting both the issues related to the pandemic and the Koufontina issue

"Government and official opposition are hypocritically confronting each other against the background of rallies and pandemic politics. Both, however, agree on the ban on Orthodox worship, and participation in national parades, especially in the iconic March 25 parade where the people as a whole should celebrate the 200th anniversary of the National Uprising. "They 47 both agree on the universal closure (lockdown) and the horizontal bans on economic and social activity that have devastated Greece and have led millions of Greeks to despair," Hellenic Solution said in a statement.

He adds that it is the only party that "has expressed a clear position for 12 months, in favor of free economic and social activity with self-protection measures, in favor of the right to church, in favor of celebrating national anniversaries" noting that with these positions "now agrees the majority of scientists ".

In another statement, Hellenic Solution also accuses the government and the official opposition of "using the Koufontina case to hypocritically confront their party audiences" and added: "Now that Koufontinas has received the court document he wanted and stopped the hunger strike, to see what else they will find to confront, hiding the real problems, deceiving the "prisoners" for 12 months, Greeks ".

2. real.gr (translated, original by real.gr, 19.03.2021)

Velopoulos: The maritime borders of our country must be closed and guarded well

The creation of structures "on uninhabited islands to which the illegal immigrants will be transferred" - as he mentioned - was proposed today during a press conference during his visit to Mytilene, the president of the party "Hellenic Solution" Kyriakos Velopoulos.

Mr. Velopoulos described the refugee and immigration issue as "a modern slave trade with the participation of Non-Governmental Organizations".

As he said, "billions of euros are circulated by NGOs to trade human souls. The first thing the State must do is to close these organizations ".

As he said on the same subject, "the maritime borders of our country must be closed and guarded well". He also criticized the local authorities for agreeing to what the government is doing by creating new structures.

He strongly criticized the government and its policy on economy and health. As he stressed, he and his party executives have been asking for months for an effort to find a cure for the coronavirus, since the vaccine helps prevent but not treat the disease for those who are sick.

3. m.naftemporiki.gr (translated, original by naftemporiki.gr, 24.02.2021)

N. Marias: EU hypocritical stance - Imposes sanctions on Russia over Navalny while "caressing" Erdogan

"EU hypocrisy has hit red once again on the occasion of the decision of the Union Foreign Affairs Council, under the high supervision of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to impose new sanctions against Russia under the new EU framework. Ε. for the so-called defense of human rights, which is nothing more than a misprint copy of the American Magnitsky law ", stresses in a statement the MEP, president of the Greece-The Other Way party, Professor of EU Institutions at the University of Crete, Notis Marias .

Thus, Mr. Marias continues, the EU Foreign Ministers on February 22, 2021 decided to impose sanctions on Russia while at the same time continuing to caress Erdogan and refer to the calendars any sanctions against Turkey. In fact, he notes, they did not find a single word to say against Ankara as "Cesme" continues its provocations seven miles from Lemnos, challenging Greek sovereign rights, ie the sovereign rights of an EU member state.

However, Mr. Marias underlines, the Brussels priesthood "bought the field" and all this, as he claims, despite the relevant protest action that Athens has already made for the new challenges of Ankara, which escalates its threats with the implementation in the following days of a large naval exercise in the Aegean and the Mediterranean with the presence of 87 warships and the name Blue Homeland, thus indicating its expansionist aspirations against 49

Greece. The hypocritical attitude of the EU, Mr. Marias notes, has provoked the Greek people as they see that Brussels is applying two measures and two weights for Russia and Turkey.

The scene of this miserable EU hypocrisy, he stresses, must be denounced once again as, he adds, in Brussels they talk about alleged human rights violations in the Navalny case and turn a blind eye to the brutal human rights violations in Turkey where the EU has filled prisons with his political opponents and students who dare to react against Erdogan's appointed rector at Bosporus University are being beaten mercilessly and dragged to courts and prisons.

Thus, Mr. Marias emphasizes, the EU is refining the cone in the Navalny case and swallowing the camel for the Turkish threats against Greece and the continuous and violent violation of human rights in Turkey. However, the continuation of the anti-Russian hysteria on the part of Brussels with the help and encouragement of Washington leads to new Cold War situations which are to the detriment of peace and progress on the European continent, Mr. Marias points out.

"Thus, Biden's famous America is back marks the return to the historically obsolete cold war is back," Marias concluded.

4. dimokratianews.gr (translated, original by dimokratianews.gr, 10.03.2021)

Unanimous political condemnation of blind violence!

The parties demanded an end to the sad episodes reminiscent of "civil war" and the isolation of those who caused them.

The sad images of violence that we all saw tonight in Athens must be the last "said Kyriakos Mitsotakis about yesterday's episodes in Nea Smyrni. "And the life of one of our fellow citizens, the young policeman who was in danger, to wake us up. In these moments, restraint and composure must prevail from all. And I address especially to our young people, who are destined to create. Not to destroy. "Blind rage leads nowhere."

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister stressed, "some people ignored our warnings. And to those who try to sow hatred and division in society to cover their own impasse, as they did in the past, I answer the following: On the night of the elections of July 7, 2019, I stressed that I am here to guarantee unity, the security and prosperity of all Greeks. I repeat this now. I will not allow anyone to divide us. We will not let anyone turn us back. "

The episodes were also condemned by the opposition. The SYRIZA said: "We condemn unequivocally those who chose to violence to discredit a peaceful protest of thousands of residents, students, workers and shopkeepers of New Smyrna. We unequivocally condemn the attack on a man of the Greek Police . Violence is not met with violence. "Violence only justifies violence." The KIN.AL. , in a statement, noted: "It is imperative that a discussion be held immediately in Parliament between the party leaders on the situation that is being created. "Let us all isolate the followers of violence, wherever they come from ."

The Greek Solution expressed its outrage at the murderous attack by masked police in New Smyrna. Wishes a speedy recovery to the injured police officer on duty. However, he unequivocally condemns New Democracy and SYRIZA, which are creating a climate of civil war in society in order to disorient the Greeks from the catastrophic policies for the pandemic , the national issues and the economy , for which they are in agreement and co-responsible. The KKE spoke about incidents set up by the government , other suspicious mechanisms with the help of some provocative elements, against the great mobilization of the people of Athens.

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THE NETHERLANDS

1. hartvannederland.nl (translated, original by ANP/hartvannederland, 15.03.2021)

Thierry Baudet: 'After the broadcast of Jinek I had a nice day making out' 51

Thierry Baudet says he was not affected by the performance of comedian Martijn Koning in the Jinek program last Thursday. He said to Qmusic this morning that it was "the last straw".

According to the party leader of the Forum for Democracy (FvD), there were "terrible accusations" about racism, Nazis and misogyny. "When he talked about my private life and my kids, I thought: I don't have to put up with that." For that reason, Baudet ran away. After the broadcast, Baudet said he drank "a good glass of wine at home and had a good time".

Jinek , who was not aware of the roast that Koning had prepared in advance, from now on wants to know what guests are going to say before they sit down. Baudet has decided not to join Eva Jinek's talk show for the time being. He told Qmusic not to lie awake with plans of revenge, "but it is her program. I don't feel like sitting there again".

Run away from programs

Baudet is very selective in his media appearances, he said. It was not the first time the controversial politician walked out on a program; he also did this before after questions in With a view to tomorrow and De Vooravond did not suit him. "It's always those setups that make you think: here we go again. Then you have to respond to all those terrible reproaches and you get all leading questions from opinion panels."

The FvD leader has been under fire in recent months for anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic and women-unfriendly conversations conducted in the party's app groups. The party leader himself was in these app groups and dismissed the comments as jokes and casual thought experiments. "I have already said 100,000 times that I am not a racist," said Baudet in the morning show of Qmusic .

2. thejakartapost.com (original by Danny Kemp and Jan Hennop/AFP, 09.03.2021)

No regrets, says Dutch anti-Islam leader Wilders

Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders has said he has no regrets and is ready to "step up" his campaigning against immigration, despite the coronavirus set to dominate next week's general election.

Once dubbed the "Dutch Trump" for his bleached-blonde hair and incendiary rhetoric, Wilders has focused more during the election campaign on healthcare and opposing lockdown restrictions. But while he hopes to improve on the 2017 showing that made his Freedom Party (PVV) the second largest in parliament, the 57-year-old admits that Prime Minister Rutte is on course to win. "The current government is rather popular now -- at least, the prime minister is -- but then again, in time of crisis people tend to rally around the flag," Wilders told AFP in an interview at the Dutch parliament.

"Other issues such as immigration are still important. For my voters, it's still number one. But if you look at the average Dutchman, corona is the number one issue indeed." Despite that, Wilders said he saw no need to drop the anti-immigration and anti-Islam rhetoric that has defined his two-decade political career. "The immigration of non-western immigrants is an existential problem," said Wilders.

"I believe we should even step up, to invest more in realising this policy (of opposing immigration)." Leave Islam Rutte and other parties have vowed to exclude Wilders from any coalition, a move that the Freedom Party chief calls "very undemocratic". "The more people vote for my party, the more difficult it will be to exclude us," said Wilders.

He was also unrepentant about past actions, including plans for a cartoon competition of the Prophet Mohammed in 2018 that he cancelled after receiving death threats. He was also convicted of collectively insulting Moroccan people at a 2014 rally -- though he was later cleared of discrimination. Wilders lives in a safe-house and has been granted 24-hour protection by the Dutch state. "I don't regret fighting for freedom," he said. "Of course I take a stand, I am under attack, my country is under attack." "I fight for every Muslim, I wish that they would choose for freedom and leave Islam."

'Nexit' lost popularity

Unlike his populist rival Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy, Wilders has however avoided embracing openly Covid-sceptic politics and conspiracy theories. Baudet's party surged in Senate elections in 2019 but imploded amid recent allegations of racism and anti- Semitism. With the Netherlands still under a coronavirus curfew, Wilders urged Rutte to "open our nation far more than we are doing today", but added that "I am criticising him but not out of a conspiracy type of theory." 53

The situation is different from the last elections in 2017, when Europe watched anxiously as Wilders seemed set to ride the populist wave that brought Donald Trump to power and drove Britain to vote for Brexit. Wilders said he still wanted the Dutch to follow Britain's example. "I acknowledge that Nexit, because of Brexit, has lost some popularity," he said. "If we would have a referendum I would lose it, but I still think it's unfortunately the only way."

As for Trump, Wilders refused to back the tycoon's claims to have won re-election. "America is a democracy with a full democratic process, and I believe in the American institutions," he said. "So I believe it's unfortunate, but I believe he did lose the election."

3. nltimes.nl (translated, original by nltimes.nl, 15.03.2021)

"Undemocratic" to exclude PVV from cabinet, Wilders says

The three largest parties after the election must try to form a cabinet together, according to PVV leader Geert Wilders. Even though the VVD already said that it won't work with the PVV again, they owe it to the voters, Wilders said on the NPO Radio 1 news on Monday.

According to Wilders, it is "undemocratic" of VVD leader and departing Prime Minster Mark Rutte to exclude the PVV. The VVD is currently the largest party in the polls. Wilders' PVV is the largest opposition party.

Before the 2017 parliamentary election, Rutte said that he did not want to work with the PVV because of Wilders' statements about judges and Moroccans. According to Rutte, those comments were at odds with the values in the Netherlands and the rule of law. In mid- February this year, Rutte was asked about working with the PVV and he said: "No, still not." During an election debate last week, Rutte and Wilders again clashed about Wilders' refusal to apologize for his "fewer Moroccan" statements - statements that got him convicted for hate speech.

But according to Wilders, Rutte can't just exclude the PVV. "The voter is the boss and not Mark Rutte," he said on NPO Radio 1. If the voter makes the PVV one of the biggest parties, 54

Wilders thinks Rutte should change his tune. According to Wilders, Rutte is a "power politician" who attaches more value to staying in power than in the interests of the Netherlands.

Wilders also said that the PVV's condition for joining a cabinet is major limits to immigration, specifically immigration from Islamic countries. According to him, immigration costs a lot of money and Islam doesn't belong in the Netherlands. "We will not be in a cabinet which does not indeed ensure that immigration is significantly limited."

4. index.hu (translated, original by KM, 17.03.2021)

Mark Rutte’s party got the most votes according to the exit poll

According to the exit poll, the ruling party led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Conservative-Liberal Free Democratic People's Party (VVD), won the most votes in the Dutch parliamentary elections, the MTI reported.

According to forecasts, the VVD won 35 seats in the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament, two more than in the previous parliamentary elections of 2017. The balliberal 66 Democrats, led by Sigrid Kaag, finished in second place with 27 seats. The third is the anti- immigration Freedom Party, marked by the name of Geert Wilders, whose candidates have won 17 seats in the Dutch legislature.

It is likely that two smaller, recently formed party formations, the pro-EU Former and the populist Correct Answer 2021 (JA21), will also enter the Dutch parliament.

With a successful government formation, Mark Rutte could now begin his fourth term as prime minister, and he will be the longest-serving head of government in the Netherlands. However, it is questionable whether the current four-party coalition, which includes the Christian Democratic Concentration, the balliberal 66 Democrats, and the Conservative Christian Union, will be retained.

Due to security measures introduced due to the coronavirus epidemic, the elections lasted for three days this year. On Monday and Tuesday, 12 percent of the 13 million citizens with the right to vote cast their ballots, and another 7 percent took the opportunity to vote by mail.

THE PARTICIPATION RATE WAS 75 PER CENT ACCORDING TO THE FIRST REPORTING, BELOW 82 PER CENT IN 2017.

A record 37 parties ran for 150 seats in the lower house of parliament in the election, 17 of which are projected to win seats.

Pre-election surveys show that citizens generally believe that the government has dealt effectively with the epidemic and the crisis caused by the epidemic, despite the fact that some measures have provoked dissatisfaction in several places in the country. The ruling party’s popularity declined somewhat when it was forced to resign due to the family support scandal that stirred the big dust. Since then, the government has served as a trustee.

In the Netherlands, legislative power is exercised by a bicameral parliament. The 75 members of the upper house, the First Chamber, are indirectly elected by the 12 provincial councils for four years. The 150 members of the lower house, the Second Chamber, are also directly elected on the basis of a proportional representation system for four years. There is no percentage threshold for access to parliament, so coalition governance is inevitable due to the specifics of the electoral system.

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BELGIUM

1. vrt.be (translated, original by Kevin Calluy, 15.03.2021)

Vlaams Belang chairman Van Greeks: "13 percent of K3 candidates register as gender neutral, I don't believe that"

Vlaams Belang chairman Tom Van Greeks disagrees with "the trend in society whereby people can change sex without surgery". Van Greeks also disliked gender-neutral toys or toilets. He said this in "The appointment" following the withdrawn candidacy of Jef Elbers for the board of directors of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF).

The morning after the publication of this article, the details of the candidates for K3 became known. Of the total number of candidates, 63.6% identify themselves as female, 22% as male. 13.1% indicated "I prefer not to say" and 1.3% entered "X" when filling in the registration form. It is therefore not the case that 13 percent has declared themselves gender neutral.

Jef Elbers was discredited last weekend after controversial statements about, among others, LGBT people and transgender people. Vlaams Belang withdrew the candidacy after criticizing the statements.

Vlaams Belang withdraws Jef Elbers' candidacy for VAF "with mixed feelings" after controversial statements

This morning, in "The morning" on Radio 1, Van Greeks explained more about that decision. The word "gender indoctrination" was mentioned. "There is a tendency in society that is magnified by the media, where gender is over-perceived and we do not agree with that," Van Greeks explained in "The Agreement" tonight.

"I paid a little attention in biology class: the sex is determined in the 23rd chromosome pair, the XX and XY chromosome. That determines the sex. We are now evolving towards a trend where someone can change sex without surgery and then as man is going to take a shower with the women and can participate in women's boxing. I disagree with that. "

Labor economist Stijn Baert, who was also in the studio, clearly disagreed with that statement: "Does that person change sex in order to shower with people of the opposite sex? That's how you trivialize the story, right?"

I will shock you: people who menstruate, I call "women" 57

Van Greeks also referred to JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. She received a storm of criticism for refusing to speak of "menstruating men" instead of "women".

"You can not call JK Rowling a fan of the right-wing movement in Europe," says Van Greeks. "She was taken away for that statement, canceled. Well, I will shock you: people who menstruate, I call" women ". That is not allowed in some circles and I oppose that."

"I also oppose that now 13 percent of the candidates for K3 register as" x ", see themselves as gender neutral. I don't believe that, that 13 percent of our young people identify as transgender."

"Don't get me wrong: it must be terrible for a man to be trapped in a woman's body or vice versa. We should not ridicule, live and let those people live. But if that feeling results in a legal right, you will end up in a public debate. We have a problem with that. I do not think that our identity card should be changed ", Van Greeks concludes.

2. vrt.be (translated, original by Alexander Verstraete, 09.03.2021)

Bart De Wever (N-VA) after "biggest drug action ever": "In Antwerp many people are shivering in their beds"

Today's drug action in our country is unseen and has uncovered a wealth of information about criminal networks. Nevertheless, the follow-up investigation threatens to get bogged down because the judicial services in our country have too few people and resources. That says mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever (N-VA) in "Terzake".

"Unseen": that is how mayor De Wever of Antwerp calls the drug action that was carried out today in no less than 200 places in Belgium, which is the largest action ever in our country. The raids were preceded by two years of investigative work, during which investigators could read criminals' communications by hacking Sky ECC's encrypted system.

"I know people who have been working on the problem for 40 years and who tell me that they have never seen this before," says De Wever in "Terzake" on Canvas. "In the past you sometimes had to dig for years to find a lump of crime, now you can see the mountain on the surface. This is unlikely and it will have consequences for years to come."

In the coming months, this investigation will have many ramifications and the question is whether the court has sufficient people and resources for this. De Wever certainly doesn't think so. "The answer is no and that is now my greatest fear. Something has to be done here now, people have to be redeployed and put through what the previous government has set in motion, the troops have to move. Here has been breached and the enemy is on." the barrel. Now we have to cripple him, for years. "

De Wever also gives the European Union a wipe out. "Europe makes little effort in the fight against the drug mafia. An international report from last month shows that the revenue models for that mafia in Europe are unseen. That is a gigantic problem."

Achilles heel

Much of what has already been uncovered turns out to take place in and around Antwerp. According to De Wever, this is not surprising. "I think about half of the cocaine in Europe enters through the port of Antwerp. Like the mainstream economy, the drug mafia uses the information revolution to do business."

"We have now hit that mafia in its Achilles heel. I think that a lot of people in and around Antwerp are trembling in their beds today. Even more important is the signal to society. Young people growing up in Antwerp today get the message: if I I opt for the fast drug money, I end up in the Begijnenstraat (the prison of Antwerp, ed.). People in our security apparatus and administration who have allowed themselves to be seduced also get the signal: bean comes for its wages, honestly it really takes the longest. "

3. erdely.ma (translated, original by Sz.J., 08.03.2021)

IF YOUR SKIN IS WHITE, YOU ARE BEING COURTED, IF YOU ARE A MIGRANT, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IN BELGIUM

If your skin color is white, you will be sued immediately if you are a migrant, you can do anything in Belgium

The Belgian authorities are idle watching the expelled migrants keep a Catholic church and a university under occupation for a month, writes a Brussels correspondent for Transylvania.

On Sunday, illegal immigrants occupying the Begijnhofkerk church in Brussels for more than a month held an awareness-raising campaign to draw public interest to themselves. Their illegal action to obtain their residence permit has so far failed to bring about a breakthrough for Sammy Mahdi, the Belgian government's secretary of state for asylum and migration.

Since the end of January, the Begijnhofkerk church in Brussels has been occupied by more than 100 undocumented migrants. We wrote about the case here earlier. Most of them are people who did not meet the asylum requirements and were expelled from Belgium. Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi (CD&V, Christian Democrat and Flemish Party) reacted negatively to the occupation of the church, seeing it as an ordinary “blackmail”.

It seems illegal immigrants are not giving up. The Begijnhofkerk church in Brussels and the Free University of Brussels (“ULB”, Université Libre de Bruxelles) have been occupied by people belonging to the same group for more than five weeks now, and the authorities have done nothing to eradicate the illegal action. This is particularly interesting in light of the fact that juvenile scouts are brought to justice without any problems. But they are also acting brutally against the freedom of expression of the indigenous white population.

“What we want is a legal basis for legitimizing their stay, with clear criteria,” says Riet Dhont of “Vriendschap zonder Grenzen” (Friendship Without Borders). “Mahdi always reiterates that he refuses to issue group residence permits, but that is not the point here either. Such group regulation has never been in practice. Previous residence permits have so far been issued on the basis of a specific procedure, but the criteria for this have been set out in a circular. We want decisions to be made with the help of a clear legal basis and an independent jury, not a circular. ”

Friendship Without Borders website:

The 4 main missions of the above organization are:

1. Sensitization to the situation of migrants

2. Concrete steps have been taken to help migrants

3. Fight for the rights of migrants

4. They want to ensure that the relevant people open up new opportunities in migration policy

4. gondola.hu (translated, original by magyarnemzet.hu, 07.03.2021)

Belgium repatriates children of jihadists from Syria

Belgium is repatriating children of Belgian nationality from jihadist parents from the al- Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has announced.

"If the minor children stay in the camp, there is a danger that they will be the terrorists of tomorrow," the prime minister explained. Repatriation affects at least thirty children under the age of twelve.

"Children who grow up without drinking water and adequate food are exposed to mental and physical illnesses, so their repatriation is extremely important and urgent for humanitarian reasons," explained Belgian MP Saskia Bricmont.

Camp al-Hol is home to about sixty-five thousand women and children under Kurdish supervision who are linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization - while male members of the families are being held in prisons.

Of the approximately eleven thousand foreign nationals, thirteen Belgian mothers are also in the camp - nine convicts and four are under international arrest warrants.

Belgium has considered repatriating some of them, but these cases will be considered on a case-by-case basis from a security perspective.

"If they distance themselves from the Islamic State, they can repatriate," De Croo said.

One week ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund called on fifty-seven foreign states to repatriate minor children in Syria after three of them lost their lives in the camp in an accidental fire.

However, Europe has not yet recovered from the trauma caused by ISIS attacks in recent times, leaving foreign governments reluctant to repatriate children whose parents are linked to a terrorist organization.

Ten days ago, a number of French women went on hunger strike who wanted to get them to leave al-Hol camp, where conditions were getting worse. French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, is postponing the decision because he believes bringing ISIS sympathizers home would weaken his chances ahead of next year’s election, Deutsche Welle writes. France has so far repatriated thirty-five children from northeastern Syria after being investigated one by one by the authorities.

In addition to the French government, Germany and Finland have previously decided to repatriate citizens in the camp: a total of five women and eighteen children were deported from Syria at the end of 2020. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in this regard that he was very relieved to return the twelve children and the three mothers, which they had to carry out for humanitarian reasons.

***************************************************************************

IRELAND

1. ncregister.com (original by K.V. Turley, 17.03.2021)

Why Ireland Needs St. Patrick More Than Ever

Senator Rónán Mullen reflects on the new country emerging.

“Freedom of worship is severely curtailed, with police threatening priests who would be prepared to distribute Holy Communion. Throughout the pandemic, the Church leadership felt that it had no option but to go along with restrictions on public worship — despite Ireland’s strong constitutional protection of freedom of worship. In recent times, however, they have questioned the extent of these restrictions and have encouraged the faithful to lobby government politicians to let the churches open in time for the Easter ceremonies.”

Sen. Rónán Mullen was speaking to the Register March 9 from his office at the Irish Parliament in Dublin, from a country with one of the harshest lockdown regimes in all Europe.

Ireland, like everywhere else, continues to live through the COVID-19 crisis. Relatively speaking, the number of virus-related deaths has been lower there than in other countries; 80% of deaths have occurred in nursing homes. Mullen acknowledges that mistakes were made by the Irish government, not least in its failure “to get ahead of the curve” as the virulence of the virus became apparent to all. As he points out, vaccine rollout has been slower in Ireland than in neighboring Britain, or in Israel, a country of similar size to Ireland.

While acknowledging the need for the current lockdown, he describes the government’s approach as “hypercautious,” something he understands. “I have elderly parents myself,” he said. “But I do wonder if some of the measures are unjust and an overreaction.” He also thinks that the current Irish government directives are at times guilty of giving “mixed messages” to the public, not least when it comes to the subject of public worship and the ease with which government ministers have dismissed any attempts for pragmatism on that subject. “The authorities are just not aware of the need for public worship,” Mullen concludes, an attitude he finds troubling.

Mullen represents the National University of Ireland constituency in Seanad Éireann, Ireland’s Upper House of Parliament. First elected in 2007, Mullen has been reelected three times, most recently in 2020. As an independent politician and chairperson of the Human Dignity Alliance, he advocates for a human dignity perspective in policy and lawmaking. In his parliamentary contributions to date, he has emphasized issues such as the right to life; protections for the victims of human trafficking; support for improved palliative care in hospitals; support for those with special needs; maintaining Ireland’s commitment to Overseas Development Aid; and social welfare protection for those deemed economically vulnerable.

Mullen established the Human Dignity Award in 2014. It is presented annually to a person or group whose commitment to the promotion of human dignity has been exemplary.

Mullen was born and still lives in Ahascragh, County Galway. He took a B.A. in English and French in The National University of Ireland Galway and a master’s degree at Dublin City University. Later, he completed studies at the Honorable Society of King’s Inns in Dublin, thereafter practicing as a barrister in the Irish courts. In addition, he has lectured in law and communications at Dublin’s Institute of Technology. He also worked as communications officer and spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Dublin from 1996 to 2001. He has written weekly newspaper columns for the Irish Examiner and Irish Daily Mail.

His perspective enables him to weigh in on the current cultural climate in Ireland.

The current pressure on the health service is made worse by the need to continue to meet the new abortion regime, officially sanctioned since 2019 following the 2018 abortion referendum, which for the first time allowed unfettered abortion access within the Irish Republic.

“It’s a very sad situation,” says Mullen, “to go from a constitutional safeguard for the unborn [this was removed as a consequence of the 2018 referendum] and a health service that provided high-quality maternity care, with low numbers of women traveling to Britain for abortions to the present reality. Since 2019 — the first year in which the abortion referendum result was implemented — we have witnessed a loss of value and respect for life in the womb, with 6,666 abortions performed in Ireland in that first year alone. Using the figures for the numbers who traveled to Britain for the purpose of abortion prior to the referendum, that’s around a 75% increase in abortions.” Since the referendum, Mullen senses a “normalization of abortion” in political discourse in general, and in the Irish media in particular, so much so that “no other narrative is ever allowed to say that abortion is a bad thing.”

Undoubtedly, Irish society shifted in a new direction with the legalization of abortion following the 2018 abortion referendum. That result, and the earlier 2016 referendum on marriage, killed off any lingering idea that Ireland’s historic Catholicism dominated the social and political discourse of the nation. Yet Mullen belongs to a small minority of Irish politicians who still hold to traditional moral positions on the sanctity of life and the view that marriage is solely between a man and woman — positions increasingly unwelcome in the Irish public square. “People will silence you,” he says, thinking of the current mania for the so-called “cancel culture” around unpopular opinions. “If they don’t care about your freedom of speech, before too long these same people will decide you must be prevented from voting, too.”

As the St. Patrick’s Day national holiday approaches, Mullen reflects on this emerging reality in a country that once claimed to be “The Land of Saints and Scholars.” On March 17, more than at any other time of the year, Irish Americans recall the land from which their ancestors hailed. Few Americans, Mullen thinks, are aware of the reality, however, of the “new Ireland” emerging. The Irish Diaspora breaks down, he feels, into two groups: those no more conscious of the radical shifts in Irish society than they are of similar movements in American society and then those who are as concerned about the direction being taken by Irish society as they are about that of the United States.

With a heavy heart Mullen tells of an Irish American friend who used to be a frequent visitor from the States to Ireland and a lover of all things Irish but who has chosen not to fly his Irish flag on St. Patrick Day following the abortion referendum result of 2018. Mullen understands this. The country emerging now, however, spurs him on to fight for a radically different vision of Ireland.

Mullen and his few political allies on these moral issues appear to be voices crying in the Irish political wilderness and, at times, also crying into a vacuum. The reason for this is that the Irish mainstream media is dominated by a liberal “progressive” secular agenda. Mullen identifies a “herd mentality” in certain politicians and throughout most sections of the Irish media. It is one he describes simply as “aggressively secular and hostile to Christian values.” While acknowledging the disastrous legacy of past Church failures, Mullen maintains that this secular “hostility” is “born of indifference, ignorance and a market-driven ‘wokeism.’” He observes a similar phenomenon abroad in what he terms an “international closing down of diversity”. He feels, however, that this phenomenon is more prevalent in Irish society than in either the United States or the United Kingdom, due to the fact that there is little by way of an Irish conservative narrative — either political or social — to counter it.

Given this situation, one wonders what chance Mullen has to propagate a message other than that promoted by the current establishment. Part of any future battle, he believes, is for 65

Christians and their allies of goodwill to enter the political fray. “People have been fed and internalized a worldview that ‘reactionary’ means going back to the previous situation. As a result, there is a ‘myth of progress’ in which people have been taught to leave their faith to one side, committing to a future without it. On this point, our opponents have been very successful. Yet, as we can see, in spite of this supposedly ‘progressive’ approach, the world continues to fail to overcome its problems. That is because these ideas of ‘progress’ fail to follow any overriding moral principles.”

Despite the political climate, Mullen’s Catholic faith is the cornerstone of his personal political philosophy. His inspirations include Catholic politicians such as the British peers Lord Alton and Baroness O’Loan. It is easy to see why. All three politicians have opted for unfashionable, and at times unpopular, positions that fly in the face of modish fashion but which point to beliefs and convictions that are perennial. He also cites the martyred Pakistani politician Shahbaz Bhatti as a model of how to witness to Christ in the world of politics.

“Faith is real or it isn’t, and if it’s real, then it must form part of what one is proposing as political ideas,” states Mullen.

Mullen still dreams of a different country emerging from the uncertainties of the current malaise. His vision is rooted in his Catholic faith — and by extension of the many who suffered down the centuries so that he could have that faith. His politics are, however, a calling to practical action today, to build a better society from the ruins of one shattered by a virus. And with this project, Mullen urges his fellow Irish of whatever background “to get involved, as there is a field to be tilled. Ireland needs to rediscover its Christian principles for its own sake and then determine what sort of society can be built from that; rather than one controlling a narrative, it could be a people searching for truth.”

“The cultural trendsetters of Ireland have turned St. Patrick into a kind of ‘green Santa Claus,’ a mere mascot for the ‘Paddy’s Day’ parade,” says Mullen. Yet he feels St. Patrick is “the ideal patron saint for those who work for a revival of committed Christian faith throughout this country.” Mullen points to the fact that St. Patrick heard the voice of the Irish who had enslaved him. Then, “with love in his heart, he returned to the ‘peripheries,’ as Pope Francis would say, of the known world. He went beyond the boundaries of the old Roman Empire to brave the terrors of a pagan land whose people needed the Gospel. The descendants of those people have the same need today. And like St. Patrick, we Irish Christians must hear the voice of our contemporaries who yearn to hear that human life has a meaning and purpose.”

2. reuters.com (original by Guy Faulconbridge, 19.03.2021)

Britain says unionist anger over Brexit deal could put Northern Ireland 'in quite a dangerous place'

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday that anger in Northern Ireland’s unionist community over the Brexit divorce deal was serious and cautioned the European Union that such tensions could ultimately undermine stability unless properly addressed.

Northern Ireland has always been the toughest issue in the Brexit divorce and just a month after the United Kingdom exited the EU, the European Commission briefly threatened to impose emergency controls on vaccines crossing the Irish land border.

Though the EU swiftly stepped back from that, tensions have been rising in Northern Ireland, a British province.

Britain last month unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food going from Britain to Northern Ireland - which effectively stayed in the EU’s single market and customs union under the divorce deal to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

The EU has started legal action over Britain’s move.

A senior pro-British loyalist said on Friday that Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace agreement is under threat and a “Pandora’s box” of protest and political crisis will be opened unless the EU agrees to significant changes to the Brexit deal.

The peace accord, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the United Kingdom.

The deal guaranteed an open Irish land border to help safeguard peace, free trade and travel on the island.

“If the unionist community feel that the Protocol is breaching the Good Friday agreement and moving away from the spirit of it, then we’re in quite a dangerous place in terms of stability of not just the executive but the north-south institutions,” British Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told reporters.

Loyalist paramilitary groups told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month that they were temporarily withdrawing support for the peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal.

Lewis mentioned that warning.

“I don’t agree with that, I think it would be a mistake, but it does underline the sense of tension ... We have to recognise there is that tension there,” he said.

Lewis said Britain had to take unilateral action to extend grace periods, otherwise shops would have run out of goods in Northern Ireland.

“If we hadn’t, if we’d have had another set of empty shelves this week ... the fallout from that in the unionist community means the Protocol would, I think, have been fatally flawed.”

Irish nationalists Sinn Fein accused Lewis of hypocrisy and said his comments demonstrated a failure of the “rigorous impartiality” required by the Good Friday Agreement.

“This is the same British government who have signed up to the Protocol with the EU and have committed to its implementation,” Sinn Fein Member of Parliament Chris Hazzard said in a statement.

The European Commission briefly threatened in January to impose emergency controls on vaccines crossing the open Ireland-Northern Ireland border, a step that Lewis said had ratcheted up tensions in the unionist community.

“We’re still dealing with the fallout from that.”

3. hu.euronews.com (translated, original by Ádám Magyar & Ken Murray, 19.03.2021)

Catholics may get into the majority in Northern Ireland, which could upset the status quo

A census is being held in Northern Ireland just a hundred years after the UK government split the island of Ireland in half, retaining the northern part and creating an independent Irish republic in the south. In Northern Ireland, pro-monarchical Protestants have been in the majority for centuries. However, the situation is changing.

“Half of the school children are Catholic and only a third are Protestant. They are not voting yet, but as time goes on, they will become voters. This means that sometime in the future, the number of Catholics will exceed that of Protestants in Northern Ireland. We may already be facing this at this census, ”explained researcher Paul Nolan.

The once twenty percent difference had already dropped to 3 percent by the time of the 2011 census. However, proponents of staying in the UK say this will not lead to a review of the status quo. This is what Billy Hutchinson, a member of the Progressive Unionist Party, thinks:

“Having more Catholics doesn’t mean they want a united Ireland. Now they have social rights and there is the health care system. People will make a decision based on these. We can talk about trends, but the question is what they mean. "

Turbulent years may come

According to the results of the 2016 Northern Ireland Labor Force Survey, there are already more Catholics than Protestants among workers. The situation is also complicated by Brexit.

“Unionists see the damage caused by Brexit and a significant proportion of them are involved in the dialogue on the future of Ireland. The census will intensify the debate, "said Republican Sinn Féin MP John Finucane.

“There are serious expectations that, for the first time in three hundred years, the number of Catholics in the census will exceed that of Protestants. If so, supporters of the unification of 69

Ireland are likely to strengthen their campaign in the coming years. In about 12 months, we will see more clearly, "concluded Euronews correspondent Ken Murray.

4. irishtimes.com (original by Barry Roche, 10.03.2021)

Des Dalton quits Republican Sinn Féin over criticism of dissident violence

Former party leader says changed political climate supports traditional arguments for unity

Des Dalton: said he would be ‘untrue to myself and to ideas I passionately believe’ if he accepted his suspension by the party, and he had no choice but to resign.

Former Republican Sinn Féin president Des Dalton has resigned from the party after its ardchomhairle suspended him for arguing against violent actions by dissidents.

Mr Dalton (49) said he would be “untrue to myself and to ideas I passionately believe” if he accepted the suspension and that he had no choice but to quit.

During a recent online discussion on the future of Ireland hosted by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, Mr Dalton said armed actions by dissident republicans are hindering traditional arguments to end partition.

Prior to his suspension and resignation, Mr Dalton told The Irish Times that current armed actions by the Continuity IRA and others did not amount to “an armed campaign” and were distracting from the debate on ending partition.

He stressed he was speaking personally and noted that the political landscape had changed considerably in recent years in Ireland, and Britain particularly, because of Brexit.

Accelerated

“I think if you look at the number of armed incidents over the last four to five years and particularly those where somebody has lost their life, as for instance happened with the tragic death of Lyra McKee, it has actually accelerated an agenda which traditional republicans oppose,” he said.

“In the case of the death of Lyra McKee, it accelerated the reconvening of Stormont and retrenched the institutions of partition,” he went on, adding that such actions were sporadic and did not constitute a morally or strategically justified armed campaign.

Mr Dalton said he still supports the republican movement’s right to engage in an armed struggle against British rule in Ireland but he believed that what should happen now was similar to 1923 and 1962, when republicans called ceasefires to end the Civil War and the Border campaign.

“In both 1923 and 1962, it was just a practical question of what was the best course of action for the republican movement – there was no stepping back from traditional republican principles by either of those republican leaderships, unlike with the Provisional IRA ceasefires of 1994 and 1997.”

Service

Speaking on Wednesday after he was suspended, Mr Dalton said he had given “over 30 years of service” to Republican Sinn Féin and he was not departing lightly.

“Irish republicanism needs to free itself of the shrill voices who shout ‘sell-out’ or ‘slippery slope’ when any initiative or fresh thinking is advanced for discussion. This is irrational and stifles the kind of honest and open debate that is necessary if the ideals of Irish republicanism are to be advanced,” he said.

Mr Dalton added that his allegiance remained to an all-Ireland republic as outlined in the 1916 Proclamation. By refusing to “engage with objective realities”, he said Irish republicanism risked isolating itself further and those advocating perpetual armed action without clear goals do a disservice to their cause.

*************************************************************************** 71

DENMARK

1. kisalfold.hu (translated, original by kisalfold.hu, 24.02.2021)

Sweden became a stronghold of Islamization, according to the Danish People's Party

The president of the Danish People’s Party has warned that he does not want their country to be a fortress of Islamization like Sweden. The problem, he said, is that immigrants are unable to adapt to the country’s values.

In his non-walled newsletter, he is the president of the Danish People’s Party, who wrote about Islamization and its presence in Denmark and Sweden. Kristian Thulesen Dahl writes every week in this letter about his political thoughts and opinions to party members, the topic is usually related to Danish and EU policies, writes the V4NA news agency.

Most recently, the politician called Sweden a stronghold of Islamization. He also mentioned Inger Støjberg, former Minister of Immigration in Denmark. Støjberg has repeatedly written his views on the migration situation on his community page, most recently writing about the problem of Islam in Denmark, for example. He says violence and terror go hand in hand with the Islamic religion, and Muslims want to get people to live the way they do.

Kristian Thulesen Dahl said the former Danish minister was treated in an irrational way by his party. The leader of the Danish People's Party, on the other hand, sees Støjberg as a reliable partner in the fight against immigration and Islamization.

As for immigrants, the party chairman wrote that a great many of them could not adapt to Danish values, and this must be stopped.

He said the focus should be on sending people back to their homeland. However, in the newsletter, Thulesen Dahl is also concerned that left-wing radical forces are threatening Denmark’s future.

Earlier, the party chairman had already expressed his views on the migration situation in Sweden. Already in 2019, for example, he warned that an enormous number of immigrants would flow into the country. He then recalled the migration crisis of 2015, in connection with which he believed that a stricter foreign policy was needed because that was how they could act against immigration.

2. jv.dk (translated, original by Ditte Irene Knudsen, 19.03.2021)

Vermund on Benny Bonde's change of party: - It's worth gold

Pernille Vermund believes that Benny Bonde's shift from the Liberal Alliance to the New Citizens' Party will play a major role in the next election campaign due to his large network.

The prominent city council politician Benny Bonde from the Liberal Alliance changed party and became a member of Nye Borgerlige. The change pleases Pernille Vermund.

Haderslev: On February 25, Benny Bonde announced that he would no longer be part of the Liberal Alliance. At the time, he said that it was the Liberal Alliance's support for a federal court case against Inger Støjberg that was the last blow.

Instead, he jumped over to Nye Borgerlige, where Pernille Vermund has stood ready with open arms. She told this when JydskeVestkysten caught her at an event at VVS Søberg on Friday about the problem of theft from vans and construction sites.

- I'm glad Benny has come over to New Citizens. We have had many good talks. It's worth its weight in gold, she says, adding:

- It will be easier for us to raise the agendas that are important to us. And we say clearly that immigration policy is the most important thing for us, and Benny agrees.

Pernille Vermund is also in no doubt that Benny Bonde's party change will play an important role in the next election campaign.

- Benny comes with a lot of energy and a large network. He knows many in the area, and it is clear that it will be of great importance, she concludes.

3. trtworld.com (original by trtworld.com, 19.03.2021)

Denmark: Non-whites shouldn’t exceed 30% of any neighbourhood

In the latest salvo against the country's minorities, Denmark will cap the number of "non- Western" people in neighbourhoods.

Denmark has announced that it will limit the number of ethnic minorities in neighbourhoods to up to 30 percent in an apparent bid to "reduce the risk of religious and cultural parallel societies."

Some have branded the decision to limit "non-Western" residents as a "white supremacist" idea that avoids tackling racism in the country and keeps immigrant communities from integrating into society.

The announcement by the Social Democratic government will scrap the controversial term "ghetto" currently being used in legislation to describe immigrant neighbourhoods.

Instead the government will opt for the term "non-Western" arguing that neighbourhoods should not allow ethnic minorities to exceed 30 percent within 10 years.

Denmark has had some of the most draconian immigration policies in Europe, which the leftist Social Democratic party led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has continued since gaining power in 2019.

In 2015, the country ran a series of controversial ads in Lebanese newspapers warning refugees to stay away.

The country in 2017 enacted a so-called 'jewellery law' which would see the state confiscate assets from refugees above $1,300 using the proceeds to pay for their upkeep. The United Nations described the decision as "at a minimum inhumane and degrading."

In 2018, the right-wing Danish government introduced laws that only deepened ethnic divisions in the country by designating areas with more than 50 percent ethnic minorities as "ghetto areas."

Under the proposals, children would be forcefully separated from their parents, starting from one to receive special education. Crimes committed in ghetto areas could also result in a double sentence.

International condemnation hasn't, however, dented consecutive governments enacting incrementally draconian legislation. More recently, the Danish state created an island where it would banish refugees until their case was processed.

Even as the civil war in Syria continues, the Danish government considers the parts of the country controlled by the Assad regime safe enough to return refugees. This year it became the first European country to deport Syrians back to the country.

The latest announcement is part of an anti-immigrant political consensus that has emerged in the country that spans the left and the right.

Following the latest decision, one activist said, "we need to stop putting Denmark on a progressive pedestal."

In 2018 the country banned the face-veil for Muslim women, which activists decried as enacting laws that "exclusively target the Muslim minority."

Increasingly Muslims feel that they have become scapegoats in the country. In the run-up to the 2019 elections, there was an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric resulting in hate crimes against the community. 75

4. opindia.com (original by opindia.com, 15.03.2021)

Denmark bans foreign countries from funding mosques in the country, seen as important step in curbing ‘Islamist extremism’

The country's Social Democrat Immigration and Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye labeled the law as an important step to curb 'Islamist Extremism'.

Joining the long list of European countries to have taken varied measures to fight Islamist Extremism, the Parliament of Denmark has approved a new law that bans foreign countries from funding and financing mosques in the country. This step comes after reports of Muslim countries like Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and UAE disbursing hundreds of millions of Euros to spread Islam in Europe.

The new law garnered support from all major political parties of Denmark. The country’s Social Democrat Immigration and Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye labeled the law as an important step to curb ‘Islamist extremism’.

The law, bypassing naming the religion, states, “The purpose of the Act is to prevent natural and legal persons, including foreign state authorities and state-run organizations and companies, from working against or undermining democracy and fundamental freedoms and human rights by making donations.”

“Anyone who receives one or more donations that individually or together exceed DKK 10,000 (€1,350; $1,600) within 12 consecutive calendar months, from a natural or legal person who is included on the public ban list … is punishable by a fine.”

Denmark is the second European country to restrict foreign donations to mosque. The government got into action after a news report in January 2020 revealed that Taiba Mosque, located in Nørrebro district of Denmark had received 4.9 million Danish kroner from Saudi Arabia.

Taiba Mosque is said to be the base for number of Islamists convicted of terrorist charges. On the other hand, Turkey has said to have supplied donations to construct 27 mosques in 76

Denmark including in the cities of Aarhus, Ringsted and Roskilde and in the towns of Fredericia, Hedehusene and Holbæk.

It is interesting to note the demographic change in Denmark. According to a report released in 2020, Denmark has a population of 2,50,000 Muslims which is 4.4% of the population whereas the population was a mere 0.6% in 1980.

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SWEDEN

1. nsk.se (translated, original by Martina Jarminder, 21.03.2021)

Focus on issues

The issue of government formation has been on the agenda in recent weeks, despite the fact that it is a long way to the election. There is reason to worry that it will take up so much space that the issues will be overshadowed, even though they are unusually important for the 2022 election.

Last week, two party leaders pulled the emergency brake for the discussion and both are right.

Annie Lööf says that the Center Party goes to the polls as an independent center party and not as part of any bloc and that there are different opinions on the issues that make them not want to cooperate with SD, not games about government power. On the contrary, when the Liberals do poorly in public opinion, the Center Party has a good opportunity to show liberal voters what issues that make them should choose the Center Party.

Jimmie Åkesson strongly opposed migration in Dagens Nyheter. The party wants to see zero asylum immigration and is opening up to tear up international agreements. In addition, they want to create pressure on immigrants to return to their countries of origin. If you vote for SD, 77 you vote to throw people out. It is relevant information for potential voters. Åkesson also calls for a focus on the issues, which is welcome, regardless of what one thinks of SD's position.

After the pandemic, the issues can and should take a large place in the debate: what have we learned from this international catastrophe, about crisis preparedness, healthcare, financial support and climate action? What do we do about the knowledge that parked aircraft did not lead to the emission reductions one could hope for, or that the pandemic caused violence in close relationships to increase and equality to decline? How do we build a hard-pressed economy? The government issue cannot overshadow those discussions.

Of course, the formation of a government will require reflection and discussion. But there is a risk that voters experience the process as a political game that reduces confidence in democracy and society's institutions if it is described as a game. Annie Lööf and Jimmie Åkesson are both right that we must start with the issues.

2. gp.se (translated, original by Jimmie Akesson & Aron Emilsson, 16.03.2021)

The Nordic region, a potential giant in Europe

Not since World War II have we had Swedish soldiers stationed at the border with another neighboring country in the Nordic region. Was it necessary? Could it have been avoided? The Riksdag will, among other things, discuss this at a special debate on Tuesday. Sharp measures are now needed for increased Nordic co-operation during both the crisis and everyday life, write Jimmie Åkesson (SD) and Aron Emilsson (SD).

This is a debate article. The purpose of the text is to influence and the opinions are the writer's own.

In 2019, the Nordic prime ministers announced that the Nordic region will be the world's most sustainable and integrated region by 2030. The corona pandemic has unfortunately meant a major setback for Nordic co-operation, both psychologically and concretely. New barriers have emerged and friction has been created between the countries and their populations as a result of our choosing different ways of dealing with the situation at the borders.

However, many of the difficulties that exist today between the countries are not the result of deliberate political decisions, but rather of the countries not coordinating or discussing with each other before new national laws were enacted. In principle, the entire Nordic region is bound by directives adopted by the EU, but there is largely a lack of Nordic coordination when these are to be transposed into national law. The same is true of ordinary national legislation.

To come to terms with the current situation in the Nordic region and to facilitate future crises, we propose the following:

• Establish a Nordic crisis preparedness committee directly under the Prime Ministers. For example, by moving the Group for Strategic Coordination (GSS), which is currently under the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of the Interior, to the Prime Minister's Committee and extending its mandate to include coordination at the Nordic level. The Nordic coordination in GSS will primarily focus on coordinating efforts in connection with crises.

• In the event of major international crises, the Prime Minister of the country holding the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers shall immediately initiate a consultation between the Nordic Prime Ministers. The purpose is to find out if there are conditions for a similar approach and a synchronized government work. If this is the case, the Nordic Crisis Preparedness Committee will take over. If not, the prime ministers should inform each other in good time about national measures that may affect the neighbor, its population or Nordic co-operation.

Better on collaboration

In addition to the above proposals for dealing with a Nordic region in crisis, we also need to become better at cooperating in normal conditions. We want Sweden to explore the possibility of creating routines for coordinating the transposition of EU directives into the Nordic countries' legislation, so that unwanted differences do not arise. We want to work for new bills to be supplemented with an impact assessment of how they will affect relations with the Nordic neighbors and how the legislation affects people and companies who live and work across borders in the Nordic region. If such a routine already existed, we could have avoided the situation we are in now with soldiers at our borders.

It is time for the Nordic region to realize and take advantage of its enormous potential. The Nordic region is an economic giant by international standards. With its 27 million inhabitants, we are together the world's 11th largest economy (GDP), and rank as number four in the EU. At the same time, the Nordic countries are each other's second most important trading 79 partners after the EU. The Nordic countries' trade with each other is greater than our trade with Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. This shows the importance of Nordic trade relations and the untapped potential of increased Nordic co-operation. We must therefore ensure that Nordic co-operation does not suffer long-term due to the pandemic.

We want to see in-depth Nordic co-operation, both in times of crisis and in everyday life, and are open to discussing all initiatives and mechanisms that go in that direction.

The Sweden Democrats want the level of ambition regarding Nordic co-operation to be shifted up. We do not just want to return to the cooperation we had before the pandemic broke out - we want to put in a higher gear. We want to see in-depth Nordic co-operation, both in times of crisis and in everyday life, and are open to discussing all initiatives and mechanisms that go in that direction.

Jimmie Åkesson (SD), party leader

Aron Emilsson (SD), group leader for SD in the Nordic Council and chairman of Nordic Freedom

3. sputniknews.com (translated, original by Igor Kuznetsov, 05.03.2021)

Swedish Prime Minister Under Fire for Saying Afghan Stabbing 'Not a Question of Immigration'

An Afghan man in his 20s was shot by Swedish police after a bloody knife attack in the town of Vetlanda that left seven people injured; he has been arrested on suspicion of several cases of attempted murder, but not charged with terrorism.

The Swedish authorities and media's response to a stabbing attack that left several people fighting for their lives has raised eyebrows and sparked indignation. A knife-wielding Afghan-born man stabbed seven people in the southern town of Vetlanda, leaving three of them in critical condition.

The case is currently not being investigated as a terrorist crime, prosecutor Adam Rullman confirmed to national broadcaster SVT.

“He is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in several cases, seven to be precise,” Rullman said, citing an apparent lack of motive. Rullman also emphasised that the man has “a connection to another country”.

Criminologist Christoffer Carlsson called it a serious act of violence against random people, adding that they are rare, yet difficult to defend against. According to Carlsson, society can do a lot to prevent both terrorist acts and so-called insane acts, such as the attack in Vetlanda, but unfortunately it is impossible to eliminate it completely.

“But when it has gone so far that people go out to the street armed, then it is virtually impossible to defend yourself. Unfortunately, this is what a society must live with,” Carlsson told SVT.

The news outlet Fria Tider described the alleged culprit as a 22-year-old Kabul native, who arrived in Sweden in early 2016 and was granted temporary residence as “in need of alternative protection”. Later, he was allowed to stay in Sweden due to the government's so- called “school amnesty”. According to Fria Tider, he indeed went to school, but failed to complete any courses, including a basic alphabet course in Swedish. He has a police record for petty drug-related crimes.

“Every attack on innocent people will be met by all of Sweden's united force. Fear and terror will never become part of our everyday lives”, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said in a speech dedicated to the attack.

At a subsequent press conference, a journalist referenced a tweed by the national-conservative Sweden Democrats, who linked the attack to Sweden's immigration policy and demanded a “total stop to all asylum and family immigration, including quota refugees”, and asked what Löfven thought about it.

Löfven called the link “speculative”. “This is not a question of immigration, as the Sweden Democrats want to make it,” he added.

The newspaper Aftonbladet ran a column by one of its leading journalists, Jonna Sima, warning that the attack may be used for political purposes.

“The experience of similar events is that some people will now try to take advantage of the situation to make political points. The Sweden Democrats were quickly out and accused the government: How many terrorists are hiding among us?” Sima wrote.

By contrast, Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson found Löfven's response puzzling.

“For Stefan Löfven, no negative consequences of the lax migration policy seem to be related to migration, which puzzles me somewhat. Is there any voter who buys into this? I think he is utterly confused, but at the same time it is good that the prime minister says openly that an Afghan suspected perpetrator who currently doesn't even have a temporary residence permit 'is not a question of migration'. It shows with desired clarity how weak his own and his party's leadership and understanding of cause and effect are,” Åkesson told the news outlet Nyheter Idag.

On social media, the reaction of the prime minister and the press raised eyebrows and sparked anger.

“Remember that immigrants have nothing to do with immigration! As little as Islam has to do with Islam. Regards, Stefan Löfven,” writer, blogger and journalist Katerina Janouch wrote.

“An Afghan attacks Swedes openly on the street. He is illiterate, but has been granted a residence permit for studies. He has already been convicted of crimes in Sweden, but has still been allowed to stay. Stefan Löfven says that this has nothing to do with immigration. Who the hell is he trying to fool?” Findel Madison of the Sweden Democrats youth wing said.

“Is this clown really the Prime Minister of Sweden? No wonder they are laughing at us abroad. Had it not been so serious, you would have been giggling with laughter as well”, senior Sweden Democrat Björn Söder wrote.

“Will Stefan Löfven go down in history as Sweden's worst leader of all time? Erik XIV may have been crazy, but Löfven openly lies to deceive the Swedish people. This is dramatic history in real time. Absolutely unique”, another one chimed in.

4. nyheteridag.se (translated, original by Jonathan Norström, 13.03.2021)

Busch opens to negotiate with SD

SWEDEN Ebba Busch (KD) wants to form a government with the Moderates and believes that there are good prospects for getting through a budget with the support of the Sweden Democrats. She says this in Ekot's Saturday interview .

In the interview, Ebba Busch announces that she wants to go to the polls and form a government with the Moderates. However, such a government would rule in the minority and need the support of other parties to get its budget through.

- Together with the Sweden Democrats, we could make major agreements on judicial policy, on migration, but I also hope on some healthcare issues. I understand that the Sweden Democrats' support will not come for free, says the KD leader.

- I have not intended to take those voters for granted in the same way that I do not take any part of the Swedish people's support for granted, but they want to see Sweden go in a different direction. I believe that in several parts we share basic problem formulation and fundamental direction in these major political areas that must also affect a budget.

When asked what can be difficult to compromise on, she says that "we will see".

- The basis must be the political direction, and there I see that there are conditions that a KD- M government can get support for its budget and to negotiate larger parts with, for example, the Sweden Democrats, Busch says.

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FINLAND

1. verkkouutiset.fi (translated, original by Antti Kirkkala 20.03.2021)

Jussi Halla-aho confirms the PS's changed line to the election, demands the resignation of the minister

According to basic Finns, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson has misled parties and citizens with regard to municipal elections.

Basic Finns present a motion of censure to the Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (r.) In connection with misleading citizens and instructions given to municipalities.

On 19 March, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs submitted a report on the government's proposal to postpone the municipal elections. There was unanimity in favor.

- Basic Finns consider it important that the report takes a critical position, among other things, on the way in which municipal elections were postponed at the last minute. The report states that the situation creates ambiguity in the nomination of candidates and the status of candidates, and emphasizes that the government cannot put Parliament ahead of the facts, party chairman Jussi Halla-aho and group leader Ville Tavio state in a statement published by Suomen Uutiset .

According to them, holding municipal elections on April 18 became virtually impossible because the Ministry of Justice has failed in its duty to make arrangements to hold the elections safely in the face of an epidemic.

- In addition, the lists of candidates submitted on March 9 in accordance with the current law have been illegally not confirmed in municipalities that, under the guidance of the Ministry of Justice, have been waiting to change the law, Halla-aho and Tavio say.

According to the party, “principled opposition” to election elections does not make sense because they cannot be held safely. The Basic Finns intend to propose in Parliament that the continuation of the nomination of candidates be limited to those persons who become eligible for election between the old and the new list submission date.

- We also state that the Ministry of Justice and Minister Henriksson have misled parties and citizens by convincing them until the last minute that elections can and will be held on time, regardless of the epidemic situation, Jussi Halla-aho and Ville Tavio say.

On Friday, an anonymous member of the Constitutional Committee criticized the activities of basic Finnish MPs, as the party has publicly criticized the postponement of the elections. Party Secretary Simo Grönroos opposed the transfer, saying the postponement of the elections would erode democracy.

No vote was requested in committee on the postponement of the elections, and no dissenting opinion was left in the minutes.

- They were in favor of postponing the election where everyone else was. It is not credible to spread conspiracy theories on social media about the reasons for postponing the election and wagging fists in the provinces, when the parliamentary committee work recognizes together with others that a serious epidemic is a valid reason to postpone municipal elections, the committee member told Iltalehti .

2. mtvuutiset.fi (translated, original by Elise Tykkylainen, 12.03.2021)

Razmyar and Halla-aho argued in the exam: Foreign speakers have a lot of coronary infections in Helsinki - should they be vaccinated first? "Pretty much there is an attitude of correction"

Nasima Razmyar from SDP, who is competing for the position of mayor of Helsinki, and Jussi Halla-aho from basic Finns met today after MTV's Five in the mayor's exam. The 85 debate turned to the problems of immigration, both in terms of coronary infections and housing arrangements.

Lasse Lehtonen, HUS's Director of Diagnostics, has stated that 40 per cent of corona infections in the Helsinki metropolitan area are in foreign languages. He has proposed that residents of residential areas with a foreign background be elevated to the top of the vaccine list.

- Of course, vaccination is certainly a way to improve the situation. In addition to vaccination, there is still a need for testing, and it is a positive thing that people are also testing in these areas. The reason for the infections is also cramped living, says Helsinki City Councilor and Deputy Mayor Nasima Razmyar.

- In general, we are not talking about a foreign-speaking population, but if we think about what has been said about HUS's information, for example, it is mainly about the Somali, Arabic and Kurdish-speaking populations, says Jussi Halla-aho , the chairman of Basic Finns .

- Most obviously there is quite a lot of attitudes to correct. If we go to immigrant-dominated suburbs, very many see people without masks socializing in large groups. Yes, many people find it unfair to take very harsh measures on society as a whole because some people don’t care, Halla-aho continues.

Disagree on people's living

The discussion turned to housing arrangements.

“We should not allow“ ghettoized ”residential areas to emerge, where people live in cramped conditions and where a lot of people live who may have difficulty complying with the rules for linguistic or cultural reasons, Halla-aho says.

- Finland is one of the worst integrators in the OECD, but then when you say this out loud, you are outraged by the existence of ghettoous areas in Helsinki. Yes, Halla-aho shouts.

Halla-aho also presents a solution to the problem.

- Ghettoization arises from the people who live there. We have the wrong kind of immigration too. Immigration itself is not a problem, but low-level immigration is, Halla-aho says.

- The mayor of Helsinki cannot close borders. You have to be realistic about what can be done, Razmyar points out.

However, Razmyar notes that there are also problems among immigrants.

- For example, the unemployment rate of foreign speakers is higher and everyone has to work on these. We may not have been successful in integration, we need to work to make learning a language and learning at work, for example, Razmyar says.

- Personally, I see that we do not have ghetto areas in Helsinki from an international point of view. Compared to other cities, we have succeeded quite well in this, Razmyar notes.

3. helsinkitimes.com (original by Aleksi Teivainen, 18.03.2021)

HS: Finns Party holds one-point lead over Social Democrats

AN OPINION POLL by Helsingin Sanomat suggests the Finns Party has widened its advantage over the Social Democratic Party.

Popular support for the populist right-wing opposition party, the poll found, has crept up by 0.4 percentage points in the past month to 21.5 per cent, whereas that for the ruling party has dipped by 0.5 points to 20.5 per cent.

Sa kari Nurmela, the research director at Kantar TNS, said the Social Democrats may have lost ground in the poll due to resurgent concerns about the coronavirus epidemic in Finland.

“Similarly to the Finns Party, they have won public support through their chairperson [Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP)]. Marin has been a guarantor in the fight against the coronavirus, 87 but now that the situation looks to have changed it may be reflected in the [party’s] popularity,” he commented to Helsingin Sanomat.

Kantar TNS interviewed 2,462 people for the poll between 15 February and 12 March.

Infection numbers have risen noticeably almost across the country in March, prompting the government to commence preparatory work on restrictions as severe as curfews. Also the municipal elections were recently postponed by a couple of months because of the epidemiological situation, a decision that has come under criticism especially from the Finns Party.

Nurmela also highlighted that the opposition party has managed to steer clear of controversy in recent months, possibly increasing its appeal in the eyes of some voters.

Helsingin Sanomat pointed out that although the respondents were asked to name their party of choice for the parliamentary elections, the poll results can be used to draw some conclusions about the balance of power heading into the municipal elections. The municipal elections are scheduled for 13 June.

The Finns Party, it highlighted, is clearly poised to succeed, having not only consolidated its position at the top of the poll but also secured a record number of candidates – over 1,500 more than in the municipal elections of 2017.

“The Finns Party is undeniably in the best position in its history ahead of the municipal elections,” confirmed Nurmela.

One of the perennial questions around the party, however, is whether it succeeds in mobilising its supporters and realising its full vote potential, he reminded.

Elsewhere, the Centre Party saw its popularity increase by 0.8 points to 11.8 per cent, probably as a result of its old supporters reinstating their support for it. Support for the National Coalition fell by 0.4 points to 16.0 per cent following the withdrawal of its mayoral candidate in Helsinki, Kirsi Piha.

Speculation suggests her surprise withdrawal may be a symptom of internal disagreements within the party. Piha was replaced as the lead candidate by Juhana Vartiainen.

4. yle.fi (translated, original by yle.fi, 04.03.2021)

Marin A-Talk on preparation of corona measures: It is possible that the government will discuss new restrictive measures.

According to Prime Minister Sanna Marin (sd.), It is very possible that the government will soon have to go through new interest rate restriction measures. According to Marini, new actions can be reviewed already this week.

Marin considers the strict demarcation of fundamental rights to be a last resort.

- It must be remembered that when we talk about such severe restrictions on fundamental rights, they must be necessary and proportionate and all other measures must be taken, Marin said.

Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (r.) Agreed with Marin on the curfew.

- I hope we don't get into that situation. I hope that the measures that we have now decided and that will enter into force and remain in force will succeed, Henriksson said.

Sanna Marin said in an interview with A-Talk that she could not find anything to blame for the work done by the officials.

- The civil service has been doing a lot of work for a year now. I wouldn’t blame it, it won’t help in this situation.

Forced masking is not necessary

Also present at the program were party chairmen Jussi Halla-aho (ps.) And Sari Essayah (kd.). Party leaders agree that the introduction of mask coercion is not necessary to prevent coronavirus.

- The most effective is to avoid physical contact with other people. There is no single panacea for a pandemic, the prime minister said.

- Implementing a mask coercion would not be realistic, said Jussi Halla-aho.

Essayah criticizes the vague messages from the government and the bureaucracy. According to Essayah, families now need clear messages to function.

- Public confidence is eroding, Essayah says.

The organization of the elections is being discussed Halla-aho considers it important to hold elections and would not change their timing.

- The curfew is not such a scenario that the election would have to be postponed, Halla-aho said.

- We hope that the three-week closure will help and we will be able to hold elections, said Essayah.

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POLAND

1. mandiner.hu (translated, original by Barnabás Heincz, 17.03.2021)

Poland is on the brink of demographic collapse

Poland's population is declining at an unprecedented rate, while the epidemic-stricken statistics do not show the baby boom hoped for by the closures. The largest country in Central Europe is declining at an unprecedented rate since World War II, with a population roughly halved by 2100.

The Polish Statistical Office does not provide very good data for 2020:

129,000 more people died than were born, the birth rate reached a low in 2004 and the number of deaths has risen to levels not seen since World War II.

The coronavirus was responsible for the lives of 28,500 people in 2020, according to Polish authorities, but the difference in the statistics is much larger, with 76,400 more people dying in 2020 than a year earlier. According to Professor Bolesław Samoliński, the Polish healthcare system did not perform well, as the epidemic jeopardized emergency care and many people did not receive special care due to the continuing shortage of doctors. These processes are all evident in total mortality.

However, not only are the effects of the pandemic lurking in the background, but there is a much more serious problem: the fundamental demographic crisis in Poland.

Missing baby boom, worsening numbers

It is interesting to look at the number of births, as scientists and sociologists also expected the closures during the first wave to result in a kind of baby boom.

However, ‘quarantine babies’ have not arrived, the March closures had no effect on December either.

"Concerns have clearly risen above short-term hopes, and the blackness caused by the epidemic has penetrated not only the Poles' heads and homes, but also their beds," commented Piotr Szukalski, a demographic professor at the University of Łódź, adding that the birth rate decline is surprising. Piotr Szukalski also pointed out that there is a gradual increase in the average age of childbearing, and the 2020 result is outstanding. In the larger Polish cities, most women already have their first child over the age of 30.

Due to the above effects - high mortality, epidemic situation, closures, uncertainty, postponed childbearing age -he reproduction rate in Poland fell below 1.4, which is in line with the trend that has been going on for years, however, the coronavirus epidemic clearly exacerbates the already rosy Polish demographic outlook.

The Family 500+ Family and Justice Family Support Program could not improve the reproduction rate either, which was expected to increase the rate to at least 1.6. Although the family policy measure introduced in 2016 has virtually halved the child poverty rate in Poland in two years and also reduced income inequalities, the demographic breakthrough has lagged behind and the desire to have children has fallen to its lowest point. Basically, this trend has been present in Polish society so far, however, the uncertainty caused by the epidemic, the economic crisis and the ongoing tensions can have a negative impact on the desire to have children. Especially since the closures have been going on for a year and we haven’t seen the end of the pandemic yet. According to Szukalski, the tax-free monthly fee of PLN 500 (HUF 40,000) for children can lead to family expansion in some cases, but does not change the general family model.

One of the long-term effects of the epidemic has so far been mentioned - in scientific circles - the declining birth rate, and Polish experts have highlighted several factors. First, with the onset of the epidemic, the number of marriages has decreased, as has the number of mothers and mothers

medical care and pregnancy care for expectant mothers have also become more difficult. Added to this was the fact that the epidemic had to be curbed by reducing community life and the number of contacts, which also eliminated the channels of acquaintance of young people. This situation was exacerbated by the economic crisis, which brought financial and labor market instability, although Poland was less affected by the latter; Unemployment rates, despite growth, are outstandingly good at EU level.

As a result, the lesson to be drawn is that, for the most part, it is not financial uncertainty that has led to a decline in birth rates, but instability in general in all areas of life.

It could be halved by the end of the century

The population of Poland after World War II was 19 million in 1945, followed by a huge explosion during the socialist era. Between 1951 and 1989, the country's population rose from 25 million to 38 million, and the special feature is that, compared to Hungarian trends, this increase did not stop even after the change of regime. The peak occurred in 1999 and has been steadily declining since then. The post-war baby boomers, although able to sustain population growth for a long time, will soon have no visible impact on demographic trends,

And Poland's population could shrink to 21 million by 2100, according to current estimates - this is 3 million people less than the population recorded after the Second World War, which caused huge losses! The Polish Statistical Office predicts that the birth rate will reach a low point by 2050 and weight loss cannot be stopped with the current reproduction rate.

The demographic situation in Poland could be a warning sign for all Central European countries, as crises such as the coronavirus epidemic could accelerate drastically. Although the 2008 global economic crisis did not have a positive effect on the desire to have children, the current situation is much more complex, not to mention that the current development and welfare model of our society does not fill large-family housing estates in large cities. The situation is similar in the West, but there the population is growing as a result of immigration. However, as Central Europe has recently made it clear that it does not want to go the way that French or Swedish societies will need, an urgent and effective solution will be needed - or soon the electricity will have to be turned off in many villages and block houses.

2. nepszava.hu (translated, original by MTI, 10.03.2021)

Poland expels a Belarusian diplomat

In response to Minsk's "hostile actions", Poland is expelling a Belarusian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz announced in Warsaw on Wednesday. 93

Warsaw responded with a decision that the previous day the Belarusian Foreign Ministry had called on the Polish Consul General in Brest, Jerzy Timofieuk, to leave the country. Marcin Przydacz posted the Polish response on his Twitter page.

"In response to hostile and unjustified actions by the Belarussian authorities (...), Poland has today declared one of the diplomats of the Belarusian Embassy in Warsaw an undesirable person," the entry read.

The previous day, the Minsk authorities justified the expulsion of the Polish Consul General in Brest by attending an informal event of the so-called Cursed Soldiers Memorial Day in Brest on 28 February.

This day of remembrance was introduced in Poland in honor of the Polish freedom fighters working underground after the Second World War, who also took up the fight with the Soviets after the Nazi German occupiers.

Already on Tuesday, Przydacz indicated in a statement to the PAP news agency that Poland will respond immediately to the decision of the Belarussian authorities. He assessed that the expulsion of their Timofie would have a negative impact on bilateral relations. He underlined at the same time that he was thinking of official relations, as he considered the relationship between the two nations to be "very good".

In his statement, Przydacz called on Belarus for the release of political prisoners and respect for fundamental civil rights.

3. origo.hu (translated, original by MTI, 11.03.2021)

Hungary and Poland have brought actions before the Court of Justice of the European Union

Hungary and Poland have filed an action with the Court of Justice of the European Union in connection with a general regulation on the rule of law adopted by the European Parliament and the Council to protect the EU budget, the Luxembourg-based EU court said in a statement to MTI on Thursday.

In December, the European Council of the Heads of State or Government of the European Union reaffirmed the agreement reached at the EU summit in July on the European Union's budget for the next seven years and a fund for recovery from the corona virus epidemic. A CLAUSE HAS BEEN ATTACHED TO THE REGULATION THAT THE LEGALITY MECHANISM MECHANISM FOR THE SUPERVISION OF EU MONEY SHOULD ONLY BE LAUNCHED IF THE MEASURES OF A MEMBER STATE This means that the mechanism cannot be used for political purposes.

When using the mechanism, as a first step, the European Commission may propose to initiate the conditionality procedure if it finds that a Member State is committing an infringement. The Council, which brings together the Member States, then has one month, in exceptional cases three months, to vote on the proposed measures by a qualified majority. DURATION OF THE FULL DECISION MECHANISM IS 7-9 MONTHS. The new legislation will apply not only in individual cases but also, according to the text, when fundamental rights are violated at systemic level and this has an impact on the management of EU funds.

The legislation ensures that final beneficiaries eligible for or dependent on EU grants have access to them during or after the procedure. The European Commission has also been empowered to adjust the payments due to the Member State by reducing the next tranche of aid to that Member State.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference in Brussels following the confirmation of the conditionality in December that THEY WILL EXERCISE THE RIGHT TO BRING THE REGULATION ON THE RULE OF LAW MECHANISM BEFORE THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO DETERMINE WHETHER EU LAW IS COMPATIBLE.

What is illegal cannot be left without a word. We cannot allow EU legislation that seriously infringes legal certainty to remain in force, so, as we promised last year, we are challenging the conditionality regulation before the Court of Justice of the European Union today, together with Poland.

4. mandiner.hu (translated, original by mandiner.hu, 20.03.2021)

Countries are working on reopening, Brussels on the rule of law

Even this year, the EU would hold back billions citing the rule of law.

The European Union could withhold payments from the recovery budget later this year to those member states that Brussels believes do not meet certain criteria of the rule of law, quoted Bloomberg news agency Vera Jourova, vice president of the European Commission, on Friday, the World Economy said.

According to a draft scheme under preparation, the Commission would make payments conditional on the Member State guaranteeing the controlled use of the funds, ie that the

have a "well-functioning judiciary, a well-functioning public procurement system and a well- functioning prosecutor's office"- quoting Jourova, who said that the situation in Hungary and Poland had deteriorated despite the EU's efforts (the governments of both countries had rejected criticisms of their democratic system in the past, calling them a political attack - ed.).

In her second interview this year, Vera Jourová warns - presumably the two member states - who have been under the rule of law for years and who threatened a budget veto before the EU summit last December to soften the overly strict rule of law mechanism, the portfolio adds.

Jourová’s other important message is that she will propose a system in which they can already sanction potential money, not just money that has already been spent (in the Member State - ed.).

They add. After all, as he put it as Joura, for them it means “a big difference”, so “we could achieve a concrete result already this year” (that is, even before the Hungarian parliamentary elections - ed.).

The Hungarian government also responded

Zoltán Kovács, Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, responded to Jourová's statement by e-mail to the World Economy, which is stated below without changes:

“György Soros's loyal ally seems to have to prove his hatred for Hungarians week by week, which is a violation of Hungary and the Hungarian people. And the representative of the Commission, who has repeatedly proved his incompetence, could deal with the erroneous procurement of vaccines in Brussels instead of attacking Hungary for all sorts of provocative reasons. "

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CZECH REPUBLIC

1. idnes.cz (translated, original by idnes.cz, 20.03.2021)

Let's all pull together and choose the SPD, Okamura reacted to Klaus

Former President Vaclav Klaus sees the SPD and Tricolor as a way to return to "normal" and suggested that they should join forces. However, SPD leader Tomio Okamura refused. If, according to him, the forces of smaller patriotic or Eurosceptic parties are not to be fragmented, let people only vote for the SPD.

Tomio Okamura from the SPD movement, when asked by the iDNES.cz editorial office if he could imagine a merger of SPD and Tricolor forces for this year's elections, replied that smaller patriotic or Eurosceptic parties should not shatter forces.

"I urge them to support the largest patriotic party, the SPD, and pull together. So we have an even better chance of succeeding over the pro-Brussels parties. Personal ambitions and politicking need to be thrown away. This year's elections to the Chamber of Deputies in October will literally be about preserving the freedom and existence of our republic. Any lost vote for parties that do not have a clear chance to exceed the 5% voting threshold means, as a result of the strengthening of votes for the Pirates and ODS coalitions, "he wrote.

According to Tomio Okamura, the SPD movement is also the only patriotic party in the Czech Republic that promotes a political agenda at the European level together with the strongest European patriotic parties, and we form a joint faction with them in the European Parliament.

"Together with the French National Assembly of Marine Le Pen and the SPD, members of our patriotic faction Identity and Democracy are, for example, the Italian Lega of Matteo Salvini or the Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders. The Czech Republic is in first place, "he added.

Pirates are on the left, Tricolor and the SPD will return the country to "normal", says Klaus The head of the Tricolor, Václav Klaus Jr., does not want to comment on the ex-president's statement until Monday.

According to the latest election survey conducted for Czech Television by Kantar CZ, the coalition of Pirates and STAN would win the election with 34 percent of the vote. Behind them, the YES movement would end up with 22 percent. The Coalition Together, consisting of ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL, would take third place according to the election model and gain 17.5 percent.

The SPD would win 11 percent of the vote. The tricolor, led by Václav Klaus Jr., would not get into the Chamber. However, Tricolor, the Private Party of the Czech Republic and the Free Citizens' Party want to run in the autumn parliamentary elections together. At the beginning of March, they signed an agreement on long-term cooperation . The chairman of the Tricolor, Václav Klaus Jr., stated that only according to the form of the new electoral law will they decide whether to form an electoral coalition or whether one of the parties will run and support the others.

The former president called the Pirates a radical left

Former President Vaclav Klaus wrote a statement calling for the parties that care about civil liberties to unite for this year's parliamentary elections. In this context, he mentioned the SPD and the Tricolor, led by his son. He also warns against the so-called radical left, for which he has Pirates.

Pirates and STAN will get 34 percent of the vote, second YES 22, according to a survey by Kantar Until the publication of the article, the chairman of the Pirate Party, Ivan Bartoš, did not respond to the editors' questions about the former president's statement.

"We reject the continuation of the current destructive government policy and demand a return to civil and economic freedom, which is a prerequisite for normal life in the country and the only guarantee of its prosperity," the statement said.

2. cz.sputniknews.com (translated, original by CR, 06.03.2021)

Okamura ventures hard in House and EU: They want to owe Czech citizens to save the failing eurozone

"Globalist usurers" want to save the failing eurozone countries at the expense of Czech citizens, said SPD chairman Tomio Okamura. At the same time, he criticized most parliamentary parties for supporting the initiative in the House.

On his Facebook page, Okamura mentioned Wednesday's vote on so-called European Union bonds . He noted that, unlike the SPD, European bonds were supported by MPs ANO, Pirátů, ČSSD, KSČM, KDU-ČSL, TOP 09 and STAN.

"Do they not care that Czech citizens are enormously indebted and that the power of the EU dictatorship is strengthening? Czech citizens will pay off the debts of failing eurozone countries such as Italy and Greece, where they have much higher salaries and pensions than in our country! ”Okamura was angry on Facebook.

"What is the essence of this plan? EU elites will borrow the money they distribute and the member states will vouch for it. The European Union will introduce several pan-European taxes. It's about having to subsidize the failing eurozone countries, "he continued.

The chairman of the SPD noted that the Czech Republic will repay the debt for a period of 37 years until 2058. In addition, he criticizes the introduction of new taxes, which would become the EU's own financial source. Specifically, it is the introduction of a fee for non-recycled plastics, a carbon duty and a digital tax. MEPs also suggested that part of the money that member states have from the sale of emission allowances go to EU common funds.

"This is the next step in creating one centralized state with its own taxes and its own independent budget. Unfortunately, this was also supported at the EU summit by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, "Okamura pointed out.

Okamura also criticized MPs Tricolor and his former teammates Lubomír Volný and Marian Bojek for not voting. However, Tereza Hyťhová (also a former member of the SPD) voted for Tricolor , who rejected the proposal. In addition to the SPD, ODS deputies voted against.

In any case, Okamura sees this latest EU initiative as further proof of its harmfulness. According to him, it is necessary to leave it as soon as possible.

"We reject the debt union. We refuse to pay globalist moneylenders for the debts of failing eurozone countries, "the politician noted.

In addition, he reiterated his opposition to the so-called Green Agreement for Europe , which means that the 27 are trying to become the "first climate-neutral continent" in the world.

"According to the government document Climate Protection of the Czech Republic, the European Commission assumes that the costs of achieving carbon neutrality in the Czech Republic will be double that of the old EU member states and estimates them at hundreds of billions of crowns per year for at least 20 years," the SPD chief warns.

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3. novinky.cz (translated, original by Klára Beranová, 14.03.2021)

Former President Klaus: I had a temperature for two days, I did not panic. I recommend it to everyone

Former President Vaclav Klaus is feeling well after the coronavirus, and his illness was mild.

He only had a fever for two days, so he didn't panic. "I would recommend that to everyone," he told CNN Prima News in the Party. He also did not rule out running for parliamentary or presidential elections.

"I feel quite well, my illness was mild. One day I had a temperature of 37.3. Once again I had 37.1. I was expecting something like that, I didn't panic. I would recommend that to everyone, "the ex-president described his experience with coronavirus.

According to an earlier statement, Klaus was treated with commonly available preparations such as aspirin. He also took vitamins, natural remedies and isoprinosine to boost immunity.

Klaus is known for his criticism of current coronavirus measures, and he has also appeared in public several times without a veil or respirator. For example, at the celebrations on October 28, he did not wear a veil properly, for which the Prague hygiene subsequently imposed a fine of 10,000 crowns.

He doesn't know where he got infected

Coronavirus was detected three weeks ago. He doesn't know where he got infected. "Maybe when I did a great interview on one podcast. It turned out that the man was infected, "he said.

According to him, panic is deliberately spreading in the Czech Republic. "I know that covid is a moderate virus that spreads badly and in many cases reaches tragic ends. But there is no reason for us to panic and take these measures, "he said.

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"Our healthcare system is not about to collapse. For example, they wanted to keep me in the hospital. I said I didn't want to be there. This did not increase the number of hospitalized, "he added.

He did not rule out a candidacy

When asked directly by the Party, the ex-president also did not rule out his candidacy for parliamentary or presidential elections. However, the priority for him is the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, which should take place in the autumn of 2021.

Parlament elections

"There must be an alternative to today's desperate Pirates. I hope that I will not need to lead the party in the parliamentary elections. If it weren't for the rest, I think it would be a betrayal to say no, ”he said.

4. mandiner.hu (translated, original by Barnabás Heincz, 16.03.2021)

Such is the reality of the Visegrad countries

Geography and culture, religion and demography, promising data and sobering facts: the Visegrad Atlas not only summarizes the past decades of the V4s spectacularly and in detail, but can also point the way to the future. Central Europe in fifty chapters, as we have never seen before: our review!

"We can do more together," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki began his essay on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Visegrad countries, highlighting that the V4 countries have made great strides over the past thirty years in creating a highly competitive economy that competes successfully. with western markets.

“In recent years, our economic growth has exceeded the EU average, which was 2.1 per cent, compared to 3.8 per cent for the Visegrad Group; compared to the EU, the V4 countries boast a low unemployment rate, which did not exceed the EU average in December 2020, and the Czech Republic and Poland had the lowest in the EU, ”the Polish prime minister listed the 102 group's merits. Viktor Orbán also shared his thoughts on the occasion of the anniversary: as he put it, the goal is to “fill our vocation”.

However, this career can only be successful if there are new goals before V4 and new goals need a solid foundation. Solid statistics, analyzes and info maps showing where we Central Europeans have come in the last three decades.

The recently published Visegrad Atlas, a joint work of two institutions, the Wacław Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation in Warsaw and the Polish Geographical Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Geografyczne), helps to answer this question. The Atlas discusses social, economic and natural, as well as historical and geopolitical issues in 50 chapters in Polish and English, accompanied by spectacular statistics and maps, which show how the Visegrad countries have developed over the years and what needs to be improved.

The work, the joint construction, is not over yet. As Maciej Szymanowski, director of the Wacław Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute, writes in his foreword, ”.

The atlas begins with geographical and administrative analyzes and maps, during which we can compare the boundaries of the present with the historical boundaries, and gain important information about the administrative system and division of each V4 country.

It is worth highlighting the land use of the countries, which shows that Hungary leads in the percentage of arable land, while the artificial incorporation is roughly the same in all Visegrad countries. Hungary also has the largest water surface area (1.6%), while in Slovakia this proportion is one third of the Hungarian population (0.5%).

There are also large differences in the size of forests, in which Slovakia leads (by 40 percent), while Hungary is in last place (by 23.5 percent). Hungary has the highest proportion of artificially planted forests; In the Czech Republic and Poland, state ownership dominates, while in Slovakia and Hungary, the share of privately owned forests is 50 percent. Interestingly, however, it is in the latter two countries that forests are most protected, while in Poland and the Czech Republic it is less so.

Population maps are also worth a look. The vast majority of the population of the V4s live either in the Krakow-Katowice-Ostrava triangle or in the capitals. The urbanization of the population is significant,

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The Czech Republic, Western Poland and Hungary have the fastest urbanization, this is mainly due to historical traditions as well as rapid industrialization. On the map, it is worth observing the predominance of Budapest and its agglomeration not only in Hungary, but also in Central Europe.

Very interesting conclusions can also be drawn about the “gravitational force” of the V4 big cities. In Poland, the Warsaw-Krakow-Katowice-Wroclaw-Torun-Lodz region is the most connected, while at the V4 level, Krakow-Katowice-Budapest-Vienna-Bratislava forms a huge block. The map also shows that the V4 states connect regions and not complete countries: Krakow, which can be reached from Budapest, Gdansk is out of the spotlight of Hungarian interest, so much so that Lemberg in Ukraine has more connections to the Hungarian capital than Poland's sixth largest city and seaport.

In the chapters dealing with population and demographic processes, we can find several disappointing statistics. The map below shows the difference between live births and deaths projected per 1,000 inhabitants (blue is the worst, red the best).

The favorable developments in Slovakia and southern Poland are due to non-economic, but rather cultural and religious reasons: the large family is more accepted, the number of Gypsies is significant, and the Greek Catholic denomination is also conducive to population processes. The lowest live births per 1,000 inhabitants between 2014 and 18 were in Hungary and Central Slovakia. In Hungary, the situation is not severe only in the Budapest region and Eastern Hungary, in the former the economic processes are favorable, while in the latter the processes of Eastern Slovakia and Southern Poland can be observed (religion, Gypsies, different family model).

Socialist religious policy caused the most damage in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, and after 1990, each country approached religion and the church differently. The map below clearly shows the Polish predominance of Roman Catholicism and the historical legacy of Protestantism in Eastern Hungary and the Czech Republic. In Eastern Hungary, the most complex and colorful religious map is in the entire Visegrád group, and most Reformed denominations are also found in Hungary.

Contrary to population statistics, the Olympic medal table in the chapter on sport is more heartwarming. Among the Visegrad countries, Hungary participated in most of the Summer Olympics and we collected more gold medals than all the other countries combined. In the final comparison, 491 out of 1006 medals won by the Visegrad countries are Hungarians. The most successful sports in Hungary are fencing, swimming and canoeing, and water polo is one of the team sports. 104

The atlas contains detailed data and analyzes of the health situation in the Visegrad countries, and even replaced the 2020 coronavirus epidemic between chapters. The authors also focus on higher education, transport networks and transport, the V4 state of research and innovation and research networks, the regional energy market, agricultural performance, and even UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Visegrád Atlas is a gap-filling publication that sums up the past decades of the Visegrád countries with amazing visibility and detail so that it also sets future goals. A red or blue spot can mean good or bad, but the point is that we are aware of what and how to do it. And such a complex knowledge base is an indispensable help in this.

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HUNGARY

1. hirtv.hu (translated, original by Magyar Nemzet, 14.03.2021)

To strengthen ourselves in our national pride: that is our task

According to Zsolt Semjén, the European Union wants to force an ideology foreign to us

It is important that we defend our sovereignty and Christian civilization against either the Islamic invasion or the imperial aspirations of Brussels, Zsolt Semjén told the Hungarian Nation on the occasion of the national holiday. The Deputy Prime Minister believes that the unification of the Hungarian nation in public law can be a realistic answer to the Trianon today. He called Pope Francis' visit an honor, and he said it was a serious gesture on the part of the Holy Father. 105

"What is the message of the 1848 Revolution and War of Independence to us today?"

- 1848 has a double message, just like the founding of St. Stephen's state and 1956. In the case of St. Stephen, this was the accession to Christian Europe and the creation of a sovereign Hungarian state, called “home and progress” in 1848, and national independence in 1956 to leave the occupying Soviet troops and create a free Hungary. .

Our most important task now is to strengthen ourselves in our national pride and to defend our sovereignty and Christian civilization against either the Islamic invasion or the imperial aspirations of Brussels.

- Would Brussels be the new Vienna?

“You can see a parallel, of course, but you have to see an arc for Vienna: the Reformation, the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848, the resistance and the Compromise of 1867. In my opinion, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was incomparably more organic than the European Union today. Think of the common mentality of Central Europe. With a Croatian or Czech man, we understand each other half-words, but this is not true of a Swedish or a Belgian. In the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, our historical heritage was accepted much better than today the European Union, which wants to force a uniformed ideology foreign to us.

- Central commemorations will be missed this year. Can it be celebrated worthily like this?

- The most important thing now is to save human lives, and to do everything else, thus also the holding of festive events. Citizens cannot celebrate birthdays more widely, for example, and this time we cannot have a national holiday in the usual way, but that does not prevent anyone from celebrating in their hearts.

- It is good news that the signatures have been gathered at the initiative of the Szekler National Council, but knowing how the Minority SafePack case has been swept off the table, do these efforts make sense?

- Of course they make sense. On the one hand, it should never be given up, and on the other hand, it is good to get used to the subject in Brussels.

Scandal that happened with the Minority SafePack. After Věra Jourová's cynical statements and the committee's resolution, it is obviously an illusion to think that the problems of the 106

Hungarian continents across the border will be solved from Brussels. For them, the most important thing is what is the case with LGBTQ deviances, but with real, value-bearing minorities such as national minorities and religious communities are particularly hostile.

This may stem from their compulsive notion that they see development as the disappearance of nations, religion and family. They visually reject national existence, so they will always neglect national considerations. The initiative of the Szekler National Council must be carried out. The Hungarian government provided all the support for this, with the help of which László Pesty and his team collected the necessary signatures in all ten countries. It would be naive to think that the Szeklers' proposal would be accepted this time. But it’s not just a question of whether the union will accept it, but to show it, we won’t let it sweep you off the table. We will bring this matter up again and again, and we will work step by step to widen the room for maneuver of national minorities.

- Recently it was Szekler holiday. What is the message of this day?

- The Szekler Freedom Day and the aspirations for autonomy are especially important for the Szeklers, because we have to be aware of our rights ourselves. They are also important for universal Hungarians, because if something happens to one part of the nation, it affects the others as well. In the South, for example, cultural autonomy is in a state of realization. And the positive experiences of this are a reference point elsewhere. We must always keep the demands of the rights we deserve on the agenda. What has reality must be realized, but what is unrealistic now that we achieve must not be given up, because it still deserves us. The Romanian brothers also have to get used to the fact that there is a demand for autonomy. And it must be kept on the agenda in the EU that Szeklers also have what other national minorities have already received. If we were to accept that this right belongs to the Austrians of South Tyrol, for example, but not to the Szeklers, we would be acknowledging that we are second- class EU citizens. And this will never be accepted!

- What would you say to a Romanian who, on hearing the Szekler Freedom Day, cannot be enthusiastic: why have nothing to fear?

- I can tell our Romanian friends to look at the western countries where many of their compatriots live, whether the autonomy and the guarantee of minority rights there have harmed or used that country. Based on this, they can see that ensuring the rights of Hungarians is not to the detriment of Romanians. It is not better for a Romanian to be bad for Hungarians. On the other hand, if the Hungarians are good in Transylvania, and the Szeklers feel good in their homeland, the Szeklerland, then Romania will also get rich.

- How could you take stock of the national politics of recent years? 107

- Naturalization is literally historic. Politicians come and go, laws change, but naturalization is eternal. Those who have become Hungarian citizens or their descendants will remain so until the end of time, since everyone who is a child of a Hungarian citizen is also a Hungarian citizen. This public unification of the nation is the realistic answer to the Trianon today.

- In addition to granting citizenship, what else do you consider important?

- We doubled the amount we spent on preserving Hungarian identity. Among Hungarians across the border, we maintain Hungarian educational institutions from kindergarten to university. We have built a thousand kindergartens across the border and renovated or built more than three thousand churches in the Carpathian Basin.

The Kőrösi Csoma Sándor program is successful, in the framework of which our hundreds of young scholars serve in the diaspora communities, and the essence of the Infinite program is that all schoolchildren get to the Hungarian environment across the border and those across the border to Hungary. In addition, we support Hungarian parties and organizations based on ethnic origin across the border, whether some successor states like it or not, because it does not matter whether the mayor of a settlement is Hungarian or not, whether we are in the parliament of the country or the Hungarian party. We also provide unprecedented resources for economic development. This is also a meaningful investment in terms of Hungarian economic expansion, because every forint we invest across the border produces two forints of GDP there, but also at least half in the mother country. This is good for the Hungarians there, for the members of the majority nation living there, for the given country and for Hungary.

- Not everyone is so enthusiastic about the government's national policy. How about DK objecting to the alleged vaccination of dual citizens across Hungary in Hungary?

- The issue is more serious than DK itself and their incitement. The real question is, what is the meaning and purpose of the Hungarian state? The survival of the Hungarian nation and the improvement of the quality of life of the Hungarian people! The Hungarian nation can survive if all parts of the nation can survive. If the Hungarians of the Highlands or Transylvania disappeared, the universal Hungarians would be mutilated. It follows from all this the support of Hungarians across the border. They are not a foreign body, but one with us. We are a nation. The vaccine can be given to anyone who is registered anyway. This requires a tb card. Vaccination is not based on nationality.

"Would it be of such a devil anyway that those living across the border could be vaccinated?"

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“It is my opinion that when we registered the vaccinees, so everyone who we could talk to about the vaccine got vaccinated, we need to help our brothers and sisters across the border get vaccinated. This practically applies to the Hungarians in Transcarpathia, as the Serbs are good at vaccination, and our other neighbors are EU states, so they are vaccinated there as well.

- You did not respond to what he said about DK's behavior on the matter.

- Ferenc Gyurcsány and his company have always been anti-national, so he was a traitor, and still is. It is a constant element of their life history and politics that they neglect Hungarian sovereignty. This used to be done in the Soviet bloc, now the EU are intended to be deformed so that Hungarian sovereignty can be relativized in the European United States. From this point of view, it does not matter to them whether the Soviet Union or the European Union, the point is not to be Hungarian. Let us not forget, it was Ferenc Gyurcsány who, as Prime Minister, did not stop campaigning against his own nation and wanted to exclude Hungarians from the possibility of Hungarian citizenship. At the same time, it wants to provide migrants with the benefits that Hungarian citizens deserve.

- How about Pope Francis accepting the invitation and visiting Hungary?

- It is an honor for the Holy Father to come to the Eucharistic Congress, because it is not always the popes who attend. This is a serious gesture on the part of Pope Francis.

- The opposition press is trying to position the pope as someone who is socially sensitive and does not like the Hungarian government as a man worried about immigrants. Still, he visits us. Does this refute this approach?

"By the office and person of the Holy Father, he loves everyone, including us." It is also from the pope’s South American roots that he pays special attention to the poor, the persecuted, and those on the road, which is natural since Christ identified himself with the poor.

According to Catholic teaching, everyone must fulfill their duty in their own state. In the case of the Pope, it is a representation of the aspects of the world church. And the Hungarian government has a state duty to represent the Hungarian people and their perspectives. It would be a mistake to confuse responsibilities arising from duties in different states.

We have been commissioned to protect Hungary and the Hungarian people. In addition, in fulfillment of our Christian obligation, we provide much greater help to the poor in their 109 homeland than to rich Western countries. This is how we meet our universal responsibility to our Christian and Hungarian nation.

2. origo.hu (translated, original by origo.hu, 21.03.2021)

Maria Schmidt: The word liberal has become the cover of anti-freedom

Communism changed its homeland and moved to America instead of the Soviet Union, according to Mary Schmidt. The historian also wrote in an article on the Angle of Thought blog that he now associates his Orwell 1984 with the beautiful new world advocated by today’s Western progressors.

- The philosopher Tamás Molnár three decades ago, when I dazedly believed that he had ended communism, warned him that despite the fact that communism had failed significantly in 1990, it had become neither outdated nor unbelievable. He changed his homeland and moved to America instead of the Soviet Union - writes historian Maria Schmidt in her article on the Angle of View blog.

In his writing, Schmidt recalls that when he first read Orwell's 1984 book, which was forbidden to us in Samizdat, in the eighties, he knew about the Soviet-type communist system in which he lived.

Mária Schmidt: in the case of popular democracies, the people were a deprator, so today's liberal has become a cover word for anti-freedom SOURCE: MTI / MÓNUS MTI / MÓNUS

- Recently, however, taking it again, I have only associated it with the beautiful new world advocated by today's Western progressors: aggressive pushing of lifestyles and other minorities, warming and focusing on racial theory, making freedom of speech impossible, disintegrating social cohesion, eliminating solidarity - writing .

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According to the historian, just as in the case of POPULATION DEMOCRACIES, the POPULATION WAS DEPOSITOR, TODAY THE LIBERAL HAS BECOME A COVER OF ANTI-FREEDOM.

- In popular democracy, reactionaries and imperialist agents have threatened progress, that is, the rule of the Party, more precisely the vanguard, in today’s liberal democracies, the uninformed, old, foolish and nationalist masses and their populist leaders stand in the way of the global future. They hinder the arrival of a supranational future that eerily reminds us of the old, which not so long ago the Communists wanted to internationalize, said Maria Schmidt.

3. index.hu (translated, original by Adél Hercsel, 14.03.2021)

Mi Hazánk (Our Country) will nominate candidates in each constituency

He introduced his candidates in Buda and introduced several of his program points to the president of Mi Hazánk Movement. Előd Novák himself will run in the 2022 parliamentary elections.

Mi Hazánk Movement will nominate independent candidates in all 106 individual parliamentary constituencies, including the Buda districts, in the 2022 parliamentary elections, the party's president announced. According to the MTI report, Előd Novák presented the candidates in Buda on Sunday.

In Constituency 1, István Szikora, an expert in international relations, András Grundter, a lawyer, in 3, Attila Nagy, President of the capital, in 4, Miklós Katona, an economist, and Tamás Esze, a mechanical engineer, in 18. In constituency 2, the party president himself will start.

Mi Hazánk Movement will start on a separate list, with its own program. From this he revealed such planned program points that the party: hold a referendum on Hungary's EU membership; introduce basic military training; 111

bring home Hungarian soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq; impose a wealth tax on billionaire oligarchs; would waive the immunity of Members; repeal the Trianon dictatorship law; protect the lives of fetuses by listening to their hearts; would link voting rights to literacy; as they put it, it would stop funding Roma programs; segregate in education; remove Hungary from the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg court; introduce Siberian wage restraint; restore the death penalty; give fire orders to the military against violent border violators; would ban LGBTQP parades in their name

- predecessor Novák listed the program points.

4. magyarhirlap.hu (translated, original by Magyar Hírlap, 14.03.2021)

Fekete-Győr would ban right-wing journalists from practicing their work

He doesn’t even care to pretend. The Momentum president would restrict press freedom and threaten journalists.

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As hirtv.hu writes, András Fekete-Győr spoke openly on his Facebook page about banning right-wing journalists who did not like his opinion from practicing if he were prime minister.

So the president of the Momentum doesn’t even care to pretend.

István Hollik, Fidesz's communications director, responded to András Fekete-Győr's video on the community page.

The politician asks the question, what would happen if such a statement left the mouths of any right-wing politician?

From The New York Times to Spiegel, we could listen to the whining about the state of Hungarian democracy and the threat to press freedom. But what does the prime ministerial candidate on the left say? Crying silence. This is indeed the real face of the left, not when he is deaf about all sorts of rule of law, Hollik answered his own question.

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SLOVAKIA

1. dw.com (translated, original by dw.com, 22.03.2021)

Slovakia PM offers to step down to end coalition crisis

Slovakian PM Igor Matovic has said he is willing to resign — under certain conditions — to put the country's coalition chaos to a rest. Coalition partners have locked horns with Matovic over his COVID-19 management.

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Igor Matovic is the leader of anti-graft political movement Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO).

Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Sunday that he was willing to resign to end a coalition deadlock over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Matovic, who has been in power for a year, offered to step down if the partners in his four- party coalition agree to certain conditions, including a Cabinet seat for himself.

"If coalition partners meet the commitments that they have publicly declared, and that is what our demands are based on, I am willing to step down as the chairman of the Cabinet and work as one of its members," Matovic said in a statement to the media.

His conditions also included other party leaders in the coalition giving up their ministerial portfolios.

"To calm the situation, we consider the departure of Minister Richard Sulik from the government to be absolutely necessary," said Matovic, talking about the economy minister and liberal SaS party leader.

Slovakia rolls out mass coronavirus testing

Dispute over purchase of Russia's Sputnik COVID vaccine In response to Matovic's demands, Sulik said he would not accept him staying on as a minister in the government.

"We will not agree with such proposals, whose main motive is obviously his (Matovic's) personal revenge," Sulik said.

The prime minister has been mired in a dispute with his coalition partners since he acted unilaterally and decided to buy Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

The decision caused an uproar among the coalition partners governing with Matovic's OLaNO party as they wanted to wait for the European Union's nod to the vaccine. 114

Junior members of the coalition have threatened to quit the government if the conservative- populist Matovic does not resign by next Wednesday, while President Zuzana Caputova, a liberal, has demanded that he find a solution.

The political upheaval comes at a time when Slovakia is battling one of the world's highest per capita rates of coronavirus deaths and infection.

2. ujszo.com (translated, original by ujszo.com, 20.03.2021)

Collar: Matovič either changes and remains head of government or has to leave

BRATISLAVA Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) will either change and remain head of government, or someone else will have to take his place, said Speaker Boris Kollár (Sme rodina) on RTVS Sobotné's Dialogue.

Kollár reiterated that personnel changes would not bring about a meaningful change, they would just put the conflict elsewhere. Replaced ministers could assert their parliamentary mandates. “The circus would move to parliament,” he said. He added that although he could imagine a triple coalition, he himself still supports the quartet coalition. He sent a message to the Za ľudí party to be open and not to do everything in their power to bring about early elections.

The Speaker praised the Prime Minister for his recent restraint on external communications. “This cannot be said of Richard Sulik,” he added, that if something goes wrong, it cannot be resolved by incitement to hatred.

Kollár also spoke about one of the SaS representatives allied against the government. “When a coalition representative wants to overthrow his own government, it’s no longer a joke,” he said. He did not specify who it was.

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3. felvidek.ma (translated, original by BM, 20.03.2021)

Boris Kollár: It is not the replacement of the head of government that is the problem, but excessive self-esteem

Boris Kollár, Speaker of the Sme Rodina Movement and the Slovak Parliament, said on the Slovak Public Service Radio and Television's Saturday Dialogues that replacing the head of government would solve nothing, but that the quarrels would move from the government to the parliament. He also rejected the speculation that the government would continue with two partners, the Sme rodina movement and OĽaNO.

"The fundamental question is not the replacement of the head of government, but whether the leading politicians in the coalition are able to reduce their over-self-esteem," he stressed. “Instead of discussions and quarrels, we should focus on work and help people during a pandemic,” he continued.

He is convinced that the future of the government is in the coalition of four, but does not rule out the possibility of change. On the TV show, his debate partner was Peter Pellegrini, chairman of the non-parliamentary Hlas-SD party, who drew attention to the fact that Slovakia is now experiencing a straightforward disintegration of the country’s governance.

He pointed out the lack of key ministers such as health and labor, while there are growing economic concerns that should be addressed immediately. According to him, the government seems to have completely stopped dealing with the epidemic and is only relying on a reduction in the number of cases and urging vaccinations. He then noted that Boris Kollár was one of Matovič's only partners, who did not openly demand his departure.

Kollár, on the other hand, rejected the accusations and suspicions, warning that he was trying to be fair to all his coalition partners, but even members of the opposition.

“But that doesn’t mean we definitely want to keep Matovič. We want to continue the governance with the coalition of four, we consider the triple coalition conceivable, but the double coalition is by no means, I can state this clearly, ”he emphasized.

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Peter Pellegrini believes that battered relations within the government and open hostility are not a good solution for the country. Symbolically speaking, “the sinking ship should be left to sink completely and a new one should be built in the shipyard,” he said, convinced that the best solution would be early elections. Finally, he denied that Hlas-SD had initiated a vote of no confidence in the government. And Boris Kollár indicated that the various news that certain members of the coalition are encouraging members of the opposition to vote no confidence in the government are true, not just rumors, he is aware of specific cases, but does not want to describe them in detail yet.

4. portfolio.hu (translated, original by MTI, 18.03.2021)

Slovakia closes: travelling abroad is banned

Slovak citizens will not be allowed to leave the country to travel abroad from Saturday, TASR, the Slovak public service news agency, said on Thursday, citing a decision by the Bratislava cabinet.

The measure will be inspected at Slovak borders and airports at the same time as the emergency, which has been extended for the fourth time since Saturday. According to the Slovak police, travelers abroad will have to prove that they are not crossing the border for tourism.

The restriction was justified by the Bratislava government on the grounds that it sought to remedy the temporary "unfair" situation by prohibiting travel between districts, with a few justified exceptions, under the epidemiological restrictions in force in February, but allowing travel abroad for any purpose. .

In Slovakia, the so-called Covid automaton became operational on 8 February, a framework of measures designed to automate the mitigation or tightening of epidemic measures in the light of the current number of infections. This system tightens or relaxes on a weekly basis, taking into account current infection data, the restrictions that must be met in each district. These restrictions also include whether you are allowed to leave or leave the district without restrictions. 117

According to the Slovak National Health Information Center, the weekly average number of newly detected coronavirus infections by PCR has not changed significantly in recent weeks, ranging from two thousand to two thousand five hundred per day in a country of about 5 and a half million people. Nearly 3 and a half thousand people with coronavirus infection are currently being treated in hospital in the country. The official number of new deaths attributed to the disease has been on a slightly declining trend for about a week, with the number of deaths rising from 76 to 8,814 on Wednesday.

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ROMANIA

1. romania.europalibera.org (translated, original by Cristian Andrei, 15.03.2021)

Access to public information breaks the Coalition. UDMR radically amends a USR PLUS project

UDMR wants to amend Law 544/2001 on access to information of public interest in order to protect itself. In the picture, the president of UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, after the parliamentary elections, in December 2020.

Following the Coalition scandal over public information on vaccination and testing, UDMR radically amends a USR PLUS project that would have increased the degree of transparency.

UDMR blocked two weeks ago, just before the final vote in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, the project submitted by USR-PLUS and PSD regarding the information of public interest.

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The initiative provided for the appearance at the level of each public institution of a register containing the requests and answers provided under Law 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest. Also, the project better defines the institutions that are subject to the law, and the information could also be requested in electronic format.

UDMR wants to take shelter of transparency and takes over the mayors' wishes not to be disturbed by the citizens.

The project was returned from the final vote to the Culture Commission, and UDMR tabled several amendments that would radically change the original project. "I expect the worst, I'm very afraid of that," said Elena Calistru, president of the non-governmental organization Funky Citizens, after the project was sent back to the commission.

The executive director of the Center for Public Innovation (CIP), Ovidiu Voicu, declared for Europa Libera that " UDMR wants to take shelter of transparency and takes over the mayors' wishes not to be disturbed by the citizens" .

In the version proposed by USR PLUS, the following are subject to the provisions of the law: political parties; sports federations; non-governmental public benefit organizations; legal persons under public law or public entities receiving funding from public money;

Unlike the version of the Coalition partners, UDMR wants the law to apply to non- governmental organizations with public utility status, obtained by Government decision.

" UDMR recently lost a lawsuit in which it was asked by a Hungarian civic organization for information of public interest. The union argued in court that it is not formally recognized as being of public utility ", said Ovidiu Voicu.

Through the proposed amendment, UDMR wants to avoid the situation in which it was put before the law, saying that only organizations formally recognized by a government decision 119 would be subject to the law. Thus, UDMR would no longer be obliged to provide information of public interest.

UDMR wants to eliminate the register on requests and responses for 544/2001

Compared to the form adopted in the Senate, which provided for the obligation of public institutions to present on its website an updated register of requests of public interest, but also of the answers offered, USR-PLUS came with an amendment that each request or answer appear in 15 days in electronic format on the institution's website.

UDMR proposes the complete deletion of the article , and the institutions should no longer be required to have this register on the site.

" We propose the deletion of the article because it is possible to identify the person who requested the information, thus violating the law on personal data protection ", is the justification provided by UDMR.

The amendments tabled by the Union in the Committee on Culture of the Chamber of Deputies also aim at eliminating sanctions for cases in which there are no answers to justified requests for information of public interest.

Institutions and parties receiving funding from the budget should respond to requests under Law 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest.

"UDMR proposes to keep in force the current confusing situation regarding personal data. Since the entry into force of the GDPR, several institutions have refused to provide information, claiming that personal data are contained in those documents. The High Court has clarified that, in such situations, the public authority has an obligation to strictly anonymise those data and to provide the rest of the information. USR-PLUS tried to include this clarification of the High Court in the law. UDMR does not want this, it wants the situation to remain confusing, and the mayors to pretend that they cannot give the information ", says the executive director of the Center for Public Innovation.

Different visions in the Coalition, PSD can vote with USR-PLUS

The project could bring a premiere for the current Coalition: to obtain the majority with the help of PSD, but without the votes of UDMR. As the visions of USR PLUS and UDMR are 120 antagonistic, the parliamentary majority can be obtained with the votes of the Social Democrats, especially since some PSD deputies are among the signatories of the project.

PSD announced that it supports the project in the version proposed by USR PLUS, voting in this regard the Report of the draft law.

" There are chances for the PSD votes to pass, especially since the Social Democrats want to annoy the UDMR ", believes Ovidiu Voicu.

Another solution considered in the Coalition is to postpone the project for another week.

PNL and USR PLUS had a conflict last week due to public information presented by the Ministry of Health about the number of tests for COVID-19 and the number of vaccines performed. The Prime Minister's Control Corps went to the Ministry of Health to verify the legality of the information presented.

2. portfolio.hu (translated, original by MTI, 16.03.2021)

Coronavirus: The number of infections in Romania has doubled, intensive care units have been filled

In Romania, for the first time in three months, the number of coronavirus infections identified in 24 hours again exceeded 6,000 on Tuesday, more than doubling in one month, and the places in the intensive care units of Covid hospitals were almost full.

Tuesday’s 6,118 new infections are one and a half times the average for the past two weeks, and 133 deaths are 60 percent more than the average for the last two weeks.

Epidemiologists, however, warn that official data do not reflect the extent of the problem due to "hiding" infections. Nelu Tataru, chairman of the House Health Committee, pointed out that the number of tests has dropped, many people are trying to evade quarantine by avoiding 121 testing, with the result that coronavirus patients are already hospitalized in serious condition, while more and more young people are experiencing serious complications.

The most worrying sign of the epidemic is that 97 percent of the 1,244 places currently available at Covid Hospitals have been filled, and disaster relief is preparing to move rescue helicopters and planes from the most infected areas to the sick, similar to the most critical period of the second wave in November to less congested parts of the country. According to Prime Minister Florin Citu, in the first two months of the year, intensive care units were closed too early and hospital capacities previously set aside for coronavirus patients were released, and the health ministry ordered the number of intensive care beds in Covid hospitals to be raised to 1,600.

According to Dorel Sandesc, vice president of the Romanian Intensive Care Society, a total of 4,174 beds are available in Romanian hospitals for those in crisis, and the number of ventilators has more than doubled from 1,300 to 4,174 since the beginning of the epidemic. According to him, the biggest problem is the lack of specialists, as well as the fact that hospitals cannot advertise competitions for specialist positions due to staff shortages.

3. romania.europalibera.org (translated, original by Dora Vulcan, 10.03.2021)

Appointments made by USR PLUS to the Environmental Guard, Digitization and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister

USR PLUS made new appointments on Wednesday at the Ministry of Education, the Environmental Guard, at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and as prefect of Buzau county.

The PLUS National Council discussed and validated, on Wednesday, March 10, the following nominations from PLUS:

Tudor Oprea - Undersecretary of State for Digitization, Ministry of Education

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He graduated from the Faculty of Psychology at York University (Toronto, Canada) and a master's degree in Public Health from Umea University (Sweden). He coordinated the first national public administration digitalization program (GovITHub), together with 20 fellows, over 300 volunteers and 1,700 IT&C supporters, experts and enthusiasts. Since 2016, it has been collaborating with over 50 of the largest companies in the industry and with successful startups in the country to introduce the subject of Industry 4.0 on the Romanian public agenda, in order to increase the level of digitalization of the industry. He coordinated several national projects to increase the rate of digital knowledge among the population. He is the president of the PLUS Brașov branch, he contributed to the Digitization chapter,

Mihail David - Vice President, Environmental Guard

He graduated from the Faculty of History of the "December 1, 1918" University of Alba Iulia. He is currently the Deputy General Manager of a freight and logistics company. He has been working as a volunteer in the NGO environment for 14 years, within social, cultural and public health projects. In 2017, he became a volunteer of the Romania 100 Platform, being part of the core teams of Economics and Entrepreneurship and External Relations. At the beginning of 2018, he founded the first Local Community in Romania, RO100 Alba Iulia, together with nine other colleagues. He is the president of the PLUS Alba branch and a member of the National Commission for Public Policies, within the Economy and Entrepreneurship team.

Sergiu Horia Hossu - Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister

He graduated from the Faculty of Biology and Geology of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj- Napoca and a master's degree in Environmental Science from the same university. In 2017, he graduated with an MBA from Hull University in England, holding a Master of Business Administration degree. He has worked in sales and has over 15 years of experience in management positions, coordinating teams in companies known and appreciated in the business environment in Cluj-Napoca - AROBS, Rosal, Evozon. He is the president of the PLUS Cluj branch and was elected local councilor in Cluj-Napoca in the September 2020 elections.

Silviu Iordache - prefect, Buzau

He graduated from the Faculty of International Economic Relations and a master's degree in International Project Management from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. He has worked in the entrepreneurial environment, developing businesses in the field of telecommunications and renewable energy and thus gaining considerable experience in management and in relations with local authorities. He was also a senior consultant for European funds, dealing with the development of projects and feasibility studies for accessing 123 non-reimbursable funds with European funding. Currently, he is the general manager of Panosol Power SRL, a company specialized in renewable energy, which he set up in 2012 through a project financed from European funds. He is a member of the PLUS Buzau branch.

4. index.hu (translated, original by DatKisz, 15.03.2021)

The Romanian President greeted the Hungarians on the occasion of March 15

“Dear Hungarians with Romanian citizenship! Today is an opportunity for you to strengthen and return to your universal national values, those that forge your nation into unity, to proudly profess their identities, with an inexhaustible historical and cultural heritage, ”President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday on the official website of the Romanian Head of State.

The greeting scheduled for the Hungarian national holiday is considered extraordinary, as Klaus Iohannis, a Saxon nationalist, has repeatedly made an anti-Hungarian voice in the Romanian Parliament, partly due to the aspirations for autonomy and the use of minority languages. The politician is already in his second term and has never addressed the Hungarian minority in Romania on the national holiday.

“We also need to talk about the remarkable behavior with which the Hungarian minority and its politicians in Romania contributed to the development of the majority society. We have taken very important joint steps together for European integration, we are the custodians of an exemplary democratic system and a cornerstone of universal human rights. So we, together, believe - learning from the events of the past - we can lay the foundations for a common future. Our joint efforts to fight the pandemic and to consolidate the economy have shown that Romanians and Hungarians alike can bear fruit of special values that have hardly been exemplified before. We can only build a thriving society in this multi-ethnic environment, ”says the presidential message, which may have something to do with the fact that the Hungarian Democratic Alliance in Romania is currently in government with Klaus Iohannis' party, the National Liberal Party (PNL).

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SLOVENIA

1. mandiner.hu (translated, original by mandiner.hu, 11.03.2021)

One of the most influential organizations on the Slovenian right sent an open letter to the People's Party

Due to the withdrawal of Fidesz, sensitive questions have been raised about the identity of the EPP. According to the General Assembly of the Republic, the People's Party has embarked on a path of internal disintegration.

The Slovenian organization ZBOR za republiko, ie the General Assembly of the Republic, sent an open letter to the People's Party discussing the withdrawal of Fidesz from the EPP faction.

The General Assembly of the Republic (ZR) is a non-governmental organization established on June 23, 2004. The initiators of the creation of the ZR were mostly members of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). In public, the General Assembly of the Republic is seen as an umbrella organization for center-right political forces, with a central role in the SDS. (Our interview with Milan Zver, an SDS MEP, can be read here.)

In their letter, they asked the People's Party 4 questions in which they investigated:

Will the People's Party lose its desire for pluralism and diversity for the nations of Europe? Fidesz is the most authentic representative of the Hungarian people based on the election results.

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Does the People's Party take over the views of the European left: its hostile attitude towards classical European, Greco-Christian culture and those who respect both European and national identities.

Is the People's Party still able to understand the nations that have suffered under communist oppression and still bear the consequences?

Have we exhausted all the possibilities for discourse that are based on democratic respect for each other and understand the seriousness of the situation? The complete secession of Fidesz would weaken the People's Party and the entire family of right-wing parties.

They add that they want to believe that the party family has retained the courage, tolerance and goodwill that allowed Germany to get rid of Nazism and communism after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Furthermore, they hope: at least the EPP understands those post-communist countries that are still working to get rid of the deep-rooted communist mentality and non- democratic mechanisms of politics.

In addition, they hope that these countries can continue to count on EPP support when some local media and journalists, who interpret freedom of speech as lying freely, run unsubstantiated press campaigns through foreign bodies who blindly believe in their distorted interpretation of reality.

Finally, they express their confidence that the EPP and all its members will remain faithful to the spirit, courage, tolerance and wisdom represented by Schuman, Adenauer and Gaspari.

“We fear that if the EPP continues on the path of internal disintegration, it will open the door to foreign cultures and ideologies that are outside the Greco-Christian culture that is the foundation of human rights, human dignity and freedom,” the open letter.

The message was also shared on her Twitter account by Katalin Novák, Minister without Portfolio for Families, Vice-President of Fidesz, with a comment thanking her for her gesture towards Fidesz. He also adds that they have long been concerned about the processes outlined.

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2. origo.hu (translated, original by Örs Imre Márkos, 26.02.2021)

The Slovenian Communist Left, with the help of Brussels, is trying to attack Prime Minister Jansa

Together with the radical left in Slovenia, Vera Jourová, vice-president of the European Commission and Lili Bayer, one of the politicians in Brussels who imagines himself to be a political activist (she is signing the articles), is attacking the government coalition led by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

In the crossfire of their attacks is the situation of the Slovenian press, which they feared, and which is mostly in the hands of the communist-rooted intellectuals of the capital. The matter has deteriorated to the point that a spokesman for the European Commission has spoken on the subject, and Janez Jansa has written a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, refuting the untruths. On the subject, the behavior of Vera Jourová and Lili Bayer is eerily reminiscent of their attitude towards Hungary. In essence, they want to apply the Budapest scenario in Ljubljana as well, despite the fact that they have also failed in Hungary.

INTENDS A GREAT ROLE IN ITS INTERNAL POLICY TO BREAK THE RADICAL LEFT SITUATION OF THE TITOIST (YUGOSLAV COMMUNIST), more specifically, it wants to significantly reduce their role in the courts and in the administration. The radical left wants to cut back with the help of Brussels.

He has now been asked for the help of Vera Jourova, one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission, who is also responsible for values, transparency and, to a lesser extent, the rule of law. Jourová is constantly attacking the national-conservative government in Hungary as well, not hiding that YOU WANT TO SEE A LEFT IMMIGRATION GOVERNMENT, ORGANIZED FROM BRUSSELS, IN BUDAPEST.

Left-wing, radical left-wing and liberal Slovenian parties have repeatedly tried over the past month to overthrow the Jansa-led governing coalition with a motion of censure despite the coronavirus epidemic, but their attempts have always failed, their latest motion of censure passed on 15 February.

THE MOTION FOR DEFICIENCY WAS PREPARED IN THE LEFT PRESS AGAIN, IN THE WEEKS PRIOR TO THE VOTE AGAINST JANSA'S PERSON AND 127

GOVERNMENT, he was blamed for essentially all of Slovenia’s problems, highlighting in particular the issue of free speech and the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic.

IN THIS REGARD, A SERIOUS CONFLICT HAS BETWEEN BETWEEN KI JANSA AND THE LEFTWARE PRESS IN LJUBLJANA, IN WHICH THE LEADING BRUSSELS LEFT NEWSLETTER, POLITICO, WAS NATURALLY INVOLVED.

One of Politico's "journalists" acting as a radical political activist, Bayer Lili (or as Lili Bayer signs his articles: Lili Bayer), who is also attacking Hungary, published another expiring propaganda in the Brussels newspaper the day after the unsuccessful motion of censure. made Janez Jansa, stressing that Lili Bayer is lying.

Lili Bayer, like Slovenian left-wing journalists, claimed that Janez Jansa regularly attacks media workers, inciting hatred against them, thereby endangering freedom of speech.

As a reminder: BAYER HAS BEEN SETTLING LIKE LIES RELATED TO HUNGARY FOR LONG YEARS. And according to his latest article, on February 23, the Slovenian media is "reorganizing" again ...

Some European Commissioners, with special emphasis on Vera Jourova, then said that Prime Minister Jansa had attacked Lili Bayer, as had Slovenian journalists. Bayer was also supported by European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer, who made it clear that the views of a significant number of commissioners were reflected in his speech.

Frans Timmermans, one of the vice-presidents of the European Commission, a Dutch socialist politician who often attacks Hungary, also defended Bayer in his defense and offered sanctions against the Jansa government without mentioning specifics.

JOUROVÁ, meanwhile, began to threaten the JANSA GOVERNMENT with the rule of law, the urgency of which is given by the fact that, in July, SLOVENIA will be taken over by the European Union Council of SLOVENIA.

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The debate between Brussels and Ljubljana has escalated to the point where Janez Jansa sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 23 February. In it, the Prime Minister mentions that, in addition to Slovenian left-wing politicians and related journalists, Vera Jourová is once again concerned about Slovenian press freedom, and the committee’s already mentioned spokeswoman, Eric Mamer, has joined.

According to Jansa's letter, this is connected with SLOVENIA’S taking over the rotating EU presidency in June, SO THIS WAS ALSO IN 2007, WHEN ALSO He was prime minister, and since the beginning of 2008 LJUBLJANA took over the Presidency of the left JOURNALISTS began to worry about the freedom of speech.

At that time, 571 left-wing political journalists and intellectuals addressed a petition to Brussels accusing Janez Jansa of violating freedom of expression, exerting political pressure and, moreover, trying to censor.

The Slovenian Prime Minister emphasizes in particular that the petitions of left-wing journalists now and in 2007 are eerily similar, accusing him and his government of essentially the same things now.

Jansa reminded Von der Leyen that accusations against journalists and intellectuals were untrue, that his government fully respected freedom of the press and expression, and that political pluralism and the administration of justice were independent of the government, thus meeting strict criteria of the rule of law.

However, the Prime Minister mentions that SLOVENIA AND THE RULE OF LAW DEMOCRACY REALLY FIGHT CHALLENGE BUT THIS REASON THE COMMUNIST, Titoist regime, OR LEFT AND JUDGES AND OFFICIALS RELATED liberal parties MAINTENANCE AND MEDIA Search, SO NOT A NATIONAL- conservative government.

Finally, Janez Jansa invited representatives of the European Commission to visit Slovenia to see the above on the ground and, if they see that something is not working well, to make suggestions to improve it.

What exactly does the Slovenian Prime Minister refer to when he talks about the harmful afterlife of the communist regime?

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Janez Jansa has long been in the crossfire of radical left-wing intellectuals in Ljubljana and attacks in Brussels.

THE RADICAL LEFT IN LJUBLJANA ALWAYS CONTINUES THE LARGE PART OF THE SLOVENIAN PRESS AND MORE OR LESS ITS JUDGES AND, IN GENERAL, CIVIL SERVANTS.

These intellectuals largely claim to be “titoists,” and make no secret of their nostalgia for the Yugoslav communist dictator regime of Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980), simply because they owe their high positions on the social ladder to the bloodthirsty dictator.

(Tito's partisans massacred hundreds of thousands of people in 1944-1945, including 40- 50,000 southern Hungarians, and at least as many of them were expelled from their homeland.)

ANTI-HUNGARISM IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE POST-YUGOSLAV SLOVENIAN (RADICAL) LEFT IDENTITY, this is mainly given in the most read Slovenian weekly, Mladina, where THE HUNGARIAN MINORITY IN MURAVIDÉ AND THE MINISTRY OF MIGRATION BEGINNING IN 2015 HAVE BEEN HOSTED BY MINISTER VIKTOR ORBÁN IN THE ALPAR STYLE.

In March 2019, for example, Viktor Orbán was portrayed as Hitler, and his alliances in the region were portrayed as functionaries of the Nazi party. At the time, the radical left-wing weekly was worried about the situation of the LGBTQ lobby in Hungary.

Before 1991, Mladina was the official newspaper of the youth organization of the Slovenian branch of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

This anti-Hungarian tradition can also be observed in the left-wing press and intellectuals of the other Yugoslav successor states, especially Croatia.

3. portfolio.hu 130

(translated, original by MTI, 20.03.2021)

Coronavirus: According to the Slovenian Prime Minister, this spring will be like last year

It is certain that the third wave of the pandemic has already begun in Slovenia, while the country is still struggling with high levels of infection in the second wave, wrote epidemiologist Mateja Logar, head of the Slovenian government’s coronavirus epidemic team, in a Twitter post on Saturday.

In Slovenia, the number of new cases increased by an average of one-fifth per week compared to the previous week. According to Logar, the experts have already said everything they knew, it now depends on the responsibility and attitude of each person so that the climax does not decide new peaks. Prime Minister Janez Jansa voiced his pessimism on his community side.

We are closer to the red section every day he wrote, adding that most diseases are caused by the faster-spreading British virus mutant. "Unfortunately, April this year will be similar to last year," he stressed. He recalled that the first wave of the epidemic was followed by closures lasting several months.

In Slovenia, the number of registered infections increased by 1,030 to 205,548 on Saturday. Six patients have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 3,967. Of the coronavirus patients, 485 are hospitalized and 88 are in the intensive care unit.

In Croatia, 1,186 new infections were identified last day. Since the beginning of the epidemic, their number has reached 256,805. By Saturday, ten had died from complications of Covid-19 caused by the infection, bringing the death toll to 5,753. The hospital cares for 931 patients, 89 of whom are on a ventilator.

For the fourth day in a row, the number of new cases per day in the country has risen to over a thousand, unprecedented since mid-January. Meanwhile, on Saturday, five major Croatian cities also protested against measures taken to curb the coronavirus epidemic. Most - two thousand - are in Split-Dalmatia County, where after the Coastal-Plateau County, most people have been registered in the country.

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4. balk.hu (translated, original by balk.hu, 27.02.2021)

SOUTH AFRICAN MUTANT: Despite being vaccinated, a Slovenian doctor became ill

Slovenia has confirmed the appearance of a mutant of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa. Health Minister Janez Poklukar said a doctor in Maribor had fallen ill who had recently returned home from Africa.

He was vaccinated

The Slovenian press reports that the infected doctor is an employee of a hospital in Maribor and was vaccinated against the coronavirus before traveling to Africa.

He came home from a Namibian vacation last weekend and didn’t have to go to quarantine because he had a vaccination certificate.

Because of this, he even went to work on Monday because he didn’t know he was infected despite the vaccination.

Epidemiologists traced the contacts who came into close contact with him, four of whom were referred for testing, and ten were quarantined. Two people who had returned from Africa with him were already ill Said the Slovenian Minister of Health.

Is not over yet

Janez Poklukar urged everyone not to travel abroad because the epidemic situation is worse in many countries than in Slovenia, including a higher proportion of new, more contagious coronavirus variants.

Today’s case shows that the epidemic is not over yet - said the minister, who called on people to adhere to basic health measures.

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Slovenia reported 912 new C19 cases on Friday, bringing the number of cases to 188,676, according to a summary by the National Institute of Public Health.

Slovenia confirmed that 35 infections caused by a mutant identified in the United Kingdom were detected.

According to the latest information from the World Health Organization, 255 vaccines are still being developed worldwide, including in Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States.

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CROATIA

1. balk.hu (translated, original by Rókus Kalapis, 19.03.2021)

THE LAND OF PROMISE: Preparing for the season, or the Rhine with milk and honey

Now that the forest in the Balkans is slowly starting to turn green and the weather has melted somewhat, it is almost certain that the influx of migrants to the western landscapes of Europe will begin again. The unfortunates, mostly from Asia and Africa, with whom someone believed they had the right to cross borders across the Rhine and Loire river with milk and honey, are once again trying to walk through the land of promise in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.

Optic cable

Just as preparations are being made in Bosnian refugee camps, they are not sitting with folded hands in the indicated countries, Slovenia, for example, announced the other day that it will 133 strengthen the Slovenian-Croatian border with a further 60-kilometer fence. directs patrols on its southern border.

Slovenian Interior Minister Aleš Hojs justified the measure on the grounds that left-wing, opposition parties did not vote for the Slovenian army's auxiliary role in guarding the border, so they were forced to turn to their neighbors.

There will be no Croatian neighbors in the mixed patrols because, according to Hojs, they “have enough to do with controlling the Serbian-Bosnian border”.

At the same time, the Slovenes set up new surveillance cameras at the border, for which purpose they have largely completed the laying of optic cables in the border area.

What is the situation in Croatia?

The Croatian Ministry of the Interior seems to be satisfied with the situation, because apart from the recent rescue of a group of ten migrants from the Velebit minefield, there has been almost no news of border violations.

Migrant camps may have finally realized that they are not in the safest parts of the world - in Croatia there are approximately 170,000 mines in an area of 770 square kilometers, the number of unexploded ordnance, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 79,000 mines spread over 965 square kilometers. : Preparing for the Season or the Rhine Migrant River with Milk and Honey THE PROMISE LAND: Preparing for the Season or the Rhine Migrant River with Milk and Honey aknas migrans 500x270

Croatia's land borders are fully compliant with the requirements of the Schengen Convention, and in addition to the police, cameras, heat and motion sensors and night-vision equipment ensure the security of the EU's future external border.

Occasionally, the Croatian Air Force also takes part in border controls with Kiowa Warrior- type reconnaissance helicopters.

That there is currently no major movement at the border is also evidenced by the news that four of the members of the anti-terrorist unit of the Split Police Headquarters serving in the border were caught on poaching. 134

For boredom, the deer herd was thinned, but in the end they did not find much joy in it because they were punished with six months of public service. The public police service comes with a public police salary.

What do the official reports say?

From 2015 to the end of 2020, the Republic of Croatia granted asylum to 699 persons who entered its territory illegally and provided subsidiary assistance on 78 occasions (a compensatory measure for persons who cannot be granted asylum but are likely to be persecuted in their home country).

According to the Croatian Ministry of the Interior, there are currently 436 people seeking international asylum in Croatia, of whom 318 live in the Porin shelter in Zagreb, 67 in the Kutina shelter, and the rest live in rented accommodation at their own expense.

The Ministry of the Interior also drew attention to the fact that the majority of asylum seekers in Croatia leave the country before the procedure is completed.

The care of unaccompanied minors is a separate issue. There were 70 such cases last year, those involved were taken from the police by social institutions and, according to the opinion of the regional commissioners, transferred to homes established and operated by the Republic of Croatia.

Croatia is organizing language courses for asylum seekers in its territory, helping them to integrate, trying to place minors in the Croatian education system properly, and trying to provide them with job opportunities, sometimes through retraining. This practice does not always go smoothly, and the population is also divided about migrants.

Thus, some blame migrants for everything, while others try to help foreigners who want to settle in Croatia. Thus, for example, when an NGO asked for donations for the Adriatic holidays of minor migrants, citizens donated quickly and abundantly, thus bringing joy to children dropped out of remote landscapes.

Croatian police are periodically attacked by international and local NGOs to forcibly return migrants from the border. During the so-called pushback, illegal border crossers are allegedly treated brutally.

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Tomislav Sobol, a spokesman for the ruling party in the EU Parliament, said during the debate on this that "the Croatian police are ruthless only against human traffickers and other profiteers".

He backed up his words by saying that 995 human smugglers were arrested at the Croatian border last year alone.

2. total-croatia-news.com (original by HINA, 09.03.2021)

PM Andrej Plenković: "Everything Except Respecting Law is Politicising"

ZAGREB, 9 March, 2021 - Everything except respecting the law is politicising, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday, commenting on the election procedure for the Supreme Court president, on which he disagrees with President Zoran Milanović, who is recommending a candidate who did not apply for the job.

"There are no (legal) tricks. There is respecting the Constitution and the law that is in force. Everything else is politicising without any reason, a wish to make an issue out of the election of the Supreme Court president which seems incredible," Plenković told the press in Ivanić- Grad.

There is a prescribed procedure and the State Judicial Council (DSV) invited applications, of which everyone in the judiciary knew, he added.

"The law was passed after the SDP (Social Democrats) strongly criticised the existing procedure. When the law was being passed, they commended (the procedure), and now, all of a sudden, they are singing a different tune."

As for the DSV's claim that it does not have the instruments to again call for applications because the law does not specify that, the prime minister said this situation should not have happened and that the regulations that were in force should be honoured.

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Unlike the president, who said parliament would debate his recommendation of Zlata Đurđević for Supreme Court president, Plenković said that under parliament's rules of procedure, that could not be put on the agenda.

Asked if he would meet with the president if he invited him, Plenković said, "I don't feel like communicating about that via the media."

"The man said he would call, he hasn't, so he is sending some message via our (ruling coalition) partner, Prefect Čačić. It's all bizarre really."

Speaking of Đurđević, the head of the Zagreb Faculty of Law criminal law department, Plenković said it was not about whether someone respected her because everyone knew the circle of people who could head the Supreme Court. He added that she had been Croatia's backup candidate for the European Court of Human Rights.

He said there was no constitutional crisis as the deadline for electing the new Supreme Court president was July, and wondered what prevented Đurđević from applying for the position earlier.

3. total-croatia-news.com (original by HINA, 15.03.2021)

Plenković: Croatia Expects to Join Eurozone and Schengen in 3 Years

ZAGREB, 15 March, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in an interview with the Politico news website published on Monday that it was reasonable to expect that Croatia would enter the eurozone and the Schengen area by the second half of 2024.

"The idea is to do both — accession to Schengen and the eurozone — by the end of this government’s term, so the second half of 2024," Plenković said. "It’s tough, but reasonable."

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The European Commission said in 2019 that Croatia had fulfilled all the technical requirements for entry into the Schengen passport-free travel zone, and this should now be endorsed by other member states. Romania and Bulgaria have been waiting for this to happen for years.

In mid-2020 Croatia was admitted to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), a key step towards eurozone membership.

Plenković said that because of the coronavirus crisis the eurozone members could be expected to continue suspending their own rules for fiscal discipline, while those on the path to join the euro could not rely on "such easy self-help tricks."

He expressed regret that Croatia had "stepped away from consolidation and sound public finances" to limit the economic damage of the crisis.

Plenković said that his government would pursue two goals: "Using the recovery fund, the EU budget and private investment to generate growth. And the other one: Go back to the framework of 2017-2019, when my government achieved a budget surplus."

The prime minister said he believed Croatia would be able to spend the first euro from the EU recovery fund at the beginning of next year, adding that it was a complicated process. "Unless it’s helicopter money, it’s very difficult and complex. You need a plan, a project, verification, tender, implementation, documentation. If it goes faster, we’ll gladly spend it, but if I’m realistic …"

4. france24.com (translated, original by Catherine Nicholson, 22.03.2021)

Covid-19 vaccine producers 'should respect what has been signed': Croatian PM

It's now been just over one year since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 pandemic. In Europe, more than 571,000 people have since died of the illness. Some 45 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered. But there are concerns in 138 some countries about the safety of the AstraZeneca jab, as well as complaints about the slow pace of the EU vaccine rollout. In this edition we hear from Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Among those raising concerns about vaccine delivery is the prime minister of Croatia. Andrej Plenkovic has travelled to Brussels, where he's also spoken to EU officials about the economic recovery from the pandemic and his own country's ambitions to join the euro currency and the Schengen travel zone.

After several European states halted their use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab over concerns it could cause blood clots in recipients, the prime minister said that Croatia would not be following suit at this stage: "We haven't noticed any of the manifestations that perhaps happened in other countries. On the contrary, we were of the opinion from the start that the AZ vaccine was also OK for our citizens above 65 years of age," he explained.

"At this stage we have no reason or foundation to take this kind of measure according to the data available to us. So we will continue with the vaccination with AstraZeneca."

After Italy's government recently blocked a shipment of 250,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, Plenkovic told FRANCE 24 he agreed with the move by Rome as sending a "concrete signal" to AstraZeneca that "you should respect what has been signed".

Croatia has to date managed to vaccinate just 5 percent of its population, among the lowest rates in the European Union. Meanwhile Hungary, which has bought the Russian Sputnik V vaccine – not yet approved by the European Medicines Agency – has the second-highest rate in the EU.

When asked whether he would be prepared to do the same, Plenkovic told FRANCE 24: "The issues of public health, the safety of our citizens and vaccination, should be taken with the utmost caution by any government. The European and Croatian medicines agencies are the filters and expert pool that should empower us, the government, to take prudent decisions. As the prime minister I will always make public health, safety and security of our citizens my number one topic."

And as the European Commission works on a proposal to introduce so-called "vaccine passports" – a document certifying that a traveller has received a Covid-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test result – Plenkovic said it could form part of a strategy to bring tourists back 139 to Croatia, which depends on tourism for 20 percent of its GDP: "I think if it can be an auxiliary tool to help free travel, this is of course something we should consider."

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BULGARIA

1. aljazeera.com (original by aljazeera.com, 22.03.2021)

Bulgaria expels two Russian diplomats for suspected espionage

Foreign ministry says diplomats have been declared ‘persona non grata’ and given 72 hours to leave the EU and NATO member state.

On Monday, they said that “preliminary investigations have shown that two Russian nationals carried out intelligence activity incompatible with diplomatic relations.”

The foreign ministry said that two Russian diplomats had been “declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the country”.

According to the Bulgarian television station Nova, the diplomats were officers working for Russian military intelligence.

Prosecutors alleged that those arrested last week belonged to a spy ring led by a Bulgarian former intelligence officer whose wife played the role of intermediary with the Russian embassy.

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The Russian embassy warned in a statement on Facebook that it could respond to the expulsions.

It expressed “regret that once again this unfounded action by the Bulgarian authorities will not contribute to constructive dialogue between Russia and Bulgaria”.

“Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures,” it said.

‘Hostile actions’.

Relations between Bulgaria and Russia have been hit by several spy scandals in recent years.

Between October 2019 and the end of 2020, five Russian diplomats and a technical assistant at the Russian embassy were expelled from Bulgaria.

The disputes have soured relations between the two former allies, which had maintained their close cultural, historical and economic ties even after the fall of communism in 1989. Bulgaria was considered Russia’s closest ally during the Cold War.

The latest case came with relations between the EU and Russia strained by the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexey Navalny and the EU’s decision to sanction high-ranking Russian officials over the affair.

On Monday, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said his country and fellow EU member state “stands firmly with our friend and NATO ally Bulgaria in its actions to protect sovereignty against Russia’s hostile, spy activity”.

During the weekend, the United States also said it “stands with Bulgarians against these malign activities on their territory” while the UK expressed its full support for “Bulgaria’s efforts in disrupting an alleged spy ring and taking steps to tackle Russia’s hostile actions”.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov by telephone on Monday that the alliance should stand united against any malign activities targeting its member states, the government press office said. Borissov has called on Russia to stop spying in the Balkan country.

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Fourteen years after joining the EU, Bulgaria is still dependent on Russian energy. With its resorts on the Black Sea, the country is very popular with Russian tourists and property owners.

2. balkaninsight.com (original by Tim Judah and Alida Vracic, 17.03.2021)

BULGARIA’S EXILED YOUNG PROFESSIONALS MULL NEW LIFE BACK HOME

Some of the young Bulgarians forced home by the pandemic are staying for good – tempted by vastly improved job offers and a less stressful life.

When COVID-19 struck Europe, hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians living and working abroad returned home. No one knows exactly how many came back, however, or how many have since left again. Accurate data does not exist.

But we do know that at least a proportion of those who came back want to stay for good – as many as 10 per cent of the returnees, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations. However, with no reliable numbers, trends must be extrapolated from anecdotal evidence.

Today, Bulgaria’s population is down to 6.9 million, from 8.9 million in 1988. Based on current projections it may have only 5.8 million inhabitants by 2050, unless something happens to change this trend. Could COVID-19 be that catalyst?

What is happening in Bulgaria is part of a broader trend of migrants returning home due to COVID-19 and rural areas showing signs of resuscitation, creating unexpected opportunities for the countries of South-East European that have been struggling with depopulation, according to a new brief by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which will be published later this week.

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Hristo Boyadzhiev, 35, runs Tuk-Tam (“Here-There”), a networking organization connecting diaspora Bulgarians with one another and with their homeland. He studied in the US and lived in Berlin, Barcelona and London before returning definitively to Sofia in 2018.

“This is Act One,” he says, “No one knows how it is really going to play out.”

Most of those who have returned in the wake of COVID-19 and who work in manual labour and agriculture will probably go abroad again, if they have not done so already, Boyadzhiev says. However, he adds, COVID is accelerating trends that were already present in Bulgaria before the pandemic.

The first was the return of some professionals. Today, there are more jobs for them in Bulgaria that pay more competitive wages than before. Many of these jobs did not exist when they left the country, not least because many of today’s employers, both foreign and Bulgarian, only began operating in the country after it joined the EU in 2007.

When it comes to rural Bulgaria, though, the picture is mixed. Some areas have lost far more population than others and the poorest areas have very limited prospects of repopulation. This is because the reason why people left them in the first place – the lack of good jobs, especially – remains.

By contrast, villages and small towns close to Sofia, Plovdiv and a few other big cities, including those along the coast, are beginning to see a revival, as many people, like their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, seek bigger homes with access to open space – but still close to good schools, jobs and all the other amenities cities offer.

Villages in attractive and especially in mountainous regions are also seeing a revival, as those with the means buy homes or renovate old family properties. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some among older generations who have lived in Bulgaria’s bigger cities are retiring to holiday homes in these villages or are moving there to work. Others have been spending extended amounts of time in these villages since the pandemic started because schooling has moved online and they can work remotely. These trends can be expected to continue.

Home looks less bleak than before

Sava Savov, 43, returned to Bulgaria from London with his wife and three children in March 2020. They left their home country in the 1990s to study and then work. Thanks to 143 scholarships Savov, who comes from the small town of Sliven, was able to study in the US at an Ivy League university and then at Harvard Law School, from where he graduated in 2006. Today, he works for a leading international law firm and his wife works for an American tech giant.

He remembers Bulgaria in the 1990s as “poor, corrupt, dangerous in a way, and bleak.” Savov says that he and his friends who left were “scarred” by that experience and for a long time thought: “Do you really want to go back to that place?” For years, an “irrational” fear of what the country was like haunted him, even though he could see that life was improving, friends were prospering and that his children and their grandparents loved being together. In 2019, he and his wife decided to give going home a try.

Like many others, their initial idea was to go back for a year or two and see what life was like. In London, they had no family and the logistics of juggling three small children and two high- powered jobs were exhausting.

The pandemic brought forward their date of return, as it did for many of their friends in similar circumstances.

Among his friends and acquaintances Savov detects a trend. Many have come back in the last two or three years and he knows more who would like to. They are up to 15 years into their careers, and “pretty much all of them have one or two kids and range from their mid-30s to mid-40s,” he says.

The difficult thing, he adds, is finding the right job in Bulgaria, or retaining a foreign job but working at least initially from Bulgaria, as he and his wife have done.

Before the pandemic, Savov says, conservative law firms would never have entertained the idea of remote working, let alone doing so from another country. Now, he can’t see going back to full-time work in the office, though commuting for a few days a week, even between Sofia and London, might be a compromise.

For now, he and his family are living in the centre of Sofia, but they are building a house on the outskirts, 20 minutes’ drive away. They have also restored a house belonging to his wife’s family in the village of Kosovo, in Bulgaria’s Rhodope mountains.

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A few years ago, Kosovo, an hour’s drive south of Plovdiv, was dying and its buildings falling down. Now, houses in the picture-postcard village are being bought and restored and new ones are being built. Many families like Savov’s are spending more time there than they ever anticipated. School has gone online, and he and his wife can work remotely. Money is being invested in the village as the newcomers hire builders, their friends stay in newly opened guest houses and they all eat at or order food from the local tavern.

If there was a good school in Kosovo, or even one nearby, Savov says he can imagine families moving there permanently. But unresolved inheritance issues are another big problem, leaving many homes empty and derelict in Kosovo, as elsewhere in Bulgaria.

Professionals and people in the IT sector have understood that Bulgaria has changed and a return, albeit one that cannot be quantified in terms of numbers yet, has begun, says Savov.

He says it is taking time for the message to spread in the diaspora that there is a huge demand for labour in Bulgaria, especially in more specialized sectors. Many people who left a decade or more ago think the country is just as it was, he says, calling it a shame that the government’s outreach to these people has been “flat” and lacking in information.

Many of these people, from tilers to beauticians, would return if they knew that their particular skills were now in short supply at home, and are far better paid than before. But money isn’t the only issue. Savov says that life back home with friends and family, and without the stress of a big city like London, is just “incomparably richer.”

From Bay Area to Black Sea

Paskal Zhelezov, 28, won the lottery, literally. In 2007, when he was 15, his family won a green card lottery, giving them the right to emigrate to the United States from their home in Aytos, a small town near the Black Sea port of Burgas. Before they left, Zhelezov’s father had been a post office technician and his mother a lawyer.

In May 2020, at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, Zhelezov moved back to Bulgaria from San Francisco. “If it were not for the pandemic, I probably would have stayed in California,” he says. “The pandemic comes with a lot of problems, but it also comes with a lot of opportunities.”

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Zhelezov returned to Burgas while working remotely for a California start-up. But seizing opportunities when they come along is what has defined his life. A couple of months later, he was snapped up by another start-up for which he now works.

When they left Bulgaria, Zhelezov’s family relocated to North Carolina where he went to school and university. After that, he lived in Colorado and finally moved to San Francisco. He never lost touch with home, though, and visited at least once a year.

Meanwhile, in London, two entrepreneurs were spotting a gap in the market. Remote working was increasingly popular, but many were finding it problematic. Compliance issues and especially taxes often make it difficult for a company in one country to employ someone in another.

The pair founded Omnipresent in London in November 2019 as a company that would handle local employment compliance, payroll and taxes and thus act as an “employer of record.” For example, if a Bulgarian working for a firm in the US or Western Europe wants to work back in Bulgaria, for tax and compliance purposes, Omnipresent hires them on behalf of their employer.

This model also simplifies the employment of people already in Bulgaria whom a foreign company might want to hire because, as Zhelezov explains, they don’t have to work as freelancers, taking on the hassle of filing taxes or setting up a company themselves, to do so.

What nobody had anticipated was that within months of Omnipresent’s launch, remote working would shoot from unusual to mainstream. “The world was going there gradually, but COVID-19 just smashed it and accelerated that trend,” says Zhelezov. It is a trend, he says, that is “definitely here to stay.” Omnipresent itself seems to have been ahead of the curve – it does not even have a physical office.

“We’re moving at the speed of light to take advantage of this massive opportunity,” the company’s website boasts. Zhelezov is now Omnipresent’s sixth employee.

For those coming from a high-tax jurisdiction like California to Bulgaria with its 10-per-cent flat tax, fiscal advantages are definitely among the incentives to move, especially if returnees keep their previous foreign salaries. Zhelezov believes “thousands” of people have taken advantage of this, depending on their personal circumstances, including whether or not they have children.

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Most of the returnees gravitate to Sofia and Bulgaria’s other big cities, he says, but a significant proportion return to smaller hometowns, if they can work remotely. For Zhelezov, Burgas is the best of both worlds – 30 minutes’ drive from inland Aytos, where his grandmothers and other relatives live, but with all the amenities of a big city and on the sea.

As for rural returns, he says he has only heard stories about people doing that. Right now, Zhelezov says, he is concentrating on his career and on having fun but says “a green lifestyle is definitely something I can see in my future” at a later stage.

Landing on her feet in Plovdiv

Gabriela Radeva, 22, graduated from Loughborough University in England in 2020 with a degree in international relations. She grew up in Plovdiv and, like so many of her generation, thought that after graduating she would stay abroad. Then the pandemic hit. To make ends meet, she worked in a supermarket on campus. But with the first lockdown, students headed home, hardly anyone remained in the halls and, with no customers, the supermarket closed at the beginning of June 2020.

By that time Radeva was back in Plovdiv. She had decided that it was “better to be safe than sorry”. Without the pandemic, and if Britain had been booming, Radeva might have found a great entry-level job, but she muses, realistically, she “would probably be bringing people coffee now.”

Back with her parents, she had to decide what to do after her quarantine period ended. She had done two summer internships with the business development department of Plovdiv municipality and when they offered her a job, she took it. When she had done the internships, they gave her real opportunities, she says, which she doubts she would have got in Britain.

Radeva uses her language skills in her work, is learning a lot about other cultures, is meeting lots of people and is making useful connections. Plovdiv is a boom town where foreign and Bulgarian companies have opened plants and offices around the city. “So, yeah,” she says, “this is much better than maybe having a job in the UK.”

Her mother works in human resources. Her father was a soldier who moved to Britain to work as a lorry driver to help finance her studies. Now he is home, too. Plovdiv is “amazing,” says Radeva. “Literally everything” she might want to do is no more than a few minutes’ walk 147 away. In 2019, Plovdiv was the first Bulgarian city to be chosen as a European Capital of Culture.

Radeva does not know how many of her friends and other people of her generation have come back, but she can tell from social media chat groups that there are a lot of them. For now, she is happy to have landed on her feet. She has a good job using her education, knowledge and skills and feels relieved she is not trapped working in a British supermarket.

But, while this is safe and comfortable, the experience is still not what she envisioned for herself at 22. “My generation is ambitious and drawn to this globalized world,” she says. To work in America or somewhere else abroad would be a lot more exciting than Plovdiv and, even if they might think of returning later in their lives, “a lot of young people want excitement in their life!”

Depressed villages still losing people

If Radeva represents something of the way many of her generation feel, something about her family is also highly representative.

Her parents want to live in the countryside, she says. But they have no intention of going back to the tiny town of Simeonovgrad, close to Haskovo, where her grandparents are. An hour- and-a-half’s drive away from Plovdiv, Simeonovgrad is a dying place, she says, full of elderly people and with few good jobs. “No one is building there,” Gabriela says, “everything is going down, everything.”

If you drive around Plovdiv, she says, you see plenty of cars with number plates from Haskovo and Kardzhali and other depressed regions. They are losing people because, apart from those going abroad, their people are going to Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna to study and where the jobs are.

Radeva does not wish to live in the countryside. “When you are young, you need energy around you and that is when you can actually do stuff. I don’t think I am going to be 60 and going to clubs or going to get coffee at seven in the morning. That is not going to happen!”

Like many of their generation in Plovdiv, her parents have already bought a house to which they intend to retire and where her father already spends most of his time. But the village of Belashtitsa, where their house is, is not as rural as it was. It is green and pleasant but it’s only 13 minutes’ drive to Plovdiv, so it is not exactly deep countryside. In fact, Radeva says, “new 148 houses are constantly just popping out of nowhere in that village … people love the idea of living near the city, but not in it, because the air is less polluted.”

It is almost at the foothills of the mountains and so in summer the temperature in Belashtitsa is a little cooler than in Plovdiv.

The charms of Belashtitsa are lost on Radeva for now. She and her family symbolize a generational divide. COVID brought her unexpectedly home to a good job in Plovdiv – but the countryside is not for her.

For her parents, a place in the country is just what they want, but only as long as it is close enough to town, and is somewhere that is flourishing. As long as Haskovo remains depressed, her grandparents’ nearby little town continues to dwindle and die.

This article was produced as the part of the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia’s report Turning the tide?

3. news.trust.org (original by Reuters, 18.03.2021)

Bulgaria's ruling GERB keeps pre-election lead over Socialists - poll by Reuters

SOFIA, March 18 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's ruling centre-right GERB party leads the opposition Socialists two weeks before an election but is on course to fall far short of a parliamentary majority, an opinion poll published on Thursday showed.

The poll by independent research group Trend showed 28.8% of Bulgarians planning to vote on April 4 would support GERB, which is led by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, and 23.6% would support the Socialist Party.

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The poll of 1,008 people, conducted between March 9 and 14, showed GERB's support had slipped by 0.1 percentage point from a month earlier and the Socialists were down 0.5 percentage points.

Anti-corruption protests last summer dented the popularity of the government but GERB has slowly regained support since.

About 45% of respondents said they would vote in the election, which is taking place during a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union's poorest member state.

Political experts say a "national unity" government is possible.

The poll put There is Such A People, an anti-elite party led by TV talk show host and singer Slavi Trifonov, on 12.7% of votes. The ethnic-Turkish MRF party was on 12.1% and the Democratic Bulgaria coalition on 5.9%.

A centre-left coalition that emerged after the protests, Stand Up! Mafia Out!, and the nationalist VMRO party could also win seats in parliament, the poll showed. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

4. rferl.org (original by rferl.org, 18.03.2021)

Bulgaria Announces Coronavirus Lockdown Ahead Of Elections

SOFIA -- Bulgaria has announced it will close kindergartens, schools, restaurants, and shopping malls for 10 days as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 infections that have stretched its hospitals.

Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.

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Health Minister Kostadin Angelov told reporters on March 18 that theaters, cinemas, and gyms will also be closed from March 22, while indoor gatherings of more than 15 people will be banned.

The center-right government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was taking all necessary health safety measures for national elections to be held on April 4, he said.

Earlier in the day, Bulgaria reported 4,201 new coronavirus cases, with 7,804 people in hospitals, including 609 in intensive care.

Overall, health authorities have reported more than 290,000 infections and over 11,000 related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Bulgaria, with a population of 7 million, holds the poorest inoculation record in the European Union, with only about 350,000 people vaccinated so far with a first dose.

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LITHUANIA

1. respublika.lt (translated, original by Vitas Tomkus, 15.03.2021)

THE STATE OF WELFARE IS THE GOVERNMENT OF PEDERASTES PLUS THE DIGITALIZATION OF THE WORLD! ("Pederasts" are those who harm our state)

Once upon a time there was such a slogan: "Communism is the power of the Soviets plus the electrification of the whole country!" 151

I do not know what the slogan will be for the Welfare State, whose Promised Land was promised to us by Gitana, but he will soon have to recall even the slogan: "Hey you!" Or - a simple whistle.

Well, tell me, what attracted Gitana Nausėda to publicly call Vytautas Landsbergis "president" behind his tongue during the ceremonies at the Seimas? It sounded like the most disgusting swear word.

And after all, Gitana could have quietly whipped Landsberg in the ear, only both would have known who the real presidents were. One is in Daukantynė, the other is, as always, in the "shadow", which is especially fashionable at the moment. To work for it, to be in the "shadow". Probably to make the ears of scammers as visible to the public as possible. But there is only half the trouble here, and the trouble is not walking one and a half.

It has long been known that any good work will be punished. Know it’s big and small. But the "tall and beautiful" apparently did not know it: that's why he was surprised when he was later attacked as a conservative dog. even Tapin, the wicked, usually feeling where the wind was blowing from, and those in the presidency began to clean their feet.

Will it never happen to the Lithuanian government, which is trying to slip into the tail of the Yankees without soap. I understand that the content there corresponds to the tastes of the partners of the Seimas coalition from LGBT, but for me those seats, black or rainbow-plated, all as one indulge in "orange revolutions"!

Finally, on the eve of March 11, I would very much like to ask everyone a simple question: Soviet Union, to start looking with nostalgia to the East? ”

The question is rhetorical. (Conservatives don't have to bother.)

2. napi.hu (translated, original by Júlia Barabás, 20.03.2021)

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Belarus nuclear power plant test, panic in Lithuania

An extraordinary expert meeting has been convened at the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy because Belarus plans to carry out tests on its electricity grid, including its new nuclear power plant.

Belarus will carry out tests on its "energy facilities", so it also wants to disconnect for a time the power line that connects the country with Lithuania. The country's newly handed over Ostrovec nuclear power plant will also take part in the various test tasks and their tests.

The Poles pull the mustaches of the Germans

If that weren't worrying enough, they want to do it all in an exceptionally short time, the Polish Rzeczpospolita reported after learning that the Belarusian authorities had notified Ligrid, the Lithuanian electricity grid operator.

The test will take place April 5-11. Belarus needs to assess the reliability of its electricity supply, as the Baltic countries want to break away from the so-called BRELL system. Based on the former Soviet grid, it is a joint electricity grid of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. BRELL was established in 2001 and is scheduled to be maintained until 2025. After that, the Baltic states want to connect to the Western European electricity grid through Poland.

Why does Minsk want to test the system four years before it ends? Why has the rule that all measures affecting BRELL have been notified to the participating countries at least six months in advance not been complied with? These issues are completely open, so the Lithuanian authorities are deeply concerned about the move by Belarusians.

The impact of the tests on the Ostrovec nuclear power plant, which was put into operation at the beginning of the year, caused even more nervousness in Lithuania. The facility, which is very close to the Lithuanian border, was built with Russian credit by Roszatom. The power plant is not yet operating at full capacity, but in many cases - most recently here - there has been news that various components are not or are not working properly in the system. There were a number of accidents during construction, five of which were demonstrably killed in accidents at work during the project.

Due to the issue of system audit in Belarus, an extraordinary expert meeting was therefore convened in the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy. 153

3. bnn-news.com (original by Baltic News Network, 20.03.2021)

Week in Lithuania: Movement restrictions extended, schools reopened as economic forecasts expect growth in 2021

Last week, the top news stories in Lithuania were the extension of movement restrictions in part of the country, the reopening of schools and museums, as well as the choice offered to people not willing to receive the Covid-19 vaccine of the firm AstraZeneca.

Schools, museums reopen in Lithuania

All shops with access from the street, as well as museums and galleries reopened in Lithuania on Monday, March 15. More than 1,000 primary schoolchildren returned to three schools in Vilnius, and once collective testing of students and teachers is ensured, direct learning will be resumed later this month in around 60 primary education establishments in the country.

Ruling HU-LCD leads over LFGU in party ratings

The ruling conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats remains the most popular party in Lithuania, as the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union comes in second, the results of the latest survey by Spinter Tyrimai showed on Monday, March 15. A total of 17.8 percent of respondents said in February they would vote for the conservatives, and 12.7 percent would back the Farmers and Greens Union. The Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party, both parts of the ruling coalition, were supported by 8.8 percent and 8.2 percent of people respectively, and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania came in fifth with 4.5 percent.

Cabinet extends movement restrictions in 16 municipalities

Lithuania’s government on Monday, March 15, extended the existing movement restrictions until the end of this month in 16 municipalities, including Vilnius and Vilnius District, Klaipėda and Neringa. The Health Ministry had proposed extending the existing movement restrictions in these municipalities where the 14-day number of new COVID-19 cases per population of 100,000 stands at or exceeds 200.

Lithuania suspends AstraZeneca’s vaccine temporarily

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Lithuania has temporarily suspended vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys said at a news conference on Tuesday, March 16. Dulkys told said on Thursday, March 18, that the country will change its COVID-19 vaccination procedure and people will be free to decide whether they want to take the AstraZeneca vaccine or not.

Seimas takes on amendments on journalists’ access to state registries

Lithuania’s legislature, Seimas, on Tuesday, March 16, started debating amendments to the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public pertaining to journalists’ free of charge access to data from state registries. The bill stipulates that journalists have free of charge access to data from three registries of the Centre of Registers, i.e. the Registry of Legal Entities, the Real Estate Registry and the Information System of Legal Entities Participants.

CNSDC seeks to bar third-countries’ construction firms from tenders

Lithuania’s parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence Committee (CNSDC) is mulling law amendments under which companies linked to third-countries, like Russia or China, would be automatically deemed unreliable and eliminated from the construction of or investment into objects important for national security, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman for the CNSDC, said on Wednesday, March 17.

LFGU, Labour Party groups back opposition cooperation agreement

The parliamentary opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and Labour Party’s political groups in the Lithuanian Seimas on Wednesday, March 17, backed the signing of an agreement on cooperation within the opposition and the election of the opposition leader. The LFGU has 32 representatives in the Lithuanian parliament, and the Labour Party has ten.

Lithuanians busted over scheming wealthy Germans

Five Lithuanians have been handcuffed in three countries, suspected of having created a deposit fraud scheme and caused damage to well-to-do Germans for 1.5 million euros, Vilnius County Chief Police Commissariat, said on Thursday, March 18. According to the police, German citizens, members of the academic communities, fell victim to the fraudsters. The victims believed that bank accounts would be opened in their name and their deposits would be safe there. But in reality, the money was transferred to companies, with some of them registered in Lithuania, and then further transferred to other countries where they were cashed out.

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Lithuanian, Ukrainian leaders agree on Belarus NPP blockade

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, March 18, he has agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to coordinate their policies and actions to block electricity produced by the Astravyets nuclear power plant in Belarus.

Klaipėda port leads Baltic ports by cargo traffic

Klaipėda has retained the position of the Baltics’ busiest Baltic seaport by cargo traffic, falling behind only the Russian ports in the Gulf of Finland in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, Port of Klaipėda said on Friday, March 19. The Lithuanian port saw its cargo volumes grow 10.7 percent to 7.508 million tons in January-February year-on-year. The result exceeded the rates of all Latvian ports as their handling volumes went down by 11.8 percent to 7.047 million tons.

Lithuania’s GDP to grow 2.6 percent in 2021

After shrinking 0.8 percent in 2020 as the result of the coronavirus crisis, Lithuania’s economy is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, the country’s Finance Ministry issued its new estimate on Friday, March 19. It also expects an average growth rate of 3.2 percent in 2022-2023. The ministry estimated in December that the country’s economy would grow 2.8 percent this year and expand 3.1 percent a year on average in 2022-2023.

Lithuania adds 534 new coronavirus cases

Lithuania registered 534 new coronavirus infections and eight deaths from COVID-19 over Thursday, March 18, the country’s statistics office said on Friday, March 19. Lithuania’s 14- day coronavirus infection rate currently stands at 239.2 cases per 100,000 people, and the share of positive tests over the past seven days – at 6.8 percent. A total of 3,452 people have died from COVID-19 in Lithuania so far. to the coronavirus has reached 6,973. A total of 272,246 people have received their first coronavirus vaccine shots so far and 117,839 have been given the second jab.

4. delfi.lt (translated, original by delfi.lt, 26.02.2021)

156

Chaplain of Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium, who calls LGBT community "perverts", dismissed

A video in which the chaplain of Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium Paulius Vaineikis calls members of the LGBT community during the Advent Mass started spreading on social networks this week.

Paulius Vaineikis, the chaplain of Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium, misrepresented members of the LGBT community during the Advent Mass. According to the portal laikmetis.lt, the chaplain is dismissed from office.

The excerpt of this Mass was shared on Facebook by the Human Rights Center. “Does hatred and one or another soc. group humiliation can be justified by freedom of religion? This is not the first time that the Center has been contacted by people who are outraged by the way some priests respond to the LGBT community. Some of them are non-believers, others - believers and do not understand such words used by church members, feel rejected and humiliated, ”the representatives of the Human Rights Centers wrote.

P. Vaineikis, the chaplain of Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium, states in the above-mentioned video that "Satan has learned to distort human nature on a non-political level."

Representatives of the LGBT community are later called perverts. He says there are attempts to break into schools and teach "immoral things." "We say that Satan has learned to distort human nature even at the political level. When perverts teach through the LRT, I can say straight ahead. (Teach, aut. P.) Perverts, lgbtšnikai. They teach us who we are. It turns out that boys are no longer boys, men are not men, girls are not girls, women are not women, but bala knows what. Can you imagine? When they try to invade schools and teach immoral things at the state level, ”said P. Vaineikis, chaplain of Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium, in the excerpt from the mass.

ESTONIA

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1. rus.err.ee (translated, original by Sergey Mikhailov, 10.03.2021)

Mart Helme will run in Tallinn for local elections in October

Vice-Chairman of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) Mart Helme will run in Tallinn in the local elections in October this year. At the same time, the politician does not yet know whether he will become a candidate from the party list for the post of mayor of the capital.

"We have not yet decided who will be our candidate for mayor of Tallinn. We will probably decide this at the end of spring. But this time I will run in Tallinn, not in Pärnu, I don’t know which constituency yet," Helme said on Wednesday in an interview with ERR.

At the end of January, after a change in the government coalition, Mart Helme told rus.err.ee that he had not yet decided where he would run - in Tallinn or Pärnu.

"Most likely, in Tallinn. But so far we have not discussed this in the party. I still cannot say in what role I will participate in the local elections," he said then.

In 2013, Mart Helme ran for the Tallinn City Council in Kesklinn, then neither he nor other candidates from EKRE entered the representative body.

In 2017, Helme was number one on the EKRE list in Pärnu. The Conservatives received 6 mandates out of 39.

2. news.err.ee (original by ERR News, 20.03.2021)

Aggregate party ratings: Reform top, EKRE and Center even stevens

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Reform is the most popular party among voters in Estonia according to all three major pollsters, while the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and the coalition Center Party, are neck-and-neck.

ERR's online news in Estonian started publishing market research results as an aggregate of findings from Norstat, Turu-uuringute and Kantar Emor last August, in order to get a clear picture of the political landscape, though it reports that taking into account statistical margins of error, results from the three different firms may vary by up to 3 percent.

Taking into account possible statistical margins of error, the individual results of research companies (Norstat, Turu-uuringute AS and Kantar Emor) may differ by up to three percent, ERR says.

With that in mind, Reform emerged most popular for the month of March, averaging 30 percent in support and unchanged from the previous month, followed by EKRE and Center on 19 percent each. For Center, this represents a slight rise in support, of one percentage point, while EKRE's has fallen by one percentage point.

Non-parliamentary party Eesti 200 saw a fall, from 15 percent to 14 percent on average; the party's support has declined since year end 2020 when it briefly overtook EKRE.

The opposition Social Democratic Party (SDE) has hovered around the 8 percent-mark since the beginning of 2021, while Isamaa, also in opposition, has been at the 5 percent-mark, significant in that it is the threshold required to gain Rigiikogu seats at an election.

The Green Party is below the threshold at three percent, while TULE, formed last year after a merger between the Free Party and Richness of Life, lies on one percent on average for March.

While the three companies paint a similar picture for most parties, Reform has consistently done better with Norstat (at nearly 35 percent for March), who compile their results for a socially-conservative think-tank, than with Turu-uuringute and Kantar Emor (26-28 percent), whereas the opposite is the case for Eesti 200 and SDE, with a gap of three to four percentage points.

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Also noteworthy are the differing methods the companies use. Norstat conducts its surveys over the phone and also online. Turu-uuringute polls the public via a 50/50 split between face- to-face and online interviews, while Kantar Emor is online-only.

3. news.err.ee (original by ERR News, 17.02.2021)

Prosecutor general: I oppose the criminalization of hate speech

Estonia's prosecutor general has said he opposes the criminalization of hate speech and worries it would divert resources away from other crimes.

Eesti Päevaleht published an interview with Prosecutor general Andres Parmas on Wednesday, in which he said. while talking about hate speech: "I have always opposed it and I still do. In my opinion, it is a bad idea."

He said hate speech is already criminalized in Estonia if it involves real danger or consequences.

"Extreme caution should be exercised in extending criminalization. Freedom of speech is a very important value for society, and lightly restricting it is actually shooting oneself in the foot," Parmas added.

"As the head of the prosecutor's office, it cannot be ignored that such a change in the law means an additional workload for both the prosecutor's office and the police and the court. This resource must be bourne by the prosecutor's office at the expense of other crimes."

Last week, Minister of Justice Maris Lauri (Reform) said that the government is planning to add the criminalization of hate speech to the Riigikogu's agenda.

Lauri said the levels of penalties should be reevaluated and when hate speech becomes a criminal conviction a prison sentence of one to three years could be imposed.

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In October, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Estonia as the country has not correctly criminalized hate speech, by omitting the criminalization of public incitement to violence or hatred when directed at groups and has not created adequate penalties.

A bill submitted by the Reform Party when it was in opposition which would have criminalize hate speech was voted down by members of the Riigikogu in December. The coalition said more urgent issues should be discussed in the middle of a pandemic.

4. novekedes.hu (translated, original by György Matolcsy, 22.02.2021)

György Matolcsy: Why Estonia?

Why not recognize that Estonians were about 2.5 times better than us in the pre-2020 decade? Why not look for a way to follow the Estonian pattern, then?

In the decade after 2009 and before 2020, Estonia has caught up from 64.6 per cent of the EU average to almost 84 per cent, bringing it close to the level of developed European countries by almost 20 percentage points.

Only Lithuania was even more successful than them, coming up from 56.9 per cent to close to 84 per cent, bringing in about 27 percentage points of their previous backlog. Romania ranks third among 9 Central and Eastern European countries, rising from 52.2 percent in 2009 to close to 70 percent by the end of 2019. Latvia approached the EU average by 16 percentage points and Poland by 13 percentage points. Hungary ranks sixth in this ranking, followed by the Czech Republic, both with catching-up performances below 10 percent. Of the two eurozone economies in Central Europe, Slovenia converged very modestly, by 2.4 percentage points, while Slovakia moved away from the EU average by around minus 2 percentage points.

Estonia's success can also be traced in terms of cumulative growth. After Ireland and Malta, they achieved the highest overall growth of over 40 per cent. Services accounted for two- thirds of cumulative growth, but industry also contributed significantly to success. Service- 161 based reindustrialisation has been carried out, building on the IT sector and a comprehensive digital switchover, especially in the public sector.

The EU’s third-highest investment rate was brought above 25 per cent on average over a ten- year period, surpassed only by the Irish and Czechs, closely followed by Romanians. In this respect, Hungary reached only the 11th place with an average level of around 22 percent, but this was already above the EU average.

Due to the crisis of 2008/2009, the majority of people moving abroad from Estonia returned because in 2015, wages in the Baltic state returned to pre-crisis levels. Unemployment, meanwhile, has fallen from 16 percent to close to 4 percent. Productivity has risen sharply since 2010, with the Estonian economy improving by almost a third in 10 years.

If we add the appropriate Hungarian data to these, we would find that Estonians performed far better than us in terms of economic catching up. What could be the main reasons for this?

At first glance, they didn’t get imperial-level public debt around their necks after independence, so their public debt ratio is below 10 percent of GDP. But the background to success is more diverse.

The Estonians cut him with a strong national vision for the great adventure of independent Estonia. The Finns wanted to repeat their success and rise to the Scandinavian countries.

Two strategies followed from the strong vision: one for national policy and one for economic policy. Western integration in all areas, a complete resumption in politics and a complete break with the imperial past. At the heart of the economic policy strategy was the rapid catching-up with developed countries. They built on the digital revolution based on the nearby Finnish and not-too-distant Irish example. Two-thirds of the increase came from services, much of which was due to the infocommunications sector. While the weight of the infocommunication area in the economies of the V4s is between 4 and 6 per cent, it is close to 8 per cent in Estonia.

Estonians chose the best development policy for the little ones: they flew "from above" into a new sector that was just emerging. The Irish also chose this path after 1988, the South Koreans have already done it several times (now in the battery industry), but earlier the Asian tigers have also won with this strategy. It is telling that while the weight of the IT sector 162 among Estonians reached the fourth fastest growth in the EU member states, the Hungarian IT sector is in the second worst position after Italy.

The Estonian strategy resulted in the transformation of the functioning of the institutions, especially the state. Estonia has become a leader in the digital transformation. Education, companies, households and public administration have all been digitized. 99% of the services provided by the Estonian “digital state” can be provided online. With this, Estonia gained world fame - with the third place among UN member states - in the development of e- government.

This is the key to making Estonia a European leader in investment in technology companies by 2020 and also among the top 9 Central and Eastern European countries in terms of innovation.

For Hungary, the Estonian example offers many lessons.

We need a strong vision, a good strategy, a complete digital transition, a high investment rate, sustained dynamic productivity growth, wage catch-up, repatriation of workers abroad, low public debt, a strong technology sector, many innovations and world-class universities.

What if we really begin?

Listen to Desmond Mpilo Tutura, a retired archbishop of South Africa who received one of the compasses of his life from Mandela:

"I learned that courage is not a lack of fear, but a victory over it. I couldn't count how many times I feared in my life, but I hid it behind the mask of courage. It's not the brave who doesn't feel fear, but the one who overcomes it."

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LATVIA

1. jauns.lv (translated, original by LETA, 22.03.2021)

War: Along with the adjustment of medical salaries, the medical system as a whole must be improved

Adjustment of doctors' salaries is important, but improvements are also needed in the medical system as a whole, and at the same time the state has different needs in other areas, according to Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) on Monday after the coalition meeting.

Responding to the question about the proposed new model of medical salaries, the Prime Minister noted that in his opinion, the adjustment of medical salaries is an extremely important task to be accomplished. He said that the Covid-19 crisis, like any other crisis, highlights the shortcomings and that the current system is not understood by doctors or patients. According to him, the system needs improvement.

According to Kariņš, there are some issues that, in his opinion, need to be clarified. The Prime Minister said that the report submitted by the Ministry of Health talks a lot about doctors, but it is not clear how the medical care available to patients could be improved. In his opinion, there is a need for clarification.

The head of government also emphasized that this reform directly affects hospital doctors, thus leaving open the question of outpatient care, which is "preventive medicine" that could prevent illness at an early stage so that a person does not have to go to hospital.

And there should be clarity on how to properly motivate the new generation, namely clarity on the issue of residents, who sometimes pay for it themselves. In the opinion of the Prime Minister, the direction is correct, but there are some issues that need to be sorted out or clarified before the report is considered by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Asked whether an agreement on the medical remuneration model could be reached before the draft state budget for 2022 is considered, Kariņš said that in this case it is important to separate two related things - how to organize the system and how to finance the respective 164 changes. The Prime Minister pointed out that it is important for the coalition, the government and the Saeima to agree on how the system of medical remuneration will be arranged, and at the same time will have to agree on other needs, which the state has a lot of. Adjusting the medical remuneration system is one of the very important things, the head of government added.

The Prime Minister noted that the "putting together" of the state budget will begin in August, when the coalition will have enough to discuss. "This will be one of the very important issues that we now need to understand the direction we want to take," Kariņš said.

As "Development / About!" The Speaker of the Saeima faction Marija Golubeva (AP), the Minister of Finance Jānis Reirs (JV) and the Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) previously opposed the further progress of this issue at the government meeting, therefore the HR wants to discuss this issue more closely with them.

"We agree that a concrete decision on the allocation of funding should probably be taken during the budget period," Golubeva said, stressing at the same time that the new model proposed for the remuneration of doctors should remain inside the relevant report.

Krišjānis Feldmans, Deputy Chairman of the Saeima faction of the New Conservative Party (JKP), pointed out that the JKP does not want to find itself in a situation similar to the beginning of the 13th Saeima's work, when the parliament voted to could not be fulfilled at the time.

Making unfulfilled promises, or "drawing salaries on paper but not funding them", does not build trust, Feldmans stressed. He pointed to "rather confusing suggestions" where money could be taken, for example, from those who traditionally want to raise taxes, voicing ideas that could increase value added tax. During the current crisis, the public may not fully understand such a step, said the Deputy Speaker of the JKP Saeima faction.

The JPP politician called for caution in making promises for three to five years, as there are some concerns about how they can be fulfilled.

Nauris Puntulis, a politician and Minister of Culture of the National Union "All for Latvia!" - "Fatherland and Freedom" / LNNK, agreed with Feldman that making such financially intensive promises without financial coverage would be a policy that should be avoided.

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As reported, the government has not yet decided last week on the reform of medical salaries, as the 287 million euros needed for salary increases will be discussed in the context of the 2022 budget.

On March 18, the Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts (AP) proposed to include the issue of the new model of financing medical salaries on the agenda of the government meeting. He pointed out that the model of medical remuneration should be read in conjunction with the report submitted at the government meeting on the compliance of hospital services with a certain level of hospitals. Mr Pavluts also emphasized that the issue of medical remuneration had been discussed in various formats and that this proposal had been submitted to the government for consideration for two months.

Kariņš explained that the issue of medical salaries has not been included in the agenda of the government meeting so far, as it has not been coordinated with the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The Prime Minister also expressed concern that the medical remuneration model requires very large budget funds, so the coalition partners pointed out at a co-operation meeting on Monday that this is not the only area with challenges. Kariņš called on the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance Reira to sit down at the negotiating table and develop a common vision for solving the problem.

Mr Reir also emphasized that the issue of doctors' remuneration was in line with the MoF, as there were shortcomings in the current proposal that could be remedied. As an example, the Minister of Finance mentioned that the remuneration system for doctors has been removed from the remuneration system in the public administration.

Reir also stressed that each ministry has its own wishes, but all of them will be seen in the context of the 2022 budget, which will begin in August this year. The Minister of Finance warned that if a decision were now made on the medical remuneration model, it would be expected that all budget possibilities would be exhausted. "The public cannot be promised financially unsound things," Reirs said.

Meanwhile, at the end of last week, "Development / For" called Kariņa to agree on the implementation of the medical remuneration reform

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2. eng.lsm.lv (original by eng.lsm.lv, 15.03.2021)

Former Education Minister Grīnblats passes away

The death of Māris Grīnblats, a longtime Saeima deputy and former Education Minister, was confirmed by the National Alliance political grouping March 15. The former politician passed away on Sunday, March 15, at the age of 66.

Grīnblats was born on January 5, 1955 in Kuldīga. He graduated from Kuldīga Secondary School No. 1 in 1973 and in the same year entered the Faculty of History and Philosophy of the State University of Latvia, where he graduated in 1982, according to information available in the archives of the news agency LETA.

Grīnblats was elected to the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Saeimas. He was the chairman of the “For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK” faction in the 8th and 9th Saeima and Minister of Education and Science from 1995 to 1997. He had also worked more recently as a consultant to the National Alliance Saeima faction.

"We have been left by a party member, like-minded person and friend. Māris will remain in our memory as an outstanding team man, an erudite and experienced statesman, whose advice the [National Alliance] will greatly miss," said NA chairman Raivis Dzintars.

3. moderndiplomacy.eu (original by Eugene Matos de Lara, 15.03.2021)

View from Latvia: Is the EU Failing us?

On the historic date of March 08th – International Women’s Day, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered for the second consecutive summit in Vienna, Austria. This leg of the Vienna Process event titled: “Europe – Future – Neighbourhood at 75: Disruptions Recalibration Continuity”. The conference, jointly organized by four different entities (the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies IFIMES, Media 167

Platform Modern Diplomacy, Scientific Journal European Perspectives, and Action Platform Culture for Peace) with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, was aimed at discussing the future of Europe and its neighbourhood in the wake of its old and new challenges.

Among other notable speakers there was also a prominent EAF Lawyer of Latvia, Andrejs Pagors. His polemic, but very constructive views and suggestions contributed to the greatly mesmerising flow and outcome of the central conference’s panel. Central to his address was the question: A political bias and economic wellbeing – is reconciliation between the two possible? Following lines are his contribution to this highly successful Vienna Process event:

Latvia, like the rest of Europe, is experiencing the consequences of the Covid 19 (C-19) measures, which directly affects the economic state of the country and regions.

Small and medium-sized businesses are especially affected, for which the government has not yet developed a system of assistance, and the criteria for assistance do not allow all enterprises to apply for assistance from the state.

It should be noted that the crisis in Latvia did not begin in March 2020, but at the end of 2019. The drop in GDP was associated with a drop of transit and production sectors. A crisis or an epidemic has become the perfect cover for the lack of an economic development plan for the country.

The inadequate and purely concepted economic conduct of the government has led to the fact that the economic crisis will continue, and a more powerful wave awaits us, experts say. The government was not ready for the second wave of C-19 and the third wave is approaching for which we are not ready again.

Latvia is unique in that we are not trying to apply restrictive measures to save businesses that work in other European countries, but we come up with our own illogical measures that do not work, and we see that the number of cases is growing. Correct and logical measures will help to return to normal life, and this will allow the business to work productively and develop.

In all countries, except for Latvia, the government tried to support and prevent a drop in consumption of the inhabitants of their country, thereby supporting production. In Latvia, an 168 unfortunate measure to ban trade in a number of goods led to the closure of production, which ultimately reduced tax revenues to the state treasury by 18.5%.

White flags at shopping centers symbolize a decrease in turnover and that the safety factor is running out. Enterprises that, due to restrictions, were unable to sell seasonal goods, did not receive working capital to purchase new goods. The government was slow to realize the opportunity to support the business by allocating money for working capital that could be used to pay off rent and pay utility bills.

A political bias and economic wellbeing – You can not have both

At the same time, the current authorities did not take any measures for state economy or rejection of non-priority projects. If we compare with other countries, the reduction of government officials began everywhere. In Latvia, the number of officials has not been reduced, even with a decrease in the amount of work. From every 1 euro of tax paid to the treasury, 0.15 euro is spent on the maintenance of the state apparatus.

At the same time, during the C-19 measures, Latvia turned out to be one of the leaders of the sanctions policy that was deadly for business. For 30 years Russia and Belarus have been using Latvian ports. And objectively for central Russia, Belarus, our three leading ports of Ventspils, Riga and Liepaja are more profitable than the Russian Ust-Luga. The tariffs are 25- 30% lower, the speed of cargo clearance is faster.

However, the result of many years of anti-Russian rhetoric was Russia’s refusal to work with Latvia. The Kremlin used the administrative resource, and the goods went bypassing the Baltic countries. At the moment we have lost banking business, transit and trade with our neighbors Belarusians and the Russian Federation. Consequently, the economy became hostage to politics. There was hope for China. Moreover, scientists are sounding the alarm and note the slowdown of the Gulf Stream, which could nullify all the efforts of Russia and China on the northern sea route.

China has a well-known project – “One Belt – One Road”, it is also called the “New Silk Road”. Beijing was ready to work in both Latvia and Estonia. However, following in the wake of American policy, the Chinese were not allowed to enter the Baltic. And now, after the breakdown of the EU-China investment agreement due to the Uyghur agenda, there is no need to wait for investments from China. Hence, due to political problems, port complexes – just few years ago still among the most promising in the Baltics, is now threatened.

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At the municipal or city level, the situation is the same as on the state level. Let me use as an example my own birth city: Jelgava (Mitava), 800 years of history and development. Where 20 years ago minibuses of the European level were produced and one of the largest sugar factories worked.

At the end of the 90s, the RAF plant with 4,000 employees was liquidated, and in 2006 the Jelgava “cukurfabrika” was liquidated, which produced sugar for the whole country and for export, gave jobs and developed agriculture, which was engaged in the cultivation of sugar beets. The political elites made concessions to the EU in exchange for positions and places in the Brussels apparatus. Now, Latvia buys sugar in Denmark. In 2010, a major investor in the production of railroad cars came to the city, but again political interference prevented the start of large-scale production in the city, although the amount of financial injection into the city was equal to the entire annual budget of the city. This time, the investor was from neighboring Estonia. But politics intervened here too.

Rocky 2020 showed us that things are not changing for the better. In addition to the war of sanctions with Russia and China, the “war of vaccines” was added. At the same time, the old national political establishment continues to live according to the principle “the state is us”, prioritizing its own interests, and not the country’s economy. I note that the C-19 measures have demonstrated the weaknesses of the EU. Recently, the European Commission diversified the procurement of vaccines returning it onto the Member States level – each country has the right to purchase it independently.

What will than happen next? If the EU cannot resolve important issues, maybe we, the EU states, need more autonomy in economic matters, in the implementation of national projects, too. And in the change of political teams that turned out to be inadequate to effectively tackle the mounting C-19 induced socio-political and economic crisis.

4. nra.lv (translated, original by LETA, 14.03.2021)

The National Union plans to run in municipal elections in 36 counties and cities

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The National Union (NA) is committed to running in 36 counties and cities in the upcoming municipal elections, said Laima Melkina, a public relations specialist of the political force.

The NA plans to start in the upcoming elections in 17 lists in Vidzeme, seven lists in Kurzeme and Zemgale, as well as in five lists in Latgale.

Melkina added that there is still a possibility that the number of counties and cities will still change.

Raivis Dzintars, the chairman of the NA, noted that in the last local elections, the NA won the most seats from all parties or 166 seats. "Looking back, we can see that in our managed regions we can be really proud of what we have done - promote entrepreneurship and job creation, support for families with children, a well-maintained environment and other successes," said Dzintars.

According to him, the representatives of the NA have confirmed that "Latvia's regions can be prosperous and prosperous", and also in these elections the political force has come with its offer for the growth of the regions.

In several counties, mayoral candidates will be the current presidents. In Sigulda it will be Uģis Mitrevics, in Smiltene - Edgars Avotiņš, in Tukums - Normunds Rečs, in Talsi - Sandra Pētersone and in Ogre - Egils Helmanis.

It is also planned to "discover" several leaders of the list, for example, in Liepaja the leader will be Uldis Lipskis, in South Kurzeme - Linards Tiļugs, in Rēzekne - Ināra Groce, Balvi - Aija Mežale, Jūrmala - Andris Čuda, Cēsis - Guntis Grosbergs, Madona - Zigfrīds Gora, Augšdaug Agris Slobožaņins, in Saldus - Roberts Sipenieks, in Valmiera - Jānis Grasbergs and in Jelgava region - Oskars Cīrulis.

Mr Melkina emphasized that, although the priorities of each county or city differed, the main focus of the NA would be on building economic, efficient, co-operative governance, support for different groups, especially families with children and the elderly, quality educational and cultural provision, as well as business and infrastructure development in the counties.

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In these municipal elections, the NA will be guided by "Your voice in the region", noting that the opinion and needs of each voter are important, Melkina informed, while adding that it is especially important in the context of administrative-territorial reform. In the NA's view, there must be a steady development in the merged counties so that growth is not concentrated only in the new county centers.

She also revealed that there are 41 regional chapters and more than 1,000 members in Latvia throughout the political force.

According to the report, a total of 683 deputies will have to be elected in the upcoming elections in six cities and 35 counties. 13 deputies will have to be elected in two state cities, 15 deputies in 22 local government councils, 19 deputies in 16 county councils, and 23 deputies in one county.

The number of deputies to be elected in local government councils shall be determined in accordance with the number of inhabitants registered in local governments in the Population Register on the day of the announcement of elections - on 21 January this year.

This year's municipal elections will take place in the new administrative territories, and after the elections, there will be 42 municipalities in Latvia instead of the current 119. There will be no elections in Riga municipality this year, because the council of 60 deputies was elected in the extraordinary elections last year, and it will continue to work until the 2025 elections.

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LUXEMBOURG

1. wort.lu 172

(translated, original by Morgan Kuntzmann, 09.03.2021)

Juvenile delinquency: no gangs in Luxembourg

The recent stabbings were the subject of an extended question in the Chamber. Transporting prisoners should continue to be the responsibility of the police.

Violence among young people, especially with knives, has kept Britain in suspense for years. However, three cases of stabbing within four weeks have also raised the question of Luxembourg whether there is an increasing brutalization of youth violence .

In his extended question to the government, CSV MP Léon Gloden gave hints as to where the increase in violence could be coming from. “We live in difficult times. The corona crisis has cut our freedoms. This puts a strain on the psyche of young people. The compensation that would otherwise take place in sport cannot take place at the moment. "

Yesterday Gloden wanted to know from the two green ministers Henri Kox and Sam Tanson whether the phenomenon of organized youth gangs that can be seen in France is also gaining a foothold in Luxembourg. The Minister for Homeland Security, Henri Kox, recalled that the problem of youth violence is complex .

“Juvenile delinquency is a problem for society. The police are called when things get out of hand, ” said Kox. That is why the police prefer a holistic approach. "The Police Act of 2018 provides that the police not only have a repressive, but also a preventive role." The police have special units that act to prevent violence.

Young people often fail to see the dangers to which they expose themselves in a shady environment.

The problem child of juvenile delinquency: How the judiciary deals with juvenile offenders "These go to the municipalities and their social facilities, but also, for example, to the outdoor swimming pools and give the pool attendants pedagogical skills and contacts to the responsible departments within the police."

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Both Kox and Tanson emphasized that there are no organized youth gangs in Luxembourg . "Of course there are occasional brawls between groups of friends, but one cannot speak of youth gangs as we find them in neighboring countries," explained Kox.

Transporting prisoners remains the task of the police

Another task of the police is the transport of prisoners. Fernand Kartheiser (ADR) wanted to know from the police minister in the previous question time whether there was any prospect of handing this task over to the prison guards in order to relieve the police .

For Henri Kox, the transport of the offenders and prisoners on remand should remain part of the police's powers. "The June 17, 2019 agreement with the police unions included an extraordinary recruitment campaign." These numerous new hires at the police force can also be explained by the many tasks that the police have, according to Kox.

"If we were to hand over the transport to the prison guards, the problem would only shift," said the police minister. According to the law, prison guards are not bearers of arms. "I would be rid of the problem as Minister of Police, but that would not help anyone nationally," said Kox.

2. luxtimes.lu (original by Yannick Lambert, 18.03.2021)

Luxembourg officials lacking details on organised crime presence

Interpol says Grand Duchy's outsized financial centre and high incomes make it attractive target for international crime gangs

Luxembourg's government and police lack information on organised crime gangs operating in the country, which Interpol warns is an attractive target.

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The Grand Duchy's location in the centre of Europe, its role as an EU capital and its outsized financial industry make it attractive for international crime, the global law enforcement organisation said.

The so-called OpenLux journalistic investigation found last month that the Grand Duchy's lack of transparency into business ownership provides room for organised crime and money laundering to operate in the country.

But the secrecy and complexity of police investigations and the presumption of innocence for any suspects arrested means there is no data available to indicate whether organised crime has gained a foothold in the country, Interior Security Minister Henri Kox and Justice Minister Sam Tanson said this week.

"The Grand Ducal police does not have quantitative data on the phenomenon", the ministers said in response to a parliamentary question.

Confirmed cases involving organised crime in Luxembourg dropped from 33 in 2019 to 25 in 2020, the ministers said. There were 92 convictions between 2015 and 2020, they said.

Criminal gangs in Luxembourg are mainly involved in thefts, migrant smuggling, prostitution and human trafficking, police reported in 2019. The Italian mafia organisation called the 'Ndrangheta is believed to be present in Luxembourg's catering and real estate industries.

Police are seeing a "sharp increase in new narcotics cases" involving drugs transiting the country as well as their manufacture and sale, Kox and Tanson said. Luxembourg receives around 60 international requests per year for assistance in criminal cases, the government said. The two ministers were unable to say how many Luxembourg requests have been issued to other countries.

"These requests emanate from the investigating judges, and are not recorded as such", Kox and Tanson said.

The ministers said they also had no information about the ramifications of the major mafia trials currently taking place in several countries.

175

A series of raids last week in Belgium that targeted a criminal organisation suspected of providing encrypted phones to criminals included a special unit of Luxembourg's Grand Ducal Police, Kox said this week.

3. tageblatt.lu (translated, original by Robert Schneider, 11.03.2021)

Parliament / The climate goals and the way there: CO2 emissions should be communicated to air travelers

How are the Paris climate targets to be achieved and can they be achieved at all? This was the main topic of Wednesday's parliamentary session. Technical laws and extended questions were also on the agenda.

If the Paris climate goals are to be achieved, this is only possible if so-called unconventional methods of carbon dioxide sequestration are used, according to the thesis advocated by Martine Hansen (CSV). If Luxembourg wanted to use such methods, the relevant discussion had to be held now. And the use of these methods is necessary, otherwise the country would not be able to achieve its goals.

For example, massive reforestation would be possible (forest binds CO 2 ), but the territory is too small for this. Another possibility, according to Hansen, is to remove the carbon dioxide from the air by means of a chemical process and then store it. Air conditioning systems could also be used to filter the unpleasant substance from the atmosphere; the google data center could be useful in that context. In the production of bioenergy, CO 2 could be bound and the gas could be used in the production of fizzy drinks, for example.

In any case, Luxembourg must strengthen research in this area, emphasized Hanse. The country should not lose touch. Europe must provide the framework for this research: liability issues and ethical principles must be clarified and defined here. The government should position itself on this complex, so the demand of the CSV.

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Max Hahn (DP) pointed out that reducing carbon emissions should be the first goal. The way we live and function must therefore be different. Nevertheless, the DP does not want to close itself off to new technologies, but the technologies mentioned are not mature and will come too late anyway. There are efficient ways to reduce climate-damaging gases, they just have to be used widely.

Georges Engel (LSAP) saw it similarly: We could not continue as usual and would have to rethink. The country's ambitious climate goals would not be achieved without additional methods. The LSAP is not closed to progress; Engel called on the government to closely monitor developments in this area. Avoiding harmful emissions, however, must remain the primary goal of climate policy.

Expensive and risky

The important technologies for climate protection would already exist, so François Benoy ("déi gréng"). Their commitment means great effort and the corresponding political will. The new, unconventional methods of saving could be successful, but are currently too expensive and often risky.

Fred Keup (ADR) regards meeting the energy demand without coal and nuclear power as almost impossible; the climate targets are not achievable anyway.

The question of whether the savings targets can be achieved with new, unconventional methods or not is currently not an issue, said David Wagner (“déi Lénk”) and warned that climate protection should not cause any social collateral damage.

Marc Goergen (Pirate Party) dealt with animal welfare and its importance for climate protection (no long animal transports, no factory farming ...) and submitted three motions, one of which was unanimously accepted, which requires air travelers to be informed when making their reservation. how much CO 2 the trip causes.

Environment Minister Carole Dieschbourg ("déi gréng") also spoke out in favor of strengthening research; However, Luxembourg wants to be in the top scientific group looking for nature-based solutions. Your party colleague, Energy Minister Claude Turmes, listed a number of relevant research projects and discussed the technologies and measures already in use to save carbon emissions.

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Change in the world of work

In one of three extended questions with which the meeting was concluded, Marc Spautz (CSV) dealt with well-being in the world of work and went into the numerous corona-related changes of the past year, including 12-hour shifts in the health sector , "Télétravail" for many employees and a great psychological burden.

Labor Minister Dan Kersch (LSAP) confirmed the statements made by Spautz and underlined the importance of social dialogue, especially in the crisis. This dialogue should, via economic and social dialogue, produce proposals to regulate the right to switch off (“droit à la déconnexion”), and that in view of the urgency of such a protective measure for the numerous people in the home office within a few weeks. At the end of April, according to another announcement by Kersch, a legal text on the subject of bullying will be ready and the ministry will start a campaign on the risks of digitization.

Parliament will meet this week on Thursday and Friday to adopt the next phase of large scale testing and to debate the extension of the Covid measures.

4. wort.lu (translated, original by Marc Hoscheid

Chamber: discussion of integration

According to the government, there are currently 170 different nationalities living in Luxembourg. How these should live together in the best possible way was discussed yesterday in the Chamber.

Social cohesion was debated in parliament on Thursday. In spite of all consensus, the ADR has a special role.

At the request of Paul Galles (CSV), the MPs debated in the Chamber on Thursday about integration policy and the new integration law. "We must not be satisfied with the beautiful appearance", said Galles in view of the often positive image of the multicultural Luxembourg 178 in the world. There is a risk that parallel societies will form. That is why “a center that does not exclude, but connects” is required.

For better political participation, Galles suggested, among other things, that foreign citizens should be automatically entered in the municipal electoral roll in the future if they have participated in the municipal elections twice. One could also take an example from the citizens' councils, as they already exist in Ostbelgien. He also pleaded for an expansion of the Congé linguistique, also and especially for Luxembourgish. With regard to refugees and undocumented people, Galles said that they should not be discouraged from filing an asylum application.

Language shouldn't be an obstacle

Max Hahn (DP) positively emphasized the role of the Contrat d'acceuil et d'intégration (CAI) and the Parcours d'intégration accompagnée (PIA) as important integration instruments. He also praised the multilingual early intervention, which strengthens the importance of Luxembourgish.

“A country and a society are only as good as they know their history,” said Simone Asselborn-Bintz (LSAP), referring to the fact that Luxembourg used to be a country of emigration. Of the current 445,000 employees, only a third have Luxembourg citizenship, which shows that the Grand Duchy benefits from its diversity. The language should not be an obstacle to success in school; partial literacy in French could help here.

"I wëlle bleiwen, what am I going to do"

Charles Margue (Déi Gréng) quoted his namesake and historian Michel Margue as saying, “I wëlle bleiwen, what am I going to do”. A person who comes to Luxembourg cannot know what to expect here because of the complexity of the country. Everyone must do their part for a successful integration. He criticized that the integration offer differed from municipality to municipality and pleaded for a further professionalization of the municipalities in this area.

For Fred Keup (ADR) the public school, the personal motivation of the newcomers and the openness of the locals are the main prerequisites for successful integration. Despite all the linguistic concessions of the Luxembourgers, it can be expected that immigrants will learn Luxembourgish. "Yes, school is difficult for foreigners, but also for Luxembourgers, because many have problems speaking French." The fact that more and more children are attending private schools, especially in the capital, hinders their integration.

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Integration of migrants has improved

For Family and Integration Minister Corinne Cahen (DP), it is not enough to ask newcomers to adapt. She asked whether the term “integration” was still up-to-date or whether it was more about “getting to know each other and creating a Luxembourg together”.

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MALTA

1. hirtv.hu (translated, original by MTI, 21.03.2021)

Former Maltese Prime Minister's former chief of staff charged with corruption and forgery

Former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who was indicted on Saturday for charges of corruption, money laundering, conspiracy, forgery and other crimes, was arrested.

An investigation was launched against Keith Schembri after receiving bribes from the sale of Maltese passports and bribing the manager of a company to which he sold millions of euros in printing presses.

According to the court report of the prosecutors, the man also forged documents and gave false testimony.

Between 2013 and 2019, Schembri headed the Prime Minister’s Office as Chief of Staff to Muscat. He got into a scandal in 2016 when a leaked database known as the Panama Papers revealed that he had set up an offshore structure weeks after Muscat came to power. 180

The Maltese journalist killed in Malta, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was the first to expose the Panamanian company of Schembri and was just working on a power plant leak when she was killed.

Schembri resigned as chief of staff in December 2019, when he was arrested in connection with the murder of Caruana Galizia. He was later released without charge. Muscat resigned as prime minister weeks later as a result of anti-corruption protests.

Schembri was one of 11 people charged in court on Saturday. Defendants include his father, business partner, team of accountants and financial advisors, and a financial controller. They all declared themselves innocent.

The judge rejected Schembri's application for bail and froze his property.

2. hu.euronews.com (translated, original by Euronews, 09.03.2021)

The death of the journalist was taken on stage

In October 2017, the car of a Maltese investigative journalist was blown up. Daphne Caruana Galizia researched corruption, tax evasion, the malpractice of the Maltese economy, and it cost her life.

A Maltese colleague, Herman Grech, has decided to take his life on stage.

The play is currently being played in Malta, the capital of Malta. Euronews cultural editor Frédéric Ponsard interviewed the director.

“It’s partly reality, partly fiction. Before I wrote the piece, I interviewed a lot of people who were one way or another but part of the story. I asked Daphne Caruana one of Galizia’s sons, Matthew, who literally saw her mother burn to death. His confession was shocking. I asked 181 the investigator investigating his case, as well as other journalistic sources. It is clear that the crime was a direct consequence of the system, nepotism and corruption. ”

The stage was placed in the middle of the theater to suggest transparency as well. The diversity of the characters portrays the journalist’s personality and everything he meant to Maltese society in several ways.

The criminal case ended in January, and the perpetrator of the assassination was sentenced to 15 years. But he was just the executive, the customers are still at large.

“We are looking at the dirty side of the context of politics, crime, the economy. I think this is not just the case in Malta, it is all over Europe. And theater is a very important medium that can talk about that. And - no matter how much I hate that term - theater is sometimes more effective than journalism, ”the director said.

The play is performed in English so that it can reach as many people as possible across the border.

“They Blew Her Up” has run out of tickets for a week now, but can also be viewed online on the theater’s website.

3. theguardian.com (original by Helena Smith, 21.03.2021)

EU's southern states step up calls for 'solidarity' in managing mass migration

Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Malta say burden has to be shared more justly with other EU partners

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Europe’s southern states have stepped up calls for solidarity in managing mass migration to the bloc saying the burden has to be shared more justly with other EU partners.

Highlighting the deep divisions over the issue, politicians from countries along Europe’s Mediterranean rim said a proposed migration pact fell far short of resolving the crisis equitably.

“In its current format, the pact does not provide sufficient reassurances to the frontline member states,” the interior and migration ministers of Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Malta said in a joint statement after meeting in Athens.

The blueprint, which aims to overhaul the EU’s asylum and migration policies, was put forward by the European commission last autumn.

Still under discussion, it foresees replacing what Brussels has acknowledged as ad-hoc solutions to one of Europe’s greatest challenges with a “predictable and reliable migration management system”.

But the new asylum policies have been heavily criticised by the countries most affected by migration flows and EU member states in the east.

While frontline nations argue it doesn’t go far enough to ensure fair distribution of responsibility within the union, Visegrád countries, led by Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán, reject the migration plan on the basis of it requiring the 27-country bloc to accept asylum-seeker quotas as part of a “compulsory solidarity mechanism”.

Addressing reporters at the Athens meeting, Italy’s interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, said it was crucial the Mediterranean countries formed a “united front”.

“Six months after the official launch of negotiations for a new European migration and asylum pact, and despite having presented different proposals regarding the common position of our countries, our basic concerns continue to exist,” she said. “The mechanisms of solidarity remain unclear.”

183

Margaritis Schinas, the European commission’s vice-president and chief coordinator of the pact, also said it was time for solidarity to be reconciled with geography. “We are here [because these] five countries of the Mediterranean south are forced, by geography, to carry a disproportionately large burden of the refugee [crisis] for all of Europe,” he told reporters. “We have reached the point where we have to reconcile the geography of Europe with the solidarity of Europe … solidarity has to be seen in practice.”

Malta’s minister of interior, national security and law enforcement, Byron Camilleri, went further, saying: “We can no longer be punished for our geographical position.”

Since the refugee crisis intensified with the eruption of civil wars in Syria and Libya, countries with extensive coastlines in Europe’s south have borne the brunt of receiving and registering asylum seekers.

Aided by smugglers most make often perilous boat journeys from the western shores of Turkey to Lesbos and other Aegean islands or across the Mediterranean from north Africa. Cyprus has also seen a record number of arrivals with asylum seekers crossing the buffer zone that divides the island from the breakaway Turkish-held north.

“Large numbers of migrants arrive on a daily basis … mostly via the green line, pushed through the occupied areas from Turkey,” said the island’s Greek Cypriot interior minister, Nicos Nouris, bemoaning the fact that Ankara refused to either recognise or collaborate with the country. “In the two-year period between 2019 and 2020, alone, there were 25,894 asylum requests.”

The five nations came together last year, forging an alliance known as the “Med 5” in an attempt to press their case within the EU. The Athens meeting, the first since the group was formed, also called for a centrally managed European returns system and more cooperation with origin and transit countries.

Arrivals in Greece, until recently the centre of the crisis, have dropped steadily since the EU reached an accord with Turkey to stem migrant flows.

Last year numbers plummeted further after authorities rushed to reinforce its borders as a result of chaotic and often violent scenes at the Greek-Turkish land frontier after Ankara encouraged migrants to head to Europe. Less than 100,000 migrants and refugees reached Europe in 2020 according to the UN. 184

But migration experts believe population movements will continue, exacerbated by the climate emergency and Covid-19.

Greece’s migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, called for solidarity to be “mandatory”.

“The problems of the frontline reception countries are recognised by all the member states,” he said. “But now this must be reflected in the new pact.”

4. independent.com.mt (original by Malta Independent, 23.03.2021)

The Moneyval evaluation is expected to be in the government’s hands in the coming days, either this week or the next.

This could end up being a major negative milestone for the country if we do not pass the test, as we could end up being placed on the so called ‘grey list’, which is not where we would want to be. Being placed on the grey list would be a death knell for Malta's financial services industry especially.

In September 2019, Moneyval, the European branch of the Financial Action Task Force, ruled that Malta remains highly exposed to illicit finance but lacks the resources and infrastructure required to prosecute and seize assets from money launderers and the criminals they serve. Moneyval issued 58 recommendations for Malta, and gave a year for the situation to be fixed. Malta has worked and toiled to fix the issues, and Prime Minister Robert Abela has expressed his belief in the past that Malta will pass the test.

We all hope that he is right. We all hope that Malta will not fail, due to the damage that will follow, both reputationally and otherwise.

185

Hopefully Robert Abela’s government’s changes made over the past year will be enough to satisfy Moneyval, and there have been many, such as the changes within the police force, the FIAU and the MFSA (although these might have been overshadowed by the Cuschieri scandal). At the same time, however, one must point out that Malta should not have reached this point to begin with. Some may argue that this is partly due to the PN administrations not changing things prior to 2013, well that was eight years ago and it’s time for that sort of reasoning to be thrown to the curb.

But the Moneyval issue is just the latest in a long line of other things which have affected the country’s reputation.

Malta’s reputation has taken a beating over the past years. PL apologists argue that this is due to the PN making points at EU level. The EU Parliament is also our Parliament, and such an argument does not hold water. It was decisions taken by Joseph Muscat’s government, or in certain instances lack of decisions, that led Malta down the road to the tattered reputation of the country. It was the sense of impunity and weak institutions that led the country down that path.

Robert Abela’s government is trying to fix things, and he is right to do so. He has slowly moved aside many who were part of Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet, seemingly in order to present a new party. The government has worked to try and improve the institutions. At the same time, Abela has more to do.

Robert Abela should, for instance, speak to all his ministers over the allegation made by Vince Muscat, that there is a sitting minister who was involved in an unspecified ‘big job’. He must take action on this point.

One hopes that Malta will never again find itself in the position it did, and that Malta’s name will recover. But in order to do so, the government must not make any mistakes. Abela has started to work on cleaning Malta’s name through the legislative changes made… but one misstep is all it takes for that to be thrown away.

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186

CYPRUS

1. hirado.hu (translated, original by MTI, 12.03.2021)

Cyprus is building an eleven-kilometer fence against migrants

The Republic of Cyprus is building an 11-kilometer-long fence to stop illegal immigrants on the line separating the southern and northern parts of the island, the Nicosia leadership said on Thursday.

According to a report by RIK Cyprus Public Service Television, the government has already notified the European Union of the plan. According to the information, the fence would be 11 kilometers long for the time being.

The Cypriot press has already reported footage of the front of a barbed wire fence erected in the western half of the divided capital, Nicosia.

Cypriot security services often detain migrants. Most of them are Syrian and Afghan nationals arriving in the southern part of the island, which belongs to the European Union, via Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Cypriot President Nicosia Anastasiadis has repeatedly mentioned his country’s difficulties with the influx of refugees and has repeatedly appealed to the EU for help. He stressed that more than 3.5 percent of the island’s population is an asylum seeker.

Cyprus was torn in two in 1974, following a Turkish invasion following a Greek military coup. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized exclusively by Ankara. It is stationing about 35,000 troops in Turkey in northern Cyprus. Peace and reunification talks between Greek Greeks and Turks in Cyprus have so far been unsuccessful. 187

2. magyarhirlap.hu (translated, original by HSz, 18.03.2021)

The Cypriot government is criticized by Dunja Mijatovic, Ankara wants more money from the union

Dunja Mijatovic called on the Cypriot government to improve the situation of asylum seekers.

In a letter to the Cypriot Interior Minister, Nicosia Nuris, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote that she had recently become aware of several cases in which the authorities had not allowed asylum boats to be moored and that they had been forcibly returned at sea. By the way, Nuris recently told The Guardian that Cyprus is full and unable to accommodate more migrants. Yesterday, by the way, was the fifth anniversary of the EU-Turkey migration pact.

On this occasion, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakci urged the extension and renewal of the convention. The politician, according to Die Zeit, said the 2016 pact needs to be reviewed in its entirety. He added that previous commitments needed to be strengthened and that the EU should provide more support to Turkey for the care of migrants.

Incidentally, in the central basin of the Mediterranean, the number of illegal border crossings has almost doubled, according to the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency, compared to a year ago. About 3,300 illegal border crossings were registered on the route, which mainly affected Italy.

3. reporter.com.cy (translated, original by reporter.com.cy, 16.03.2021)

The President is accompanied in Geneva by the political leaders, "no" by ELAM

188

All parties except ELAM accepted the invitation of the President of the Republic and will accompany him to Geneva where the informal conference on Cyprus will take place, said Government Spokesman Kyriakos Kousios, noting that the President informed the political leaders that before the transition There will be another meeting of the National Council in Geneva.

In a statement after the meeting of the National Council, chaired by President Anastasiadis, the Government Spokesman said that the President briefed the political leaders on the latest developments in the Cyprus issue, on the contacts and exchanges of views he had with both European institutions and with EU heads of state and government, but also with other actors in the international community.

He also briefed the political leaders on the process to be followed during the five-party conference in Geneva and once again called on the political leaders to accompany him during the five-party process.

"All political parties, with the exception of ELAM, have accepted the invitation of the President of the Republic and the political leaders will be present in Geneva," Kousios said.

He added that the President of the Republic informed the political leaders that before the move to Geneva there will be another meeting of the National Council, while in the meantime the sessions of the advisory group that will advise the President of the Republic and the negotiator will continue.

In addition, he said that the President of the Republic referred to the developments concerning the coronavirus pandemic and especially to the recent events that took place in Limassol, and asked the political leaders to all assist in order to instill in our people the need for self- discipline, for social and broader understanding of the problem. so that we can, through limiting the spread of the pandemic, return to normalcy as soon as possible.

The meeting, he said, was also attended by Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis and the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side Andreas Mavrogiannis.

"We have to do everything"

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As a Democratic Alarm, we accept the invitation to accompany the President of the Republic to the informal five-party meeting in Geneva, said after the end of the National Council, the president of DISY , Averof Neophytou.

As he said, "it is our responsibility and obligation to do everything to get rid of the occupation and to reunite our divided homeland."

"In Geneva, the future of our country will be decided"

The informal conference in Geneva is of great importance because it will determine what the future and perspective of our country will be, said AKEL Secretary General Andros Kyprianou.

At the same time, he stated that AKEL responded positively and will accompany the President to Geneva. After thanking the President for the information he gave them about the contacts he had recently, Mr. Kyprianou said that if we do not have a positive result, there is a serious possibility that the developments will be rapidly negative and noted that Turkey is already escalating its aggression and provocativeness, while advancing on the ground in new accomplishments such as e.g. in Varosi.

"It is extremely important that our goal is to achieve something positive from the conference without in any way escaping from the principles on which the solution to the Cyprus problem is based," he said.

He added that the President asked to be accompanied to Geneva, saying "we have responded positively, we will go there with the intention of working constructively, regardless of whether there are concerns, we believe that the side that will face more difficulties is the Turkish one because it is which is outside the agreed framework for the solution of the Cyprus problem, with the positions it formulates. "And if we work properly, we believe that we can achieve something positive, which will lead to the resumption of substantive negotiations, with the aim of reaching an agreed solution to the Cyprus problem as soon as possible."

This is our goal as AKEL, he said, adding that in this context they will seek to operate constructively.

"Things are difficult" 190

The Democratic Party responded positively to the invitation of the President of the Republic to accompany the political leaders at the informal five-Geneva, said President Nicolas Papadopoulos of the party after the session of the National Council.

He expressed his party's concern over the fact that Turkey is openly promoting a two-state solution and stressed that the Republic of Cyprus should be invited to this conference and that the basis for a solution as determined by unanimous decisions should not be absent. of the National and the United Nations agreements.

"And today we reiterated the urgent need for Greece and Cyprus to persevere to the end, so that the Secretary-General of the United Nations does not allow either side, let alone Turkey, to submit alternative proposals for a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the two states." "Or the two-state confederation, because if that happens then we are very afraid that the process will go beyond the framework set by the UN Security Council resolutions," he said.

He said that if Mr. Guterres allows Turkey to submit its own proposal for a two-state solution and our side remains in the position of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, "we are very afraid and anticipate that some well-wishers will submit their own alternative proposals. to find them somewhere in the middle, that is, in the solution of the confederation, something that will be catastrophic for the prospects of resolving the Cyprus problem as the confederation is nothing but the cooperation between two sovereign states ".

Mr. Papadopoulos said that his party expresses its concern because it envisages the preparation of a set scenario as a KD but also because the e / k side does not have, as he said, a structured and comprehensive strategy for dealing with Turkish tactics and because of the Republic and those who support it or even support its own policy to be more and more willing to discuss aspects of the solution that refer and methodize things to a conclusion, acceptance of the confederation of the two states ".

He reiterated that DIKO will never accept the violation, what is included in the unanimous decisions of the National and to accept the discussion of the Cyprus issue on the basis of the confederation of the 2 states and for this reason insists that the Republic of Cyprus should be invited to the conference because in it will be discussed primarily issues concerning the KD and can not be absent. DIKO also insists that the basis for a solution must be clarified at the conference.

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"Pentameris hides dangers"

The informal five-party conference hides serious pitfalls and great dangers for the Republic of Cyprus, said the president of EDEK , Marinos Sizopoulos, adding that the President should have avoided his involvement.

In his statements, Mr. Sizopoulos said that after the briefing by the President of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the negotiator, EDEK reiterated the position "that this informal five-party conference hides serious pitfalls and great dangers for the Republic of Cyprus and that the President should have avoided his involvement ", while he stated that EDEK is ready to accompany the President.

He added that the President should have proposed the convening of an international conference on the Cyprus issue as provided by the relevant decision of the General Assembly in the presence of all five permanent members of the SA for priority discussion of the international aspect of the Cyprus issue, ie the complete withdrawal of the occupiers. troops, the repatriation of settlers, the return of refugees, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to their homes in security conditions and the abolition of guarantees.

"We clarified to the President that if and when he wishes the members of the National Council to accompany him to this meeting due to the dangers and pitfalls, despite the fact that initially EDEK has suggested that we should not attend in order not to "We attach great importance to this conference, however in such an eventuality, we are ready to accompany the President in an effort to support as much as we can tactics and options that prevent the dangers that lurk," he said.

He added that the dangers are mainly due to the British agent and the suspicious activity he has shown in the background, the proposals and statements of the UN Secretary General that are outside the UN framework but also the provocative behavior of Turkey, which the two states seek, in addition to political equality, to secure sovereign equality with all that entails.

For this reason, he said, they have suggested to the President that we must be very well prepared and the tactics that we will follow must be such as to prevent any additional risks that lurk for the Republic of Cyprus.

"Good strategy and tactics are required"

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The Citizens' Alliance , for its part, "has repeatedly stressed the need for excellent preparation and high diplomatic technique, so that our side can avoid any pitfalls that will be put on the table in Geneva." We have repeatedly stressed that our side is trapped in attending a conference in which Turkey will try to change the framework for a solution to the Cyprus problem. That is why a good strategy and tactics are required, in order to overthrow the Turkish plans but also to avoid the traps on the part of Britain ".

As it states in a statement, "at the same time we demanded and are requesting active involvement of the EU in the Cyprus issue. The time has come for Europe to abandon the tactic of verbal condemnation and to actively support a Turkish-occupied and divided state- member, which is daily threatened by growing Turkish aggression. There should also be stability on the part of the President of the Republic, in the positions he expressed regarding the Turkish provocation and not only. We expect him to put into practice the position that in order to have a positive agenda, Turkey must first abandon the provocative positions that its representatives insist on chanting daily. "Only if Ankara abandons its expansionist and dichotomous positions on the Cyprus issue should the PTA agree to a positive agenda for Turkey."

"There will be suffocating pressure in Geneva"

In Geneva, the President of the Republic will be pressured to back down from the solution of the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality and good content as described by the fans of this solution and will be pressed unbearably, they will put a vise for a confederation solution. will appear as a retreat of the Turkish side, in the context of the implementation of the British plan, said for her part the President of Solidarity Eleni Theocharous.

He added that Solidarity will be present in Geneva and that in fact "we do not accept the bi- zonal, bi-communal federation, but" we will support President Anastasiadis not to resign from this position, when he is faced with that terrible dilemma in "Geneva because we are sure that this will happen."

Regarding the EU Summit, he said that he asked the President of the Republic of Cyprus in no case to accept either the updating and upgrading of Turkey's customs union with the EU or the renegotiation of the accession agreement that does not provide for the recognition of the CC or in case It will not be possible for the EU to undertake to welcome all foreign nationals smuggling to the Republic and their fate. "Our country is not able to bear this burden and the EU must not hide behind the readmission agreement," he concluded.

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"No" from ELAM

ELAM President Christos Christou has stated that the party will not follow the President of the Republic in the negotiations in Geneva, adding that Turkey will take advantage of the fact to make new absurd demands.

In his statements after the session of the National Council, Mr. Christou said that they analyzed to the President of the Republic the position of ELAM that any solution framework decided earlier by the local political leadership does not bind them since they had no participation in the National Council.

"We reject the solution of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and we believe that in the coming five-party Turkey will take advantage of the fact to make new absurd demands. "Therefore, ELAM will not follow the President of the Republic in this negotiation", he said.

He also said that the issue of the EU Summit was discussed at the meeting, saying that ELAM's view is that the Republic of Cyprus should take advantage of its role and participation in the European family to impose sanctions on Turkey, especially on the issue. of Immigration.

Ankara, he added, receives billions of euros each year to manage migration flows, "nevertheless it promotes illegal immigrants to Greece, Greece and other European countries."

"It is now a matter of national need to have the political will to be able to stop this difficult phenomenon for our country. "At the moment, more than 4% of the population are asylum seekers, the majority of whom are men from Syria."

"We will contribute so that the Greek side is ready in Geneva"

The Democratic Party - Cooperation of Democratic Forces has responded positively to the invitation of the PD to be accompanied by the political leaders in Geneva, said the president of the party, Marios Karoyan.

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He said that his party will try, as much as possible, to contribute to the efforts so that our side is as ready as possible, both in negotiations and during the discussion, when various ideas will be put in the process.

"We had the opportunity to express our assessments and positions and the President rightly accepted the invitation because it is clear what would have happened if the answer had been no," he said.

Mr. Karoyan added that his party is concerned about the dangers it has explained to the President of the Republic, and said that our side must stick to the positions of authority and within the UN and work effectively and exercise prudence. diplomacy. He expressed satisfaction with the statements of the US Secretary of State and the contacts of the President of the Republic and the Foreign Minister with the European institutions and with Russia and with various other permanent members of the SA.

"It is a difficult period and in these difficult times the worst that can happen in our country is to split the inner front even more. We will not enter into the logic of air negotiation between the e / k side because this will be the worst, because the President must be strong in negotiations and every political force will have the opportunity to express its disagreements, but now it does not "It's time because we need to realize the urgency of the times and consensus is needed."

4. balk.hu (translated, original by Nándor Fehérvári, 19.03.2021)

THEY DON'T BEAT UP EACH OTHER: That's why the ringing of Turkish-Greek swords fades

For the second time in two months, high-level representatives from Greece and Turkey, who are once again in a tense relationship, met. It appears that after the Athens trial on 16 March, the risk of a direct military clash could further diminish.

Without naivety 195

We are optimistic, but not naive, to start negotiations with him, Greek Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Micotakis said back in January before representatives of Athens met with delegates from Ankara in Istanbul after a five-year hiatus. The January trial was followed by another on 16 March in Athens, and although little news leaked about the meeting, it is certainly important that the two states, which are traditionally in a bad relationship, at least talk to each other again.

All analysts have warned that a naval “jolt” could lead to a military clash, which almost happened when a Greek warship collided with a Turkish frigate called Kemal Reis last September.

Due to several wars and the unresolved Cyprus issue, mistrusted countries agreed in 2002 to start negotiations on the precise demarcation of maritime borders and other confidence- building measures. The sixty rounds of negotiations have almost been agreed, but in 2016, after the coup attempt in Turkey, the dialogue broke down and the relationship began to deteriorate at an unprecedented rate. Mainly due to the migrant crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reopened the country’s borders in February 2020 and encouraged refugees to march en masse to Greece.

Research vessel in the disputed area

The situation was exacerbated by the deployment by Turkey of a gas exploration drill in the maritime areas claimed by both Athens and Ankara, including near Cyprus. All analysts have warned that a naval “jolt” could lead to a military clash, which almost happened when a Greek warship collided with a Turkish frigate called Kemal Reis last September.

In Athens, Greek sailors were judged to have taught the enemy a lesson, but analysts feared the guns might break. In the end, this did not happen, but according to Greek analyst Pavlos Cimasz, since 1996 - when the two countries almost killed each other for a few uninhabited islands - the possibility of a military clash has once again become a reality.

While the two foreign ministers were no longer willing to talk to each other, Greece - to be able to compete with NATO’s second largest force - has accelerated the development of the army. Athens used 2.5 billion euros and Rafale bought combat aircraft from France and plans to increase the number of troops by at least 15,000 by 2025, equipping the force with new warships, helicopters and anti-tank weapons. Athens also wants to buy from the latest American fighter jets, the F35s - Turkey has been excluded from the program because Ankara 196 has equipped its forces with the Russian SZ-400 air defense system - and has reached an agreement with Israel to actively participate in the training of Greek military pilots.

Careful timing

It was no accident that the crisis peaked last summer, with analysts saying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan felt he needed to act as long as Donald Trump, who did not pay much attention to European affairs and the Allkara debate, Erdoganra. The new president to replace Trump, Joe Biden, has promised a much more proactive European policy - including improving the deteriorating transatlantic relations of the last four years and reducing Russian influence in the Balkans - while the EU has stepped in. At the EU summit in December 2020, the 27 reached an agreement, imposing sanctions on Ankara if it refused to compromise, and the European Commission will present a program on 25 March setting out future relations between Brussels and Ankara.

It is likely that after Trump’s departure, the outside world will pay more attention to the human rights situation in Turkey.

The changes that have taken place on the international stage to the detriment of Ankara are behind the easing of the tone of the Turks. On the one hand, the Erdoğans want to avoid the introduction of severe EU sanctions, and on the other hand, they are interested in making progress on visa liberalization and the customs union. In Ankara, they are probably rightly afraid that in the future Washington and the EU will also negotiate in the field of Turkish policy, so that the countries on the two continents could become seriously isolated. It is also likely that after Trump’s departure, the outside world will pay more attention to the human rights situation in Turkey, which will be seen as another sign of pressure in Ankara.

Active Greeks

Erdoğan may also be concerned that, while the Greeks are spectacularly developing their forces, they are strengthening their alliance with the states in the region and improving their relations with the countries of the Arabian Gulf. One sign of this is that Greece has reached an agreement with Cyprus and Israel to build an underwater power line to connect the three countries ’electricity grids. Ankara immediately protested against the agreement that the planned cable would run in Turkish-controlled waters.