European Union (EU)

The upcoming European Parliament elections are overshadowed by the perception of an indecisive European Union ill-prepared to deal with geopolitical challenges. Inferring from that a general indifference towards the European Union or its Parliament, however, is a short-sighted fallacy.

The dominant West European narrative according to which Orbán is seeking to move Hungary to Europe’s political periphery is at least partially flawed. What is missing is not a pro-European policy, but rather a vision of Hungary's role in the EU.

Most important now is that the international community responds speedily and clearly to what amounts to a Russian occupation of the Crimea and the additional threat of Russian troops being stationed in Ukraine. Europe is in no way powerless in the face of Russian actions, as Ralf Fücks and Walter Kaufmann illustrate in a ten-point plan.

Our main areas of activity are the EU’s common foreign and security policy, energy and climate policy, as well as the promotion of democracy and human rights.

On November 6-7, 2008 South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation and Bertelsmann Foundation initiated a strategic cooperation dedicated to "A European Strategy for the Southern Caucasus".

After the five-day war between Russia and Georgia, actors, issues and the agenda involved need to be identified. A discussion paper for the conference “A European Strategy for the Southern Caucasus” in Tbilisi on 6-7 November 2008, jointly organized by the Bertelsmann Foundation, Guetersloh and the Heinrich Boell Foundation’s Southern Caucasus Office.

This Policy Briefing Paper aims to provide a concise background on the Arctic region offering a succinct analysis of the situation and a set of recommendations for the European Union.

For the Belarusian opposition, the lesson of the parliamentary non-election should be straightforward: against the backdrop of irrelevant discussions, unnecessary divisions, and petty factionalism, its Western supporters will be forced to seek engagement with Minsk even if it will mean shifting from a bad policy to a worse one.