On December 11, 2023, our group organized a workshop titeld “Ethnic and Religious Minority Rights in Central Europe: Political Bargain Chip or Genuine Human Rights Concerns?” The aim of the event was to address the violation of the human rights of ethnic minorities in Central Europe, more...
Hungarian Conservative October 6, 2023 Regardless of the eventual shape of Slovakia's official foreign policy, the potential dominance of pro-Kremlin figures in the new government should not be overlooked in NATO's eastern flank. It is a development that warrants the West's vigilance and...
Foreign Policy JULY 18, 2023, 6:00 AM Slovakia will hold snap elections in September—and polls predict former Prime Minister Robert Fico is likely to win. Western nations should be concerned. Anti-Western sentiment is on the rise in Slovakia, and Fico is determined to take advantage of it to adopt...
Hungary’s thousand-year history shows the importance of religion in creating and maintaining its culture hristianity has long been a cornerstone of European history and culture, shaping the formation and heritage of many European states. But while the majority of the European Union still...
Managing Director of Europe Strategy Research Institute, University of Public Service, Balázs Tárnok speaks about the new Ukrainian law on minorities. He discusses the shortcomings of the law and international organizations' responses to it. In December 2022, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a new...
In a joint event, Freedom and Identity in Central Europe (FICE), the Religious Freedom Institute, and Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center co-hosted a conference discussing the separation of church and state, which is a typical feature of modern democracies. The relationship between...
Towards a Dignified Discourse on Human Rights? The universal respect for human rights should be the tie that binds, not divides our societies. Unfortunately, the currently raging conflict in Ukraine, the rising global tensions as well as the increasing shift in how the world views human rights...
Newsweek As Ukraine faces ongoing conflict and strives for EU and NATO accession, the government in Kyiv has drawn criticism from international organizations for its restrictions on the rights of ethnic minorities, including those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation's freedom. As...
The Freedom and Identity in Central Europe (FICE) working group and the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) cohosted event brought together a diverse group of experts to explore the relationship between religious freedom and national identity in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The conference...
Book teaser Can the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), as an instrument of participatory democracy of the European Union, be seen as an effective tool for the protection of the rights and promotion of the interests of persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities in the EU? Can it...
Q: Describe your background and what brought you to the Wilson Center. I am a researcher and writer on international affairs, focused on the history of Central and Eastern Europe. At the moment, I am working in the area of diplomatic history, drawing on documents from five countries and interviews...
After the General Court of the European Union, on 9 November 2022, confirmed the Commission’s decision refusing to take any action in the Minority SafePack Initiative, the organizers, on 23 January 2023, filed an appeal with the Court of Justice of the EU. The organizers keep fighting for the...
World Cup star Lionel Messi credits God for his success to thunderous applause, yet Hungarians must fight to defend references to their Christian heritage against foreign accusations of ‘Christian nationalism.’ Contra critics of religion in public life, values-based constitutionalism and religious...
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine not only opened a new era in geopolitics but also affected the political framework for the protection of national minorities. A New Era in Geopolitics Russia’s aggression against Ukraine not only opened a new era in geopolitics1 but also affected the political...
The Visegrad Group is alive and kicking On November 25, prime ministers of the Visegrad Four (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland) met in Košice (Kassa), Slovakia, the country which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency. Top issues on the agenda were energy security, the...
In the age of disappearing Snapchat messages, Insta stories, and 280-character tweets, it is reasonable to ask why building lasting monuments matters. It matters because in this sea of 21st-century distraction, we must be pulled out of our everyday lives from time to time and be faced with timeless truths and virtues to aspire to.
Monuments can represent these truths. One such statue, slated to be revealed in Atlanta’s Peace Park on Oct. 23, embodies these values. Yet the story it tells is not an American story but a Hungarian one.
As you enter Kyiv’s Peace Temple Church’s main hall, the first thing that strikes you are hundreds of boxes from the World Food Programme, waiting for distribution to those in need. Reverend Volodymyr Kondor explained to us that not so long ago the same hall was packed with hundreds of people seeking shelter from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s barbaric onslaught. In Ukraine, churches have become civil society’s safety net in addition to serving as houses of worship.
Partnership with local Ukrainian NGOs and churches ensures the most efficient and speedy use of foreign aid.
the bumpy car ride on sometimes-unpaved roads takes a good thirty minutes to go from the center of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to reach the Hebron IT Academy.
Ukrainians have used jokes to win the hearts and minds of people all over the world and help them overcome “Ukraine fatigue.”Ukraine has shown the world how to successfully fight against destructive propaganda and preserve its national identity through the use of social media. Whether it is...
The phenomenon of geo-blocking is one of the new challenges of the digital era. Geo-blocking is a modern form of discrimination that differentiates between con-sumers on the basis of their geographical location. The phenomenon ultimately affects the situation of the citizen concerned and may also constitute an obstacle to the single market. Digital time has put a number of issues to be resolved on the legislator’s table in recent years, one of which is the phenomenon of geo-blocking.