How Banned Russian and Belarusian Wood is Sneaked Into the EU
Not long after imposing sanctions on wood imports from Russia and Belarus, Europe saw an influx of wood supposedly coming from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Poland
- Blog
- China
- Civil Society
- COVID-19
- Czech Republic
- Environment
- fake news
- Hungary
- IJ4UE
- Militarized Patriotism
- Poland
- Populism
- Radicals with Reach
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
- uncategorized
Firehose of Falsehood
The EU has imposed sanctions on Russian propaganda outlets, such as Russia Today and Sputnik News. But the Kremlin-directed official channels are just the tip of the iceberg.
There is a large ecosystem of pro-Kremlin and alt-right disinformation websites operating in Central and Eastern Europe.
Asbestos: Left Behind and Still Deadly
New evidence shows that asbestos is killing even twice as many people as we previously thought it was. In 2019 alone, almost 240 thousand people died from asbestos exposure. 90 730 cases were registered in the EU and UK. But disposing asbestos is an uphill battle. What can we do about it?
Krzysztof Story
NATO in deep water because of Chinese port investments
Port terminals in European cities such as Gdynia, Rotterdam and Antwerpen-Zeebrugge are crucial logistic hubs for the arrival of US Armed Forces and equipment for the protection of NATO’s flank in Eastern Europe.
How Pegasus was brought to Hungary
Direkt36 has revealed that the cyber weapon was purchased by the Hungarian state through a broker company that later became partly owned by Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér’s close confidant, László Tasnádi, who once worked for the Communist state security apparatus. Pegasus was considered such an expensive and top-class weapon by the intelligence agencies that it was kept secret even in internal circles.
Broadband in Europe: The Czech Republic lagging behind the rest of V4
Internet speed performance in Europe is continuously increasing, but many countries are still well below the 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) threshold that the European Union has set itself to achieve by the end of 2025, as shown by the data collected by the European Data Journalism Network.
Ukrainian refugees in Hungary: Volunteers doing the government’s work
NewsFront: From Crimea with hate
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as we found out, NewsFront has been playing a significant role in spreading anti-Ukrainian narratives in some Visegrad countries – especially in Slovakia. A complex redistribution scheme allows Kremlin propaganda to avoid bans and reach audiences in the region.
Friendship between Poles and Hungarians is falling apart. But money still flows.
Victor Orbán delivered his racist speech during an event one of whose partners was Wacław Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute governed by Polish authorities. Each year, this Institute, and its counterpart in Budapest, spend millions on books, competitions, presentations of wines and perfumes, and a very elegant villa in the heart of Warsaw. All in the name of Polish-Hungarian friendship which both countries recently and officially ended.
Mariusz Sepioło
Márton Sarkadi Nagy