Claudia Ciobanu

Budapest Pride – Cancelled by the State; Reclaimed by the People The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge...

The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge to Viktor Orban’s rule. Photo story by Bela Varadi for BIRN
balkaninsight.com/2025/06/30/b...

Czy rządowy szał na deregulację zagrozi polskim pracownikom? Rozmowa z ekspertem OPZZ "Trzeba pamiętać, że państwo prawa istnieje nie tylko po to, by wspierać rozwój biznesu, ale przede wszystkim po to, by chronić obywateli. Nie zgadzamy się na jedną stronę medalu. Deregulacja nie może...

„Trzeba pamiętać, że państwo prawa istnieje nie tylko po to, by wspierać rozwój biznesu, ale przede wszystkim po to, by chronić obywateli. Deregulacja nie może oznaczać demontażu ochrony” – mówi Norbert Kusiak, dyrektor Wydziału Polityki Gospodarczej OPZZ
oko.press/czy-rzadowy-...

Podcast „Pałac Prezydencki”: Polityczne trzęsienie ziemi – zwycięstwo Nawrockiego i jego konsekwencje

W pierwszym powyborczym odcinku podcastu „Pałac Prezydencki” Michał Kolanko rozmawia z Krzysztofem Łapińskim – byłym rzecznikiem prezydenta Andrzeja Dudy i weteranem kampanii PiS. Tematem jest zwycięstwo Karola Nawrockiego oraz jego polityczne konsekwencje dla PiS i obozu rządowego.

Cutting Red Tape or Cutting Corners? Polish PM’s Deregulation Drive Under the Spotlight Donald Tusk has asked a billionaire to come up with some proposals on how to deregulate Poland’s economy. But how impactful and positive will the suggested changes really be?

There's remarkably little scrutiny in Poland over what a 'deregulation commission' set up in February by Tusk, led by a prominent billionaire, is coming up with. So at BIRN we decided to take a closer look: balkaninsight.com/2025/06/05/c...

Fake Emails, Real Threats: Russian Tactics in Poland’s Presidential Election With Poland ground zero of Russia’s hybrid war against the West, the government has been closely monitoring for signs of interference ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff. Numerous threats were ident...

With Poland a primary target of Russia’s hybrid war against the West, it has been closely monitoring for signs of interference ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Numerous threats were identified, but the "Romanian scenario" seems to have been avoided, write Agata Pyka and Claudia Ciobanu.

Fake Emails, Real Threats: Russian Tactics in Poland’s Presidential Election With Poland ground zero of Russia’s hybrid war against the West, the government has been closely monitoring for signs of interference ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff. Numerous threats were ident...

With Poland ground zero of Russia’s hybrid war against the West, the government has been closely monitoring for signs of interference ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff. Numerous threats were identified, but the ‘Romanian scenario’ seems to have been avoided. balkaninsight.com/2025/05/29/f...

Liberal Candidate Takes Unconvincing Lead into Poland’s Presidential Runoff Rafal Trzaskowski of the PM’s Civic Coalition will face Karol Nawrocki of the opposition PiS in the second round of Poland’s presidential race on June 1.

We’re going to need to add Trzaskowski to the lengthening list of centrist politicians who found out the hard way that when u try to compete w radical right on their issues someone benefits from the extra salience this gives those issues & it isn’t u @benstanley.eu
balkaninsight.com/2025/05/19/l...

The El Salvador mega-prison at the dark heart of Trump immigration crackdown Cecot, a secretive 40,000-capacity facility built to house alleged gang members, ‘is meant for permanent exile, permanent punishment’

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Ukrainian Care Workers in Poland and Czechia Demand Rights and Recognition Increasing numbers of Ukrainian women are working as carers for elderly people in Poland and Czechia - and they are now organising and demanding better working conditions.

Ukrainian women working as carers for elderly people in Poland have started unionising and recently demanded of the govt to help them get proper contracts & working conditions
balkaninsight.com/2025/04/28/u...

Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope: "Oh, she says, well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I'll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is — we're here on Earth to fart around And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it's like we're not supposed to dance at all anymore."

Kurt Vonnegut man

This is an excellent thread of even better investigation into the human rights record of Frontex leadership 👇

Poisoned Chalice: Is Frontex Director’s Clean-Up Operation Doomed to Failure? Dutch former gendarmerie commander Hans Leijtens took the reins of Frontex with a vow to renew the EU border agency’s commitment to the rights of migrants. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on ...

Excellent reporting on the challenges confronting FRONTEX as it seeks to deal with member states' abuses of migrants

Leijtens said the Greeks had implemented some of their measures only “in a formalistic manner”; cameras, for example, were installed on coast guard vessels to record potential abuses, but they weren’t turned on - as was the case in the #Pylos #shipwreck.

Poisoned Chalice: Is Frontex Director’s Clean-Up Operation Doomed to Failure? Dutch former gendarmerie commander Hans Leijtens took the reins of Frontex with a vow to renew the EU border agency’s commitment to the rights of migrants. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on ...

"We may have contributed to 'a sense of impunity' in #Greece"

Exclusive interview with #Frontex @frontex.bsky.social director Hans Leijtens at BIRN, @wearesolomon.bsky.social, @pointerkro-ncrv.bsky.social on #pushbacks in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia.

balkaninsight.com/2025/04/08/p...

Hoe de Nederlandse Leijtens hervormingen bepleit bij Frontex, maar het geweld niet kan stoppen Terwijl de Nederlandse Hans Leijtens als Frontex-directeur probeert schoon schip te maken, worden aan de Europese buitengrenzen de rechten van migranten nog altijd geschonden. ||Terwijl de Nederlandse...

Nog geen halfjaar nadat Nederlander Hans Leijtens aantrad als topman van @frontex.bsky.social kreeg hij het advies om zich terug te trekken uit Griekenland, wegens alle pushbacks. Hij deed het niet. Frontex bleef, net als de pushbacks. Onderzoek BIRN & Pointer pointer.kro-ncrv.nl/hoe-nederlan...

Poisoned Chalice: Is Frontex Director’s Clean-Up Operation Doomed to Failure? Dutch former gendarmerie commander Hans Leijtens took the reins of Frontex with a vow to renew the EU border agency’s commitment to the rights of migrants. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on ...

In this investigation for Balkan Insight, we review the human rights record of @frontex.bsky.social's director Hans Leijtens-two years after he vowed to end the agency's complicity in violent pushbacks. Amidst lawlessness at Europe's borders, is he fighting a losing battle?
tinyurl.com/bddvh7f5

🧵👇

Αποκλειστική συνέντευξη του διοικητή της #Frontex σε BIRN, Solomon, Pointer.

Ο Χ. Λέιτενς ανέλαβε να αποκαταστήσει την φήμη της Frontex μετά τις αποκαλύψεις για συγκάλυψη παράνομων επαναπροωθήσεων στην Ελλάδα.

Τρία χρόνια μετά, οι βίαιες επαναπροωθήσεις σε Ελλάδα, Βουλγαρία, Σερβία συνεχίζονται.

“Leijtens is committed to the law but he inherited a poisoned chalice... As European leaders are preoccupied with being tough on migration, Leijtens has no leverage to really push member states on fundamental rights... And lawlessness and impunity continues at Europe’s external borders.”

Poisoned Chalice: Is Frontex Director’s Clean-Up Operation Doomed to Failure? Dutch former gendarmerie commander Hans Leijtens took the reins of Frontex with a vow to renew the EU border agency’s commitment to the rights of migrants. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on ...

Dutch former gendarmerie commander Hans Leijtens took the Frontex reins with a vow to renew the EU border agency’s commitment to rights of migrants. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on migration, is he fighting a losing battle? Our latest BIRN investigation balkaninsight.com/2025/04/08/p...

💥🪧Happening right now in Budapest:

🇭🇺 Anti-government protesters have occupied four bridges, opposing Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on freedom of assembly under the guise of “child protection.”

🗣️ Though aimed at the Pride march, Orbán’s law threatens banning any kind of protests or rally.

BWK: The Armed Afghan Gang Terrorising Migrants, Refugees Crossing Bosnia As Europe tightens its borders, an armed Afghan gang operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina has turned to kidnapping asylum seekers and demanding ransom payments from their families; their tactics includ...

One of the consequences of EU pushbacks. Stellar reporting from my BIRN colleagues

balkaninsight.com/2025/04/02/b...

Two BIRN Journalists in Serbia Targeted with Pegasus Spyware Two journalists from BIRN in Serbia were the targets of a failed attempt to install the powerful Israeli spyware Pegasus on their phones, a forensic analysis conducted by Amnesty International has con...

Two journalists from BIRN in Serbia were the targets of a failed attempt to install the powerful Israeli spyware Pegasus on their phones, a forensic analysis conducted by Amnesty International has confirmed. balkaninsight.com/2025/03/27/t...

Jeszcze dziś wieczorem rząd przyjmie rozporządzenie zawieszające prawo do składania wniosków o azyl. Tak jak zapowiadałem - bez chwili zwłoki.

Activists Open Abortion Clinic Opposite Polish Parliament In a challenge to Poland’s government, which has failed to legalise abortion despite its election promises, activists have opened a clinic in the centre of Warsaw where women can receive support when ...

In a challenge to Poland’s government, which has failed to legalise abortion despite its election promises, activists have opened a clinic in the centre of Warsaw where women can receive support when taking abortion pills.
balkaninsight.com/2025/03/10/a...

Important to say that police are protecting the entrance of the clinic from pro-family protesters and asking the latter to immediately remove red paint they just sprayed on the sidewalk

Activists opened today the first abortion clinic in Poland, right in front of the Parliament. However, right now, any woman wanting to use the facilities has to face pro-family protesters & violent images & continuous baby cry

About that €800bn EU defence fund just announced

€650bn of that - over 80% - is assuming Member States spend 1.5% of GDP more on defence over the next 4 years.*

This is based on the (already announced) relaxation of the EU rules on budget deficits.

But were fiscal rules ever the problem? (1/🧵)

Call for Applications: Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence 2025 We are awarding 10 fellowships to journalists from Central and South-Eastern Europe who have an idea for a story that needs dedicated on-the-ground reporting, in-depth research, generous funding and s...

Journos from Poland, a very good grant programme to do a v well researched long-story. 3,000 euros research grant plus cash awards plus editorial guidance at the most professional level. I did it back in the day, ask me questions and apply.
balkaninsight.com/fellowship-f...

Selective Justice: Polish Government Seen Showing Scant Regard for International Law Disrespect for the rule of law was one of the main criticisms aimed at the previous conservative PiS government, including from opposition politicians. Now in power, the coalition’s attitude to intern...

balkaninsight.com/2025/01/29/s...