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Photo: Kyoko Escamilla (Flickr); Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 |
What happens next is anyone’s guess, frankly, but one thing that has become increasingly clear in the 48 hours or so since the UK General Election is that Prime Minister Theresa May will be very lucky to still be in that job in six months’ time.
By losing 12 seats from her benches, the Conservative party leader’s big gamble has backfired spectacularly.
Right now, she remains PM, but she will be relying on the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, and their toxic brand of social conservatism to govern and members of her own party have already expressed misgivings.
Defending a Refugee's Right to Exist in Italy
Written by Nicoletta Enria |
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Photo: CAFOD Photo library(Flickr); Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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On Sunday [14 May 2017] the Italian coast guard saved 484 people crossing the Mediterranean, whilst also finding 7 dead bodies. These 7 deaths, have meant that this year 1,222 people have died crossing the Mediterranean – a tragic new record. Yet these figures have not been met with grief by everyone. The news of this record was drowned out amongst criticisms of NGOs operating in the Mediterranean and of refugees as perpetrators of sexual violence. It seems impossible, but the discourse regarding refugees in Italy has taken an even darker turn. Italy’s geopolitical location has meant it has always been at the centre of debates surrounding the "European refugee crisis", especially regarding its rescue missions (or lack thereof, since the rescue mission Mare Nostrum was replaced with the significantly less resourceful Trident). What’s happened, and more importantly what impact will this have on the lives of asylum-seekers attempting to reach Europe and refugees seeking to integrate into an increasingly impermeable Europe?
Good Reads - From anxiety to optimism and vice versa
Written by Isabell Wutz |
Our editor Isabell Wutz points you in the direction of a few articles guaranteed to make you ponder. Read about the hard choice between voting strategically and per your beliefs in the upcoming French elections, how social media influences our lives, and watch how and where human population developed over the last 200,000 years.
The collapse of traditional French political parties and the triumph of so called “Anti-system” candidates
Written by Benjamin Gaubert |
If 21 April 2002 is a date all French citizens remember as the historical breakthrough of the extreme-right Front National party, 23 April 2017 will be remembered as a turning point in French politics. The two parties which have structured and dominated the French political scene for the past decades have crumbled to pieces and have been washed away by a so-called “anti-system” wave.
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EVS4ALL recommendations for a more inclusive European Voluntary Service
Written by Alexander Neofitov |
With major changes under way in Europe, issues such as widening economic and social disparities, growing Eurosceptic sentiments and the uncertain future of European integration are looming larger than ever. Policy-wise, an indication of the things to come is the recently published White Paper on the Future of Europe, where only two (No 1 “Carrying On” and No 5 “Doing much more together”) of the five outlined scenarios envisage piecemeal change. In terms of human capital, however, both the issues and the solutions are contained in EU staples, such as the European Voluntary Service (EVS), a youth-oriented mobility programme, reflecting the existing social gaps, but also, subject to reform, uniquely positioned to narrow them.
Viktor Orbán, Central European University and Europe’s spent potential
Written by Alexander Neofitov |
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Central European University main entrance
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A magical thing happened last week in Budapest – Europe became one notch more erratic and even less predictable. Viktor Orbán, the democratically elected leader of Hungary, in a befittingly authoritarian fashion, passed new legislation on Tuesday, April 4, reflecting its maker’s fondness of political control of science. The legal amendment was fast-tracked, with only a few hours given to lawmakers to seal the fate of academic freedom in the country. It was also tailor-made to fit the long-standing desire of the Central European University, one of Eastern Europe’s top-level universities, located in Budapest, to collect its things and beat it. Leaving behind such a gash in liberal values, that given time it can swallow Hungary, the European Union and, eventually, Uranus.
"Rebuilding Europe from the bottom up": Discussing inclusive volunteering in Berlin
Written by Alexander Neofitov & Isabell Wutz |
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Photo courtesy: Bernhard Ludewig
Musical Opening by Cielo Faccio Orkestar
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These are the words of the manifesto “We Are Europe!” proposed by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Ulrich Beck in 2012, a conceptual platform, driven by the far-reaching aspiration to create a Europe for everyone and reform the prevailing Europe of elites and technocrats. “Don’t ask what Europe can do for you but ask what you can do for Europe – by Doing Europe!” reads the manifesto. Motivated by the manifesto’s strong messages back in 2012 Allianz Kulturstiftung together with 14 partner organisations across Europe launched the European Voluntary Service for All (EVS4ALL) project – an ambitious plan striving for more inclusive and accessible European Voluntary Service (EVS), one of the European Union’s flagship instruments for boosting mobility, youth employability and social cohesion in Europe. On the 20th and 21st of March 2017, this pilot project came to a close with the conference “Volunteering for Social Change”, where the project’s outcomes, policy recommendations, and experiences were shared and further steps discussed.
Europe’s Perilous Journey Ahead: Juncker’s White Paper and The Rome Summit
Written by Nicoletta Enria |
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Young Europeans are marching for Europe in demonstrations taking place across Europe’s capitals – but why today? Today, leaders of 27 European Union countries are meeting in Rome to celebrate 60 years since the Treaty of Rome was signed. The EU27, now officially excluding the UK, will sign a new declaration to honour the 1957 treaty, and pave the way for European Union in a post-Brexit era. On the 1st of March the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, released his White Paper on the Future of Europe – a document where he presents 5 scenarios in which Europe can face the challenges it has lying ahead. Juncker pointed out that this paper is to serve as the beginning, not end, of a debate on the future of Europe. The paper itself underlines that Europe is facing "unprecedented challenges" which "show no sign of abating". And Juncker is certainly not wrong there. With rising populism, violent extremism and a hateful, divisive, rhetoric of exclusive nationalism beginning to dominate public discourse – we need to have a serious conversation about how Europe is to overcome these challenges and return to its founding principles of peaceful cooperation, respect of human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality and solidarity among European nations and people. Having said this, what is the Treaty of Rome and what precedent does it set for Europe's celebrations today? And most importantly, what Europe does Juncker's White Paper set out, and how effectively will any of these scenarios help Europe face its perilous journey ahead?
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