1/8 Marriage in Berlin is marriage in Warsaw. Last November, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled: member states must recognise same-sex marriages 🏳️‍🌈lawfully concluded in another EU country. Here's the story behind that ruling⤵️

🇺🇦🇵🇱🇩🇪 Four years since the onset of the Russian full-scale attack on Ukraine, four years of millions of Ukrainian refugees in Germany and Poland who share the train or bus with me as I shuttle between Berlin and Poznań, four years of an upended legal landscape in Europe.

Ukraine resists 💪 As we enter the fifth year of Russia's full-scale invasion, it resists thanks to: -The bravery of its people -The strength of its institutions -The resilience of Ukrainian democracy We're proud to play a small part in that. Here's what we've been doing 👇

Out now! 💫 The Verfassungsbook "In Good Faith", edited by JAKOB GASPERIN WISCHHOFF & TILL STADTBÄUMER (@tillstadt.bsky.social), explores freedom of religion under the EU Charter and examines the latest developments in the Member States from an EU law perspective. verfassungsblog.de/book/in-good...

Are you an expert on Hungarian politics & the #RuleOfLaw? We are looking for a short-term consultant to analyse the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections! 📍Remote / 10 days (with possible extension) 📅During March – April 2026 📝Deadline to apply is 1st of March Read more: bit.ly/3MPWbPo

450+ alerts, one urgent question: how can we protect civil society? Just a few days to go until our #EUSEE webinar on turning data into action! Join us on Feb 26 👉 bit.ly/4rYUoX8 @hivos.bsky.social @forusinternational.bsky.social @anticorruption.bsky.social @epd.eu @civicusalliance.bsky.social

Want expert guidance for participatory democracy initiatives? 💯 Rising Stars Mentorship (free!) connects you with global experts for tailored support. First 2026 deadline: Feb 27. Don’t miss out 👉 bit.ly/4s7Q341

A big win for online transparency and platform accountability! The Berlin Court of Appeals has ruled that X must give us access to the research data we need to study information manipulation during Hungary's April elections.

You work at a civil society organisation. You do your job well. You have a quiet life. And one day, your name shows up in a politically charged U.S. Senate report on the EU's approach to digital regulation. 👇

Heute verhandelt das Kammergericht Berlin, ob @democracyreporting.bsky.social von #X Plattformdaten bekommt, um zu Wahlbeeinflussung und Desinformation zu forschen. Obwohl DRI nach dem #DSA der EU ein Recht darauf hat, verweigert X die Herausgabe. Mehr Infos im Quotepost.

🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶The first of CJEU AG opinions on Hungary is out - AG Ćapeta advises the court to find that the Commission's unfreezing of funds for Hungary under the Common Provisions Regulation should be annulled, as the alleged rule of law reforms didn't really happen. 1/

🇵🇱⚖️I promised a banger on the rule-of-law crisis in Poland, so... here it is. A group of PiS MPs have lodged a case with the Constitutional Tribunal, asking it to find the rules of electing the judges of the same Tribunal, introduced in 2016 by a PiS majority, to be unconstitutional. 1/

🗳️ All 3 members are teaming up under the EU-funded AHEAD Bangladesh project to support the integrity of elections in the country. Get to know more about the EPD members 🌐 epd.eu/members/ #BangladeshElections2026 🧩 #Programmes @electionwatcheu.bsky.social @democracyreporting.bsky.social

🇧🇩 EPD’s Electoral Support Facility in #Bangladesh brings together the expertise of 3 EPD members: 🔹EDGE Foundation, supporting citizen observers in reporting their findings. 🔹Election-Watch.eu, providing expert support on elections. 🔹DRI, helping develop a disinformation monitoring tool.

🇸🇰🇪🇺⚖️It took a while, but the Commission is finally, belatedly, getting tough on Fico's softcore rule of law crisis. While not as severe as in 🇭🇺🇵🇱, the slowly crawling dismantling of checks and balances by the Slovak government is finally getting the attention it deserves. 1/

We’re back in court ✌🏽 Despite clear legal obligations under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), X keeps delaying our access to public data needed to study disinformation and foreign interference ahead of the 2026 Hungarian elections.

🇵🇱⚖️As mentioned earlier, this week I am looking into judges and politics in CEE. Where is Poland right now with the intersection of the judiciary and politics? Well, not in a great place. Let's start with the "good guys", the government and its allies. 1/

Can you tell what’s real online? The EU’s inquiry into X over AI-generated deepfakes by Grok AI has put the spotlight on a pressing issue: millions of AI-generated images and videos are circulating online, making it harder to trust what we see.

Scholars @stevelevitsky.bsky.social & @dziblatt.bsky.social argue that institutions like plurality voting systems and federal second chambers can be democracy-subverting. For the @jodemocracy.bsky.social, our director @meyer-resende.bsky.social partly agrees, but argues they exaggerate the case. 👇

🇸🇰⚖️ Eight years will pass in February since the contract killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in Slovakia. The trial of the main actors in the case – Marian Kočner and his former informant Alena Zsuzsová – will begin again, for the third time. 1/

The CJEU recently ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal no longer qualifies as a court under EU law. This is one of the EU’s most decisive legal responses to the capture of Poland’s judiciary under the PiS. Our @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social and @profpech.bsky.social unpack the ruling 👇

Former Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro - a key figure in the Polish #ruleoflaw crisis - was granted asylum in Hungary⚠️ Is Ziobro, as he claims, a victim of a political witch hunt or is Hungarian PM Viktor Orban once again shielding his foreign allies from justice? ⚖️ ⬇️

🇪🇺⚖️🇩🇪 Spending my day at @hertieschool.bsky.social to witness the first training as part of the Starlight 2.0 project on strategic litigation in fundamental rights and the rule of law, organised by Hertie School, @hungarianhelsinki.bsky.social and @democracyreporting.bsky.social

Opportunity: Prototype meaningful youth engagement! 👇 Feb 10–12, the Nets4Dem Democracy Lab comes to Bilbao! It's a three day interactive space for cities to solve real democratic challenges, learn from Bilbao’s innovations, and co-design solutions. Register by Feb 2 ⬇️ bit.ly/3Ngzcgh

The CJEU has ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is not a lawful court. Yet the rule of law crisis in Poland is not over. JAKUB JARACZEWSKI and LAURENT PECH explain what the judgment is about — and why implementation will be difficult. verfassungsblog.de/commission-v...

They are taking their litigation game to a whole new level! 🔝 The first #STARLIGHT cohort is ready: lawyers turning the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into real courtroom power. First meetup in Berlin next week! Learn more about STARLIGHT 👇

Social media was supposed to expand political participation. But often, women politicians face hate, threats, and abuse just for showing up. After analysing 110,000+ Facebook & YouTube comments during elections in #SriLanka, we found disproportionate amounts of hate towards women.👇

🇭🇺🇸🇰 The new year breathes fresh life into an established fact that doing anything related to politics and law in CEE without a degree in history or an adjacent field is extremely difficult.

🛐Religious freedom in the EU? Read this blog part of our FOCUS project! ⤵️ And learn more about our project on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights here: focuscharter.eu

🇪🇺⚖️🇵🇱 Revenge is a dish best served cold (and after five years). Moments ago, CJEU, in the case Commission v. Poland, found that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has not only violated EU law with its anti-EU rulings, but also was (is) not an independent court established properly by law. 1/

#Disinformation, an election strategy?! We keep hearing how content spreads online just in time to influence voters; Europe wasn’t an exception. Just ahead of 2026 elections, we’re back to analyse the networks behind this. Our #DisruptDisinfoNetworks project will look deeper into these threats⬇️

Your Data Access toolkit 👇🏽 Our latest update shows major platforms still make researcher access slow, inconsistent, and overly restricted. We clearly lay out what data’s available, what’s missing, and how platforms and the European Commission can fix it.

As political debate shifts online, it’s getting more personal, more emotional, and more violent toward women. We saw this firsthand while monitoring Sri Lanka’s 2025 local elections 🔎 Here’s what we found 👇

Youth in Nigeria is gearing up! 🔥 They are absorbing all the knowledge they need to take part in elections, not just watch them; this time they are going digital. Under the WYDE Civic Engagement project the CJID is supporting young people in Nigeria to use digital tools and work towards democracy.

⚖️ Passionate about the #RuleofLaw? We are hiring a Research Officer to join our team in Berlin! If you have: a strong legal background; a deep understanding of the EU’s Rule of Law landscape; and experience working with media, policymakers or social media then apply before Dec 19 👉 bit.ly/48H2QT5

Cyclone Ditwah continues to impact Sri Lanka; we stand in solidarity with our colleagues who have been impacted by the recent floods. DRI is here to support them as they rebuild, recover and continue their essential work with communities across the country.

Your Data Access toolkit 👇🏽 Our latest update shows major platforms still make researcher access slow, inconsistent, and overly restricted. In our resource, we clearly lay out what data’s available, what’s missing, and how platforms and the European Commission can fix it.

Digital spaces should empower - not silence - women and girls 💯 Today we join UNMISS, UNDP South Sudan, and the NEC in South Sudan for #16DaysOfActivism to address GBV and violence against women in politics, ahead of the 2026 elections. Let’s unite to end abuse, both online and offline! 👏🏽

🏗️Rebuilding the rule of law: NOT a sprint BUT an obstacle course 🚧 with new hurdles at every turn! @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social takes the mic🎙️ again to share insights on Poland’s tense political race: where is the system still stumbling? revdem.ceu.edu/2025/11/17/h...

“If we can’t legislate, we’ll find another way.” Our @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social on how polarisation makes protecting the rule of law harder in Poland. A warning for democracies worldwide 💯 Read more: bit.ly/3KarlQm

While world leaders debate Ukraine’s future over the phone, @avalaina.bsky.social reminds us: Justice is hard but necessary work 🕊️ ➕ 600 people joined us at @blnensemble.bsky.social to hear her speak about documenting Russia’s war crimes since 2014, work that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize. 1/6

🇪🇺🇵🇱⚖️🎙There are days when nothing happens, and there are days when two podcasts featuring your truly get published on the same day as our entire comms team is off sick. The first one is in with our friends from the CEU Review of Democracy, on the restoration of the rule of law in Poland. 1/

In its efforts to restore the rule of law, the Polish government faces many issues. But a particular headache has been what to do with "neo-judges". A recent decision by the #ECHR buys the Polish government more time. Our @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social brings you the details 👇

When states selectively implement human rights rulings, who pays the price? In this case: women.

🕊️“People in Ukraine dream of peace” Nobel laureate @avalaina.bsky.social visited our office today to discuss civil society in Ukraine and the latest 28-point plan, presented by the U.S. to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Her thoughts 👇

How free is civil society online? 🌐 At #ICSW2025, #EUSEE launched its latest brief on how digital tech is being weaponised to restrict freedoms across 86 countries - and how civil society is fighting back, calling on governments, donors, and tech companies to protect civic space online.

📣CALL FOR APPLICATIONS! ⭐Our STARLIGHT 2.0 programme is all about equipping experienced lawyers & NGO legal staff to turn #humanrights into action through strategic litigation. 📅Deadline👉 Nov 20 📝Apply here👉 bit.ly/4o9Pmph 🤝 @hungarianhelsinki.bsky.social @hertieschool.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu

👀Disinformation spreads everywhere, all at once! It erodes trust in democratic institutions and makes it harder for all of us to make informed decisions. To counter it, democratic actors need to work together. That's why yesterday we convened the disinfo community in Berlin for #DisinfoCon 2025!

⚠️Last call! #DisinfoCon2025 Day 2 Webinar kicks off this afternoon! Be part of the conversation: As Europe is rethinking its digital space, we are asking the ultimate question, can it find its own path beyond the reach of U.S. Big Tech? Register now: bit.ly/4ouuBou

The online space is the enabling environment like never before❗ At #ICSW2025, our #EUSEE team led a crash course on monitoring online narratives and digital threats. Hands-on, data-driven, and empowering for civil society across Asia, the session was one for the books 👏🏽