EU-Neighbourhood Policy

On 2 February, Angela Merkel visits Hungary. The German-Hungarian friendship has undergone fundamental changes in the recent past - and the rewriting of Germany’s Russia policy also entails reshaping its ties to Hungary.

In 1989 the Romanians took to the streets in Timisoara and later in Bucharest to protest against the communist regime and its heavy handed ruler, Nicolae Ceauşescu. Because of its violent nature, its structural conflict and results, this upheaval against Ceauşescu can be considered as one of the last European revolutions. Why is that still important after 25 years?

For many years Hungary appeared to be the model pupil amongst EU candidate countries.  It was the only Eastern Bloc country that managed political transformation by means of an evolutionary process, albeit with the former communist party playing the most important role. Domestic events of recent years are evidence of a radically different picture.  Doubts about EU integration can no longer be ignored in Hungarian politics.

Philippe Legrain's speech to the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, 8 October 2014. Legrain is the author of European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess - and How to Put Them Right.

Recent actions taken by Hungarian police against NGOs is not a singular manifestation of the excessive use of force. It is a logical consequence of Viktor Orbán’s campaign waged against the civil sector.

Many of the current problems are clearly generational ̶  with the older generations accepting the rituals and the language of democracy, but not being able to internalise democratic values.

The commemorative tsunami that Europe is gearing up for gives us pause as to our relationship to history and the political use that is made of it.

Europeans have only just understood the meaning of the First World War when they now have to interpret the significance of the Second World War. Claus Leggewie writes about the new beginning in European memory.

Confronted with a different external and internal environment than its predecessors, the new external leadership trio Juncker-Mogherini-Tusk should however constructively strengthen and contribute to the practices of shared leadership and coopetition between EU Member States.

“Are Poles good Europeans?”, “Will Poland finally return to Europe?” – these questions, as strange as they may sound to today’s readers, were seriously raised ten years ago, when Poland was about to become a member of the EU. After that decade, Poland has become a completely different country.