During her visit to Hungary, she openly criticized country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his autocratic policies. She also spoke in the defense of the values of the liberal democracy, which is being destroyed in Hungary by Mr. Orban’s regime.
There is a new hope for internet users: The troops of elves countering the internet trolls have proliferated in yet another country – the regional leader in countering malicious foreign influences: the Czech Republic.
Czechs are often labelled as the biggest Eurosceptics in the whole Europe. However, the new research suggests otherwise. Almost two thirds of the nation are proud to be part of Europe and more than half of the the people are happy with the EU membership. So what is the problem?
Even though the victory of Zuzana Čaputová in the presidential elections in Slovakia is undeniably a positive development for the Central European region, it should not be perceived as a new macro trend.
Zuzana Čaputová, the Vice Chairman of Progresivne Slovensko, a Slovak liberal party, is very likely to become the first female president in the history of the country. Her success is one of many signs that liberals in Slovakia are growing stronger again.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has returned from his three-day visit to the USA. Given the similarities between the Czech and American leaders, the negotiations went, allegedly, better than well. As Babiš is often nicknamed “the Czech Trump”, it is actually surprising that the visit did not happen sooner.
Estonia has stood up to its reputation of the liberal Musterland in the region. The opposition center-right Reform Party secured a convincing victory over the currently governing center-left Center Party.
While the media focuse on the Kremlin’s “hybrid warfare” against the Western democracies or the Chinese social credit system controlling people’s everyday life through mass-surveillance, the illiberal state of Viktor Orbán is also doing its fair share to exercise information control via new digital powers.
It has been for over eight months since young investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnířová were brutally murdered in their own home. It was the first journalists ever to be killed in the history of the Slovak Republic.
This year´s topic is Europe+ and we are looking forward to stories on the added value of the European Union. What are the advantages of the European Union? What did the EU do well according to you – in general terms or in your personal experience?
