Eastern Europe’s journey from totalitarianism to social democracy has stalled

EU seems uncertain how to respond to its newer members’ faltering transition to democracy

Tue, Apr 10, 2018, 00:20

Vincent Boland

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán celebrating in Budapest after winning parliamentary elections on Sunday. Photograph: Getty Images

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán celebrating in Budapest after winning parliamentary elections on Sunday. Photograph: Getty Images

There are some tragic similarities between the murder of Ján Kuciak in Slovakia in late February and the murder of Veronica Guerin in Dublin in 1996.

Kuciak, a 27-year-old journalist, was shot at his home near Bratislava along with his fiancée Martina Kusnirová. Police suspect the crime, which prosecutors say looks like a contract killing, was linked to his reporting on tax evasion and political corruption in his country, just as Guerin’s murder was linked to her reporting on Dublin’s gangsters and drug-peddlers.

Please subscribe or to continue reading.

Most Read

1 Garda dies following shooting incident in Co Roscommon

2 Ireland wins seat on UN Security Council following ‘tough’ contest

3 Come on, Mr Portillo, say ‘Dáil’ again. You know we like it

4 Paying off your mortgage in full not always the best plan

5 Pub time slots of 105 minutes to be allowed under final reopening guidelines

6 Bountiful Waterford estate where gardens earn their keep for €3.25m

7 Garda and Defence Forces join in ‘super raid’ on Limerick drugs gang

8 People of colour in Ireland need allies ‘not bystanders’

9 Newton Emerson: Northern Irish Greens’ fingerprints all over programme for government

10 Keane-Collopy gang targeted ahead of leaders’ jail releases

11 Noble savage concept endures despite being anthropological myth

12 Miriam Lord: Cottage pie and a pint and a trip to the barber of Seville

13 ‘One nurse for 76 patients’: Taoiseach warned about care home staff shortages

14 Revolut ‘opens up’ to Irish banks by integrating their data in its app

15 O’Leary to the fore as Ryanair ramps up its marketing machine

16 Nearly a third of company bosses planning to downsize office, survey shows

17 Back to the office, events horizon and second helpful home tech for Covid-19 second wave

18 Victoria Beckham: ‘It was a sign of insecurity that I always wore very tight clothes’

19 Helpful home technology to keep in touch with family and friends

20 Hillary Clinton and the decline and decline of liberal democracy

21 Sharp fall in home sales in April as analysts warn of worse to come

22 Former Cruzzo’s restaurant becomes Malahide’s answer to remote working

23 Maggie Haney’s abusive regime just another stain on USA Gymnastics

24 What to do about George Berkeley, Trinity figurehead and slave owner?

25 FF-FG-Green cabinet: Who is likely to get what position?

26 Irish medics likely to start treating Covid-19 patients with dexamethasone

27 ‘Unacceptable failure’ sees two new New Zealanders infected with Covid-19 leave quarantine

28 Man and woman killed in road traffic collision in Co Meath

29 Michael Portillo: ‘Ignorance of Ireland among the British is rather shocking’

30 Mary Trump: How my family created the world’s most dangerous man

31 ‘The virus will be back’: Preparing for the second wave of Covid-19

32 Prof Denis O’Sullivan: the Irishman who shone light on cosmic rays

33 Germany’s secret paedophilia experiment

34 Gardaí have seized 22 dogs from three addresses in Cork

35 Revealed 100 years on: the letters of a British general kidnapped by the IRA

36 Conference industry could collapse, event organisers warn

37 Betting shops in Ireland told to close their doors

38 Court dismisses appeal of rapist father who encouraged dog to take part in abuse

39 Judges form guard of honour as Mr Justice Peter Kelly retires

40 Resolution leaves Connacht set for next season’s Champions Cup

Real news has value

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out