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According to its mission statement, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest is a receptive venue unique to Hungary, where various genres are presented in an individual and authentic manner. An Interview with Managing Director György Szabó.

Hungary continues to extend its energy relations with Russia causing another major tension in the already heavy-loaded Hungarian-EU relations.

It is not only constitutional democracy that Viktor Orbán’s regime treats as its enemy; the Hungarian government has also launched a forceful attack on the welfare state. A concise overview of the latest reforms - and an assess of their consequences for poverty and social inequality.

Almost three years have passed since the enactment of changes to the general law in Hungary. The overall message of the Orbán government’s new education system is:  you belong where you were born. An analysis.

Since May this year, when I started writing this blog, I have started appreciating the strength of Indian democracy. As I followed the unraveling of the national elections, and thereafter the elections in various states of our country, I became acutely aware of the power of Indian voters and their ability to choose their own destiny in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) in the Pakistani Parliament, in collaboration with Heinrich Boll Stiftung organized a one-day roundtable meeting to initiate a dialogue with political parties on best ways to strengthen capacities of women police in Pakistan.

How does Prime Minister Viktor Orbáns emphasise on the importance of Christianity in Hungary’s history effect recent politics? An analysis of new regulations concerning religious freedom and churches, which redefine the relationship between the state and certain churches.

A presentation by Ulrich Kühn (The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy) at the conference "The Impact of the Crisis in Ukraine on the Future of Arms Control" held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in December 3, 2014.

The conference “Legal Remedies for Resource Equity”, whick took place on September 15th, focused on the use of environmental law to prevent the negative impacts of global resource extraction. A documentation of Barbara Unmüßig's keynote and presentations of the speaker's corners.

The COP 20’s “Lima call for climate action” is no wake-up call but a worrisome sign of a feeble multilateral climate process plagued by political deafness and leaving poor and vulnerable communities alone with the impacts of climate change.

Oceans have always played a key role for life on earth. In his lecture, marine conservation biologist and author Callum Roberts (University of York, England), describes the distressing dimension that the relatively short human rule of the seas has reached throughout the past decade.

There is still no trace of the students of Escuela Normal Rural of Ayotzinapa who disappeared towards the end of September. We spoke with María Luisa Aguila from the Tlachinollan Centre about the situation, the role of the Mexican government and the responsibility of the European Union in the Ayotzinapa case.

Lili Fuhr and Niclas Hällström sharply criticize climate-change goals that are based on risky or underdeveloped technologies.

Natural resources should be a major contributor to development in some of the countries that need it most. And yet, in some of world’s poorest and most fragile states, they bring just the opposite.

Organization of women in parliamentary politics in collaboration with HBS organized a round table consultation on International Human Rights Conventions Ratified by Pakistan on 28th of October, 2014 at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS).

PM Modi faced its first stern test in the elections to the state assemblies of Maharashtra and Haryana. Avani Tewari explains in the India-Blog why the Modi magic works.

What is the state of the caste monster in twentieth century India? Have the forms of discrimination and inequality altered? What is the experience of belonging to a less privileged caste?

The survey “Strengthening Human Rights!” introduced by the Dreilinden gGmbH and the German Institute for Human Rights today identifies the Heinrich Böll Foundation as the most important German promoter of international LGBTI human rights work.

An international conference on the situation of Syrian refugees has been arranged for 28th October in Berlin. Yet in view of the magnitude of the crisis, this is a mere drop in the ocean. Western states keep concentrating on ways to ease the symptoms of the crisis which they cannot gain control over without political underpinning.

Elections, Coalition building and a new chance for the European Integration: What has to change now in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Fossil fuel producers (the “Carbon Majors”) should pay for the loss and damage their product is causing on poor communities via a levy to the International Mechanism for Loss and Damage.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation honors with the Petra Kelly Prize 2014 four human rights activists from the Violations Documentation Center in Syria. A laudatory for the prize winners by Petra Stienen.

With fewer reporters willing to enter the killing fields of Syria, the coverage of the conflict is dominated by ideological types, hack reporters and embeded correspondents.

The Hungarian tax authority scandal is complicated and mysterious. One thing is clear, however: Fidesz came into conflict with the Obama administration – which took more effective action than the European Union against a corrupt and Russia-oriented government.

Ten billion US Dollars: One figure will be enough to judge the success of the first ever pledging conference for the Green Climate Fund on Thursday, November 20th in Berlin. Though, equally important will be in what form and how soon the pledge reaches the trust fund as an actual payment.

How does the “Islamic State” change the perception of the conflict in Syria? An overview of recent developments and power constellations in the region.

In 2003 the Indian government had launched an initiative to built 162 hydropower sites by 2017. The centrepiece of this scheme was to be the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the north east of the country. It seems highly unlikely however that even one of these projects will succeed in producing a single unit of power.

India's prime minister Modi tries to develop relations with important countries: In Japan, he marketed India as a ‘low cost manufacturing hub’ and tries to inject new life to U.S.-India relations.

The year 2014 was supposed to be a year of success stories for Fidesz in Hungary. But demonstrations against the internet tax have become a channel through which the people have been able to express their dissatisfaction.