Russia’s Accomplices in the War Against Ukraine: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Army’s Reliable Rear

Russia’s Accomplices in the War Against Ukraine: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Army’s Reliable Rear

Executive summary To analyse Kyrgyzstan’s capacity to help Russia circumvent sanctions, it is important to consider the internal political situation in Kyrgyzstan under President Sadyr Japarov. Kyrgyzstan has long been considered an “island of freedom” in Central Asia, with a number of independent media outlets, independent MPs and an active civil society. However, the authoritarian […]

Donetsk: Polish benefactors provide Avdiivka residents with fire extinguishers

Donetsk: Polish benefactors provide Avdiivka residents with fire extinguishers

Volunteers from the Polish charity Open Dialogue Foundation in Warsaw have donated 200 fire extinguishers to the Avdiivka front-line community. As a result of continuous enemy strikes, Avdiivka is gradually turning into ashes. The Russian occupants are bombarding residential areas and civilian infrastructure with “Grad” missiles, heavy artillery and other missile attacks. As a consequence, […]

ODF secures 4 PACE documents in defence the rule of law and human rights

ODF secures 4 PACE documents in defence the rule of law and human rights

During the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that concluded last Friday, our representation (Martin Mycielski and Katarzyna Szczypska) together with Judge Maciej Ferek (reinstated after 522 days of suspension for applying the primacy of European law), discussed the rule of law and political persecution in Poland and the Palestinian […]

Bugged hotels of the Polish Hotel Holding:  Request for a Council of Europe investigation

Bugged hotels of the Polish Hotel Holding: Request for a Council of Europe investigation

After the ‘Wyborcza’ daily revealed the controversial practices of the Polish Hotel Holding (PHH), 25 MPs submitted a request to the Council of Europe’s Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee to investigate the information about the potential surveillance of the opposition in hotels managed by the said company. If the request is accepted, a rapporteur […]

Yet another bugging scandal? ‘Surveillance in hotels, searching for condoms’

Yet another bugging scandal? ‘Surveillance in hotels, searching for condoms’

Bartosz Kramek from the Open Dialogue Foundation asserts that in 2019 he was subject to surveillance by special services in a hotel belonging to the state-owned Polish Hotel Holding (PHH). He also claims that he has already been contacted by other witnesses. ‘The informant was asked to look for syringes, used condoms, leftover packaging of […]

The Beneficiaries of Russia’s War Against Ukraine. How the Nazarbayev-Tokayev Regime is Helping Putin

The Beneficiaries of Russia’s War Against Ukraine. How the Nazarbayev-Tokayev Regime is Helping Putin

Executive summary In 2022 and 2023, the Kazakhstani authorities have repeatedly convinced the international community of their alleged commitment to “preventing the use of the Kazakhstani territory to bypass sanctions”. “Appropriate measures” have been adopted (such as the creation of a “list of sanctioned goods”, the signing of a law “on the control of specific […]

Artistic accomplishments of our charge from the Home for Independent Mums

Artistic accomplishments of our charge from the Home for Independent Mums

It is time to mention the artistic accomplishments of a resident of one of our Homes for Independent Mums. The daughter of our residents, named Antonina, is making her dreams come true during her time in Poland: she wants to continue her education in an art school, and in the future, she plans to go […]

The hotel scandal. Threats against the whistleblower

The hotel scandal. Threats against the whistleblower

A whistleblower who reported illegal activities against the opposition in hotels received a series of dead calls during the night. He also received text messages suggesting that he should hang himself. Calls from restricted numbers were made on Friday night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. There were about 20 calls and there were also […]

Preparations for Easter at the Homes for Independent Mums

Preparations for Easter at the Homes for Independent Mums

We have received photos of the preparations for Easter from one of the Homes for Independent Mums from Ukraine that we run. The children and their mothers spent this time in a great atmosphere of creativity, illustrated by their smiling faces. Decorating Easter eggs and baking muffins with colourful sprinkles is undoubtedly fun, and not […]

Bugged hotels discussed in the Sejm. The whistleblower met with opposition MPs

Bugged hotels discussed in the Sejm. The whistleblower met with opposition MPs

‘To me, he seems to be a Law and Justice (PiS) supporter who could no longer stand what was going on’ – Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, Head of the Civil Platform’s (PO) Investigation Team on Threats to State Security, tells ‘Wyborcza’. On Friday, Robert Z., the former Security Manager of the Polish Hotel Holding (Polski Holding Hotelowy) […]

The room service

The room service

The long May weekend is coming soon. However, before you head off on your happy holiday and book a hotel room, just keep your eyes and ears wide open. Condom wrappers, drug packs, bottles of alcohol and other compromising items. These were the items that Mr Robert K., Security Manager at the Polish Hotel Holding […]