Our authoritarian leaders continue to hold regular elections featuring a number of real opposition parties. But that doesn't mean any of the opposition parties actually have a chance of winning.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania has finally resolved the dispute between the Vilnius City Municipality and the State that had been going on for more than two years. The State argued, with support from...

The Sea-Watch 3, which rescued 47 people from drowning in the Mediterranean ten days ago, is still looking for safe harbour. On Friday night it entered the port of Syracuse and is now anchored there. The mayor of...

Polish prosecutors were asked by police to examine the evidence against ultra-nationalists who demonstrated at Auschwitz on Holocaust Memorial Day. Local police sent a video of a group of people who, under a large...

The Lithuanian Parliament has started the new year by making fresh attempts to restrict the freedom of the media and the public to express their views.

On Thursday the European Commission (EC) launched an infringement procedure against Austria for reducing child benefits to Austrian-based foreign workers whose children live in poorer EU countries. “With indexation...

European Union data protection authorities have reached an agreement on how to address the threat by Romania's data chief to impose a €20 million fine on several journalists who exposed high-level corruption in the...

CIVICUS Monitor update on Belgium - January 2019

If you're under the impression that what happens at the European Parliament doesn't make a difference in your life, well, you're wrong. Sorry. The EP actually impacts your life quite a bit - one of many reasons you should vote in the upcoming elections.

The introduction of long-awaited abortion services in Ireland was marred by anti-choice protests and problems with the new legislation. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is calling for safe zones and changes to the legislation.