2024 was a challenging year for any government’s ruling party. Incumbent governments struggled as the cost-of-living crisis disgruntled voters around the globe. This was especially true for junior coalition partners, who often bear the brunt of electoral backlash. Green parties were no exception to the rule.

The EU is undergoing a historic shift in economic and tech policy, embracing industrial policy to shape Europe’s digital future. However, public investments in large-scale AI risk reinforcing dominant players and undermining climate goals. Europe must align these investments with societal goals, tackle tech sector monopolies, and ensure innovation serves the public interest.

Poland takes on the EU Council Presidency in January 2025. What does this role mean, and what challenges lie ahead? Our latest article explores the key context and what to expect during this pivotal six-month period.

The COP negotiations in Baku brought together global leaders, activists, and stakeholders amidst a tense geopolitical climate. With the influence of authoritarian leaders, ongoing debates over climate finance, and the presence of civil society under challenging conditions, the outcomes of this year’s talks were far from predictable. MEP Lena Schilling reflects on the key dynamics that shaped the negotiations and offers insights into the path forward for international climate action.

What a show these last couple of weeks have been. The return of Donald Trump, the rupture of the German federal government, and then the ridicule of the Commissioner-designate hearings in the European Parliament. Challenges are rising, but stable majorities in Europe are eroding. It is increasingly difficult to build consensus and have a stable centre of political gravity.

On 18 July 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was elected for a second mandate and presented to the European Parliament her Political Guidelines for the next European Commission. A new European Commission will kick-off its work on 1 December 2024, after its approval by the European Parliament. We take a look at von der Leyen's promises for the first 100 days (and beyond) of the new European Commission.

For Hungary’s prime minister, who has backed Donald Trump for years, a victory in the U.S. presidential election means more than a symbolic win – it could also deliver concrete advantages. In the short term, such a result would bolster Viktor Orbán’s position both internationally and domestically. However, differences in political priorities and in economic interests in particular could create friction between Washington and Budapest in the medium to long term. Given Trump’s unpredictability, there is no guarantee that Orbán’s promises – such as swift peace in Ukraine and an economic boom will come to pass. 

An international coalition has formed around digital public infrastructure – services that empower citizens and drive local innovation. Could a Euro Stack help the EU break with the market logic of big tech and increase its geopolitical autonomy from the US?

The EU integration process should not be a transactional relation between EU Member States and candidate countries, but a truly transformational path based on democratic values and human rights.” This was the main message which was conveyed by the members of the Western Balkans 6 Strategy Group during the advocacy visit with stakeholders on 18-20 November 2024 in Brussels. 

DSA launch, platform obligations, and enforcement challenges – the Digital Services Act is another piece of transforming online regulation in Europe. With the DSA rolling out new rules, many are asking how effectively they’ll be implemented. We posed three key questions to Dr. Tobias Mast, expert advisor to the German Bundestag on the DSA, to get his insights on the launch, the hurdles ahead, and how the DSA aims to balance the scales between platforms and users.

The victory of Donald Trump in the 2024 US elections will undoubtedly have consequences in transatlantic relations, from foreign and security policy to green transition and competitiveness. We asked 3 questions on the consequences of Trump 2.0 for Europe to German Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky, who is a member of the EP Delegation for relations with the United States.

An umbrella does not shield against flooding. For the European Democracy Shield to do what it says, it must encompass the full spectrum of hybrid threats, not only foreign disinformation. Like any shield, it is only as strong as its bearer. If it is to be more than a fig leaf, our work to defend democracy must start at home.

As we approach the US presidential election, it's clear that its implications will extend far beyond American borders, resonating profoundly within Europe. This election represents a critical juncture for Europe’s political and economic landscape, especially concerning the future of Ukraine and the broader European security order.

Digital technologies are now a global priority, like security and climate change. The 2024 UN Summit of the Future brings the Global Majority into internet and AI governance. The UN Convention on Cybercrime may do the same for cybersecurity. At the same time, the centralization at the UN risks empowering governments and undermining human rights.

Pregnancy termination is still a criminal offence in Germany under section 218 of the Criminal Code, with serious consequences for access to abortion and women’s right to self-determination. There can only be one answer to this.

Saudi Arabia's climate policy is ever more oriented towards green mega projects and high-profile investments in hydrogen, but is it a mere rebranding of existing energy policies? Read the piece by our 2024 Climate Disinformation Fellow Lyse Mauvais.

We are in the midst of a fundamental global political and economic re-ordering. Revisionist states are challenging the geopolitical order and questioning the territorial status quo in Europe and Asia. Economic competition on the world market is fierce, as evidenced by the struggles of traditional European industrial powerhouses such as Volkswagen and ThyssenKrupp. Cracks in the foundations of European prosperity are emerging. The days when Europe could outsource its security to the Americans, benefit from cheap Russian energy, and easily sell its goods to the world are ending. Europe needs to rethink its foundations. This means investing in decarbonisation, digitalisation, and defence. But this cannot be done on the cheap.

With fresh language and contagious good cheer, US presidential candidate Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party are generating new enthusiasm for their policies. Could that also catch on here in Germany? One thing is clear: without a positive atmosphere, democratic politics in the country will face an uphill battle.

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. 

Already within its first few weeks, Hungary’s EU Council presidency has managed to outrage many international commentators. Still, there are indications that Viktor Orbán’s six-month gig in Brussels aims to be first and foremost a PR stunt to sell the Hungarian prime minister and his ideas to the European public. In Europe, this mission is supported by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Hungary’s principal “talent promotion institution”. 

When three girls were killed in Southport, the reactionary digital right proved adept at exploiting the horror. The rioters are quickly being punished, writes Ros Taylor, but the new government needs to recognise the ease with which lies spread in the new digital ecosystem and be frank and transparent about its own approach to immigration.

Habemus presidentem: With 401 votes in favour, the European Parliament has reconfirmed Ursula von der Leyen as the president of the European Commission. This vote was not a given. Unable to rely on the support of the super grand coalition of conservatives, social democrats, and liberals alone, von der Leyen went out of her way to secure Green votes in particular.

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.

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.

Labour is still allergic to the E-word, says Ros Taylor. But the party’s manifesto offers hints of what a far closer relationship with the EU might look like.

The European election brought dissapointment to almost everyone in Athens, except to the far Right and the far Left. Yet, the most striking result was the collapse of the vote for the governing New Democracy – 10% of the registered electorate, one million people, abandoned Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party in one year. What are the reasons for that? And why did the parties of the opposition not do better? An analysis by Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Professor of Legal Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi and a Senior Research Fellow at Mansfield College Oxford.

After the European elections, the democratic and pro-European forces in the European Parliament (EP) have been weakened. They must make cooperation much more binding in order to ensure reliable majorities for an effective EU.

2019 was an extraordinary election year for the European Green Party, and it was clear from the beginning of the 2024 campaign that it would be tough to match it again this year. While the Greens lost seats overall, most of the losses were concentrated in Germany and Western Europe, while the bloc was able to pick up new seats in the South and East.

No one knows whether Labour will repeal some of the draconian anti-protest laws passed in recent years in the UK, writes David Mead. But it is unlikely to be a priority for a party worried about alienating the press and with a failing welfare state to fix.

On 4 June, India concluded its 18th national parliamentary election. Almost one billion voters were asked to cast their vote in a six-week long election that by most observers was expected to become another win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP did not disappoint. On 9 June, Narendra Modi took his oath of office for the third time. Yet, the cards were reshuffled.

Today, citizens will start heading to the polls to vote for the next European Parliament. The outcome will in part determine the political correlation of forces in Europe over the next five years. If current projections hold true, we will not only witness a rightward shift within the EP but also more fragmentation. Instead of seven political groups, key officials in the parliament administration expect there to be nine. These tendencies will affect political majorities.

Poland is in the midst of a political marathon, having already experienced groundbreaking parliamentary and local elections. Former Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition has returned to power, but the nation remains politically divided. The upcoming EU elections, featuring high-ranking ministers, set the stage to the presidential elections in 2025.

The Hungarian political scene has never been more turbulent in the past 14 years. Since the start of the clemency scandal in early February, Fidesz has been unable to control the political narrative for months, despite its dominant position in power. The campaign leading up to the local and the European Parliament (EP) elections has been dominated by a new challenger, Péter Magyar, and his Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza) so far, although in recent weeks Fidesz has found its footing again.

With the Hungarian EU Council Presidency quickly approaching, it is instructive to examine how the Orbán administration has positioned itself through its global diplomatic visits over the last few years.

The 2024 EP elections are marked by a context much less favourable to the environmentalist agenda. In 2019, the European elections were held in the midst of massive global climate strikes and marches, and the so-called Green Wave reflected those concerns. What is the situation today? Is there a vision of peri-urban ecology and what is the impact of EU  policies on these areas with specific needs?

The Italian Prime Minister has always claimed to be fighting against an alleged cultural hegemony of the left. And ever since she won the election, she has been trying to take over public broadcasters, museums, and theatres. The aim is to take control of the collective discourse and impose her own narrative. 

The chances of a conservative majority after the European elections are slim, but the normalisation of radical-right forces is a wake-up call for progressives.

The upcoming European Parliament elections are set to be a critical test in the fight against disinformation. With new regulations and AI challenges, how will Europe ensure election integrity?

Katrin Köppert takes a new look at the explainability of AI systems, through a queer perspective. Queersplaining means not only explaining AI, but also revealing the inherent contradictions and power structures. An explainability that does not support the illusion of a universal solution, but recognises the complexity and context dependency of AI.

As Europe approaches its parliamentary elections on 6-9 June 2024 and the war in Ukraine shows no sign of slowing, a pressing issue demands attention: the EU's continuing active participation in, and facilitation of, Russia's fossil fuel shipping and exports. This article delves into critical analysis and proposes strategies for reducing dependency on, and support of, the Russian fossil fuel industry, supported by data and statistics highlighting the impact of these exports on the Russian economy, the war in Ukraine and the global climate crisis.

With the European Parliament elections taking place between on 6-9 June 2024, the European Union stands at a defining moment. The 2019-2024 term witnessed the breakthrough of long-stagnant gender initiatives, but challenges loom large in advancing gender equality in the EU. This article explores the prospects for the policy directions that will shape the gender equality agenda of the next European Parliament and Commission in this context.

Slovakia's ruling nationalist-populist coalition plans to introduce controversial Hungarian-style NGO regulations, raising concerns about transparency and fears of increased bureaucracy and repression of civil society.  

This year’s Rainbow Map by ILGA-Europe, published at a time when Europe is gearing up for 20-plus elections, including the EU elections next month, shows that while authoritarian leaders across the region continue to use the scapegoating of LGBTI people to divide and mobilise their electorates, others are conversely showing robust political will to honour commitments to advancing and protecting the human rights of LGBTI people. Joan Lanfranco asks 3 questions to Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director at ILGA-Europe.

Belgium's internal divisions reflect its disposition to radical nationalist politics. In Flanders, the far right has had a foothold for three decades and continues to grow. Conversely, it has been driven out of the French-speaking south by a broad social movement encompassing the media and politics.  

This article highlights three emblematic cases where environmental activism came face to face with the police and judiciary in France: actions against mega-basins in Sainte-Soline, actions against the A69 motorway construction site and an action to remove portraits of Emmanuel Macron.

The rise of Spain's far-right Vox party is exploiting fears of migrants and unaccompanied minors, but civil society is fighting back with pro-migrant legislation and efforts to preserve historical memory against Francoist nostalgia, as well as LGTBI rights.

The Hungarian civil society plays a crucial role in countering radical rhetoric, yet populists trends blur boundaries between a mainstream that is leaning ever more to the far-right and radical right-wing ideologies.   

In the upcoming European Parliament elections, Poland is torn between two diverging views of its current trajectory. These understandings depend on its citizens' sense of identity, their visions of the future and the role the country should play on the continent. The key choice may be the place of the far right in Polish society.  

In an extraordinary upsurge, millions of Germans have been demonstrating against the far right. The unexpected movement has shaken the AfD without seriously threatening it. But Germany's political landscape looks likely to change.  

From Russia’s war in Ukraine to the green and digital transformation, we’re not short on challenges nowadays. What we are lacking is the vast sums of money needed to deal with them. The EU requires an estimated 500 billion euros a year for the green transition, while NATO’s European members need to find another 56 billion euros annually to meet the alliance’s 2% defence spending target.

In this super election year, concerns loom over how artificial intelligence might impact elections worldwide. Technology’s advances, coupled with the potential misuse of bad actors, are a real threat. However, there are intriguing contrasts in attitudes towards AI and the use of technology between Europe and the Global South. Prof. Dr. Payal Arora, Chair of Inclusive AI Cultures at the Department of Media & Culture Studies at Utrecht University, challenges prevailing narratives of techno-pessimism. She offers a nuanced perspective on the transformative potential of technology within inclusive frameworks. Zora Siebert asked her three key questions.

In France as in other EU countries, the polls are predicting a far-right surge in the coming European Parliament election. In parallel, France's generally thriving civil society has become the object of attacks and an official clampdown.  

Although the Eurovision Song Contest was not intended as an instrument of European integration, it has become a symbol of it – even if the relationship between national and European identity is contradictory.

Czech populists are on a roll, partly due to the antisocial policies of the country's right-wing government. While liberals put the blame on disinformation, the left continues to languish or to flirt with fascist ideas. And migrant-phobia has long become mainstream.  

Greece's far right has taken root and Greek civil society is struggling to come up with a counter-narrative. The reason: economic woes and a left that seems compromised.  

If smart politics and scientific evidence went hand-in-hand, decarbonisation would be understood as a political issue that transcends party lines. Yet in the run-up to the EU elections, a political division over this issue seems to be emerging, both at an EU level and within the member states.

Repression is the hallmark of Giorgia Meloni's far-right government. The targets: migrants, the LGBTQ+ community, climate activists, and demonstrations of dissent in general. But Italian society is proving resilient.

Over the past fifteen years, the French media landscape has been radically transformed. While demand for information has never been so high, thanks to the digital revolution, the overall supply of information has never been so low, giving rise to growing concern among media professionals represented by journalists' societies, unions, associations and collectives.

Governments worldwide have been adopting national AI strategies to guide the design of policies for enhancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. Through these strategies, many countries have expressed AI’s potential for helping combat environmental degradation, but almost none have reflected on the role of strategies in reducing AI’s own environmental impacts. This article discusses this trend and reflects on how public policies could help make AI development and deployment less impactful.

News outlets have a complex love-hate relationship with the far right, marked by antagonism and mutual benefit. Far-right specialist Cas Mudde shares a few simple tips on how to inform citizens without falling into the traps of laziness, manipulation and connivance.

The AI Act has finally overcome its latest hurdle in the European Union’s legislative procedure after its adoption by the European Parliament. However, a void in its final version draws attention to the weakening of obligations aimed at reducing AI’s environmental impacts, despite the technology’s severe impacts on local communities, fauna and flora, both within and beyond European borders, particularly in the Majority World. This commentary investigates the opportunities missed by EU bodies to address such impacts during the AI Act debates.

Timothy Garton Ash is one of the greatest political voices in Europe. In his latest book “Homelands,” he tells the story of how Europe emerged from the ravages of war in 1945, recovered, rebuilt, and moved towards the ideal of a Europe that is “whole, free, and at peace” ‒ until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A conversation with Roderick Kefferpütz about shattered illusions, the war in Ukraine, democratic backsliding, and the fight for freedom.

In a small Canadian town, bicycle infrastructure divides neighbors as conspiracy theories and misinformation take hold. Can this once tight-knit community come together again? An investigation into how disinformation can derail climate action at the local level.

In Illinois, a fossil fuel-funded group is infiltrating schools, promoting oil careers to kids. But in a state going green, advocates say they're selling students a false future. An investigation into the industry's pipeline to the classroom.

In fewer than 100 days, Europe’s citizens will go to the polls to elect their representatives to the European Parliament. The outgoing parliament faced historic challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s war in Ukraine. It rose to the occasion, advancing key legislative proposals and promoting the European Green Deal as a flagship project.

Supporting a range of militias in the Middle East and providing weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine, Iran is increasingly in the geopolitical spotlight. At the same time, Iranian women are still fighting for their rights, while legislative voting took place on 1 March 2024. So, we asked three questions to MEP Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA), Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Member of the EP Delegation for relations with Iran, as well as Standing Rapporteur on Iran, regarding how she sees EU-Iran relations moving forward.

In a blow to women across Europe, a crucial law to combat sexualized and digital violence was thwarted by Germany and France. With rape still not uniformly defined, and digital abuses narrowly defined, the fight for women's safety demands a stronger, unified front. Equal rights demand equal security.

Will Hungary be able to credibly fulfil its task of holding the EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2024? This key question has frequently popped up during discussions in the Brussels bubble in recent months.

The Europe that will go to the polls in June 2024 is very different from that of 2019. Pandemic recovery, the climate and energy crisis, war in the continent, and the rise of the far right are all driving the narratives of the electoral campaign, but also mobilising progressive forces. Roderick Kefferpütz interviews MEP Terry Reintke, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group and Spitzenkandidatin for the European Greens, on Green solutions for Europe in uncertain and volatile times.

A Trump presidency would probably force the UK and EU to intensify their cooperation on security and defence. Fortunately, says Gesine Weber, this relationship was relatively less affected by Brexit. It would also push Europeans to have some difficult conversations about building on their own nuclear deterrent.

With this fellowship, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union gives a select number of journalists the opportunity for on-the-ground reporting on climate disinformation case studies. The articles will be published as part of a web dossier on battling climate disinformation. Deadline for applications: Sunday, 10 March 2024, 23:59 CET. Decisions will be made on a rolling basis. Early applications preferred.

The fabric of the European security order is fraying. Putin’s imperialist revisionism threatens Europe. Trump is undermining US security guarantees for Europe. And Orbán’s vetoes are impeding European action. This is nothing new; the writing has been on the wall for a long time. What has changed is the urgency. Putin’s revisionism, Trump’s erraticism, and Orbán’s obstructionism are coming to a head. It’s crunch time.

The Green Party of England and Wales hopes to win three seats in the General Election by appealing to voters who are uninspired by Labour. Ros Taylor talks to party activists about the growing differences between the two parties and how increasing numbers of Green councillors put their policies into practice.

With right-authoritarian forces on the one hand and liberal-progressive ones on the other, elections in 2024 will be fought in several major democracies, including in the European Union. Focussing on the latter, this article explores the electoral chances of the European Green Party (EGP) members, an umbrella organization for environmentalist-progressive forces.

Five years after the “Green wave” reached the EU Parliament, fear and division seem to dominate political narratives ahead of this June’s EU elections. Instead of accepting the Right’s talking points, progressives should stick to their core values, embracing hope as the key to electoral success in troubled times.

2023 was a particularly challenging year. With the highest number of conflicts since 1945, we saw a world at war. It was the hottest year in recorded history, with “climate records tumbling like dominoes”. Challenges don’t disappear with a new year; we know that 2024 will be demanding. This year’s super election cycle is also testimony to the resilience of democracy and offers an opportunity for like-minded states to come together to solve shared challenges. 

Under the umbrella of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), thirteen journalists, press freedom, and civil society organizations are calling the EU institutes and the governments of member states to impose greater transparency on the media and their relations with political decision-makers and economic players.

The new Hungarian legislative package known as the "Protection of Sovereignty Act" contains some legitimate elements. However, while serious dangers to the country's sovereignty are outside its purview, a new agency is now empowered to harass anybody accused of "serving foreign interests."

This article chronicles how European Green Party (EGP) members performed in the 213 national, regional and major local elections in Europe in 2023. While EGP members were voted out of government in some of their strongholds, they maintained or increased their fringe influence through arrangements with larger parties in Eastern and Southern Europe.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did change how Germany thinks about its own security and its relationship with Russia, says Christina Keßler. But the country is still wary of playing a major role in European defence. With Russia unlikely to attack NATO territory soon, Britain should not assume that Germany will take on a leadership role on European security.

In August, wildfires in Evros killed a group of people, including children, passing along a well-trodden migration route. Locals and politicians made the victims scapegoats for the disaster. First piece of our 2023 Climate Disinformation Fellowship by Giorgos Christides and Katy Fallon. Photos by Alexandros Avramidis.

Enlargement regained prominence of the European Union agenda after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. However, the window of opportunity for moving forward will not stay open forever.

US President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order on artificial intelligence that, while different in form and enforcement authority from the EU’s AI Act, targets many of the current risks of the technology. With policies in effect soon, the EU and US have the chance to work together.

These days it is easy to become pessimistic about social cohesion and the state of democracy. But the results of the recent Polish elections show that it pays to fight for democracy.

Giorgos Christides and Katy Fallon are our 2023 Climate Disinformation Media Fellows! They will pursue on-the-ground reporting on climate disinformation case studies. Their articles will be published as part of a web dossier on battling climate disinformation.

Brexit and Britain’s Indo-Pacific tilt may have convinced Germany that the UK is no longer interested in defence co-operation, writes James Rogers. That would be a mistake. The two can build on each other’s strengths in NATO and in the defence of Ukraine.

People who are keen to see an improvement in UK-EU relations should not overestimate the power of the European Political Community, says Luigi Scazzieri. It is not a route to rejoining the EU. Nonetheless, on some foreign policy issues and especially those affecting the EU’s borders, it could prove very useful.

Working on and with AI is inherently influenced by gender and race. The small number of women and minorities among AI developers has even been described as a "diversity crisis". At the same time, however, women from the Global South are strong in lowly-paid areas of the field, from hardware assembly to crowd work addressing bias and injustices in AI. Understanding these present discriminating structures is the first step to social change.

With the return of former Prime Minister Fico, old authoritarian patterns could resurface in the upcoming elections. However, progressives also have a chance to win.

Plans to revive North Sea oil and push back 2030 net zero targets could mark the end of the UK’s 35-year cross-party consensus on the need to cut emissions. Fiona Harvey explains why some Conservatives see an electoral advantage in pulling the climate emergency into the ‘culture wars’.

With this fellowship, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union gives a select number of journalists the opportunity for on-the-ground reporting on climate disinformation case studies. The articles will be published as part of a web dossier on battling climate disinformation.

In her address, European Commission President von der Leyen missed the opportunity to develop bold proposals for the future. This contribution analyses her informal bid for a second term in office by looking at her thematic focuses.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Government, in power since 2010, has systematically curtailed LGBTIQ+ rights. Hundreds of such parents have adopted children with their same-sex spouses or partners, have given birth to children themselves or have availed themselves of surrogates to have their own genetically-related offspring. This article offers a glimpse into the lives of two such families in Hungary.

Since 2010, the Hungarian Government has been advocating for a conservative, restrictive notion of the family. The Ninth Amendment of the Fundamental Law led to the adoption of the so-called ‘child protection’ law (also referred to as the ‘anti-LGBT’ or propaganda law). This article tells the story of a successful advocacy campaign against these developments.

The Dutch Greens and Labour Party are joining forces. Short-term to win the upcoming elections, form a left-wing, progressive coalition government, and reclaim the Prime Ministership. Long-term to offer a comprehensive, compelling vision for the future, in which a green well-being economy, security of existence, and social and climate justice are central. An exciting development with valuable insights for coalition-builders anywhere.

AI chatbots like ChatGPT blur the line between human and machine, at the same time captivating minds and raising alarms. Having been swiftly integrated into search engines and programmes, these bots lack clear boundaries. Jeffrey Chan dissects the ethical challenges and environmental impacts of AI bots, as well as navigating fair AI use and the language and wisdom boundary.

The English Greens have been celebrating big wins in local elections. Yet tensions are emerging as they try to reconcile their commitments to conservation, social justice, and new electoral opportunities. James Dennison explains how the party’s strategy is shifting.

The crises of our time demand serious solutions from the parties instead of a return to the past. Those who do not dare to say so demonstrate the opposite of state-political responsibility.

Aifric Campbell explores the future of love and intimacy as our attention to humans is seduced by machines.

Severe heatwaves are not the only factor boiling up the atmosphere in Serbia this summer. Tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in a wave of protests for 12 consecutive weeks. The scale of these protests, erupting in Belgrade and spreading across almost 40 Serbian cities and towns, is the most massive wave over the last 20 years. One cannot help but wonder if the boiling tension on the streets amidst a volatile environment is a prelude to a supercell democratic storm determined to drive social change.

When governments adopt new legislation, they need to check if their plan is in line with international agreements they signed up to. Consumer and digital rights organisations from the EU and the US are concerned that rules in trade agreements could deter domestic regulation that is in the public interest. To address this, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue organised a discussion between NGOs, public officials, parliamentarians, and academics. The NGOs aimed to raise awareness and find solutions to prevent trade rules from discouraging government action and ensure improved protection for citizens writes Léa Auffret.

Gergely Karácsony talks about the financial situation of Budapest, the consequences of Covid-19 and the energy crisis, the role of the EU in ensuring the self-governance of cities, future greening projects, and the impact on Hungary of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

The catastrophic flooding in Italy shows how the climate crisis is already threatening our lives and quality of living here in Europe. We know what we need to do to slow it down. But the longer we wait, the greater the restrictions on our freedom will be in the future.

Although the Windsor Framework was broadly welcomed in Northern Ireland as a way of avoiding the alarming prospect of a hard border with the Republic or Ireland, the Stormont Assembly is still suspended. This means the devolved government is unable to take any significant decisions. Amanda Ferguson explains why and looks at what happens next.

Not even ten years after being mentioned for the very first time, feminist foreign policy has made it into the political mainstream: the guidelines ‘Shaping a Feminist Foreign Policy’ of the German Federal Foreign Office outline a strategic shift in German foreign politics. At the same time, digital policy has become more and more international.

We’re at a climate tipping point, yet international trade rules remain a persistent barrier to climate action. Momentum is also quickly building toward a digital tipping point: one where Big Tech surveillance is too far out of control to reign in, and where human rights and democracy only exist at the whim of tech corporations. Recurrent trade pressures could impact the willingness of the EU and the US to take action to better protect consumers in the digital market, or even to act to fight against climate change. So how did we get here, and what role do the new US–EU cooperation venues have to play?

Roderick Kefferpütz is the new Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office in Brussels as of 15 May 2023. He takes over from Eva van de Rakt, who has been Head of the European Union and North America Division at the headquarters of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin since May 2023.

Through this survey, we are seeking to shine a light on what is happening for Women CSO leaders in Europe as working culture and systems are shifting in the wake of COVID; in light of multiple systemic crises as well as the impact of #MeToo, #BLM and climate movements. Four progressive European foundations join forces around this joint project: FEPS (Foundation for European Progressive Studies), FES (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung), GEF (Green European Foundation) and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union. The feminist leadership expert Joanna Maycock and systemic change specialist Céline Charveriat are working together to conduct the research. As a recognition of the time you contribute to completing this survey we are offering a free quickfire coaching session.

On April 19, 1943, Jews condemned to death in the Warsaw Ghetto rose up in an unprecedented heroic struggle against the German occupation. The commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the ghetto uprising is approaching. Joanna Maria Stolarek, director of the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation spoke with Zygmunt Stępiński, director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw about the commemoration, the nature of remembrance, and the universal message that the uprising and its commemoration bring. Wersja polska.

In her interview with Dr. Christine Pütz, Terry Reintke, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, offers her opinion on the study “Actually European?! Citizen Expectations towards German EU Policy in the Context of Crisis and Transformation” and makes the case for Germany’s commitment to show its dependability and solidarity.

The EU’s half-baked response to the U.S. investment offensive is putting its competitiveness and our future prosperity at risk. Now is the time for deeper European integration and major adjustments to EU treaty law.

The app"Aktiv1st" tracks the social media activity of Socialist Party members and supporters, rewarding them with points for all their likes and shares, and ranking them in a list to foster peer-to-peer competition.

The once lively scene of local and national Ukrainian media is threatened by the brutal Russian invasion and occupation. War has changed the work of journalists and media business models are under threat.

2023 promises to be a crucial electoral year in Europe as voters elect new national leaders in several major countries, including Turkey, Poland and Spain. This article explores the role of the European Green Party (EGP) members in these elections.

In Iran, feminist foreign policy demands both short-term interventions to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population and a long-term approach to deal with the state’s structural violence against its own citizens.

The year 2023 starts with the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, the cornerstone of reconciliation and partnership between the Federal Republic of Germany and France after the catastrophe of the Second World War. This partnership is today actively supported by more than 80% of the populations of both countries and is seen as a major driving force behind the future of the European Union.

The use of spyware against journalists in the EU is alarming. Saskia Bricmont explains how severe the threat is, who the perpetrators are and their intentions.

In 2022, European green parties increased their number of seats in most elections while witnessing some of their fiercest opponents win power. As such, the year was somewhat of a Pyrrhic battle for the Greens at the ballot box: though battles were technically won, the overall outcome can hardly be considered a complete victory.

The European Parliament has provided fresh impetus for a European Association Statute, yet this is by no means new. Looking back over the various initiatives of the last 35 years to create a European legal form for associations reveals the challenges the new initiative must face.

European associations and civil society organisations do not have their own legal status set out in the EU treaties to rely on. There are many good reasons to plug this gap and create a European Association Statute.

Legislation governing digital technology and services has changed a lot over the last five years due to increasing concerns about the power and adverse influence of Big Tech. The concerns are well known, including issues with privacy, content and monopoly power; what is perhaps less clear is how to get the best out of the different initiatives and to ensure that they are not undermining each other.

This paper outlines the main types of emerging digital regulation in the UK and the EU, characterises some of their interactions, and comments upon capacities needed for coherent strategies for digital policy.

The highly technical and quickly evolving nature of the digital industry requires significant regulatory capacity. It also requires significant global co-operation, as the harms that emerge online often cross borders and are linked to entities that are partly or entirely located outside of the jurisdiction where the harm occurs. This paper analyses both the One-Stop-Shop in the General Data Protection Regulation (often called "UK GDPR") and the Proposed EU AI Act and Standardisation.

This paper analyses the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes a set of specific ex ante obligations on the largest digital players, including  interoperability and data access. It also analyses the UK's Digital Markets Unit (DMU), and whether it could be designed as a more flexible set of regulatory tools enabling a targeted approach to identifying emerging competition issues and market power in the digital field.

This paper outlines the policy background that has taken the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK’s Online Safety Bill down their respective legislative journeys and examines how law-makers have responded to the policy challenges in each jurisdiction, and highlights some important differences in the legislative approach.

The UK Government has indicated its desire to diverge from the European data protection regime. This brief considers some of the main areas of divergence in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI Bill), the latest iteration of an effort to reform data protection to "free up the use of data" to "unleash its value across the economy" and for the UK to "operate as the world's data hub."

Post Brexit, the UK and EU’s rules on digital monopolies are diverging. Both understand the consequences of digital monopoly power, whether that is in online harms (behaviour online which may hurt a person physically or emotionally), abuses of privacy, or boosting of profits at the expense of smaller rivals and business customers. However, competition policy in both jurisdictions has lagged behind the changes that digitisation has brought to many industries. This post considers the diverse interventions in the EU and the UK that attempt to address digital monopoly power, namely the new EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and of the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

The publication of the post-Brexit UK Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (Data Reform Bill) in July 2022 signalled the UK Government’s intention to diverge from European data protection law in several critical areas. This blog post analyses this regulatory divergence and their potential implications, not only for UK-EU trade and relations, but also data subjects’ rights.

The differing approaches to the regulation of big tech in the UK and EU highlight some crucial questions for law-makers in both jurisdictions. The EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Bill both tackle the need to restrict certain content online and create a framework for regulating online platforms. The measures affect the underlying fundamentals of Internet services in very different ways, which could impact their operation across borders. This blog post considers how current policy choices in these two laws may influence future policy directions and ultimately the whole Internet ecosystem.

As rapporteur for the European Parliament, MEP Sergey Lagodinsky has launched an initiative for a European legal framework for associations. With Christine Pütz, he discusses the objectives pursued and what it will take for the initiative to succeed.

The EuroPride 2022 fiasco shows us one thing: Serbia will not become part of the EU under President Aleksandar Vučić. The EU must face the cultural war in the Western Balkans head on, tackle disinformation and take Serbia’s EU accession seriously.

On 25 September 2022 Italy goes to the polls in an election that is characterized by many “first times.” It is the first time ever that the country votes just after the summer. Moreover, Italy is, for the first time, the country receiving most of the EU’s Next Generation EU budget (around 191 billion euros granted by common bonds). The “how to spend it” is of concern not only to the Italians and Brussels, but to the EU as a whole.

Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the German Federal government, talks to Christine Pütz about the results of the "Actually European?! 2022" study and what the citizens expect from Germany’s European policy at this “turning point in history”.

The EU–Western Balkans Leaders' Meeting concluded more as a win for Putin and his allies than for progressive forces in the Western Balkans. The European Council did not meet the challenge of the moment, writes Simon Ilse.

On 1 July 2022, the Czech Republic took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. Our office Directors in Brussels and Prague, Eva van de Rakt and Adéla Jurečková, analyse the priorities of and challenges facing the Czech EU Council Presidency.

Energy policy plays a central role following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting on Thursday 23 June 2022, Simon Ilse spoke to Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of the Vienna-based international organisation Energy Community, about the energy and geopolitical implications of EU enlargement.

The approval of the Brazilian General Data Protection Legislation (LGPD) in 2019 marked a new paradigm in the defence of fundamental rights in Brazil. However, Brazilian society still struggles to enforce LGPD’s rules. One huge challenge has been the difficulty in matching the promotion of public sector efficiency with personal data protection in recent policies of the government to reduce bureaucracy. The following paragraphs will cover some recent episodes where these values have clashed in a false dichotomy.

El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, is attempting to respond to the ongoing violence in the country by declaring a state of emergency. Critics see this predominantly as a militarisation of politics and a further step towards the breakdown of democracy.

The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland not only remains a matter of contention in UK-EU relations but is also very much an issue that divides opinion in Northern Ireland. Polling data that we have collected allows us to see what concerns voters in Northern Ireland most about the Protocol, how opinion has evolved since the start of 2021, and the nature of the divisions that exist over it. It also shows how voters want those who won seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections on 5 May 2022 to vote in 2024 on the endurance of core elements of the Protocol. 

What are the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human labour and the environment? How do legislative proposals for regulating AI in Europe and Brazil respond to these impacts beyond discussions on surveillance and automated decision-making bias?

More reports about rapes by the Russian army against the Ukrainian girls and women who are arriving in Slovakia have been exposed. In the meantime, the Slovak parliament is discussing proposals on banning abortion for women without permanent residency. This cynical targeting of Ukrainian girls and women is disturbing, says Denisa Nešťáková.

Students and teachers from the European Union still want to take part in exchanges with British universities, but the UK’s withdrawal from the Erasmus+ scheme has thrown up obstacles and increased costs. Some of the least privileged individuals, institutions and regions could lose out, writes Sarah Morris.

After the first round of the presidential elections in France, there is everything to play for. The incumbent President, Emmanuel Macron, is in the lead (27.84%), but this time, Marine Le Pen (23.15%) has a real chance of victory in the runoff of 24 April 2022. This is our analysis of the elections.

The UK government has used its response to the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to distance itself further from the EU, says Ros Taylor.

By banning the work of German political foundations, the Russian leadership is purposefully trying to block an essential, independent channel of communication between our societies. We deeply regret this further escalation by the Russian authorities. We will maintain contact with all those who are working courageously, creatively, steadfastly and with conviction for a different, peaceful and democratic Russia.

Some have labelled Russia’s war against Ukraine “the world’s first crypto war.” That might be overstating matters, but cryptocurrencies are certainly having an impact on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Voters critical of the Orbán system are too diverse to be locked into a single camp. As it seems, it was an illusion to suggest that the majority of former Jobbik voters can vote on a list with center-left parties. The maneuvering space of the fifth Orbán government will only be limited by economic and foreign policy necessities; domestically, it has an easier job than ever before.

Putin’s war in Ukraine seems to be rewriting everything in the Hungarian election campaign, except for the balance of power between the contestants – for now, at least. The ruling party remains the most likely to win the general election, but there is something else Orbán might also lose.

The National Assembly of Nicaragua has abolished by decree the legal personality of the partner organisation of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung "Centro Humboldt" and other 24 non-profit civil society associations and organisations, effectively banning them.

In Turkey, where twenty years of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule has seen the country descend into authoritarianism, mainstream media is almost completely under Erdoğan’s control. Social media remains one of the only outlets for those opposing Erdoğan to voice their discontent. Since the 2013 Gezi protests, the AKP has been trying to control the narratives on social media by employing social media trolls: networks of fake accounts that disseminate propaganda for the AKP and targets the opposition. Studies show that these troll networks are becoming more sophisticated and are changing tactics. Fazıl Alp Akiş explains how.

With the UK now less attractive to EU students, British universities have successfully pivoted to the Anglophone world and Asia, writes Ros Taylor. But in an increasingly fearful and isolationist world, this strategy is risky.

The concept of “just transition” has so far arrived in Eastern and Southeastern Europe only as a fragment of nice environmental jargon. There is a lack of protagonists strong enough to create conditions for a more powerful social and political impact. In order to act within ecological limits and remain below a warming of 1.5° Celsius, we must also consume less. Until now, consumption, like growth, has been equated with well-being and prosperity.

Bosnia-Herzegovina wants to phase out fossil fuels by 2050. For the country, which is largely dependent on coal, this is a serious turning point. However, the word "transition", which is often used for this process, is rather hated by the population, because it is not associated with equality and justice, but rather with an enriching political elite.

In the following months, the Brazilian Senate will vote on a 10-article bill establishing principles for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Its content, however, may help perpetuate recent cases of algorithmic discrimination through provisions that hinder the accountability for AI-induced errors and restrict the scope of rights established in Brazil’s General Data Protection Legislation and in the Brazilian Constitution.

An attempted crackdown on protest in the UK has suffered a partial defeat in the House of Lords, writes Ros Taylor. But the government is still determined to make it more difficult for Britons to organise and take part in public protest, and hand substantial powers to the police – just as their authority has come under new scrutiny.

2022 promises to be an exciting electoral year. At least seven seats of the European Council are up for grabs, of which the votes involving Emmanuel Macron and Viktor Orbán may electrify electoral enthusiasts the most. This piece reviews which European leaders will need to defend their positions and how the European Green Party (EGP) members are performing in polls before national, regional and local elections in Europe during 2022.

What does care mean in a Covid-19 pandemic context? Why does care fail and gender-based violence becomes even more resilient in itself, despite being conceptualised as a "pandemic within a pandemic" in a context of intensifying sexism, culturalist stereotypes and xenophobia, not to mention social policing and the intensive securitization of borders and mobility?

The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act aims to regulate emerging applications of AI in accordance with “EU values”. But for the most concerning of all such potential applications, the line between regulation and prohibition can be a tricky one to draw.

2022 is shaping up to be a big year for European digital policymaking. The Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts as well as the Artificial Intelligence Act will reverberate beyond the EU’s borders. For the EU’s comprehensive vision for platform regulation to become reality, it will be crucial to coordinate the enforcement mechanisms of these laws.

Rasmus Andresen is the new spokesperson of the German Green delegation (Europagruppe Grüne) in the European Parliament. The Director of our European Union office, Eva van de Rakt, talked to him about the opportunities opened up at EU level by the Green participation in the German coalition government.

The year 2021 was an unprecedented one for the European Green Party (EGP) and its members. The transnational political party organisation of environmentalists in Europe enjoyed some of its best election results in Austria, Denmark, Germany, France, Norway and Switzerland. At the same time, European Greens often failed to meet the high expectations set by polling. Moreover, substantial levels of support remain limited to Western Europe, although the elections in Bulgaria show that EGP member parties can make it to the national parliament, and even into government, in Eastern Europe.

In the second round of the presidential elections on 19 December 2021, Chile will be deciding between the far-right candidate, José Antonio Kast, and the left-wing progressive Gabriel Boric. Non-voters and anti-politicians may be able to tip the balance in these pivotal elections. Interview with Gitte Cullmann, office director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Santiago de Chile.

Frieder Wolf-Buchert, our colleague at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung for many years, has passed away at the age of 66, following serious illness. He built up and led our European Union office, which opened in January 1997.

The chapter of the coalition agreement of the new German government on integration, migration and flight is highly ambitious. What changes does it set out at EU policy level?

Whilst the national governments have been reflexively ducking responsibility for years, there are many cities in Europe, from London to Munich and Vienna to Lille, Barcelona and Lisbon, that are expressing solidarity and a readiness to take in refugees.

The launch of the “Moving Cities" website on 21 October 2021 is a clear indication of how much dynamic power cities and communes are generating in the hosting and integration of refugees.

Every single day, women are abused, threatened or slandered on digital social networks. Yet the operators of these platforms are doing very little to make the digital space a safer place for women. The whistleblower Frances Haugen talked to Spiegel journalist Ann-Katrin Müller and Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, about what needs to be done right now to stop violence on the net.

Following the German federal election of 26 September 2021, the German Greens achieved the biggest, most female, younger and diverse parliamentary group in their history. Let’s explore some fact and figures about the Alliance 90/The Greens fraction in the 20th Bundestag!

After a long period during which the media landscape has been mirroring the prevailing clientelism, Greece is now experiencing a rapid downslide towards dangerous pathways regarding media pluralism that bring the quality of democracy in the country into question. A look at the events and political developments that have accumulated over the last months.

Memorial is one of the best-known and most internationally renowned Russian non-government organisations and it has won the Sakharov Prize, the Right Livelihood Award and many other accolades. We object in the strongest possible terms to the politically motivated, manifestly unfounded proceedings against Memorial. The threat of the liquidation of Memorial deals a further, possibly final blow to independent civil society in Russia.

More than a year after the European Commission tabled the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, negotiations are at a standstill, while the number of asylum seekers arriving in the Union is sharply increasing. The Afghan crisis has made apparent the absence of uniform and coordinated responses by EU Member States.

In France, government disinformation is a rare phenomenon and the truth is swiftly revealed, thanks in particular to the work of certain media sources published information. Although it is not widespread, all manipulation has its consequences, gradually increasing the people’s distrust of institutions.

Following the recent parliamentary elections, many Czechs celebrated the opposition parties’ victory over the business magnate and incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. However, the new center-right governing coalition must be careful not to return to the previous status quo that helped Babiš to power eight years ago.

In August 2021, as US military forces exited Afghanistan, the Taliban seized facial recognition systems, highlighting just how a failure to protect people’s privacy can tangibly threaten their physical safety and human rights. Far from being good tools which fell into the wrong hands, the very existence of these systems is part of broader structures of data extraction and exploitation spanning continents and centuries, with a history wrapped up in imperialism, colonialism and control.

Disinformation has become a regular plague of democratic elections. Is regulation able to tackle this problem? How promising are other initiatives by civil society and industry actors? What should be the role of the state in a new media and information order? And how do people decide what to believe or not? A diversity of information and a plurality of communities are essential to rebuild trust in public communication.

Franziska Brantner MdB talks about her hopes that the new German government will reframe its European policy. Its priorities in this process should be the European Green Deal, defending the rule of law and bolstering the EU’s capacity to act.

Yes, Brexit is partly to blame for Britain’s supply chain crisis, says Ros Taylor. But ending free movement has exposed deeper problems within the labour market.

WhatsApp is huge in Spain. It is on almost every phone and Spaniards spend more time on this platform than in any other digital space. Telegram is also growing massively, yet the fundamental role these private messaging apps play in the dissemination of disinformation has often been overlooked. It is there where most disinformation originates and, at the same time, where it is most difficult to monitor.

In the pandemic year 2021, Germany has voted. It is already clear that what is needed is a new political culture of enablement and participation. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung President Dr. Ellen Ueberschär comments on the results of the German federal elections.

The German parliamentary election campaign played out on the internet as never before. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this was certainly necessary, but it brought with it all the evils we have previously seen in US election campaigns: disinformation campaigns and hate speech were used to discredit candidates, paid political online advertising and foreign influence circumvented basic democratic values. As a woman, Annalena Baerbock the Greens' candidate for Chancellor, was particularly affected. The elections have shown that what we need, in Germany and the EU, are better media skills for the population and clear rules for communication platforms.

Germany has voted. The SPD, Greens and FDP come out of the elections as the winners, but take a very different view of the results – depending on their expectations and the pressure they feel upon them to act. By and large, the trend towards a party system in which no single party dominates continues. Constituency seats played a very particular role in these elections. This brief analysis provides an overview of the initial results, with a more comprehensive, empirical analysis to follow in the next few days.

How can we merge all the things that are happening right now, on Lesbos, in Kabul and in Ahrweiler, and map them on our own timeline? How do we know what is important for our present time? Melanie Wilke and Hannah Gruber ellaborate on the societal contexts behind the ever-present lack of time, particularly in relation to health and healthcare.

Ros Taylor presents a critique of the new law that allows the English police to crack down on protest and seize the vehicles of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers who stop on private ground. The public do not seem to be particularly bothered – though that may change as the scope of the legislation becomes apparent.

In her 2021 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appealed to Europe’s soul, which, she said, has been tested to the core in times of multiple crises. The team of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union did its own soul-searching, pointing at the good, the not-so-good and the missing in von der Leyen’s speech.

In regulating online spaces, if we treat the problems of harmful content as separate from the problems of harmful systems, we risk not solving either. Addressing disinformation and online violence against women requires a holistic regulatory response. 

In the run-up to the German federal election of 26 September 2021 (BTW21), we take a look at the nuts and bolts of the German political and electoral system.

From Sweden to Mexico, an avant-garde of countries is pioneering feminist foreign policy. The European Union has made progress in promoting gender equality in its external action, but much remains to be done before it will deliver structural change. Juliane Schmidt calls for a green feminist foreign policy rooted in intersectionality that will enable the EU to live up to its values of freedom and equality.

The Taliban takeover in Kabul, the frantic evacuation efforts of foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans, and the fear among those left behind of being targeted by the new regime are shining a spotlight on the double-edged nature of government data collection as well as digital communication tools in times of crisis.

This short sentence is all you need to understand why the German government committed an error of judgment concerning Afghanistan. An error of judgment that kills people every day – and democracy throughout the world as well, by the way.

The hacking of dissidents worldwide is even more widespread than we thought. This year’s largest cross-border investigative undertaking, the Pegasus Project, has revealed that at least 10 governments have used sophisticated Israeli spyware to gather information on human rights activists, independent journalists, and opposition politicians. The only EU member in the pool of offenders was Hungary. This might not be an unexpected development for most readers, but it is a further blow to both independent journalism and the sanctity of citizens’ privacy.

The inclusion of feminist principles is an important progressive step in the EU’s external relations policymaking. A result of this inclusion has been the development of gender equality policies aimed at conflict situations and in international development assistance. Arguably, the EU is a leader in gender equality within the foreign policy arena. Yet, while the integration of feminism has supported concrete gender equality policies, the narrow interpretation of feminism undermines its transformative potential and highlights coherency gaps in the EU’s approach.

Leavers had promised that Brexit would improve people’s lives. With its ‘levelling up’ policy, the British government is now promising large state aid investment in poorer regions, which it argues would not have been possible in the EU. Expectations are high and the potential for abuse and cronyism is significant, says Ros Taylor.

Rather than pulling the four nations of the UK together as Global Britain, the UK’s decision to leave the EU is providing political oxygen to different movements who do not see their future as part of this union. How is the Conservative government handling these tensions at home? Is it creating a stronger United Kingdom?

More than 50 people were injured in attacks on journalists and civil society in Tbilisi in early July 2021 in connection with Pride Week. The German Federal Government and the EU should strongly urge their Georgian partners to address the violence through prompt and comprehensive legal and political action. 

1 July 2021 has seen a change in immigration status for millions of EU nationals resident in the UK as the “Settled Status” takes effect. What faces those who have not applied and what can we learn from a digital-only system? What can be taken forward to the Conference on the Future of Europe?

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Thessaloniki office, together with the Goethe Institute Thessaloniki, organised a public screening of the movie “Citizen of Moria” and took our audience on a journey to Europe’s most notorious refugee camp. In a personal interview the film-maker and protagonist Ahmad Ebrahimi talks about the struggle of being forced to flee in search for protection.

2020 was expected to be the feminist super year - the anniversaries of the UN Resolution on "Women, Peace, and Security" and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were supposed to be celebrated, and discussions about the lack of their implementation to be held. Instead, this became the year that, according to UN Women, would destroy 25 years of feminist achievements.

Gendered disinformation is a form of identity-based disinformation that threatens human rights worldwide. It undermines the digital and political rights, as well as the safety and security, of its targets. Ellen Judson from Demos explains what gendered disinformation is, how it impacts individuals and societies, and the challenges in combating it, drawing on case studies from Poland and the UK. It assesses how the UK and EU are responding to gendered disinformation, and sets out a plan of action for governments, platforms, media and civil society.

The Hungarian government has received international criticism over a new law that bans the depiction or promotion of homosexuality to those under the age of 18. Andrea Pető argues that the law may well prove to be a miscalculation by the country’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.

Britain has been promised a quarter of a million ‘green jobs’. But as the government continues to struggle to contain Covid-19, the details are lacking. Ros Taylor looks at the scale of the UK’s ambition and some of the obstacles to decarbonisation.

Hungary voted for a bill originally intended to enhance the protection of children and tighten sanctions against pedophile offenders, though introducing an explicit, harsh ban on the "portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality" for persons under the age of 18. What led to the scapegoating of the LGBTQI community?

What might be done with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political system after a potential opposition victory in 2022, considering that it is built mostly on informal power and privatized economic-financial resources? These questions are currently being debated mainly as issues of public law. Unfortunately, little is being said about the sociopolitical requirements for the democratic transition the opposition so desires.

In an interview, Dr. Franziska Brantner MdB comments on the results of the “Actually European!? Citizen expectations of the next German government’s EU policy” study and makes the case for greater German engagement in the fields of climate protection, tax policy and ensuring the rule of law.

The UK government has some good ideas for improving the rail network, says Ros Taylor. But cheap fuel, costly buses and a deep-seated aversion to road pricing have driven people away from public transport – and that was before the pandemic.

Disinformation and misinformation thrive in uncertainty and secrecy. While growing awareness within the European Union of the threat posed by malign disinformation campaigns to undermine support for democratic values, and the EU project as a whole, has elicited a number of robust responses, these have mostly targeted external actors. Addressing threats from within Member States poses a more acute challenge, one that will require great thoughtfulness and delicacy to resolve, and require a unanimous collective effort.

The book #FakeYou shows that public and legislative policies used in the fight against disinformation, which have been pursued both in Spain and in other countries because of (or rather, with the excuse of) the so-called “new” phenomenon of fake news, often actually serve to distract from the real solution.

The unsavoury link between oligarchs, the banking sector, the media and politics is what characterizes, in a nutshell, the state of the Greek media landscape. The prolonged financial crisis has had a decisive role in further hampering media freedom in the country, posing a real threat to the quality of democracy in Greece.

Recently, the Hungarian ruling party and its media empire launched a massive campaign against independent policy analysts and opposition parties, accusing them of spreading anti-vaccination views. These campaigns follow a typical method of operation: they start from a single piece of information and end in some sort of discriminatory legislation against independent voices.

When discussing the issue of hate speech in the digital age, we often put the blame on content intermediaries such as Facebook or Twitter. But what happens when hateful speech in the form of party propaganda is indirectly or directly funded by the state, using public money?

Modern-day authoritarians will boil you like a frog, whilst slowly turning up the heat. As a citizen of a democratic state, governed by the rule of law, you won’t suddenly wake up one day to find yourself in an authoritarian regime. It will creep up on you. Hiding behind empty slogans such as “regaining national sovereignty” and “national pride”.

On 22 May 2021, the Czech sociologist, feminist, former dissident and co-founder of the NGO Gender Studies Jiřina Šiklová passed away at the age of 85. We pay our respects to an impressive woman whose life and work was and remains an inspiration far beyond the Czech Republic.

Diversity is the buzzword of the 21st century. But when it comes down to the brass tacks of how the rights of persons with disabilities are actually implemented, the enthusiasm very quickly runs out.

A century on from the creation of Northern Ireland, its society is once again deeply divided about the need for, and implications of, a border being drawn around it. Local tensions reflect suspicion regarding the actions of London, as well as long-existing sensitivities and a profound sense of uncertainty about the future.

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout played a big part in the Conservatives’ success at the 2021 local elections, but the shrivelling of political debate in the UK and an appetite for big government also played a role.

The EU is undeniably crying out for fundamental reforms. The Conference on the Future of Europe, launching on 9 May 2021, is meant to create the first-ever genuine public space between European citizens of all Member States and enable encounters beyond national frameworks. Unlikely to deliver major reform plans, though, this platform still has the potential to provide important impulses to crucial issues for Europe’s future.

Systematic and systemic attacks on Gender Studies are part of anti-gender campaigns and online public harassment, associated with the anti-gender movement, a nationalist, neoconservative response to the triple crisis (migration, financial and security). These illiberal attacks are gaining much support all over Europe.

In the middle of the night on March 20, 2021, a presidential decree was published in the Official Gazette, announcing Turkey would withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.

Academic freedom is under attack, both in authoritarian democracies and in liberal Western democracies. Dominant discourses about academic freedom and free speech in the global north, lately especially in France and Germany, focus on an alleged threat to academic freedom through "political correctness" and "cancel culture", that, under scrutiny, often turn out to be exactly the opposite, namely defences of plurality and critical voices.

The Hungarian ruling Fidesz party’s delegation to the European Parliament announced on 3 March that they would leave the EPP parliamentary group after the latter approved changes to its internal rules, allowing the caucus to suspend or expel entire national delegations instead of individual MEPs only. Later, Fidesz left the EPP party family as well. It is, therefore, crucial to assess how the end of the Fidesz-EPP relationship will influence the Hungarian cabinet’s ability to represent national interests in the EU and the future of PM Orbán on the European political scene. In short: the decision constitutes a blow to Hungary, but not necessarily to Fidesz.

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the government-sponsored disinformation engine is operating at full capacity in Hungary, scapegoating and intimidating critical voices and triggering death threats against academics and intellectuals.

The concept of ‘digital sovereignty’ has become more prevalent over the last few years, although its meaning remains diffuse. Between Chinese techno-authoritarianism and the U.S. model of surveillance capitalism, Europe is heading towards a third way.

This is not just ‘Poland being Poland’. These actions are illegal, inhumane and could spread across Europe – and this is just the beginning.

Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Czechia, Cyprus, and Russia are just some of the European countries set to hold national parliamentary elections in 2021. Beyond that, voters have the chance to elect crucial regional and local assemblies, for example, in Scotland and Catalonia. The following article sheds light on elections relevant to the European Green Party (EGP) in the next twelve <months in the EU and beyond. It will show that the Greens have the chance to change the face of the continent, as they are well-positioned to perform strongly in multiple electoral races in powerful states and regions.

MEP Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA) rates the new EU Rule of Law mechanism as a success despite all the criticism. For the first time, the disbursements of EU funds are linked to compliance with the Rule of Law, with the aim of combating corruption and illiberal attacks to democracy and fundamental values.

A 6-year-old boy from Afghanistan drowned in November 2020 off the coast of Samos. Ηe was with his father and other asylum seekers onboard a dinghy that was shipwrecked. The tragic loss of a child’s life hardly made an impression on the international media or public discourse in Greece.  

The Hungarian-Polish veto on the EU budget and the recovery fund was averted at the European Council last week, but threats to core European values were not. The EU’s rule of law crisis is nowhere near to being solved, and attacks on fundamental rights and democracy will intensify in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

From Catholic fundamentalism to the far right, a diverse and loosely connected network of anti-gender movements is growing in the country and creating new challenges.

The European Greens look back on two exceptional years of electoral history. In 2019, members of the European Green Party (EGP) won record numbers of seats in the European election. This two-article series shows how EGP members profited from this electoral wave in 2020 and sheds light on what to expect from elections in Europe in 2021. This first article shows that the Greens in Europe generally were able to establish themselves further at the local and regional level in Western Europe and get a foot in the door in some Eastern European countries.

An interview with MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA) on the protection of the rule of law in the EU, the European Commission’s proposals and the demands of the European Parliament.

Hungary and Poland indicated in November that they would veto the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and the Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery fund. However, recent developments indicate that Hungary’s and Poland’s views on the matter have diverged. What does Budapest stand to gain by using its veto?

The new European Commission's Rule of Law Report cannot be expected to deter those deliberately seeking or already engaged in the systemic dismantlement of national checks and balances. Unless these shortcomings are remedied, the new yearly monitoring exercise will create more problems than it will solve.

Interview with Benedek Jávor about the blackmailing attempt of Viktor Orbán and Mateusz Morawiecki, the importance of the rule of law in the EU and the responsibility of the German government.

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.

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.

The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a significant victory for liberal democracy in the US and for a policy of compassion and cooperation. At the same time, the new government is facing a political pile of rubble full of enormous challenges.

Since the 2017 federal elections, Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) have increased the number of their governmental participations in the Länder on a high level. In Hesse, Bremen, Thuringia and Hamburg they were able to continue four coalitions in identical or slightly adjusted constellations.

Questions of environmental and climate policy remain relevant even during a pandemic, as the protests and debates about the stimulus package to fight the crisis show.  The German states have taken on a deciding roll regarding questions of implementation – which started already during the negotiations for the climate package. The Greens contributed the most to the climate package's increased substance. 

“The hell of women is in full swing” is one of the most pertinent comments on the decision of the government-controlled Polish Constitutional Court to further restrict the anyway very limited public access of women to abortions in Poland. Although the measure had been part of the public discourse for years, the timing for its implementation comes partly as a surprise. What does this tell us about the further prospects for the rule of the Law and Justice party?

Our local Heads of Office are turning their attention to Belarus: Joanna Maria Stolarek discovers the spirit of Polish Solidarność on the streets of Belarus. Sergej Sumlenny reports on unexpectedly cautious, neutral and ambivalent responses from Ukraine. And in Moscow, President Aljaksandr Lukashenka remains the partner of choice, Johannes Voswinkel writes.

Forced to follow a “no vaccine, no classes” policy, the Philippines has implemented distance-learning programs that exacerbate existing inequalities.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first State of the Union speech showed an ambitious and a strategic approach to the many crises hitting Europe and the world. However, words are not enough. They must be backed up by actions and coherent policy measures.

As contact-tracing apps prove less useful than hoped in many countries, other digital tools such as wearable fitness trackers are gaining in popularity for detecting or tracing coronavirus infection. But a reliance on such technologies comes with big questions about effectiveness and privacy.

In Asia, the pandemic has accelerated efforts to keep citizens informed through prompt and extensive data sharing. However, this new openness has also led to concerns regarding transparency, data protection, and democratic participation.

Conspiracy theories might seem funny in ordinary times. But against the backdrop of escalating far-right attacks worldwide in recent years and now the pandemic, these myths have spiraled into a dangerous pattern of radicalization.

Further arrests and acts of repression in Belarus: Lawyer Maxim Snak arrested; Nobel Prize for Literature winner Svetlana Alexievich harassed – Pressure on Minsk and Moscow must be raised and activists in danger allowed into Germany.

The small Adriatic state and EU candidate Montenegro is at a historic crossroads after the parliamentary elections on 30 August. After 30 years of permanent rule by Milo Đukanović and his DPS, a change of power is possible for the first time.

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis, the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union faces major challenges. Considering that the conditions and circumstances will constantly change, and that the EU will face increasing uncertainty and unpredictability, we need to reflect on how it should respond to vital challenges in the long term.

How can the European Green Deal,  aimed at transforming the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, become a vehicle for gender equality and women’s empowerment?

False news is a major threat to the Covid-19 response in DRC. Government distrust, lockdown, and increased social media access accelerate the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The murder of George Floyd has thrown the United States into a state of unrest. President Trump is throwing fuel on the fire in an attempt to increase his re-election chances. The main problem, however, is historical, structural racism – and not just in the U.S. An interview with Bastian Hermisson, Head of the Foundation’s office in Washington, and Mekonnen Mesghena, Head of Migration and Diversity at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin.

In Colombia too, public life and the economy have been at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic. There is, however, hope that the early measures taken to stem the pandemic will pay off in the medium and long term. The country is currently between hope and fear regarding the measures to ease the social and economic lockdown in place since March.

In the shadows of the Covid-19-crisis, refugees and irregular migrants in Europe’s neighbouring countries are afraid for their very existence and terrified of long-term detention in reception camps. In Tunisia, political provisions are being put into place and emergency plans negotiated to deal with migrants and refugees on their way to Europe.

Britain is in the midst of finalising the Brexit transition process while also being hit especially hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The German Council Presidency has to protect public health all over Europe while also preventing another financial crisis from happening. But this might also give new momentum to systemic change towards a more sustainable economy.

The October uprising has paved the way for new constitution in Chile. However, the virus has forced citizens’ organisations into quarantine and is delaying constitutional change. What happens next?

The change of government in Austria after the Ibiza affair on the one hand lead to a withdrawal of antifeminist (politically right) populist measures of the prior turquoise-blue government. On the other hand, existing structures of disadvantage and oppression have not been questioned by the successor government.

A fluctuating economy, high unemployment, enormous violence against women and girls – what was already a difficult situation in Mexico has been made far worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Dawid Danilo Bartelt, Head of the Mexico City Office, describes the country’s approach to tackling coronavirus.

Transformative responses is a transnational network which aims to increase our systems' resilience by addressing the socio-economic and ecological challenges at the intersection of finance, ecology and inequality with concrete actions and policies to mitigate crisis and initiate structural reform.

The Covid-19 pandemic affects different groups of people differently. It is, however, possible to argue that asylum seekers, migrants and refugees scattered across the globe are among the most vulnerable groups to the outbreak. Yet, what are the key challenges facing migrants and refugees in Turkey, particularly challenges in accessing healthcare services during the pandemic?

El Salvador, like many other countries in Central America and the world, is in a situation bordering on tragedy, facing a pandemic under the immense structural failures resulting from centuries of environmental and human exploitation. 

The direction has been pointing constantly downwards since 2015. In the international ranking on press freedom by "Reporters Without Borders", Poland was 18th at the time, but has now slipped to 62nd place. 44 places in five years. The changes in the media landscape are admittedly occurring more subtly than in Hungary, for example. But restrictions on the work of journalists in the country are becoming increasingly noticeable.

In the case of Armenia, as much elsewhere in the world, refugees are amongst the vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic and the economic and social hardships accompanying it.

COVID-19 uniquely affects women. Here are many of the ways it does.

We are living in difficult times and while the number of human COVID-19 infections continues to be on the rise, there is one patient that should not be forgotten: our parliamentary democracy. Judging from what we have seen in the past few weeks, the patient is in a serious condition and the prognosis is unclear.

Erik Marquardt got a first-hand impression of the inhuman conditions in the Moria refugee camp, where more than 20,000 people live in the most miserable conditions. An outbreak of coronavirus would be devastating. In order to draw more attention to this issue, he has co-created the Leave no One Behind campaign.

Viktor Orbán uses the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to complete his authoritarian regime. These moves are not purely the domestic political problems of Hungary – an authoritarian state within the EU could be deadly dangerous for the entire project. Germany has a very important role to play in the current situation. 

It is still too early to learn lessons from the coronavirus crisis. However, there is one term that comes to mind when addressing the inevitable directions of political thinking after the crisis: resilience. But what exactly does it mean and how will it influence the political agenda?

Covid-19 in Turkey and the implications for LGBTI+ people who are among the most vulnerable groups in the country and who had already been struggling with challenges in accessing rights and facing systematic rights violations, including those related to the right to life. In addition to inequalities in enjoying the right to health and the right to employment, as well as soaring reports of domestic violence under isolation, the LGBTI+ community has been targeted by a recent wave of hate-motivated campaigns.

With a series of digital measures introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Morocco is creating a trade-off between ways to provide rapid support and the parallel development of digital control.

All three countries of the South Caucasus have weak social systems. Many people work in precarious jobs in the service sector, tourism and agriculture. 

In post-Brexit Britain, the coronavirus crisis comes amid a crisis of confidence in its political leadership. The British public is now watching the National Health Service (NHS) trying to rise to the challenge after a decade of austerity.

Not only has the new coronavirus catapulted us out of our everyday lives, but the way the EU is handling the Covid-19 pandemic has made its inability to take action in times of crisis painfully apparent. Just as people are stranded at airports and railway stations, any hope that Europe is capable of pulling together has also been stranded in the last few weeks.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought about an extraordinary situation. Although the past decades have brought numerous challenges like terrorism or the climate change, the global spread of a disease for which there is neither a cure nor vaccination available is something that political leaders have no experience in tackling.

Italy was the first country in Europe to be affected by the Covid-19 virus. It was also the first democratic state that took measures to contain the epidemic – as it was still being called at the time, before it mutated into a pandemic. I

The Hungarian Parliament passed a new act on Monday, which gives an already authoritarian government extraordinary, dangerous powers. 

The old transatlantic paradigm with its focus on NATO and security is losing traction. A new transatlantic agenda should focus on three issues of common concern on both sides of the Atlantic: human rights, climate change and the containment of the rising power China.

Coronavirus measures have made the usually bustling city of Paris a ghost town. Bars, cafes, restaurants and everything else have been closed down, with towers of empty chairs piled up behind the windows. 

The promise of measuring everything and everyone with the help of digital technologies has triggered the interest of the development community as well as governments across the Global South. But in countries like Kenya, the excessive collection or personal data creates risks of monetary and political exploitation, not to mention compounding existing discrimination, without improving the delivery of aid and public services.

Equal power for women, a life with less violence and more justice are the goals that were set 25 years ago at the 4th World Conference on Women and in the Beijing Platform for Action. So far, gender equality has never been achieved.

February 2020 will be written into the modern political history of Slovakia as a month with a great turning point which combined in a special way two dramatic themes in the internal political development of the country.

A virus riding on another virus. That is how the ‘infodemic’ is raging in online spaces around the outbreak of the novel coronavirus called COVID-19, which has been on just about everyone’s radar since late January 2020. As grave as the quest to manage the respiratory disease and cure those ill with it is not only the challenge of using facts versus fear - but how to create and keep avenues of information that withstand the unrelenting drip of skewed, confused, partially true to totally false information, to racist and prejudiced views, or a cocktail of these.

Slovak political landscape is exceptionally fragmented ahead of February 29 general elections. One of the last opinion polls published before the election polls moratorium foresees eight parties to be represented in the parliament. However, conceivable scenarios include 6 to 12 parties possibly entering the parliament.  This pre-election analysis was published by EuroPolicy in cooperation with the Prague office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.  

After countless hours of negotiations, frustration and the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union after 47 years of membership bearing the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations. 31 January 2020”. 

Computers are often thought of as neutral technology. However, it becomes alarmingly clear that machines learn from training data made up of outdated social norms, values and attitudes towards race and gender. This can have insidious consequences.

Close coordination and smooth cooperation between Berlin and Paris is crucial for Europe and its foreign politics, particularly considering rising intricate geopolitical rivalries. Differences in style and approach must not impede cooperation on substance and common interests.

As 2020 opens with dramatic global events demanding attention and care, the countries of the European Union remain divided on crucial issues from climate change to foreign policy. The relationship between Germany and the countries of Central Europe is pivotal to many of these impasses.

Climate change and the consequential natural disasters have become common drivers of migration – a phenomenon that will be further exacerbated as the climate crisis continues. Maria Giovanna Manieri, Advisor to the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, explains the policy framework affecting climate refugees and highlights prospects for Greens in the European Parliament to foster progress on the issue.

Across Europe and beyond, actors on the nationalist right are instrumentalising the concept of gender for their own political gains. In Poland the incumbent right-wing Law and Justice party, backed by the Catholic Church, demonised LGBT organisations in its recent successful electoral campaign. 

The Conservative election victory has killed the last hopes of averting Brexit and set the stage for disaster capitalism and climate chaos. The work of building an alternative world must take place not in government offices, but on the streets.

In a digitalized and increasingly polarised world, questions about how to protect freedom of expression online while curbing hate speech and online abuse, are at the centre of discussions about human rights protection.

In the height of debate on the agreement that the EU negotiated - in theory - with Mercosur, Brazilian activists and professors brought their doubts on this matter all the way to Brussels, particularly regarding the quality of their country’s democracy.

Human rights defenders advocate humanity and fight for freedom, dignity, equtiy and equality for all people. In many countries, they're being surpressed and punished for standing up for those who can't. Therefore, the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders was created.

Youth-led street movements have forced climate warming up the agenda in the past year. School strikes and demonstrations introduced young people to politics for the first time and new discourses changed how people think about the climate.

In an early election held after a corruption scandal collapsed the right-wing government, the Austrian Green party achieved a historic high, gaining 13.9 per cent of the votes. From appealing across the rural-urban divide to new electoral coalitions, the strategic questions emerging from the recent Austrian election are relevant for green and progressive parties all over Europe.

This short documentary tells the story of women fighting for reproductive justice in El Salvador, where abortion is illegal under any circumstances.

Brexit is patriarchal and a threat to human rights. Turning a feminist lens onto Brexit, then, reveals a host of concerning power struggles running throughout the process and wider British politics. From racist and Islamophobic narratives underpinning the Vote Leave campaign, to the idealisation of Britain the Empire: Brexit is a feminist issue.

Brexit, Boris Johnson, Backstop - these are the November 2019 headlines of the British media. But with each new passing headline, every new article title aimed to draw the reader in, and in all the subsequent debates at both the domestic and regional level, the issue of gender has been notably absent.

Revelations of rampant sexual harassment and assault in the entertainment industry sparked an outpouring of testimonies from women and girls across the globe in 2017. Despite gains for equality in many parts of the world, sexist treatment and abuse remains a pervasive and universal problem. The political sphere has also been a focal point of allegations, among which the European Parliament. 

30 years ago, citizens managed to bring down a repressive surveillance state through peaceful resistance: the fall of the Berlin Wall. Resistance, solidarity and the thirst for freedom made citizens strong to oppose repression and overcome barriers. Those who fight for human rights should be protected by international standards as was agreed by the international community.

Nuclear energy and climate, rule of law and democracy, presidential elections and Zelensky, EU neighbourhood policy and Russia: an interview with Rebecca Harms about past, present and future policies and developments.