IES Commentaries | Institute of Central Europe

Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 166

14 April 2020

clivio - Visegrad Team

Removal of the Statue of Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague: a crisis in Czech-Russian relations (Agata Tatarenko)

After several years of dispute, the authorities of Prague 6 removed the monument of Marshal Ivan Konev from the public space. The statue is to be sent to the not-yet-existent Museum of Memory of the 20th century. The conflict over the memorial related to the history of World War II indicates a deepening crisis in Czech-Russian reactions, in which Prague’s local government is...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 162

8 April 2020

Marlena Gołębiowska - Visegrad Team

COVID-19 and the digitalization of Central Europe (Marlena Gołębiowska)

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has become a global stress test. The restrictions of social distancing have led the world to accelerated “lessons” in the areas of communication, digital skills, online activities, information technology for businesses and digital public services. Paradoxically, this could be a turning point in the digital transformation of the Central European...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 157

6 April 2020

Szczepan Czarnecki - Visegrad Team

COVID-19 Pandemic in Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia (Szczepan Czarnecki, Dominik Héjj, Łukasz Lewkowicz, Agata Tatarenko)

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the authorities of Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia to adopt a number of similar solutions such as strict lockdown or closing the borders. Decisive steps to limit and slow down the spread of COVID-19 have been undertaken in these countries earlier than in Western Europe. Each authorities have prepared an assistance package for domestic economies. At the...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 156

3 April 2020

clivio - Visegrad Team

Montenegro in the face of COVID-19 pandemic (Agata Domachowska)

Montenegro was the last European country to confirm a case of SARS-CoV-2. Yet even before receiving this information, the Montenegrin government undertook a number of actions to prepare the state and its society for the pandemic. Also an economic package was presented with the aim of helping entrepreneurs to survive the crisis. Simultaneously, the Montenegrin authorities look to...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 155

2 April 2020

Andrzej Szabaciuk - Visegrad Team

The Importance of Establishing a Consultative Council in Minsk from the Point of View of Settling the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine (Andrzej Szabaciuk)

On 11 March in Minsk, the Tripartite Contact Group on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbas (TCG) signed an agreement about the establishment of the Consultative Council: an advisory body in which representatives of Ukraine and the separatist republics should deal with the political aspects of the Ukrainian crisis. Information about the new Minsk agreement caused...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 152

1 April 2020

Dominik Wilczewski - Visegrad Team

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and the COVID-19 pandemic (Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik, Dominik Wilczewski)

Several measures to protect citizens and limit the spread of coronavirus have been implemented by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as a result of the first cases of the COVID-19 disease confirmed. Currently, three Baltic states have adopted mechanisms and preventive measures similar to Poland’s. Due to the borders being closed and private cars being refused to transit through...

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Balkan Team

Komentarze IEŚ 149

25 March 2020

Agata Domachowska - Balkan Team

Albania: the war with the COVID-19 pandemic (Agata Domachowska)

Since the day when the first two cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were confirmed (8th March), the Albanian government has consistently introduced subsequent restrictive measures aimed at limiting the scale at which this virus can spread in Albania. The discipline in the society is to be enforced by high fines for breaking the new rules as well as by police and military controls....

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Baltic Team

Komentarze IEŚ 135

13 March 2020

clivio - Baltic Team

Whistleblower in Lithuanian special services (Dominik Wilczewski)

According to information provided by Vytautas Bakas, a member of Lithuanian Seimas, the State Security Department (Valstybės saugumo departamentas, VSD) in 2018–2019 allegedly gathered information about the entourage of the then presidential candidate Gitanas Nausėda and about Vygaudas Ušackas, a candidate for nomination in the presidential primaries in the opposition...

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Baltic Team

ies-komentarze-130-33-2020.pdf

29 February 2020

Damian Szacawa - Baltic Team

Chinese Dragon in the Arctic and Its Influence on the Policy of Norway and Denmark in the Baltic Sea Region (Damian Szacawa)

The growing influence of China on the global international order and the Euro-Atlantic security system will be a challenge for many states. This process has been recognized in the foreign and security policy strategies of Denmark and Norway, which are particularly interested in China’s policy and developments in the North Atlantic area and the Arctic. Both regions have a...

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Baltic Team

Komentarze IEŚ 122

25 February 2020

clivio - Baltic Team

Rail Baltica Slows Down – Problems Growing Around the Investment (Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik)

The goal of Rail Baltica is to integrate the Baltic states into the European rail network. In addition to the mobility, the quality of rail services and the improvement access to them, the project is also expected to contribute to the development of business and tourism, and the increase of goods exchange within the region. However, an audit published in December 2019 questioned,...

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