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“In Slovakia the whole process is the same as in Hungary and Poland, but like on steroids, it’s much faster”. Interview with Tomáš Hučko 
English/Užsienyje

“In Slovakia the whole process is the same as in Hungary and Poland, but like on steroids, it’s much faster”. Interview with Tomáš Hučko 

By Karolis Dambrauskas / 20 rugsėjo, 2024

I may be wrong, but I suspect that the people of Central and Eastern Europe are still neighbours who know each other very little. How much do we know about Slovakia in Lithuania? Perhaps the recent launch of a direct flight from Kaunas to Bratislava will help us get to know each other better. To find out more about Slovaks and the Slovak left, I interviewed Tomáš Hučko, editor of Kapitál, a cultural and political magazine that brings together the Slovak left. In an hour-long conversation, we touched on topics ranging from the legacy of the Czechoslovak left, to the main political issues in Slovakia today, to support for Ukraine and Palestine.

Challenges of healthcare reform in Ukraine: on workers’ perspectives and struggles
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Challenges of healthcare reform in Ukraine: on workers’ perspectives and struggles

By Lena Slobodian / 9 spalio, 2023

Healthcare is a part of critical infrastructure. In addition to being necessary for preventing social collapse, its adequate maintenance is very important for treating injured soldiers and civilians, thus allowing for the reduction of losses during war. Furthermore, in the long term perspective, medical professionals will leave Ukraine, especially with the new possibilities for integration created for Ukrainian refugees in western countries. This will make the rebuilding of Ukraine very difficult.

Political Economist Jeffrey Sommers: on Baltic Inflation, Protecting Rich Grannies and Bending EU Fiscal Rules
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Political Economist Jeffrey Sommers: on Baltic Inflation, Protecting Rich Grannies and Bending EU Fiscal Rules

By Karolis Dambrauskas / 11 sausio, 2023

But the other thing that property taxes do is take housing prices down. Every family, every household has a certain amount of money for housing – that’s the money they have for it and they won’t have more. And somebody is going to get that money. It’s either going to the state, in part through taxation, and will be used for kindergartens, healthcare, national defense, paving roads, all these things that are actually productive and help people and the economy. Or it can go to banks. As the property tax goes down, the housing price goes up because there’s more money available for the purchase of a property. Banks love that, because that means larger mortgages, larger fees, larger commissions and more debt service payments. The argument that you’ll get from the banks and the real estate sector as to why this is a bad idea is that they’re protecting grandma.

Anti-War Resistance Inside Russia
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Anti-War Resistance Inside Russia

By Justas Korsakovas / 12 gruodžio, 2022

“There are more sustainable ways of protest, we don’t want anti-war activists in jail. We need them active in the underground partisan movement. The main point of the anti-war movement inside Russia right now is to push away the moment when you get arrested as much as possible, so as to stay free and active, using other strategies than going to street protests openly.”

Cost-of-Living Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe: an Overview
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Cost-of-Living Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe: an Overview

By Karolis Dambrauskas / 7 gruodžio, 2022

Reaction to the cost-of-living crisis runs into cultural, political and economic specificities of CEE: low levels of trust between people, lack of organising tradition, and difficult relationships with trade unions (which are always on the defensive). However, recently, there have been unprecedented successes in linking environmental issues to demands of trade unions. Public discourse is slowly shifting from anti-communist rhetoric to blaming oligarchs, although any major change is yet to come. On the other hand, trade unions are weak and are used to very low demands. Meanwhile, the far-right raises more ambitious demands (e.g., energy to everyone and good relations with Russia to secure the gas supply) and hijacks the left/progressive agenda.

The Pending Movement: What Can Mental Health Workers Do?
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The Pending Movement: What Can Mental Health Workers Do?

By Paulius Garmus / 10 gegužės, 2022

Currently, the public discourse around mental health is severely underdeveloped. For example, conversations around mental health tend to focus only on the personal responsibility of the individual. By contrast, Extinction Rebellion’s call for collective action goes beyond urging individuals to recycle and use less plastic. Likewise, the public discourse on mental health should go beyond urging individuals to think positively, take yoga classes, eat healthily, exercise more, and so forth. Mental health illnesses do not appear in a vacuum. No mental illness was caused by a lack of yoga. The narrative of the public mental health has to become systemic.

Why Prague Hates AirBnB and How to Fight It
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Why Prague Hates AirBnB and How to Fight It

By Yuliya Moskvina / 24 lapkričio, 2021

Hatred towards AirBnB is not unique for Prague. In many cities around the world, people and municipalities are trying to impose control measures on short-term rentals. However, AirBnB is not only about short-term rentals anymore. It is an obvious proof of how the capitalist economic logic functions in the city: housing is for sale, not for fulfilling human needs. Those who can afford it, can live; those who cannot, must leave to the outskirts.