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NL Last weekend: training SD Platform Ukraine in Odessa
Last weekend, a three-day training took place in Odessa, Ukraine, organised by the SD Platform Ukraine in cooperation with the FMS. Some 30 young participants took part in several workshops in which skills, theories and knowledge around social democratic politics were shared. Recently, the SD Platform opened a new branch in Odessa, and for [...]
World Press Freedom Day: we reflect on journalists from Belarus
Image created by Libereco - Partnership for Human Rights Today is World Press Freedom Day. Today we stand in solidarity with all journalists, bloggers and bringers of free speech in Belarusian prisons. See some of their faces here, to remind us who we have to fight for every day. Image created by Libereco - Partnership [...]
'On the brink of collapse': Israel's battle for the Supreme Court
A planned Supreme Court reform by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right and ultra-Orthodox government has been causing unrest in Israel for months. The tension came to a boiling point in late March: following his call to cancel the reform, defence minister Yoav Gallant was temporarily sacked. In response, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in protest and [...]
Struggling despite repression: Belarusian social democrats portrayed in exhibition
Some 1,300 people are detained on political grounds in Belarus, in appalling conditions. Following the fraudulent elections and subsequent mass protests in 2020, repression against the country's democratic opposition has only intensified. The Lukashenka regime is directly following the lead of its eastern neighbour in the Kremlin, complicit in the brutal Russian invasion [...]
Research by FEPS: 'The case of Ukraine's candidacy to the EU'
In cooperation with the FMS, Amicus Europae, FJJ, Karl-Renner-Institut, FES Ukraine, and the Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, the European social democratic think tank Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS) conducted a policy study on Ukraine's EU candidate membership. It concludes that social, progressive policies are crucial for Ukraine's development towards possible EU membership. The EU [...]
Government, now push forward with additional commitment to democracy
Many will not know: The Netherlands was the European host of the second global Summit for Democracy on 29 and 30 March. An initiative of US President Joe Biden, in response to the questionable state of democracy worldwide. The aim of this summit for heads of government is to highlight and strengthen [...]
International Women's Day: International issues need female leadership
Belarusian activist Tasha Arlova gives a lecture in The Hague, 2022. Photo: FMS Today is International Women's Day. On this day, we reflect on the emancipation of women in our society, and stand in solidarity with women and other marginalised groups fighting for equal rights worldwide. International Women's Day is observed every year on 8 [...]
Tunisian democracy in grave danger after crackdown on critics
Protests in Tunis, Tunisia 2011: Flickr President Kais Saied's regime in Tunisia has hit a new low with a crackdown on critics. Dozens of public figures, including politicians, protest organisers, lawyers, judges, trade union officials, the head of an independent radio station and business leaders, were arrested in often violent night raids. This led to protests in [...]
The ongoing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh: "Western governments must set concrete ultimatums to Azerbaijan"
Destroyed military vehicle - On the road from Shushi to Karintak - Nagorno-Karabakh (Source: Flickr) Read the English version of this article here. The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, has ordered Azerbaijan to ensure the free movement of people and goods to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with immediate effect. It is a new chapter [...]
"How Putin chipped his teeth": Stories from the front in Ukraine
Of course, life at the front consists of a lot more than successful recaptures and deadly defeats making the news. Some soldiers told me - on the basis of anonymity - their experiences in short stories and anecdotes. These recollections are not glorious or heroic. They are stories about the actual circumstances of men and [...]
