Misleading responsibility: the social impact of Poland’s so-called “Corona experts”
Warsaw, Poland – While everyone has the right to express their opinions freely, what happens when your opinions are scientificallyContinue Reading
Category: Insight
In conspiracy-prone Czech Republic, young generations remain unconvinced by vaccine’s merits
Prague, Czech Republic – Despite a drastic decrease in vaccine scepticism, young Czechs remain unconvinced. In a country where conspiracyContinue Reading
Meet Daniel Lipsic, the new special prosecutor leading the charge against corruption in Slovakia
Bratislava, Slovakia – After many tumultuous and corruption-ridden years of politics in Slovakia under the leadership of Robert Fico’s SMER-SD,Continue Reading
Chinese espionage in Hungary: “The price of friendship”
Budapest, Hungary – A few months before Viktor Orbán’s landslide victory in May 2010, I wrote an article about “the Hungarian right’sContinue Reading
The utopia of WandaVision: an Eastern European imagination of the West
In Wanda Maximoff’s American small-town idyll based on TV-shows she watched as a kid in her post-communist homeland, I recognizedContinue Reading
Opinion: The intrepid Irena and the new era for Progressive Slovakia
Bratislava, Slovakia – In June 2020, Irena Bihariová was elected chair of the party Progresívne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia). Her appointment made historyContinue Reading
In Romania, women living in precarious conditions face restricted access to abortion
Bucharest, Romania – Although abortion has been legal in Romania since 1990, more and more doctors are refusing to performContinue Reading
Polish women face uphill battle to access abortion during pandemic
Warsaw, Poland – Polish women seeking to get an abortion have been doubly burdened in recent months by the ConstitutionalContinue Reading
Interview: “The Silesian identity must be recognized as an ethnic minority”
Warsaw, Poland – A national census will be launched in Poland on April 1. On this occasion, Polish citizens canContinue Reading
Taking the fight to Covid in Slovakia’s Roma communities
Bratislava, Slovakia – The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to bring a perfect storm to Slovakia’s marginalised RomaContinue Reading
Biden presidency: What’s at stake for Visegrad Group countries?
The governments of Visegrad Group (V4) countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – appeared divided on theContinue Reading
Hungary’s “pandemic generation” faces multiple challenges on the education front
Budapest, Hungary – A pandemic-generation has been born not only in Hungary, but all over the world. Children, pupils andContinue Reading
The other Germans: How Sorbs are making a comeback in Central Europe
If you’re traveling in southeast Germany, in the area between Berlin and the Dreiländereck where Germany, Poland, and Czechia borderContinue Reading
From passive tolerance to acceptance: Czech activists fight to bring LGBT rights out of the closet
Prague, Czech Republic – Regularly branded as the most progressive of the former Eastern Bloc countries, the secular Czech RepublicContinue Reading
Was 2020 a turning point in Slovakia’s fight against corruption? (2/2)
Bratislava, Slovakia – After the high-profile Storm and Windstorm raids, Slovakia’s fight against corruption turned to the police itself, whichContinue Reading
What are the power dynamics between the president and the prime minister in Slovakia?
Bratislava, Slovakia – Anyone familiar with Slovak politics know all too well that it tends to be extremely confrontational toContinue Reading
“I think this is going to end in us winning”: The dawn of a new pro-abortion generation in Poland
Warsaw, Poland – Aleksandra Sidoruk is a 21-year-old Polish student in her final year of an International Relations degree. SheContinue Reading
Was 2020 a turning point in Slovakia’s fight against corruption? (1/2)
Prague, Czech Republic – The creativity of the Slovak National Criminal Agency (NAKA) in coming up with the names ofContinue Reading
Opinion: On women’s empowerment, Hungary’s Katalin Novák lives in another era
Budapest, Hungary – “A woman shouldn’t compare herself to a man every second of her life, and shouldn’t believe sheContinue Reading
Who won the EU budget stand-off?
While everyone declared victory after the EU summit, the only thing Viktor Orbán won is time. In the latest episodeContinue Reading