Hands off the media!

Without free, independent, and pluralistic media citizens are deprived of the possibility to keep power accountable. Corruption and maladimistration prosper, personal business and political interest replace the common good of all, minorities face increasing marginalisation. The deterioration of media pluralism and media freedom in Europe is above all a threat to democracy. You can sign…

Stop Targeting Civil Society in Hungary!

epa03642358 A Chinese technician debugs a row of video surveillance cameras for pubilc safety which are assembled on a pole in the Qingdao city, eastern China's Shandong province, 27 March 2013. China's public safety budget reaches at 128.989 billion yuan (Euros 16.227 billion) in 2013, up some nine per cent compared to last year, according to the Ministry of Finance. EPA/WU HONG

Since its re-election, the Hungarian government launched a campaign attacking the credibility of Hungarian NGOs and is striving to gain control over their funding distributed independently from the government. We believe that a dynamic and independent civil society plays a fundamental role in a democratic society, as it is one of the key checks and…

An inventory of EP candidates: The way to a Europe for the people…or?

Should there be enough political honesty, creativity and dialogue, the EU might yet make a turn towards building a Europe-wide democratic public sphere, a sustainable development model, job security and decent employment, democratic governance of common goods and an uncompromising protection of human rights – this is the attitude of the members of the Platform…

Social Europe – strategic investment, not cost!

„Unlike the American Dream, the European Dream was a guarantee that you will not fall through the safety net and end up existentially endangered, even if you were not the best. Today, the European Dream is endangered by austerity measures and policies based on the assumption that investing in people is an expenditure we cannot…

The left is losing at the expense of the right, is there anyone “awake”?

epa03693597 Participants compete in the European Individual Chess Championship in Legnica, Poland, 09 May 3012. About 300 participants are competing for the title and 100,000 euro prize money until 17 May. EPA/MACIEJ KULCZYNSKI POLAND OUT

The biggest problem of today’s European Union is that the citizens do not trust institutions, both at the European and the national level. But there is a solution in the form of strong pressure from the outside and radical changes within institutions , concluded Dr. sc. Jordi Vaquer, director of the Open Society Initiative for…