Central Europe Activ

Klaus Did It!

2009-11-03T23:12:14Z

It looks that the funny year of the Czech is over. r Klaus' behavior and the Czech presidency's story shows how difficult life can be in a Central European polity and why citizens in these countries trust the EU bureaucracy more than their own governments.

Klaus’ Footnote in European History

2009-10-08T22:09:44Z

As the Euro-sceptic Polish president has promised to put his signature on the Lisbon Treaty, there remains a single obstacle in the way of leaving behind the decade-long institutional haggling to make the EU institutions work: Václav Klaus. The Czech pundit-president wants to have a strange footnote in history: he wants to add a personal [...]

No More Hashcash

2009-09-04T07:57:02Z

I was really frustratd by the WP Hashcrash application that has killed a lot of useful comments and also replies, and made discussion on this blog impossible. I had not known about it’s activation and hopefully it is gone, so welcome again.

Hungary Would Join EU Again

2009-06-29T20:05:50Z

Hungary has joined the EU in 2004 after a referendum with overwhelming support. Five years on, accession would get a 74:26 majority a referendum if it was asked again

Eurostat: GDP per inhabitant varied by one to six across the EU27 Member States

2009-06-27T13:53:24Z

The new Eastern members, Central and Eastern Europe has been steadily catching up with the Western part of the Union, although at a rather slowish pace. The current depression has seroiusly hit some old and new member states, and less severely other ones, so the picture will be more varied at the end of this year. The next possible candidates, Iceland and Croatia are fitting well into the club.

Mr Habsburg in the ECRG European Parliamentary Group?

2009-06-25T21:12:15Z

If Mr Habsburg joins ECRG, it will add another explosive dimension to the Cameron-Kaczynski-Klaus trio's strange group. Mr Habsburg's father, Otto von Habsburg had been a Bavarian Christian Socialist MEP between 1979 and 1999, and also the last heir of the Austrian, Czech, Croat and Hungarian thrones (At those times, the last one entitled them to whole Slovakia and part of today's Romania and Serbia, the first one to Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, too). The younger Habsburg holds the passports of the latter two countries besides a German one, although he is barred by republican Austrian and Hungarian laws to use his archduke title in these countries.

New Group on the EU Periphery: European Conservatives and Reformists Group

2009-06-22T21:43:03Z

What connects Kaczynski, Klaus and Cameron? The new European Conservatives and Reformists Group connects a lot of Central- and Eastern European small parties with the British Tories.

European Election Blogging Contest: The Winners

2009-06-16T18:24:03Z

The European blogging competition organized by the European Journalism Center (and co-funded by the Eurropean Commission) has ended. The overall winner is Etan Smallman, followed by Frank Schnittger and a great Bulgarian blogger, Hristo Hrisotv, who covers some regional issues similar to this blog. Best from the regions: Radovana Jágriková.

Libertas Fails

2009-06-12T17:27:44Z

Just for the record: despite the earlier hype, Libertas could not set foot on the continent and even failed in Ireland, and Central Europe is not fertile ground for them.The eurosceptic, anti-Lisbon movement that hoped to win 100 seats in the European Parliament, came up with a single “franchise” seat of Mouvement pour la France, [...]

Think! Roundup: Facts and Opinions on the Elections ‘09

2009-06-11T10:00:59Z

Here is a roundup from the European Journalism Centre's Think About It blogging competition on the European Elections. Convicted Russian MEP, Slovakian photo contest for voters, Cyprus on the beach.