Students from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia reflect on their impressions of the HBS study trip on “Feminist and Climate Foreign Policy” in Berlin, Germany and stress the importance of a vital civic society for the functioning of any democratic country.

Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine does also reflect how China and Russia are interlinked with each other to challenge the current global order. The Black Sea region has become a key area where the new European security order will be negotiated.

Gergely Karácsony talks about the financial situation of Budapest, the consequences of Covid-19 and the energy crisis, the role of the EU in ensuring the self-governance of cities, future greening projects, and the impact of the war in Ukraine on Hungary. 

In view of the forthcoming EP elections in 2024 and the Hungarian municipal elections held on the same day, András Lukács summarizes the state of the opposition in the shadow of the enormous financial and institutional predominance of Fidesz, its systemic violation of EU and national legislation, and last but not least, the colossal support provided to Fidesz by the European Commission and several EU Member States, including those with the biggest economies in the EU.

Energy communities are a collaborative model that constitutes the perfect vessel for directly involving citizens and local communities in renewable energy facilities. As energy communities can have a strong social impact, they play an important role in society - beyond clean energy production. Here are ten examples of economic, social and environmental benefits of energy communities!

The Hungarian Interior Ministry (because there has been no Education Ministry in Hungary since 2010) is planning to apply stricter, more detailed disciplinary rules as a result of a new bill on teacher status that curtails several employee rights.

The first terrorist attack in modern Slovak history was committed on the evening of 12 October 2022 when a young neo-Nazi shot and killed two people, non-binary Juraj Vankulič and bisexual Matúš Horváth. Rather than serving as a catalyst for eliminating LGBT+ inequality, that attack marked yet another step toward worsening the situation in Slovakia for LGBT+ people.