News

Winds of Change in Budapest

Representing the Hungarian Europe Society, Györgyi Kocsis and Kata Nagy participated at the reception given by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, and Deputy Mayor Gábor Kerpel-Fronius on 20 November 2019 in the Capital City Hall to which more than ninety Hungarian civil organisations had been invited. "NGOs are going to be our living conscience" -  said Gergely Karácsony in his speech at the event, pledging that - in contrast to the past - in the future the Budapest local council is willing to cooperate with the civil sector as a partner in all its important decisions.

Refolution

István Hegedűs gave a presentation about the collapse of the Hungarian communist regime at the panel discussion entitled "1989 Reminisces from Central Europe" to the invitation of the Center for European Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville on 8 November 2019. 

NGO-s to NGO-s

Erik Uszkiewicz had a meeting with Maria Zilincikova, representative of the Hague based Justice & Peace civil organisation on 25 October 2019 in Budapest. The aim of the meeting was to map the needs of Hungarian NGO-s in the current political climate.

Enlargement to the Balkans

István Hegedűs participated at the meeting of LIBSEEN (Liberal South East European Network) held at the ALDE (The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) Congress in Athens on 25 October 2019. Representatives of the member organisations re-elected President Roman Jakič and approved a resolution urging the start of the EU accession talks with North Macedonia.

Events

Tyranny and Hope: The state of Central Europe in the European Union

The following international conference "Tyranny and Hope: The state of Central Europe in the European Union" organised by Republikon and the Hungarian Europe Society, hosted by Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit will be held on 10 December 2019 in Brussels.

PROGRAM

REGISTRATION

Belgian, Walloon, Flemish

On 19 September Benjamin De Cleen, assistant professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel gave a presentation entitled "Populism, nationalism and the radical right in Belgian politics" in Brussels.

Diagnosis and Therapy

Representatives of the V21 Group and the Hungarian Europe Society held an event on 11 September 2019 to discuss the evaluation of the Hungarian situation entitled "Breaking the Silence" prepared by the V21 Group and the analysis entitled "Tyranny and Hope" as a contribution of HES to the debate.

Ukraine at Turning Point

Debunking Disinformation & Fake News on Ukraine's Labour Migration -

The Hungarian Europe Society together with Europe Without Barriers organised a workshop entitled "Ukraine at Turning Point - Debunking Disinformation & Fake News on Ukraine's Labour Migration" on 20 May 2019 in Budapest. The event was part of the "Promoting evidence-based media coverage of labour migration from Ukraine to V4 countries" project supported by the International Visegrad Fund.

Declarations

On a Candidate of the European People's Party

On 15 July 2019 the Hungarian Europe Society signed a joint letter of protest published by European civil groups against the nomination of a Fidesz politician for the role of a Vice-Chair of the Committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs of the European Parliament calling upon the group to review their choice.

Media coverage:

Against the Gleichschaltung of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The Civilisation Coalition - including its member organisation, the Hungarian Europe Society - protested in a declaration on 4 June 2019 against the new intentions of the Hungarian government to undermine academic freedom. 

Participation and Voice

Thirty-five civil organisations, including the Hungarian Europe Society as well as former ombudsmen Jenő Kaltenbach and László Majtényi, sent a letter to the Hungarian President on 23 May 2019. According to their request, János Áder should nominate his candidate to the position of the next ombudsman through an open application process and after consultations with non-governmental organisations. 
PRESS RELEASE (HU)

SIGN the petition HERE!

Protest and Resistance

More than a hundred NGOs, the Hungarian Europe Society among them, have joined a common manifesto published on the occasion of the 15 March 2019 public holiday, in which they declare their shared democratic values. At the same time they demand the withdrawal of the government's measures aiming to restrict the activities of the civil sector, and the cessation of the government's media smear-campaigns against NGOs.