Politics and democracy

European countries are spending big to revive their economies, but they will have no legitimacy with young people if they ignore the climate

In Croatia, an allegedly independent group of experts have pulled the strings in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But this crisis management has in fact been deeply political, writes journalist and novelist Slavenka Drakulić. Dependent on tourism, EU’s youngest member state plays a risky game where political power and economy stand against the lives of the most vulnerable. In the end the future of democracy could be at stake.

The €750 billion meant to help Europe recover from the coronavirus crisis could have a profound impact on the very functioning of the EU. However, it will be necessary to ensure that the EU has the adequate means available to transform this experiment and consider its future beyond the crisis, says expert Tremeur Denigot.

The de facto end of Index, one of the last Hungarian independent media organisations, is one more thumbed nose to freedom of the press. The EU should make the granting of funds to Budapest conditional on its respect.

The narrow victory of incumbent conservative Andrzej Duda in the recent presidential election dashed any hope that the country might derail the illiberal locomotive connecting Warsaw and Budapest. It’s now up to civil society to mend the deep fractures left by an utterly divisive campaign.