Central & Eastern Europe Archive

Poland’s conservative Law and Justice party won an absolute majority in both chambers of parliament in elections last Sunday, marking the first time in 26 years of democratic rule that one party will form a government. Law and Justice, also known by its acronym PiS, broke through that glass ceiling with more than 37 percent of votes. It won the plurality of votes in all categories of the electorate, by reaching out to better-educated urban voters and making advances in the western provinces of the country for the first time. After being in opposition for eight years, Law and Justice […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. Barely noticed by a world preoccupied with crises ranging from migrants and refugees in Europe and fighting in Ukraine, to civil war in Syria and stock-market plunges in China, Romania put its prime minister on trial for corruption on Sept. 21. Victor Ponta, who stubbornly remains in office and denies all charges, stands accused of a range of activities largely committed before his tenure as premier, when he was working as a lawyer. That the sitting head […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the European refugee crisis and European Union member states’ approaches to addressing it. Last month, Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said that “accepting migrants escaping to save their lives is our duty.” In an email interview, Piotr Kazmierkiewicz, an expert at the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, discussed Poland’s migrant and refugee policy. WPR: How has Poland’s stance toward the European Union’s refugee relocation quota scheme changed over the past year? Piotr Kazmierkiewicz: Poland traditionally objected to any measures interfering with its sovereign decisions on border and […]