Articles

Summary of the online debate „The peace process in Afghanistan: Perceptions of the people“ of 11 November 2020 with representatives of Afghan civil society, Afghan media, the Afghan government delegation to the peace negotiations in Doha and the German Foreign Office.

Hungary and Poland are blocking the agreement on the new EU budget in a bid to stop EU payments being linked to the principle of the rule of law. In our interview, Piotr Buras of ECFR Warsaw and Lucas Guttenberg of the Jacques Delors Centre at Berlin’s Hertie School urge the EU not to give in at this key point in time.

Joint statement by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Goethe Institute, the European Cultural Foundation and the Mercator Foundation to members of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the German Bundestag.

Governments, the private sector and other organizations increasingly collect massive amounts of data, some for the public good, other times not. A consistent framework could ensure data use is both beneficial to the public interest and sufficiently protected against misuse.

The new ceasefire agreement negotiated between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan has grave geopolitical and domestic consequences for the South Caucasus states. Stefan Meister, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus, explains 10 consequences of the agreement.

US President-elect Joe Biden is preparing for a long-overdue national effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. That may include facilitating and promoting widespread use of smartphone-based tracing apps that have been developed and distributed in a state-by-state patchwork.

Eva van de Rakt, director of our Brussels office, interviewed Reinhard Bütikofer (Member of the European Parliament, Greens/EFA) about the US election results, the priorities of the Biden-Harris administration, and the future of the transatlantic relationship.

Most EU countries have worked out the kinks in their contact-tracing apps and now offer them as part of efforts to track coronavirus infection and break the chain of transmission. The next step is ensuring the apps can connect across borders.

On 25 October, one year on from the mass demonstrations in the country, the Chilean electorate voted by an overwhelming majority of more than 78% in favour of a new constitution and of 79% for an assembly comprised solely of citizens to write this constitution.