Portside

1. The European Left Facing a Historic Challenge
2. Serbia Up For Grabs
3. Bitter Choices for Ukraine 
4. Hungary: Major Opposition Protest
5. Poland: A New Contender
6. Romania: Housing Rights
7. Belarus: Unions in Opposition
8. Georgia Republic: Unions Against Repression
9. A Russian Trade Unionist Comments
10. Walden Bello on Boris Kagarlitsky

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The European Left Facing a Historic Challenge

Stefan Bekier / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (Paris)

What challenges for Europe caught between two neo-fascist imperialisms of Trump and Putin? Why does the future of the European Union depend primarily on its ability to help Ukraine liberate itself from the Russian invader? What are the responsibilities of the European left in this new situation?

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Serbia Up For Grabs

 • History-Making Student Protests   Sanja Kljajic / Deutsche Welle (Berlin)

 • Workers Join the Fight Against Corruption   Matija Barišić / Global Labour Column (Johannesburg)

 • Women’s Day Action   Jovana Gec / Associated Press (New York)

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Bitter Choices for Ukraine

 • Reflections from a Sotsialnyi Rukh Member   Denys Pilash and Federico Fuentes / Links (Sydney)

 • Neoliberalism and Inequality   Francesca Barca / Voxeurop (Paris)

 • Unraveling Bandera   Vladyslav Starodubtsev / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières

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Hungary: Major Opposition Protest

Tara John and Andrea Keleti / CNN (Atlanta)

From the far-right to the left, opposition parties across Hungary’s political spectrum have been showing unity against what they consider the increasingly authoritarian rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling Fidesz Party. Thousands of Hungarians have marched through Budapest – some chanting “Vik-ta-tor” (an amalgamation of Viktor and dictator) and waving pro-democracy placards.

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Poland: A New Contender

Polskie Radio (Warsaw)

Discussing security in the context of the upcoming election, Magdalena Biejat pointed to issues affecting everyday life, particularly those concerning women, such as abortion rights, reproductive healthcare, employment and access to medical services. Biejat is a deputy Speaker of Poland’s Senate, and a presidential candidate for Nowa Lewica.

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Romania: Housing Rights

Ioana Florea and Mihail Sandu-Dumitriu / LeftEast

In Romania, the housing question has received more attention than before. As members of the Common Front for Housing Rights, in contact with persons both in this low-to-middle income category as well as others affected by housing precarity, we find it important to pay attention to the attitudes and values of the population beyond the rare moments of elections (every 4-5 years). 

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Belarus: Unions in Opposition

Lizaveta Merliak / Global Labour Column

Lukashenko has maintained his iron grip on power for three decades through fraudulent elections, kidnapping political opponents, and transforming the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus into an instrument of the state’s ideological apparatus. Nevertheless, democratic civil society, including the workers’ movement, maintained some space to operate.

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Georgia Republic: Unions Against Repression

Civil Georgia (Tblisi)

On February 5, six independent labor unions announced a joint decision to initiate seven collective labor disputes against the government, aiming to reinstate dismissed employees. This marks the first time collective action is used against the state and may pave the way for a legally warranted strike. 

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A Russian Trade Unionist Comments

Pavel Kudyukin, Federico Fuentes and Serhii Shlyapnikov / Links

Pavel Kudyukin is co-chair of the University Solidarity trade union and a member of the Council of the Confederation of Labour of Russia. He also served as Russia’s deputy minister of labour (1991-93). Here he talks about the situation of workers and trade unions in Russia and the territories it occupies, and the differing stances among Russian leftists towards Russia’s war on Ukraine.

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The Soviet Enigma: Walden Bello on Boris Kagarlitsky

Walden Bello / Red Pepper (London)

Boris Kagarlitsky’s The Long Retreat is of immense value in helping us understand the causes of the Soviet tragedy, an enterprise that is essential if the global left is to again imagine the possibility of another world.