Dr Katarzyna Kwapisz Williams is Deputy Director and Jean Monnet Research Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies.

As the Ukrainian crisis continues, Poland has seen an unprecedented influx of displaced persons. Although the response from Polish civil society has been overwhelmingly positive, the future for Ukrainian refugees remains uncertain. 

Tensions are rising on the eastern border of the European Union. Belarussian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka promotes instability and EU countries are run afoul of human rights as a humanitarian crisis unfolds.

While the idea of taxing giant media platforms is widely supported in Poland, and in Europe generally, the new tax proposal raises serious doubts. The overwhelming sentiment of the Polish media views the tax as a serious threat to freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

This week in Warsaw a new Polish prime minister was sworn in. The change in leadership occurred in the wake of growing nationalist sentiment and a crumbling international image, but does the change represent real progress or is it merely cosmetic?