EU/North America

On 29 August Attila Mesterházy, president of the Socialist Party, and Gordon Bajnai, leader of the Together 2014-PM alliance, announced that they had finally reached a deal that ‘would allow the democratic forces of the left to unseat the Orbán government’. What are the consequences of the agreement?

The European Union has long proclaimed itself a leader of global climate ambition and a champion of the low carbon economy. Due to the influence of powerful interest groups, Europe might roll back its commitment to combating climate change.

Just one month after Wladimir Putin's official visit to Azerbaijan, where the chance for signing a binding trade agreement between Baku and Moscow was squandered, the Russian president welcomed his Armenian counterpart in Moscow. It's the latter who made headlines on September 3rd by surprisingly announcing that Armenia would join the Russian-led Customs Union.

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.