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Under Cover of Covid, Poland is Stifling Free Media - And All Europe Should Be Worried [GARTON ASH]
A planned 'coronavirus tax' on revenues and attacks on foreign-owned media threaten to cut away democracy piece by piece. It is not just democracy in Poland that is at stake here; it is democracy in Europe as a whole. -
To Renew Our Democracies We Need a Fact Fightback [GARTON ASH]
In Poland, where public service broadcasting has been destroyed by a populist ruling party, the crucial thing now is to defend independent private media. They are coming under sharp attack, with measures straight out of the playbook of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. -
Which is worse: a democratic Britain leaving or an undemocratic Hungary remaining? [GARTON ASH]
Should we expect an imminent Hungexit or Polexit? Not a bit of it. Why would they be so stupid? Johnson can talk of having his cake and eat it; Orbán actually does it. No, the immediate threat to the EU is not that Hungary and Poland follow Britain out of the door but that they remain full members of the club - Hungstay and Polremain, so to speak - while continuing to violate its most important rules.