Articles

Keir Starmer was determined to make Labour electable again. By the time Rishi Sunak called the general election, he was able to tell voters: ‘I've changed the Labour Party. If you put your trust in me by voting Labour, I will change the country.’ Ros Taylor looks at the UK’s new prime minister.

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.

Although Lebanon receives EU support to provide for Syrian refugees, they are increasingly being criminalized and deported. Less than a week after Commission President Von der Leyen’s visit in May, Lebanon issued new residence regulations that effectively block the pathways to legal residence. These new regulations were followed by deportations to Syria, which the EU does not consider safe for return. Instead of making support conditional on respect for the refugees’ human rights, the EU is turning a blind eye. 

The far-right Rassemblement National has surprisingly suffered a defeat in the French snap parliamentary elections - there is great relief in the country itself and also in the EU. However, forming a government could be complicated and take time, with France facing a phase of political paralysis. Marc Berthold, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's office in Paris, explains in this interview which constellations are possible and to what extent France's position in the EU could change.

Violence against women is particularly alarming, as one in three women have been subjected to physical or sexual violence. In this article, lawyer Ekaterini Georgiadou provides an unparalleled critical review of the legislative framework for gender-based violence in Greece. She examines the provisions of the Istanbul Convention and the severe concerns reflected in GREVIO's evaluation report about the implementation of the Convention in Greece. Furthermore, she focuses in particular on the newly adopted EU Directive on combating violence against women, which Member States are obliged to transpose into their national law within three years.

The European Parliament elections might be over, but that doesn’t mean that the constellation of power in the EU is all set in stone. In this episode, we’re looking at what the European election result means for the EU and the future of the Green Deal, how the Greens in the European Parliament are doing, what their priorities are and whether the Greens just might be a new power broker that’s necessary for the conservatives, social democrats and liberals to hold a stable majority. Roderick Kefferpütz, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's EU office, discusses this with Bas Eickhout, long-standing Member of the European Parliament from the Dutch Greens, and Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group.

The NATO Summit in Washington, DC, from 9 to 11 July 2024, will not extend an invitation to Ukraine to become a member. The defence community can nevertheless send a clear signal that it will provide Ukraine with lasting support against Russia's war of attrition.

As Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine reminds European countries about the importance of manpower, many are once again weighing the promise and perils of compulsory military service. 

Migration and asylum have been at the top of the agenda in the EU for some time now. Thereby, the discussion is less about solving problems or addressing the suffering of people on the move, but more about preventing people from reaching European soil. This is neither good for the people seeking refuge in our continent, nor beneficial to the political debate on these issues.