Zselyke Csaky

🇵🇱⚖️Poland has a new Minister of Justice, a very … colourful figure that heralds a new chapter in the Polish rule of law saga. Waldemar Żurek - a veteran judge and outspoken critic of the PiS government, harassed and intimidated, and likely tapped to bring about retribution against "Bad Guys". 1/

🎙️ New #CERpodcast: @zecsaky.bsky.social spoke with
@zach-meyers.bsky.social on Trump’s proposed tariffs on the EU and how to approach digital policy in the talks.🎙️

Listen here: buff.ly/vxMlg55

The US president is pushing Europe to drop aspects of its digital rules. Europe is right to hold firm: there is little sign that digital policies are a priority for Trump.

🆕 @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social insight by @zach-meyers.bsky.social, @cerrethinktank.bsky.social

Read here: buff.ly/zxuDYFS

Coal-fired power plants remain the main generators of electricity in much of the Western Balkans.

New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social insight by @elisabettaco.bsky.social

Read here: buff.ly/pnzWUnR

I agree. And competitive authoritarian doesn’t mean they can’t be out of power — just that the system is rigged in favor of the incumbent. (Actually this is my beef with the term and why I personally prefer “hybrid regime”.)

I'm generally skeptical about opinion polls – especially in hybrid regimes – and there's lots of assumptions here (such as a unified opposition or a unified student list) – but to go from non-existent to capture a a plurality (and almost majority) of the electorate is spectacular and demonstrates...

The second shock clearly is a lot worse than the first one for Europe as well.

As I wrote last year for Politico, the EU’s now poised to potentially lose many more jobs than the U.S. did during the first shock.

Some reflections inspired by this great NYT piece.

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Her departure also brings closer the day when there will be a majority of seats vacant at the Tribunal, potentially paving the way to "new" judges outvoting the "old" judges (all appointed by the PiS majority). That date would move from Feb 2027 to Sep 2026. 8/

🇵🇱⚖️Shocking (no, really) news from the Polish Constitutional Tribunal - its most (in)famous judge, Krystyna Pawłowicz, will retire in December, exiting the Tribunal three years before the end of her term. A plot twist with some actual consequences, and firmly in "nobody saw this coming" category. 1/

The Routledge Guide to the European Union Written by experts, this long-established and definitive guide to the workings of the European Union provides comprehensive, straightforward and readable coverage of this sometimes misunderstood and c...

It's publication day! I'm delighted to get my hands on The Real Book. The 2nd edition is more comprehensive than the 1st in its treatment of EU institutions & competences, & will hopefully be a useful reference for some years. Thanks to @tandfresearch.bsky.social www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...

Proportionally, the estimated 100-200k Pride marchers in Budapest today would correspond to something approaching 1m in London or New York. And this in a country that has now spent 15 years under illiberal, authoritarian rule.

What a symbol of hope.

Budapest Pride 🏳️‍🌈🇭🇺 the ban backfired! Peaceful, safe, happy and huge!
Organisers estimate a crowd over 200,000 people.

Some pictures from the Budapest Pride march. There is an astounding amount of people marching! (The people in the front of the second picture are not even the first people in line and you can barely see the end of it!) #budapestpride

Update: Massive crowds today at the (government-banned) 30th Budapest Pride. 🏳️‍🌈 The largest Pride according to the organizers, possibly among the largest protests in the past 15 years. Follow live: www.youtube.com/live/0u7-QHv...

Amazing photos from Budapest, it looks like record high attendance. Reports say streets are full of people between Astoria and the University of Technology (~2.5 km on wide avenues and a bridge).

A major embarrassment for Orbán and yet another unforced error.

OPINION: Rutte’s manipulation of Trump bought Europe time. Now we mustn’t waste it. With the immediate threat of open U.S. repudiation of NATO held at bay, Europeans can now focus on building up their forces.

Rutte applied the lessons we’ve learnt on how to deal with Trump: trade excessive flattery for policy concessions.

This bought Europe time to rearm. We mustn’t waste it, I argue in @tvpworld.bsky.social

tvpworld.com/87508987/rut...

This preliminary survey has some already quantifiable impact & a lot of pointers on where help is needed most. 60% of organizations impacted by USG democracy programming cuts have received no other help since

Grim survey of USAID DRG implementers and how cuts have hit them.https://globaldemocracycoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/US-Foreign-Aid-Cuts-Survey-Graph-Presentation.pdf

On point. In fact, it's all so confusing that Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib's spox said, “In view of the fluidity of the situation, she will assess her presence at the Pride on the ground.” www.ft.com/content/6cc4...

Reposting this thread here for tomorrow. 👇

Really very good thread here. The misplaced focus on misinformation (or disinformation and even FIMI) fails to capture the bigger problem -- the fundamental change in our information ecosystem and its impacts on democrary.

So the real question isn’t “who decides what’s true.” The question is, do we still have the ability to decide anything together at all? Because once we lose that, democracy isn’t under threat. It’s already gone.

US makes its flip from pro-democracy to anti-democracy official, moving to end State Department democracy promotion programs and grants.

For comparison, all these democracy-promoting efforts over multiple years cost the US, in total, 1-2% of a single year's military budget.

Filling the USAID Gap: How Europe Can Step Up to Support Democracy - European Democracy Hub Since President Trump declared a freeze on federal assistance, implementer organisations and local recipients have been scrambling.

Earlier we wrote with my former colleague, Sarah Repucci, about what the EU and European countries could do in this space. Most of those recommendations still stand europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu/filling-the-...

US state department told to terminate nearly all its overseas pro-democracy programs Exclusive: All but two of the programs awarded under the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor would be cut, affecting nearly $1.3bn in grants

Coming full circle on US democracy grants: looks like practically all remaining programs will be terminated at DRL www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

🏳️‍🌈 Our Homeland, a party even more extreme right than #Fidesz, has announced a demonstration for Saturday along part of the #BudapestPride march route. According to them, the police have already approved their request. With a bit more than a day to go before Pride, uncertainty about the event remains

A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy

Really important to keep our eye on the ball with AI & elections, even between cycles and especially as CISA is gutted. @stuartathompson.bsky.social + @stevenleemyers.bsky.social do that here. Recent related research from my @cdt.org colleagues below🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/t...

People are the power: Solving Europe’s demographic dilemma Europe’s shrinking and ageing population is not just a domestic issue – it is a strategic challenge with global implications. As population dynamics reshape the international balance of power…

Europe's demographics are not necessarily a curse for its global standing. Next week, we'll be discussing together with @agathedemarais.bsky.social and @johnspringford.bsky.social what European policymakers can do to tackle this strategic challenge. Register here 👇
ecfr.eu/event/people...

With exponential AI takeup, newspapers are in trouble (again). But here is a suggestion from the always-excellent @erdelyip.bsky.social: focus on serving your niche instead of scale. Call me naive but I'd love a future that resembles parts of the early internet. www.funds4media.org/p/the-fractu...

Polish justice minister requests recount of presidential election votes in 1,500 polling stations

The justice minister has requested a recount of votes at 1,472 polling stations in the recent presidential election, which was won by the opposition candidate.

He believes, based on statistical analysis, that there is a "high probability of irregularities".