They did not underestimate the risks, focused on preventative measures and prioritized long-term social wellbeing over short-term economic considerations.
The author’s speech at the Budapest award ceremony of the European Press Prize, March 14, 2018, with closing words paying tribute to the “brave investigative journalists of Slovakia.”
A government-sponsored eugenics programme in Czechoslovakia sterilised Roma women without their knowledge; though the programme may be dead, the struggle for justice and recognition continues.
Observation is one tool for approaching an understanding of socio-economic marginality – especially in its racialised forms – but mere observation is not enough.
Far right organisations may be considered drivers of change in Central and Eastern Europe; their impact being felt through the deeds of their mainstream contenders.
As Britain debates antisemitism and the left, support for populist right-wing parties using hardline anti-Semitic messages is growing across the continent.
The EU should heed Slovakia consistently falling short of ‘Council of Europe standards’ in a seemingly inexorable shift to the dark side of democracy: illiberal, majoritarian, Christian and national.
Eastern Europeans are accused of a “compassion deficit” towards refugees. Is this really the case, and how can the transition from socialism explain their attitudes?
