On 21 June 2016, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union hosted a 'Workshop for the Future' for young Europeans. Questions such as how to deal with the after effects of the Paris and Brussels attacks and the fear and insecurity they have caused among the young have been raised and discussed.
Only three months after the devastating terrorist attacks in Brussels, a strange silence has fallen over Europe. Terrorism has disappeared from the headlines; think tanks and politicians have found other subjects to focus on but many questions remain.
A new ‘trilogy’ of referendums started with the Danish European Union opt-out referendum in December 2015, followed by the Dutch Ukraine-referendum in April and Brexit coming up in June. Paired with the recent terror attacks and the still ongoing refugee crisis, what does this mean for the future of the European Union? Is there still hope for a multi-cultural unified Europe?
More than 1 million asylum seekers arrived in Europe last year. The situation overwhelmed national governments and EU Institutions alike and further disrupted the relations between Member States.
We are now in the third wave of the rise of populist and extremist parties in Germany, what are the causes, examples and challenges in this difficult situation?