Suchergebnisse

This article shows how dissidents in the latter half of the 1970s "played the law" in the Polish People's Republic. Laws established by an undemocratic government, and thus theoretically lacking democratic legitimacy, were used by the opposition to delegitimize the government. The author describes the goals of the opposition and the lines of argument it employed, and how the Communist party—the other player in this peculiar game—made reciprocal efforts to exploit the law in order to weaken the opposition. The article discusses the specific international and Polish legal documents referenced by both sides of this game—the opposition and the government. The law was an important resource for both sides. This analysis nuances and demythologizes popular claims about the "Helsinki effect" by illustrating the role and legal context of the Helsinki Accords against the backdrop of local laws and the strategies undertaken by both actors. Furthermore, it describes the important institutional setting that influenced the types of actions undertaken by the protest movement in communist Poland.

Seit den 1980er Jahren existierte in Polen ein unerschütterlicher Mythos vom Westen als der besseren, moralisch überlegenen Welt. Auch nach dem Beitritt der Ostmitteleuropäer zur EU lebte dieser Mythos fort. Doch die diversen Krisen der EU in den letzten Jahren, die Flüchtlingsfrage und der Generationswechsel bewirken, dass das positive Bild vom Westen erodiert. Die europaskeptischen Regierungen in Budapest und Warschau knüpfen an eine andere Tradition an. Sie grenzen sich von Einflüssen aus Westeuropa ab. (Osteuropa (Berlin) / SWP)

The election of populist far-right party Law and Justice in 2015 marked a shocking break in Polish politics. A period of stability was brutally interrupted as Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his allies took over public media and launched a controversial 'reform' of the judiciary.How was this illiberal turn possible after years of democratic development? Jaroslaw Kuisz, one of Poland's leading liberal thinkers, digs deep into Polish history to propose an original analysis of the crisis. He reveals how centuries of statelessness have left Poles with a 'post-traumatic' attitude to sovereignty, making them wary of powerful foreign blocks, be it the EU, the Soviet Union or present-day Russia. This is a phenomenon populists have proved adept at exploiting. Providing a brilliant account of Europe's largest illiberal democracy, The new politics of Poland shines a light on the broader situation in East and Central Europe, offering valuable lessons for other countries experiencing the rise of populist right-wing movements

Mindestens vier Sichtweisen konkurrieren auf der Welt, um Russlands Überfall auf die Ukraine einzuschätzen – ein ernstes Problem, um zu einem Ende des Krieges zu kommen. (IP)

Poland's actions following the outbreak of war in Ukraine—its break with Hungary, its openness toward the refugees—do not necessarily signal a shift back to liberal democratic values. The national populist government's focus is Ukraine's and, invariably, Poland's right to self-determination. (IPQ)