Politics

Democracy in Hungary: First signs of waning support for Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán’s nativist rhetoric and attacks on the constitution and the independent media have triggered international censure, but he has retained his strong standing in Hungary – until now. Has a turning point been reached?

17 February 2019 – SGI news (Gütersloh) 1
Transparency International 2018 corruption index: Looking at European countries’ performance

According to the 2018 TI Corruption perception index, Nordic countries are again global leaders in the fight against corruption. But looking at the data since 2012, Baltic countries appear to be the rising stars.

8 February 2019 – VoxEurop 1
Guillaume Klossa and “We Europeans”: ‘What is at stake is the Enlightenment spirit and the very idea of progress’

Founder of EuropaNova and initiator of the civic movement Civico Europa, Guillaume Klossa has just published “Media for Good”, an essay on the media of the future, and has launched the public consultation “We Europeans”, in view of the European elections.

7 February 2019 – VoxEurop 8
The EU and the political standoff in Venezuela: Star wars

7 February 2019 – Neues Deutschland (Berlin) 1
European elections 2019: Voters left out from the polls

Almost 17 million EU citizens live in a member state other than their country of origin. These citizens are entitled to vote for the European Parliament from where they reside, but almost none of them do so. It’s a wasted opportunity for a more transnational politics.

5 February 2019 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)
The quest for EU passports: Brits leaving Brexit

As the fateful date for Britain leaving the EU comes closer, and with no sign of an orderly exit in sight, Britons are applying for EU citizenship in their thousands.

30 January 2019 – VoxEurop 71
Juncker plan: Where are we with the Investment Plan for Europe?

In December 2018, the European Commission released the latest update concerning the results achieved by the Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called Juncker Plan. Besides sheer volumes of financing, we analysed the data to give a more qualitative overview of how resources were allocated and how many SMEs benefited from the plan in each EU country.

28 January 2019 – VoxEurop 5
Aachen treaty: Vested

25 January 2019 – Neues Deutschland (Berlin)
Murder of Paweł Adamowicz: The roots of the hatred that is dividing Poland

The murder of Gdańsk mayor Paweł Adamowicz on 13 January occurred in a climate of violence which has gradually taken over public life in Poland – a country now deeply divided between supporters of the nationalist-populist government and their opponents, explains our correspondent.

21 January 2019 – VoxEurop 5
Brexit as a podcast: Cutting through the fog in the Channel

In his weekly podcast "Fog in the Channel", European journalist Stefan de Vries looks at how the Continent will survive isolation as the UK sets sail.

19 January 2019 – VoxEurop
Theresa May’s Brexit: Hamletic

18 January 2019 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam) 1
Romanian EU presidency: Already a missed opportunity for Bucharest?

Internal political conflicts and an absence of priorities could end up defining Romania’s leadership of the Council of the European Union, writes a political scientist in Bucharest.

15 January 2019 – Adevărul (Bucharest) 1
European elections: What prospects for the European Left?

In this essay, political science scholar Arthur Moinet argues that the future of the European Left lies in ending its coalition with the EPP and proposing an ambitious political program based on environmental concerns and social progress.

14 January 2019 – VoxEurop
Citizen lobbying: Challenging MEPs to deregister EU parties for keeping in values breachers

On 10 January, The Good Lobby submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman denouncing the repeated failure by the European Parliament to address its demand. The civic startup wanted to verify whether the EPP and the ACRE groups might have breached EU law by keeping in Fidesz and the Law & Justice parties despite they have been clearly breaching fundamental rights.

12 January 2019 – The Good Lobby (Brussels) 1
The EU according to Viktor Orbán: “We are Europe’s future”

The European Union has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary for the non-respect of fundamental rights by Viktor Orbán’s government. Each year, Orbán, figurehead of Europe’s ultra-conservative right, sketches out his politics at a summer school in Băile Tuşnad, Romania. Analysing his speech helps us to better understand – without condoning – his vision of the world, of Europe and of democracy.

11 January 2019 – VoxEurop 49
EU-Italy: Brussels caught in Italian Catch-22

Italy’s government, especially the populist Five-Star Movement (M5S), is on a collision course with the European Union. Where is the communication breakdown headed?

19 December 2018 – SGI news (Gütersloh) 2
Brexit deal: Dead end

18 December 2018 – Le Temps (Geneva) 2
Brexit deal: Near handshake

17 November 2018 – De Volkskrant (Amsterdam)
Angela Merkel: The Caryatid

7 November 2018 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam)
Turkey’s strongman: Erdoğan’s extended clampdown

Turkey plans to open what it dubs the world’s largest airport, a massive infrastructure project in keeping with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's outsized influence on national politics. But will he be able to retain his tight grip given the country’s economic situation?

29 October 2018 – SGI news (Gütersloh)
Banks: The end of the Swiss tax haven?

European banking activity is stalling in Switzerland, such that the country appears to be a less and less profitable financial centre.

25 October 2018 – VoxEurop 22
Brexit: Afloat

1 October 2018 – Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus)
Defence and human rights: Europe’s deadly silence on armed drones

As EU member states rush to weaponize unmanned planes, those who monitor ‘collateral damage’ to civilian populations and abuses of international law brought about by extensive use of armed drones ask EU countries, as MEPs recently did, to set up a legal framework and to uphold human rights.

21 September 2018 – VoxEurop 6
Europe and populism: It’s time for European politicians to grow up about immigration

Once again, right-wing populism is making waves in a European election. This time, the Sweden Democrats upset Swedish politics by expanding their share of the vote by about 5 percent, to the detriment of the centre-left and centre-right. Immigration was this election’s central theme, as it has been in numerous voting cycles across the continent. It is yet another episode of the festival of artful dodging that has become Europe’s immigration debate, say two Cambridge researchers.

16 September 2018 – VoxEurop 6
Hungary and fundamental rights: The Cashcow fights back

14 September 2018 – Denník N (Bratislava)
General elections in Sweden: Doomsday postponed

Contrary to what has been figured by most of the foreign media on the eve of the 9 September general election, with the far-right Sweden Democrats presented as the new kingmakers, the power to form a government lies in the parties at the centre.

12 September 2018 – VoxEurop 3
2018 State of the European Union speech: Counting Juncker’s words

What do the most recurrent terms in the EU Commission president's annual speech at the European Parliament say about the present and future of the Union?

12 September 2018 – EUobserver.com (Brussels) 2
Anti-corruption demonstrations in Romania: The diaspora has had enough

On 10 August, more than 100,000 citizens rallied in Bucharest to protest against the rampant corruption that cripples the Social-Democrats-led government and makes thousands of educated young people flee the country in search for better opportunities.

11 September 2018 – VoxEurop 1
Fallen bridge in Genoa: Fingerpointing

20 August 2018 – Het Financieele Dagblad (Amsterdam) 1
Anti-corruption: New tools at the service of civil society

Presented recently at the the European Parliament, the Digiwhist platform is based on open data. Its tools allow users to navigate the world of European public tenders, and discover where corruption lurks.

13 August 2018 – VoxEurop 2
Poland and the EU: Three years of disputes

Since the end of 2015, relations between The European Union and the Polish government have been fraught with tensions concerning Warsaw's breach of the rule of law and fundamental European values. To bring some clarity to the issue, Biqdata provides the background.

24 July 2018 – Gazeta Wyborcza (Warsaw) 5
Poland and the Rule of law: The arm-wrestling on Polish Supreme Court explained

In this interview, Assistant Professor at the Department of European Law at the University of Warsaw Paweł Marcisz explains how the ruling Law and Justice party has tried to curb the Supreme Court so as to extend its control over the judiciary system – adding to the current conflict with the European Union over the respect of the Rule of law in Poland.

24 July 2018 – Visegrad Insight (Warsaw)
Brexit: Hard fall

16 July 2018 – Trouw (Amsterdam) 1
Presidential election in Turkey: Locked out

28 June 2018 – Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus)
Hungary and democracy: Viktor Orbán’s smart and cynical EU strategy

Many ask for the ruling Fidesz party to be expelled from the EPP group at the European Parliament for not respecting core European values. Something not likely to happen, as both have a common interest in the status quo, says analyst Dániel Bartha.

26 June 2018 – HVG (Budapest) 1
The EU and its citizens: The institutions of 2025 should reflect what Europeans expect

Despite some limitations, the white paper on the future of the EU provides an excellent basis for debate, writes activist François Dupont.

20 June 2018 – VoxEurop 19
Freedom of the press: Not a priority for MEPs on the right

The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution on media freedom and pluralism. How many voted in favour, and how many against? Did geography and ideology make an impact on the vote? A brief analysis.

19 June 2018 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)
Economy and politics: Why Italians are fed up with Europe

The rise to government of Eurosceptic parties is the consequence of austerity policies made in the name of cleaner public finances and of the euro convergence criteria.

12 June 2018 – Alternatives économiques (Paris) 73
European Parliament: Supporting civil society not only with words

The European Parliament has voted in favour of adopting the European Values Instrument, which provides financial support to civil society.

11 June 2018 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)
New government in Italy: A warning for the whole of Europe

If it’s likely that Italy’s new populist government, confronted with reality, will eventually step back from its economic adventurism, its mere existence should cause reflection among European leaders on the return of identitarian tropism, writes financial analyst Edouard Tétreau.

8 June 2018 – Les Echos (Paris) 68
League-M5S government in Italy: Empty-handed

4 June 2018 – Trouw (Amsterdam)
Ten months to Brexit: All up in the Air

Time-consuming negotiations with the European Union and deep divisions within the two leading parties are hampering Britain’s day-to-day politics.

2 June 2018 – SGI news (Gütersloh) 23
Pan-European movements: ‘We want to bring real change to all European citizens’

In slightly more than a year, Volt has become one of the most active pan-European political movements. Its immediate goal is to make an impact on next year’s European elections. We met its president, Andrea Venzon (at the centre of the picture), on the eve of the presentation of Volt’s political programme, in Paris.

25 May 2018 – VoxEurop 39
Iran nuclear deal: Chopped off

15 May 2018 – Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich)
Strikes against Syria: Three Pinocchios ?

19 April 2018 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam)
Alberto Alemanno on Good Lobbying: ‘We want to enable citizens to speak to power’

The Italian academic explains how the “citizen lobbying” tools he promotes can help Europeans and NGOs to influence the EU and governments’ decisions on issues that matter to them.

18 April 2018 – VoxEurop 4
General election in Hungary: Orbán and Brussels

11 April 2018 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam) 2
Dutch local elections: The ghost of Pim Fortuyn

The 21 March local elections show once again how out of touch mainstream media and politicians are. They prefer pandering to the angry and vocal minority than listening to the much broader and up to now silent majority, writes populisms expert Cas Mudde.

29 March 2018 – VoxEurop
Carles Puigdemont's arrest: Journey’s end

29 March 2018 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam)
Slovakia and the murder of Ján Kuciak: A country at breaking point

The killing of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová set off a wave of protests throughout the country. Having already forced the resignation of a long-term Slovak Prime Minister there’s no telling how far they could go from here, says researcher Milan Nič.

26 March 2018 – Visegrad Insight (Warsaw) 83