EU/North America

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.

The conference, which took place on the October 4th 2012 was organized by Védegylet (Protect the Future), the One Million for the Freedom of the Hungarian Press Movement (Milla) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. It had a double objective: to discuss problems of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and to present a new project  on democratic renewal to the Hungarian public. 

The current crisis is not a crisis of confidence, nor is it purely financial in character. The current crisis is, above all, a device for domination, spoliation, and precarisation. What we witness today is the depredation and expropriation of common goods, of wealth, and of rights. What we need is a common social, fiscal, and budgetary policy.

The EU is facing a crisis. But this crisis is not only about a currency. When Europe’s citizens are only spectators while governments are taking decisions, democracy is in danger. To reduce this lack of democracy we do need a better election system, effective participation instruments for EU citizens and European referenda. 

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has projected fifteen to twenty years of governance in a “central political space”, rather than the customary shifts of power between left and right. In the elections 2010, Fidesz had the support of roughly half of all voters, and during its first half-year the new government enjoyed strong public approval. But since then the political landscape has changed dramatically.

Transatlantic 20/20: The US and Europe in an Interpolar World, held at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin on June 16, brought together experts from think tanks, the media, and the foreign service to give their take on the scenarios and share how they think the future might unfold.

The World Cup victory of the US women’s team in 1999 triggered a virtual soccer boom among children. Today girls play soccer in the US - in the media, however, the sport has made a disappearance act.

On  February 5th an explosion on the Sinai Peninsula damaged a gas pipeline to Jordan. The consequences are far-reaching: Supply of natural gas from Egypt was suspended, which Jordan relies on for about 80 per cent of its electricity generation needs. Heinrich Böll Stiftung asked energy consultant Dr. Malek Kabariti about the implications of the latest developments.

Renewables in the electricity sector are often built in regional cooperations. The Example of the Baltic Sea Region shows, that there is a clear potential for an energy system built on 100 percent renewable production.