Political Issues Affecting Eastern Europe Poland is considering leaving the EU after disputes of political agreement. The newly controlling Eurosceptic Law and Justice Party is trying to take away checks and balances and take control of all of the media. In the past ten years, Poland has come a long way economically and politically. They now have a strong effect on the EU and leaving the EU could lead to big issues for Europe as a whole. Russia’s Media Corruption Russia has recently been under fire for the constraint of the media, propaganda, and killing of journalists. The government in Russia has always been known to control the media and release false news stories, but lately they have allegedly been killing journalists who have spoken out against the government. 56 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992. 70% of these people who were killed were working on government related articles. People who live in Russia and experience the media, are now less likely to form their own opinion about the government. On June 30, President Vladimir Putin passed a bill banning the propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors. Additionally russia has a history of multiple bans on gay pride parades in Moscow and other cities, there have been many fines given to people for participating in gay rights movements and there the Russian political administration has been supportive and has allowed back ground checks and the following of suspected people in the LGBT community. Women all over Poland are outraged at the country's newly proposed laws on tighter restrictions on abortions. On October 3 of this year, 30,000 plus people gathered at Warsaw square dressed in black to protest against this proposed law. The final vote on if the law would become official was decided by conservative catholic women who says she already has three children and could not afford a fourth. The women in Poland helped sway Poland's populist government to reject a law that would take away their right to choose. |