Covid restrictions have created a dangerous climate of arbitrariness and mistrust, resulting in a sick society. Authorities must implement measures that help fight the pandemic without taking away basic freedoms.

On 27th January 2021 the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, which outlaws abortion in cases of foetal abnormalities, was published in the Polish Journal of Laws, and came into effect.

On 29th October 2020, Spain’s government extended the state of alarm until May 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation in the country remains critical, with the daily number of newly reported cases rising since mid-December 2020.

As previously reported on the CIVICUS Monitor, on 22nd October 2020, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that abortion due to foetal abnormality is unconstitutional.

While the EU tries to cool discussions about the vaccine passport, EU member states, international trade organisations and a small town in South Germany take steps to implement it.

​While governments around the world are rightly focussing on vaccination strategies to protect people from COVID-19, a debate has heated up as to what the vaccine will entail for our civil liberties – including our right to move freely in the EU.

Six months have passed since the EU Court ruled that Orban's anti-NGO law violates EU law. The government has taken no steps to comply with the ruling.

The annual National Forum on Human Rights (NFHR) in Lithuania was held on December 10, the International Human Rights Day.

​The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit Hungary in early September 2020.

​On 29th October 2020, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, with the support of Parliament, extended the state of alarm until May 2021, which is expected to help the authorities control the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.