Democracy

The election result in the USA will have far-reaching, international consequences. What will the result mean for transatlantic relations, Europe's security architecture, and international efforts on climate action? The Heinrich Böll Foundation delves into these critical questions from a Green and European perspective, offering analyses and insights into the challenges and opportunities of the post-election landscape.        

Although abortion is legal in the Czech Republic, it is not accessible to everyone. Half of Czech hospitals would not provide the procedure to citizens of other EU Member States, according to a new survey. People living with disabilities or low incomes also face obstacles, says Rafał Szwajkowski of the A.S.A.P. (Abortion Support Alliance Prague) collective.

As part of an EU Democracy research project funded by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office, Sophie Pornschlegel interviewed European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, during the summer break of the European Commission. In their conversation, Vice-President Jourová reflected on five years of efforts to safeguard democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the EU, amid increasing threats against democracy and a shifting geopolitical context, not least due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 

Russian Imperialism has created many myths about Ukrainians and cannot be understood without a gender lense. Ukrainians are today persistently striving to uphold their national identity and advance gender emancipation, drawing parallels with the women’s movement in Ukraine a century ago.

For the Hlas party, whose candidates won big in elections to the national legislature and the presidency in Slovakia, harsh anti-EU rhetoric and disinformation was a new tactic in the elections to the EP –  the wrong one, as it turned out.

With a major contribution from foreign sources and partly from the Czech Government, a memorial has been built on the site of a former concentration camp in Lety after the industrial pig farm previously located there was removed. In addition, forcibly sterilized Romani women should finally be receiving compensation. What do these milestones mean for Czech Romani society, and what reflections do they encourage?

At the turn of the millennium, the eastern enlargement of the European Union was understood as part of the liberal “end of history.” In the mid-2020s, it has long been evident that history has ended neither in Central and Eastern Europe nor in the EU. Today, we can reflect on the 20-year membership of Central European nations in the EU with respect to their former ambitions.

Cooperation among the countries of the Visegrád Group is directly dependent on the current political situation in each country. In recent years, the alliance has attracted attention for its criticisms of Southern European countries and its anti-immigration rhetoric. While the more liberal of the Visegrád countries tend to blindly imitate the West, the nationalists dream of a conservative Central Europe.