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NL Visit from the Balkans
On Tuesday 3 July, Foundation Max van der Stoel was visited by prominent members of social democratic parties from Southeast Europe who were in The Hague for a working visit focused on political integrity, at the initiative of the North American National Democratic Institute (NDI). The Southeast European attendees included NDI staff, party officials, and councillors from the [...]
Riots, wounded NATO soldiers and new elections: five questions answered on unrest in northern Kosovo
Violence broke out in northern Kosovo last month following local elections in four pro-Serb municipalities. At least 25 UN peacekeeping force soldiers were injured in riots. Several of Kosovo's traditional allies have - most unusually - identified Pristina as the main culprit in the unrest. This article asks five questions about the situation in Kosovo [...]
Tunisia receives EU financial support to tackle migration
Source: Martin Schulz The European Union is considering giving Tunisia around €900 million to support its economy in exchange for better border control and measures against human trafficking. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said €150 million in budget support will be provided immediately once the necessary agreement is reached. Prime Minister [...]
Last weekend: a 'Training of Trainers' in Armenia
From 19 to 21 May, a "Training of Trainers" took place in Armenia with our partner SD Platform Armenia. Sixteen participants were trained for three days on various skills, so that they can provide training themselves in the future. "Training of Trainers" A training of trainers (ToT) is an important module in the whole FMS methodology to [...]
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 [...]
