Democracy

The concept of Heimat, which is rooted in German-speaking countries, raises questions of belonging and is often misused on the right-wing political spectrum. The AfD, a German populist party on the right, even uses food in its exclusionary othering strategy against migration

Robert Fico is back as Prime Minister of Slovakia. What does his election victory mean for the democratic opposition and civil society? What should the EU be prepared for? And which lessons can be determined for democracy?

With the return of former Prime Minister Fico, old authoritarian patterns could resurface in the upcoming elections. However, progressives also have a chance to win.

In the run up to the September parliamentary elections in Slovakia the editors of the EURACTIV Slovakia portal have prepared a series of analyses on how individual parties imagine their performance in a potential government. The analyses cover eight topics: the future of the EU, regional policy and EU funds, energy, foreign policy, defence and security, agriculture, human rights and industrial transformation. The foreign policy analysis that is the subject of this article was made possible thanks to the support of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague.

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.

In her interview with Dr. Christine Pütz, Terry Reintke, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, offers her opinion on the study “Actually European?! Citizen Expectations towards German EU Policy in the Context of Crisis and Transformation” and makes the case for Germany’s commitment to show its dependability and solidarity.