All articles

RSF: The dismal state of press freedom in V4 countries

Scratched,Paper,Texture,,Old,Newspaper,Background

Source: Here/Shutterstock

In three of the Visegrad Four countries – Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – press freedom is in decline, according to the World Press Freedom Index 2021 published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

VSquare

21.04.2021

Source: KDdesignphoto/Shutterstock

For months now, someone has been hacking into the email and social media accounts used by Polish ministers, MPs, journalists and soldiers. Semi-nude photos of councillors, fake adverts on websites used by sex workers and news about a radioactive cloud that originated over Lithuania are being disseminated online. What do these attacks have in common?

Anna Gielewska

Konrad Szczygieł

30.03.2021

Graphics by Lenka Matoušková

Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are once again showing disregard for European solidarity, negotiating deals for Eastern vaccines, even at the price of sparking government crises.

Eva Kubániová

Peter Kapitán

Gabriella Horn

18.03.2021

Graphics by Lenka Matoušková

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš embodies one of the most significant conflicts of interest in the modern political history of the Czech Republic.

VSquare

15.03.2021

European,Flag,Texture,With,Digital,Zeros,And,Ones,Strains,Glowing

Source: BeeBright/Shutterstock

The headline-grabbing news about the regulation of social media platforms, symbolized by the recent clash between Facebook and Australia, might offer little relevancy to the Visegrad Four countries – writes Dominik Presl, AMO.

VSquare

12.03.2021

The map shows how money from Hungary "flows" out of the country, to organizations located over the borders. Source: https://atlo.team/hungarianmoney-en/

Hungarian government invests billions of forints each year into Hungarian communities in neighbouring countries.

VSquare

01.03.2021

Presidents of Russia and Turkey meet for talks in St Petersburg

Yevgeny Prigozhin at a meeting of Russian and Turkish government officials and business leaders. St Petersburg, Russia, August 9, 2016. Source: Mikhail Metzel / TASS / Forum

The influence operation run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was just added to the FBI most wanted list, has new targets right in the heart of Europe. Article republished from The Daily Beast.

VSquare

08.03.2021

Two,Businessmen,Or,Politicians,,Elegant,Clothes,,Shake,Hands,After,Finding

Source: HQuality/Shutterstock.com

As women in Poland stage mass protests against the country’s Constitutional Tribunal’s abortion ruling in the autumn of 2020, Angela Gandra, Brazil’s secretary of state for family affairs, arrives in Warsaw.

Konrad Szczygieł

23.02.2021