Social Fabric and Equal Footing

Migration in the Mediterranean: between myth and reality

While news about rescue operations of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea keep making headlines in the media, certain assumptions have been arising as to the legality of non-governmental sea rescue and the role it plays in encouraging further departures from North Africa. Laura Schmeer from Eyes on Europe does a fact check of the most common (mis)conceptions.

Thursday 7 February 2019

The Global Compact for Migration: choosing a shared peaceful future

On 10th December 2018, Marrakech hosted the Global Compact of Migration adoption ceremony, before it was fully ratified on 19th December. This unprecedented text, whose negotiations ended in July 2018, seeks to promote the respect and safety that the 258 million international migrants (…)

Tuesday 1 January 2019

Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian film director, receives the 2018 Sakharov Prize

Oleg Sentsov was not freed by Russia for the presentation of the Sakharov Prize, which was awarded to him on 12 December 2018, during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Ukrainian film director, originally from Crimea, has been imprisoned in Russia since May 2014. (…)

Thursday 27 December 2018

‘Hear Europe too’: The EU’s struggle to protect victims of domestic violence

Orange the World: #HearMeToo was the United Nations’ theme for this year’s annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. To many, Europe may seem to be the beacon of hope for human rights and the promulgation of civil liberties into national and supranational law, yet the facts and figures may beg to differ.

Saturday 22 December 2018

Stealing freedoms and getting away with it: Reproductive rights and rule of law in Poland

We have all borne witness to the protests and marches that filled the streets of Polish cities with countless women, and men alike, protesting against the ban on abortion supported by the PiS party and the Catholic Church. In a European country where the idea of pluralism has been slandered by the ruling party and by those who support the controversial party’s politics, many had foreshadowed that it would be a matter of time until women’s rights would come into the firing line of the ultra-conservative PiS in its quest to garner votes and consolidate its domestic base.

Thursday 15 November 2018

Liberty denied: Tracking the subversion of Poland’s judiciary and public media

Poland has long received regular mentions in headlines in both print and online international media, particularly in Europe. The state’s ruling party, Law and Justice (also known as PiS) has been in the forefront of controversy both on the European arena and globally due to the plethora of infamous laws which have undermined norms shared between European Union member states.

Thursday 15 November 2018

Bridging the gender pay gap is a question of fundamental rights

Human rights are a fundamental aspect of our lives that give us the opportunity to reach our full potential, be it mundane or extraordinary. It is how we deserve to be treated as persons. They are the recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race. In practice, these rights seek to ensure that everyone is entitled to equality, freedom, and justice; but is this really the case? One sphere where it seems the application of these rights has fallen short is on the issue of the gender pay gap.

Monday 12 November 2018

Murder of Viktoria Marinova: Freedom of the press threatened in Europe

On Saturday 6 October, the lifeless body of journalist Viktoria Marinova was found by a cyclist in a park in Ruse, the fifth-largest city of Bulgaria located by the Danube river and the Romanian border. Raped and strangled, the young woman, mother of a young girl, seems to have lost her life as a result of violent blows to the head and suffocation.

Thursday 18 October 2018

Is Europe betraying its own values with its refugee policy?

Flight and migration are important to people engaged in the discussion about Europe – as seen in the citizens’ dialogue of the Union of European Federalists Germany in Halle/Saale. Here, Theresa Bachman provides her perspective on the EU, its principles and migration.

Wednesday 17 October 2018

Europeans demonstrate for openness and unity on 13 October

Saturday 13 October saw demonstrations across Europe in favour of an open, free society and European unity. The umbrella of 13-10.org promoted events held in cities such as Berlin and Florence, gathering hundreds of thousands of people on the streets.

Sunday 14 October 2018

Europe’s final battle against Islam and federalism: Orban’s playbook for the European elections

Marc Soignet analyses the ideology formulated in two of Viktor Orbán’s landmark speeches from this year.

Thursday 30 August 2018

When people die because their rescuers are standing trial

While European politicians are discussing symbolic political measures and right-wing populists of all countries are trying to push through deportations and prevent immigration, hundreds of people continue to die in the Mediterranean attempting to reach Europe by sea. Civilian sea rescuers are doing their best to prevent this - and are increasingly criticised and criminalised for doing so. Meeting Halfway spoke with Claus-Peter Reisch, the captain of the Lifeline, about the the fraught situation.

Monday 13 August 2018
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