Democracy Digest: Poland Starts Investigations into Abducted Ukrainian Children and Leaked Emails

Meanwhile, Polish Minister for European Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek announced this week that Poland, together with the European Commission, will launch an initiative to find Ukrainian children reportedly kidnapped by Russia since the war started. The details about the initiative shared by the Polish government are sketchy, though Szynkowski vel Sek said the involved parties would look to both investigate where the children are and take measures to bring them back. The Ukrainian government and several international agencies, including the UNHCR, have accused Russia of abducting thousands of Ukrainian children since the war started and putting them up for adoption with Russian families. The minister said Poland felt close to this topic because during World War II the Nazis abducted Polish children and gave them to German families to be "Germanised".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) speaks during the opening day of the parliament's spring session in Budapest, Hungary, 27 February 2023. EPA-EFE/Szilard Koszticsak Hungary delays NATO vote again; high-profile corruption case reaches court

Hungary is still dragging its feet over Sweden and Finland's NATO accession without giving a clear explanation as to why. Ratification was supposed to be a formality, with all other NATO members except Turkey long ago approving it. The government waited seven months to even put it on parliament's agenda and this week managed to find yet another excuse to delay the vote. Apparently, some Fidesz politicians complained at a closed-door party meeting that "politicians from Sweden and Finland were too critical towards the Hungarian government" and "they have offended the country". So, before any vote can take place - now seen around March 20 - special...