The Populist Curtain: Poland and Hungary

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Political scientist Yascha Mounk travels from Szczecin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, the route of the former "Iron Curtain" and finds out what is changing under the new populist governments, in smaller cities far away from the capitals. He speaks to supporters and opponents of the populist parties and builds up a complex picture of Europe in a time of flux. Yascha begins in the north in the Polish city of Szczecin (Stettin) – where Solidarity was originally created. Today the PIS party governs the country, with its appeal to traditional religious values and social conservatism. Critics say it is attacking independent institutions, especially the judiciary. Szczecin saw vigorous protest against a law restricting abortion. He then heads on to Sopron, Hungary – the site of the picnic which led to the first mass breach of the Iron Curtain. Here Victor Orban’s Fidesz party is accused of attacking civil society and the freedom of the press in his pursuit of an “illiberal democracy” – but there are forces fighting back locally. Image: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland's PIS party (Credit: Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski via Reuters)