Around the Bloc: Ministers Deny Polish Responsibility for Jewish Pogroms in the 1940s
Polish education, defense ministers place blame elsewhere for massacres in the Jedwabne and Kielce.
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Polish education, defense ministers place blame elsewhere for massacres in the Jedwabne and Kielce.
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Lone gunman adopted radical Islam in prison says security chief.
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Did the Warsaw Summit represent a significant new development – as is argued both by NATO lobbyists and by the blowhards in Moscow?
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Proposed constitutional amendments would strengthen president’s control over parliament, limit freedom of assembly and property rights.
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Investigative Committee officials allegedly took bribes, arranged release of notorious crime figure.
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The embarrassing e-mails play into the hands of Donald Trump, as some see yet another indication that Russia is actively supporting the Republican candidate.
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Deemed extremist, the award-winning cartoon had previously landed an internet user in jail for six months.
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Olympic fan parks across the Czech Republic, built at state expense, will open weeks ahead of regional elections.
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The two Balkan countries have diametrically opposed views of the Croatian who assassinated the Yugoslav ambassador to Sweden in 1971.
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The breakaway region remains a bone of contention between Moldova and Russia, as Moscow’s popularity among Moldovans increases.
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Residents of Russian exclave deprived of visa-free regime for an unspecified period of time over security concerns.
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Integration process of the South-East Asia begun after the World War II. In the 60s, the countries of the region formed the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which goal was to establish a broad economic, social and cultural cooperation, ensuring the political and economic stability, and providing the possibility of resolving regional disputes in the broader forum. At present, the South-East Asia is one of the fastest economically developing areas in the world. The importance of this region for global economy and international trade is increasing, as is the interest of world powers in this region. However, the most important problems of the ASEAN members are political and military expansion of China and their territorial claims in the South China Sea. Half of ASEAN members (including the three most populous) and China are engaged in this territorial dispute, primarily because the area is potentially rich in oil and natural gas deposits. Currently the members of the ASEAN are more split up and subdivided. The political disputes are of particular importance in the context of US armed forces shift (the point of gravity) from Europe to Asia and Pacifi c region. The goal of the US presence in the Asia and Pacifi c region is not only the reaction to enlarged activity and expansion of China’s Armed Forces, but also the projection of force and reaction to non-military threats like natural or communication disasters. Therefore, increased USA activity in the Asia and Pacifi c region has not only the military but also, and probably mainly, economical and political character.
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The judiciary in the Polish People’s Republic was not a separate, self-governing sphere of power. The judiciary was under the supervision of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) and the Ministry of Justice. Political and executive authorities decided upon the staffing and professional matters of judges. In autumn 1980, on the basis of the August Agreements, independent trade unions of judiciary workers were formed in the courts. Judges, associated in them, put forward their own demands and thanks to the strength of trade unions they exerted pressure on the Minister of Justice seeking chances to push through systemic changes, which would guarantee independence and self-governance of the judiciary. Implementation of the judges demands would deprive the PZPR and theMinistry of Justice of the ability to govern in the sphere of justice. The authorities did not intend to resign from these prerogatives. But the Ministry of Justice, devoid of PZPR political support, gradually gave way to the judges demands. As a result of ongoing discussion in the Ministry of Justice in the years 1980–1981, two concepts of self-governance of the judiciary were created: the judges concept of decision-making self-governance and the ministerial concept of quasi self-governance with consultative prerogatives. They were reflected in multi-variant draft amendment to the law on common courts, prepared by the Ministry of Justice in November 1981. The ministerial concept became the basis of subsequent changes made in the reform of the judiciary, performed under the dictation of the PZPR in 1984–1985. Concepts from the years 1980–1981 evolved and became the basis for the reform of the judiciary system in the systemic transition period in 1989. In great measure, self-governance of the judges functions to this day on the basis of the solutions developed in 1980–1981.
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Looking at the past 23 years of Russian history, it would be difficult to miss the ongoing dispute over a key choice facing the state: should the diplomacy of force be continued or should emphasis be on the soft power of diplomacy capable of attracting not only the former Soviet Union countries, but also other allies? In recent years, however, especially since the conflict in Georgia, the role of diplomacy of force has been growing in Russia. The reform of the armed forces launched in 2009 accompanied by a new military doctrine and plans for rearming the army came as a signal that Russia was planning to enhance its security policy. These changes are in harmony with the general tendency to return to the imperial tradition and can be capitalised upon to mobilise Russian society, focusing its efforts (including financial) around the army. In consequence, military power has become one of the main instruments for achieving the goals of domestic and international policy.
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The security crisis in Ukraine induced by Russia has helped overcome the domestic legitimacy crisis of President Vladimir Putin and his regime. The annexation of Crimea and the Donbass war on the one hand and, on the other, anti-Western confrontational rhetoric have boosted the ratings of the Russian ruling circles, giving Vladimir Putin carte blanche in domestic and foreign politics. It is in the Kremlin’s vital interest to preserve the high level of public support, but given the economic decline and no modernisation potential, this will require keeping the propaganda machine running and fueling imperial pride along with anti-Western and revanchist moods.
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Russia’s vast natural gas deposits, widely viewed as a vital strategic asset, make it possible for Russia to exert an influence on the neighbouring countries. One of key elements of Kremlin’s gas strategy in this regard is having direct access to European and Asian markets. In the context of the EU–Russia crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, Moscow is looking for new market opportunities for its gas. The South Stream plan has been replaced by the Turkish Stream project, and Russia is also developing gas projects with China. The short-term question for the EU should not be how to break energy bonds with Russia, but how to contain the damage caused by the current Russian strategy.
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The problem of the Ukrainian political system has become one of the axes of conflict in Donbas. To undermine the sovereignty of its neighbour, the Russian Federation is using concepts of federalisation, autonomisation or decentralisation of Ukraine, depending on the circumstances. Meanwhile, local government reform is among the top priorities of the government in Kyiv. The transfer of prerogatives to the local and regional levels at the time of military conflict may weaken the state’s mobilisation capacities. The special status of a part of Donbas envisaged in the Minsk agreement as an element of decentralisation reform is synonymous with autonomy. Hence its acceptance will in fact mean Ukraine’s acquiescence to the presence of a propagator of separatism on its own territory.
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Łukasz Jaskuła, Zbędny arsenał. Polityka nuklearna Stanów Zjednoczonych po zakończeniu zimnej wojny (U.S. Nuclear Policy after the Cold War) (Jacek Durkalec); Dominik Mierzejewski, Między pragmatyzmem a konfucjańską moralnością. Dezideologizacja retoryki chińskiej polityki zagranicznej w okresie reform (Between Pragmatism and Confucian Morality) (Jan Rowiński); „Questions internationales” 2014, nr 69, (La Pologne au cœur de l’Europe) (Bartłomiej Zdaniuk)
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