Central and Eastern Europe
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Would Péter Magyar Be a Better Hungarian Leader Than Viktor Orbán?
Asking for a friend… In all fairness, the short answer is: most likely, yes. Unless you’re Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump, both of whom emphatically agree that Orbán must stay in power. But from the point of view of most other people in Europe, Hungarian and non-Hungarian, the answer should be yes. Hungary’s parliamentary election
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Ukraine freezing, Trump raging, Europe reacting
My latest for TVP World, on Ukraine and Trump/Greenland: 1) There is, as there has always been, a real danger of Trump ending US support for Ukraine, even if the Europeans are paying for it. Just to blackmail Zelensky into accepting a bad peace deal, or now to coerce Europe on his latest fantasy, annexing
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Ukraine’s Road to EU Membership
TVP World, the Polish Public TV English language channel, has a new format: „Wider View From Brussels“. Here’s my take, of 2 days ago, on Ukraine’s road to EU membership, the geopolitical, political and economic implications, comparisons with the 2004 big bang enlargement, and the eminent question of how to overcome the fatal Hungarian vetoes
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The Cost of Failure
A Russian victory in Ukraine would reshape Europe In these days of hectic diplomacy around a ‘peace deal’ in Ukraine, it’s easy to lose sight of the long term and the big picture. There is a real possibility of a botched deal that leaves Ukraine weakened, Vladimir Putin triumphant, Europe in disarray and America withdrawn.
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Poland’s War Over Knives and Forks
In Poland’s presidential election last Sunday, the unprofessional national populist Karol Nawrocki won over the highly skilled former Member of the European Parliament and now Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski. This result had nothing to do with the qualification of the candidates, and everything with crude, ‚us vs. them‘ identity politics of the rural, socially
Roland Freudenstein
Participation in online debate hosted by Polish NGO Ars Publica, on: Russian Emigration – Strength, Unity, Possibility. Will Russian Immigrants Become a Link Between Russia and the West?, 9 December 2024, with Igor Gretsky and Barbara von Ow-Freytag
Central and Eastern Europe
Roland Freudenstein
Russia Beyond Putin: panel debate with Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Mikhail Zygar at the GLOBSEC Forum 2024 in Prague, on 1 September 2024
Central and Eastern Europe
(from 3:14:00 onwards)
Short excerpt on the reasoning behind Russia sanctions
Roland Freudenstein
Interview on Russia and Putin for DW in Polish, 31 August 2024: Koniec Putina? „W ciągu 5-10 lat widzę polikryzys w Rosji”
Central and Eastern Europe