Democracy

Shrinking – closing – no space: Governments across all continents villainize civil society actors. Where does their sense of threat emanate from?

Declaring Serbia a safe third country was the first of Hungarian repeated violations of human rights. Hungary turned the humanitarian crisis into a purely political issue. It seems that Europe too will choose to follow the politics of closed doors.

Poland has elected its new government. Not a single left-wing party has made it through the elections. Director Irene Hahn-Fuhr comments the outcome of the Polish parliamentary elections from a European perspective.

Would the Hungarians become less Hungarian if they accepted a couple of thousand refugees? Would the Poles become less Polish? Before World War 2, Czechoslovakia successfully integrated hundreds of thousands of Russians escaping Bolshevik power. A generation ago, the Czechs integrated many thousands of Vietnamese. Have we studied the lessons of these efforts?

It remains to be seen whether the majority decision on the redistribution of 120,000 refugees was a clever move. In Central Eastern Europe, the voices against the “dictate of the majority” cannot be ignored.

A special EU summit of heads of state and government will take place on 23 September. After years of neglect, however, a solidary EU refugee policy cannot be elaborated in summary proceedings and under pressure. A commentary by Eva van de Rakt.

A special EU summit of heads of state and government will take place on 23 September. After years of neglect, however, a solidary EU refugee policy cannot be elaborated in summary proceedings and under pressure. A commentary by Eva van de Rakt.

For Europe, the current refugee crisis presents a two-fold challenge: Will we uphold our humanitarian values, that is, do we view the refugees as people in need and with a right to a safe haven? And will the EU, in the face of this challenge, act as one – or will national selfishness erode European togetherness?

After images of Budapest’s Keleti train station illustrating the urgent need for a fast and coordinated EU assistance programme for refugees had been circulating around the world for days, the governments of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia again reaffirmed their vehement “no” to the EU Commission’s proposal for refugee quotas.