EU

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union (hbs EU) invites young Europeans from all Member States and the UK to Brussels in order to discuss with each other, with actors of the European institutions, NGOs and think tanks as well as with journalists and local politicians, initiatives, students and academics in Belgium how they see their future in and for Europe. 

The Hungarian government tries to shut down the renowned Central European University. This is an attack on academic freedom in Europe.

Based on Adam Balcer’s new study “Beneath the surface of illiberalism: The recurring temptation of ‘national democracy’ in Poland and Hungary – with lessons for Europe”,WiseEuropa and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, in cooperation with Political Capital, organise a round table to discuss populist and illiberal tendencies in the CEE region with a special focus on politics of identity and memory, and significance of these developments for the political situation in particular countries and their impact on the future of the EU.

3rd International Populism Conference will take place in Prague 22 – 23 May 2017. The conference programme will focus mainly on analysis of the relationship between populism and the media and will discuss the phenomenon of “media populism” in the context of upcoming elections in various EU member states. Applicants are invited to submit their abstracts by 28 February 2017.

Great Britain will leave the EU. What does that mean for European Union going forward? What can be done to strengthen political unity within the Union? A commentary by Ralf Fücks.

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.

At the GLOBSEC 2015 security conference organised recently in Bratislava, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concordantly rejected a European Union proposal to introduce a quota system for allocating refugees arriving in Europe from Africa and the Middle East to individual countries. The method in which the politicians formulated their disapproval, however, attested to the fact that they do not have a problem with quotas as such, but that they do not want “unwanted” foreigners to enter their countries. But whereas in the case of the Hungarian prime minister the negative position on quotas could be interpreted as a reaction to the wave of migrants entering his country from Serbia, including ethnic Albanians fleeing socio-economic problems in Kosovo, in the case of Robert Fico this was a statement of position pro futuro without any connection to the present situation in Slovakia - essentially a preventive warning that foreigners (refugees, migrants) are not welcome here.

The growth of contemporary European populism represents one of the most topical problems that liberal democratic states on the continent must face. To understand the nature of the success of populists on a general level and in individual countries, it is useful to examine the causes of this phenomenon during the period from the outbreak of the economic crisis to the present. The event is dedicated to a comparative analysis of individual European countries where populism in on the rise.

In December 3, 2014 the Institute of International Relations in Prague in cooperation with the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague organized the conference “The Impact of the Crisis in Ukraine on the Future of Arms Control”, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Ulrich Kühn from the Hamburg University’s Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy presented his ideas and reflections on the state of affairs of Conventional Arms Control in Europe and the prospects for reviving the regime against the background of the on-going Ukraine conflict.