Articles

Czechia voted for change – but what kind? Andrej Babiš makes a comeback, the Greens return to parliament, and populism takes a new shape. Adéla Jurečková, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague office, breaks down the results and what they mean for Czech democracy and the EU.

The electrical interconnection between Crete and mainland Greece was completed and has been in operation since May 2025. Connecting the island of Crete with the mainland allows the country to finally tap into the abundant wind and solar energy potential on Crete and to switch off old and polluting power plants. At the same time, the Ariadne interconnection builds the foundation for advancing green energy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Moldova’s parliamentary elections on 28 September 2025 confirmed strong support for the country’s European path. With an absolute majority, the ruling PAS party now has a clear mandate to lead. Yet challenges remain, from economic uncertainty and justice reform to questions of regional security. We asked 3 questions to Robert Sperfeld, Senior Programme Officer in the East and South East Europe Division of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, on what the results reveal about voters’ priorities, the country’s reform agenda, and the implications for EU integration and relations with NATO.

Climate policy demands long-term vision, backed by action. The EU is at risk of under-delivering. Read our Böll EU Newsletter 9/2025 and check out our new content and upcoming events.

A potential U.S. force posture reduction in Europe will leave the continent vulnerable to further Russian aggression. Europe needs a bold action plan to mitigate capability gaps and ensure deterrence of Russia with limited U.S. involvement.

Dickon Bonvik-Stone, Rose Wanjiku, Dr. M Jackson, Roni Zahavi-Brunner and Nina Tea Zibetti are our 2025 Climate Disinformation Media Fellows! They will pursue on-the-ground reporting on climate disinformation case studies. Their articles will be published on our web dossier on Uncovering climate disinformation.

Is Europe ready for the era of hybrid warfare? To defend against hybrid attacks, we must urgently build civil preparedness and societal resilience. When updating security assets, we must not only invest in hardware and software but also in 'wetware'.

Hybrid threats, rooted in authoritarian uses of technology, cause everyday harm. Collective resilience requires dismantling their ecosystems through reconceptualising these threats, comprehensive countermeasures, and cross-regional cooperation. Europe and Asia already cooperate on cyber defence but must go further to disincentivise authoritarian practices directly.

The European Commission and the EU's High Representative adopted a Joint Communication presenting a package of proposals for a ‘New Strategic EU-India Agenda' on 17 September 2025. The EU and India appear ready to take their strategic partnership of 20+ years to the next level amid geopolitical shifts. Together, they set out to "boost shared prosperity, strengthen security, and tackle major global challenges". Developing such an agenda constitutes an opportunity, yet not without its own challenges. Thus, Dr. Katharina Emschermann asked 3 questions about the EU-India relationship status to Jochen Luckscheiter, director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's India office in New Delhi.

Europe and Canada can only protect their digital ecosystems against US interference if they start investing in tech sovereignty now.