Estonia’s Prime Minister Jüri Ratas has resigned over a corruption investigation in his party. He paved the way for the opposition Reform Party to form a new governing coalition that excludes the right-wing populist allies of the previous government.
In what a few years ago would have seemed an unfathomable turn of events, the current Estonian government is set to hold a nonbinding referendum in the spring of 2021 to solidify the definition of marriage as being between a man and woman.
Singapore ranked first in the 2020 edition of the Smart Cities Index, which aims to assess cities in terms of citizens’ needs. Bratislava ranked 76th out of 109 cities with a year-on-year improvement of 8 places.
In the midst of a pandemic, an unstable situation beyond our eastern border, disastrous relations with the EU countries, and uncertainty about the future of Poland’s key military ally, i.e. the United States, power focused on factional wars is a scenario that Poland simply cannot afford.
“[…] [T]hink but not make thoughts your aim”, to quote Kipling. Thinking is important, but if it is not followed by action, ideas will forever wander aimlessly in the cerebral labyrinth of neuron paths. Why then do we still have think tanks and not more do tanks?
In the last few months, life at the universities has changed dramatically and involuntarily. Lectures and tutorials have shifted online, Zoom became the new lecture hall and seminar room, and students had a taste of what it is like to have their exams or finals take place online.
In June 2020, the German cabinet introduced a regulation banning certain single-use products made of plastic; the European Union had already introduced a similar regulation in May 2019. In future, the sale of products such as throwaway plastic cutlery, plates, straws and cotton buds will be prohibited.
If I were the Minister of Education, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second when it comes to autonomous schools. They create a relatively small opposition among the interest groups in Education, they can achieve a lot in the long-term perspective.
President Macron’s call (March 2019) for a Conference on the future of Europe has led at the end of 2019 to a decision by the European Parliament and the European Commission to launch such a Conference on Schuman Day: May 9, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the launching was postponed.
Amid increased media and social pressure in the past month, presidents, prime ministers, ministers, governors, and mayors, and their teams, felt motivated but also cornered, forced to deliver quickly straightforward measures with almost instant effectiveness. Some rose in popularity, some fell.
