The Hungarian government is busy whipping up nationalistic sentiments among the population, having commemorated June 4 as a national day of mourning of the territorial and population losses from the Trianon Peace treaty of 1920. But Hungarians - and Europeans - should keep a close watch on immediate concerns, such as the country's constantly deteriorating human rights record.
The warm glow of European togetherness that the show usually generates, at least for an evening, is one of the things the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the association of Europe’s national public service broadcasters that puts the contest on stage, loves most about it.
We are only days away from our annual European dose of kitsch and glamour delivered wonderfully by the Eurovision song contest, coming this year to our living rooms from Baku, Azerbaijan on 26 May.
“Who is Chen Guangcheng?” That must be a question some people in China are asking today. Thanks to the country’s blanket Internet censorship, millions of ordinary Chinese are unfamiliar with Chen’s name and are just now learning the long, sad story of the blind legal activist who escaped house arrest and was sheltered in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing last week.
Journalist Marie Colvin was killed in Syria reporting the horrors from Homs. Emergencies director Peter Bouckaert recalls his friend’s extraordinary personality and courage—and the story Marie paid with her life to tell.
Turkey's standing in the region is growing, but its international credibility should be in doubt as long as it fails to address its human rights record, especially in regard to the large Kurdish minority.
As heartening as Tunisia's successful election was for post-revolutionary democratic transition in the Arab world, the distressing signals from Egypt indicate it has veered off course from the freedom and democracy goals of Tahrir Square. The country's military rulers have become steadily more abusive, while finding excuse after excuse to delay handing over power to civilian authorities. The Obama administration, the military's principal patron, stands by the generals as it did President Hosni Mubarak, with nary a public peep about the dangerous direction in which they're taking the country.
The parties of both the minority and the majority must not forget that the revolution in Tunisia carried within it a desire for freedom, dignity, and justice.
As heartening as Tunisia's successful election was for post-revolutionary democratic transition in the Arab world, the distressing signals from Egypt indicate it has veered off course from the freedom and democracy goals of Tahrir Square. The country's military rulers have become steadily more abusive, while finding excuse after excuse to delay handing over power to civilian authorities. The Obama administration, the military's principal patron, stands by the generals as it did President Hosni Mubarak, with nary a public peep about the dangerous direction in which they're taking the country.
The parties of both the minority and the majority must not forget that the revolution in Tunisia carried within it a desire for freedom, dignity, and justice.