EU/North America

The political crisis in the Czech Republic, which led to the fall of the government, was triggered by police investigation. The prosecution of three former MPs in the country triggered heated debates and reactions.

In an interview, political scientist Vladimíra Dvořáková of the University of Economics, Prague, enumerates the causes of the current turbulence on the Czech political scene.

A few months after Miloš Zeman first took office as president, we are now seeing the logical outcome of introducing a semi-presidential system. The current clash between the president and the Czech Parliament is a direct result of the political redistribution of power and could significantly influence the future form of the relationships between the government, the parliament, and the president.

On Wednesday, the 7th August, the Czech government loses the confidence vote in parliament. True victor of the battle for power is President Miloš Zeman because he has created a very strong power center and is now dominating the political space.

On June 19 the St.Petersburg based LGTB organization "Coming Out" was found guilty before court of operating as a "foreign agent". Olga Lenkova, head of communications for Coming Out, talks about the consequences of the verdict and the strong social and legal oppression that the Russian LGTB community is subjected to today.  

2012 was a special year in terms of publicity of LGBTI community and LGBTI movement in all three South Caucasian countries. Several important steps have been made towards raising acute issues about sexual identity, differences/diversity and social constructs in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

Germany resolved to go down the path of its energy transition – the Energiewende. But it became clear very quickly at the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s two-day conference entitled “Energiewende – Think European!” in Berlin, there’s a lot of skepticism about and even deep-seated resentment toward Germany’s energy policies. Poles and the French, Czechs and Brits, in fact most of the EU27, are not on the same page as Germany.

With the constitutional amendments adopted on the 11th of March, Viktor Orbán has once again caused a surprise. The reactions of the Western European public show that there is still an inadequate grasp of how political power is exercised by Orbán’s government. European democrats now finally need to formulate a common position against the power centralization in the country.

Established in 2002, the Warsaw office works closely with partner organisations within the thematic priority areas of Democracy & Human Rights, International Politics and Energy & Climate.

Our Prague office manages the Foundation’s projects in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary and Croatia, supporting civil-society groups and empowering green movements within the region. The main focus of our regional activities is on the future of European democracy and on energy and climate policy.