Hungary said it will not withdraw new legislation to regulate foreign universities that a Budapest college founded by American financier and philanthropist George Soros says could force it out of… Read more »
The U.S. should remain engaged with Russia’s pro-democracy movement, says a leading opposition activist. It is important to maintain pressure on the Russian authorities and President Vladimir Putin and take… Read more »
Belarus authorities have arrested dozens in the wake of demonstrations protesting a law against “social parasites,” RFE/RL reports. The 2015 law took effect earlier this year, sparking protests that have broadened into… Read more »
Students and staff at the Central European University (CEU) in Hungary are protesting against what they say are government plans to close it down, the BBC reports: The university says… Read more »
A rare and large-scale protest took place in Belarus on Saturday, when hundreds took to the streets to protest a tax — the so-called “tax on parasites” — against the under-employed,… Read more »
Where the Soviet system was rigid, today’s autocrats are flexible and pragmatic, writes Freedom House analyst Arch Puddington: Where the older generation of communists were bureaucratic and slothful, today’s dictators… Read more »
The Kremlin is actively promoting a campaign to undermine Western democracies, a former British ambassador to the US has warned. “What we do know is that the Russians are engaged… Read more »
Populism and political extremism has been on the rise for years, especially in Europe, with both left and right wing authoritarians gaining in popularity, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank…. Read more »
For civic activism, it appears to be both the best and worst of times, argues analyst Richard Youngs. The positive dynamics of empowerment and the negative trend of constraints on… Read more »
The 21st century in the Balkans is starting to look dangerously like the 19th — with one important difference. In the 19th century, Russia and Turkey were big rivals in… Read more »