Thursday

21st Sep 2023

Podcast

First aid for Polish democracy

  • By fully embracing the legal concept of 'chilling effect', Brussels can help judges, activists and journalists in countries like Poland to resist autocracy (Photo: Helena Malikova)

Parallels with the Soviet era are increasingly evident in Poland where the ruling coalition hounds judges and captures courts.

Adam Bodnar, the country's human rights commissioner, lambasts European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for a "lack of leadership" amid an antidemocratic onslaught that's also damaged media pluralism.

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Laurent Pech, the head of the Law and Politics Department at Middlesex University, London, urges Brussels to do much more to stop modern-day autocrats from creating a climate of self-censorship that entrenches their power.

By fully embracing the legal concept of "chilling effect," Brussels can help judges, activists and journalists in countries like Poland to resist autocracy, says Natacha Kazatchkine of the Open Society European Policy Institute, which partnered with EU Scream in making this episode.

Author bio

EU Scream is the progressive politics podcast from Brussels. Produced by James Kanter with graphics by Helena Malikova and music by Lara Natale.

You may also follow via @euscreams subscribe via iTunes, Spotify or from the EU Scream website.

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