EU/North America

Slovakia is about to change its constitution that limits diversity of family forms strictly. However, the results of the presidential election bring glimmers of hope to sexual minorities in Slovakia.

The left-of-centre opposition parties ended the protracted period of negotiations by creating a type of alliance. The alliance exhibits resembles the former governing left-wing coalition and has hitherto been incapable of mounting a serious challenge to the ruling right-wing majority in 2014.

It might be the first time for Hungarian voters to re-elect a conservative government and Viktor Orbán is confident of winning the elections with a two-third parliamentary majority. Bulcsú Hunyadi gives a detailled overview on Hungaries political landscape and depicts that there is no competition among equals.

International Women's Day is celebrated in Ukraine to honour 'women's beauty'. Women of Maidan are now aiming to remind of the original meaning of the day and to draw attention to women’s issues in the country. Thus they organized a solidarity action “Women of Maidan – to Women of Crimea”.

On November 7, 2013, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that homosexual asylum seekers be granted asylum in EU Member States. An important judgment that is, however, a drop in the ocean in the light of the EU’s policy of closure with regard to asylum and refugee policy.

The plans for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) caused a controverse debate about food standards and legal privileges to international investors between the U.S. and Europe. However, TTIP's impact on the rest of the world is immense. An analysis by Rainer Falk and Barbara Unmüßig.

A conversation with Mykola Rjabtschuk, a writer based in Kiev, regarding some issues that have led to heated discussions within 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.

The next Hungarian parliament could include two green formations: Dialogue for Hungary (PM), which will surely have some members in parliament, and Politics Can Be Different (LMP). If LMP surpasses the election threshold an independent parliamentary group is guaranteed.

Hungary receives massive aids from Russia in constructing new power plants. It is not only generosity, but mere a fiendishly clever economic strategy. Still legal and political risks have been neglected.