Europe

In his speech at the opening event of the 15th Annual Foreign Policy Conference Prof. Dr. Heinrich August Winkler illustrates the historical development of Europe. The German opening towards the political culture of the West is the most important lesson drawn from the Age of Extremes, according to the historian.

The upcoming European Parliament elections are overshadowed by the perception of an indecisive European Union ill-prepared to deal with geopolitical challenges. Inferring from that a general indifference towards the European Union or its Parliament, however, is a short-sighted fallacy.

The dominant West European narrative according to which Orbán is seeking to move Hungary to Europe’s political periphery is at least partially flawed. What is missing is not a pro-European policy, but rather a vision of Hungary's role in the EU.

The EU cannot give up on the project of a unified and free Europe without giving up on itself. This includes the promise that all European nations on the path to becoming a democracy and constitutional state can become a member of the European Community. Ukraine is the touchstone of this promise today.

On November 7, 2013, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that homosexual asylum seekers be granted asylum in EU Member States. An important judgment that is, however, a drop in the ocean in the light of the EU’s policy of closure with regard to asylum and refugee policy.

The plans for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) caused a controverse debate about food standards and legal privileges to international investors between the U.S. and Europe. However, TTIP's impact on the rest of the world is immense. An analysis by Rainer Falk and Barbara Unmüßig.

Most important now is that the international community responds speedily and clearly to what amounts to a Russian occupation of the Crimea and the additional threat of Russian troops being stationed in Ukraine. Europe is in no way powerless in the face of Russian actions, as Ralf Fücks and Walter Kaufmann illustrate in a ten-point plan.

In an interview, political scientist Vladimíra Dvořáková of the University of Economics, Prague, enumerates the causes of the current turbulence on the Czech political scene.

The political crisis in the Czech Republic, which led to the fall of the government, was triggered by police investigation. The prosecution of three former MPs in the country triggered heated debates and reactions.

Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union after a decade of negotiations. The hope that it will now go up with the economy, slightly and widespread corruption in the country far. The dossier provides a collection of articles about the likely changes in ten key areas of social life.