Human Rights - The New Federalist

Between Knafeh and Challah : Mixed Families Between Identity, Pain, and Hope

When people talk about Israel and Palestine, the conversation usually focuses on war, politics, occupation, terrorism, governments, fear, and anger. The media is filled with headlines, arguments, and clashing narratives. But within all this noise, very little is said about what is not always (…)

Tuesday 29 September 2026

Is Western Europe really a beacon of democracy and civil liberties?

Many people consider Western European countries a haven for civil liberties, a place where respect for rule of law and freedom is something permanent, engraved in stone. However, both history and the recent years have shown that fundamental rights cannot be taken for granted. And Western Europe (…)

Sunday 28 March 2021

#DemocracyUnderPressure: breaking the fourth wall

Diletta Alesa writes about the situation in Belarus and Russia - and how this ties in with JEF’s Democracy Under Pressure campaign.

Sunday 7 February 2021

A more international HerStory: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The New Federalist is running a fortnight-long feature called European HerStory - a study and celebration of feminine achievements European history - which has been months in the planning. In light of the recent passing of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, however, we decided to (…)

Monday 21 September 2020

Orbán, the press, and Europe’s billions

The Hungarian government’s censoring of a new domestic news network comes as the European Council reached an agreement on the Next Generation EU stimulus plan. Though allocation of the plan’s funds seems to be linked to respect for the rule of law, Viktor Orbán has managed to avoid any such (…)

Friday 28 August 2020

Freedom of the Press in Europe’s Microstates: A Complex Situation

An article from the “Freedom of the Press in 2020 Europe” series

Monday 10 August 2020

EU-Egypt Relationships in the Wake of the Zaki Case

This is the final article in our series on the Patrick Zaki Affair (see Part 1 and Part 2. In this final piece, we turn to Europe’s position regarding Patrick’s arbitrary detention. The article begins by outlining EU-Egypt relations, in order to explain their dynamics and foundations. It (…)

Saturday 18 July 2020

The El-Sisi Regime: The History and Protagonists of Contemporary Egypt

The case of Patrick Zaki unfolds amid the complex and convoluted Egyptian socio-political context. To fully understand the implications and characteristics of the current el-Sisi regime and the events of the last few years, we need to take a step back and return to the origins of the Egyptian (…)

Friday 17 July 2020

The Patrick Zaki Affair: A European Case

We have reconstructed the painful story of Patrick from his arrest up to today, analysing the controversies and moments of importance regarding his arrest and the more general situation of the Egyptian legal system. This violation which has generated strong responses from civil societies across (…)

Thursday 16 July 2020

Turkey and the South Caucasus: between pluralism and extreme repression

Turkey and the Caucasus Republics (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) cannot be considered a uniform region when it comes to freedom of the press: whilst Turkey and Azerbaijan are known for their extreme repression and widespread censorship, Georgia and Armenia, which are much closer to the EU, (…)

Sunday 5 July 2020

Journalism in Europe: An increasingly dangerous mission

With the weakening of the rule of law, violence, digital and economic crises, journalists are facing numerous and complex threats while pursuing their work. Freedom of the press is a key aspect of the agenda of the new European Commission, which has been in office since 2019. This is an (…)

Friday 5 June 2020

Alarming Attacks on the Freedom of the Press in the Czech Republic

In the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, the Czech Republic has been falling ever since 2016, the report citing “violence against journalists”, “threats to public broadcasting” and “distrust in the media”. What happened in those four years that made the country starting on the 21st place fall all (…)

Friday 29 May 2020