The Foreign Policy Passport blog has an excellent review on the lengthy United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report on the changing nature of criminal activities in the Balkans. These countries that are struggling with an economic transition at the same time with a post-war trauma have lower violent crime rates than Western Europe… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
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Balkan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, economy, enlargement, Kosovo, Macedonia |
May 30, 2008
We Europeans tend to believe that we are leading the fight against carbon emissions and we are too easily pointing the fingers at the United States. I think that the great visualization tool of Worldmapper, a world map that is distorted proportionally to carbon emissions should make us think. And the EU emission is still… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
I think it is a legitimate political question if we should curb economic activities in order to decrease carbon emission or not. But I see no reason to let the EU ETS going on: the quota trading system based on the Kyoto-protocol does not work. It is costly, unjust, and it just does not get… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
May 21, 2008
The Economist Intelligence Unit has compiled a ranking of the peacefulness of countries, measuring both domestic and international violence. The results are very favorable for the EU. How do you interpret this? First of all, the European Union was designed to create stable peace in a continent that had gone through the worst wars of… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
Hungary was the first state to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, only four days after it was signed on 13 December 2007. The demonstrative quick step of the Hungarian Parliament has already given rise to a conspiracy theory. I have received a number of e-mails from an Irish no-campaigner to help write up an article about… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
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, conspriracy, Hungary, Ireland, lisbon, ratification, treaty |
May 18, 2008
The Serbian elections have provided a somewhat surprising result: despite the outgoing (and probably would be) prime minister’s argument that Serbian people have to choose between the EU and Kosovo the pro-European coalition was a relative winner of the early election. It was also somewhat surprising and also reassuring that Mr Kostunica did not win… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
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, 2008, democracy, Elections, Serbia, transition |
May 16, 2008
The Foreign Policy blog, Passport has an excellent round-up on the early elections in Macedonia. The newly established state that became sovereign after the break-up of Yugoslavia is struggling to build up a national identity that encompasses its ethnic groups. Most of Macedonia’s neighbors have a hidden territorial claim over the new state. Although Macedonia… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
May 15, 2008
Seven Nato nations (Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain) have backed a new cyber defence centre in Estonia. The seven allies will fund and staff the new command center in Tallinn. The US will initially send an observer to the project, which will have some 30 staff when fully operational in August. Last year… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
May 13, 2008
Hundreds of thousands took part in the 442th Csíksomlyó pilgrimage in Transylvania on last weekend. The pentecostal event is the most popular religious festivity of Hungarians. In fact, it is the most popular event in the Hungarian speaking world despite the fact that Hungarians are one of the least religious peoples of the world. Csíksomlyó… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
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English, Hungary, Kosovo, Languages & Culture, Romania , búcsú, csíksomlyó, Hungary, pentecost, pilgrimage, Romania, transylvania |
May 12, 2008
The pro-European political bloc lead by President Boris Tadic seem to have won a surprise victory in the Serbian elections. In the country’s national elections citizens on vote for party lists, and probably uniquely in Europe, all the seats are allocated proportionally. This system gives room for even small, regional parties of ethnic minorities, such… » read more
Posted by Dániel Antal
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, 2008, Elections, pro-Europe, Serbia, Tadic |
