Europe

The NSA scandal is not just a problem for the American democracy. Other American, European, Asian, and African people have also a right to know the whereabouts of their private data. 

Our panel discussion from May 31 featured three speakers from Hungary: Péter Krekó, research director of Political Capital Institute; Gordon Bajnai, prime Minister candidate of the "Together 2014-PM" electoral alliance; and Benedek Jávor, co-president of "Dialogue for Hungary". The following video interviews present their perspectives on the upcoming Hungarian elections.

The topic of sexual orientation is still a taboo in the Armenian society. Anyone who differs from the traditional beliefs must deal with social ostracism and violence. The gay singer Armine Oganezova, also known as Tsomak, fled from Armenia this summer, because she had to be afraid for her life.

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union (hbs EU) invites 15 young people from the southern member states of the eurozone and from Germany to Brussels in order to discuss the economic, social and political problems in their countries; their perception of their own future, that of their countries and of Europe with each other and with actors of the European institutions and organisations.

Germany resolved to go down the path of its energy transition – the Energiewende. But it became clear very quickly at the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s two-day conference entitled “Energiewende – Think European!” in Berlin, there’s a lot of skepticism about and even deep-seated resentment toward Germany’s energy policies. Poles and the French, Czechs and Brits, in fact most of the EU27, are not on the same page as Germany.

Our international conference took place on April 9th/10th and gave speakers from across Europe a chance to talk about the opportunities in and obstacles towards an Energiewende in Europe. Here you find video recordings of the talks and discussions.

Since 2010 the Fidesz-KDNP coalition adopted a new constitution with so far four rounds of constitutional amendments. This analysis issued by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Eötvös Károly Institute highlights the specific concerns in relation to the Fourth Amendment.

With the constitutional amendments adopted on the 11th of March, Viktor Orbán has once again caused a surprise. The reactions of the Western European public show that there is still an inadequate grasp of how political power is exercised by Orbán’s government. European democrats now finally need to formulate a common position against the power centralization in the country.

The new right-wing populism is not the rehearsal of something old but a new political phenomenon – and it is here to stay. In this, the new right-wing populism is the severest challenge to the European project since the beginnings of European integration.