Euobserver.com

To understand why Law and Justice believes its reforms are required, it is useful to look back at the collapse of communism in 1989. Did Poland consolidate liberal democracy after 1989?

Péter Márki-Zay said winning will be an uphill battle, as Viktor Orbán's moves to redraw constituencies, stifle free media, erode the independence of the judiciary, and "unlimited" financial resources, all favour the illiberal incumbent.

Gabrijela Žalac, Croatia's former minister of regional development and EU funds, and three other people have been arrested on the orders of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, an EU watchdog on how its budget is spent. The alleged fraud concerned purchase of software for a public company, Croatian media said. Žalac served between 2016 and 2019. Prime minister Andrej Plenković declined to comment.

Top German virologist Dr Christian Drosten warned some 100,000 people in the country could die of Covid if nothing was done to tackle a surge in cases. Around 40,000 new cases had been registered in a span of 24-hours, with 236 deaths. "We have a real emergency situation," said Drosten. Germany has so far reported 97,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The US and EU would impose sanctions on Russia in the event of gas cut-offs or military aggression against Ukraine, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in Washington Wednesday. "Should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine, we are committed, and Germany is committed, to taking appropriate action," he said, while voicing concern on "unusual Russian military activity" on Ukraine's border.

US president Joe Biden supported the EU position on Northern Ireland customs rules, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Washington Wednesday. "I think that president Biden and I will share the assessment that it is important for peace and stability on the island of Ireland to keep the withdrawal agreement and to stick to the protocol," she said, amid a post-Brexit dispute on trade and sovereignty.

The EU has gone into high-gear diplomatic efforts to stop the Belarus migration crisis from turning into a military one, amid reports a 14-year old boy has died.

US tech giant Google lost its appeal in an anti-trust case launched by the European Commission. On Wednesday, the Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union upheld a 2017 ruling to fine the company €2.4bn for giving preferential treatment to its own price-comparison shopping service over rival services. Google may appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice.

Polish MEP Roza Thun joined the liberal Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, along with the Poland 2050 opposition party, Renew leader Stéphane Séjourné MEP announced on Wednesday. Thun is the 99th member of the third-biggest group in the parliament, with Poland now being the 24th nationality in the group. Thun joined Poland 2050 from the Civic Platform party, a member of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

Czech prosecutors on Wednesday asked the newly-elected lower house of parliament to lift prime minister Andrej Babiš's immunity from prosecution over alleged fraud involving EU funds, AP reported. If lawmakers give their approval, it would allow the prosecution to decide whether Babiš should be indicted for his alleged involvement in the €2m fraud. Czech police have repeatedly recommended Babiš should be indicted.

A leaked draft list of cross-border energy infrastructure projects revealed that the European Comission is ready to subsidise 30 major gas developments to the tune of some €13bn.

Belarus authorities in late July launched a crackdown against civil society, says exiled Belarus youth leader Vorykhava. She said the regime in Minsk is now using the migrant border crisis to divert international attention away from repression inside the country.

The EU regulator fined the world's most popular internet search engine back in 2017. over the use of its own price-comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

The EU is not only turning a blind eye to Israel's belligerent and illegal gas extractions but outrightly colluding by financing and otherwise supporting costly infrastructure projects. The ongoing gas crisis affecting the EU is no excuse for this behaviour

The EU Commission has pledged €100m for a UN fund designed to help poorer countries cope with climate-change related problems. "We all need to get cracking and we all need to do it now ... those who need resources for adaptation also need to have predictability and clarity about its delivery," EU commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said Tuesday at the 'COP26' climate summit in Scotland.

Children just one of whose parents were granted EU asylum had the right to live in Europe, according to an EU court verdict Tuesday on a German case about a girl born in Germany, whose Tunisian mother was not eligible for asylum, but whose Syrian father had German protection. Forcing the father to move to Tunisia amounted to "waiving the right to asylum conferred on him in Germany," it said.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis lost his temper with a Dutch journalist who accused him of "narcissistic abuse" on migrant pushbacks and "appalling" conditions in migrant camps at a press briefing in Athens Tuesday. "Look, you will not come into this building and insult me. Am I very clear on this?," Mitsotakis said, adding: "I won't accept anyone pointing the finger to this government and accusing it of inhumane behaviour."

Russia, on Tuesday, said it began pumping extra gas to help fill European underground storage facilities ahead of winter, prompting wholesale prices on EU markets to fall, Reuters reports. The move came after it twice stopped supplies via Poland to Germany, amid accusations it wanted to bully Berlin to quickly certify its Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But prices would "stay high" until Russia did more to ease concerns, analysts said.

Ireland has begun preparations for coping with a trade war between the EU and UK if Britain suspended Northern Ireland customs rules and Europe froze the Brexit trade-pact in return. "I really hope that Britain doesn't go down this road ... Brexit is kind of done, but [this] potentially undoes it," Irish deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar told Irish broadcaster RTE Tuesday after a cabinet meeting on the issue Monday.

"Antisemitism, especially online, grew during the pandemic," according to a report by the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna out Tuesday. "New antisemitic myths and conspiracy theories that blame Jews for the pandemic have come to the fore", it noted, saying 44 percent of cases of abuse recorded at the start of the pandemic were of this type. But EU states needed to improve reporting of incidents, it added.