In the fifth installment of the popular Harry Potter books, Dolores Umbridge, the personification of government meddling in education, forbids professors in Hogwarts from disclosing anything beyond what is strictly pertinent to their lessons. One rebellious schoolkid, however, points out in Umbridge’s class that she cannot reprimand him for misbehaving during the lesson, as it is irrelevant to the subject. He gets detention.

cities

Human-centric cities are much more pleasant than the centrally planned monstrosities during communism, but it is not only people but the flora and fauna that can also be thankful for free markets and democracy. One of my favorite books as a little child was a story of Krtek, the beloved mole from the cartoons of Czech artist Zdeněk Miler. The story, written during communism, depicts how the little mole with his critter friends find themselves in the middle of a city development project.

Ivan Shishkin: Rye Fields // Public domain

Hungarians are eager to eradicate mosquitoes, but it seems that the government is reluctant to collaborate with its citizens in doing so. Mosquitoes are a big problem everywhere. Not only do they annoy people with their hums and the itchiness of their bites, but also spread a lot of diseases. Therefore, when I visited rural Hungary, I inadvertently served as an open buffet for a cloud of these pests while conversing with someone from a small Hungarian village.

Although history repeats itself, if it is not taught properly, we will not learn from it. Hungarian education distorts the events of the past to accommodate a glorified but inaccurate image of historic Hungary. Instead of teaching historic facts, classes often incorporate folk tales and other romanticized stories. In the lower grades of primary school education, history is taught through stories, which is appropriate.

The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) is a Hungarian organization, which – according to its website – “is the leading talent promotion institution in the Carpathian Basin.” However, it is much more than that. Nowadays, the Mathias Corvinus Foundation offers an immense collection of educational programmes, publications, with a network of businesses and think tanks abroad, having a significant lobby power.

Russia. The word still evokes images of conspiracy behind gray concrete blocks, while a strong military marches through the streets in a tour de force of the iron hand that rules the harsh country. The Kremlin was working hard to ensure that this stereotype, of influential and ruthless Soviet toughness, is exaggerated. Disinformation, ostentatious secret service operations and bellicose rhetoric all served this illusion.

Europe. It is an area. It is an idea. It is a culture. It is a collection of diverse people and countries. It is a work in progress. It is ever-changing, ever-twisting, shaped by its people. Europe is a complex idea. The latest edition of Poems of Liberty, a publication by The Friedrich Naumann Foundation, European Dialogue and the Free Market Foundation aims to encapsulate it through poems.