Center for European Neighborhood Studies - CENS

27/07/2020

Call for application for Hungarian students

Jelentkezz!

21/01/2020

For the subscribers who follow the Ukrainian politics - check out CENS researcher Maryna Vorotnyuk's chapter "Perceptions Matter: How the West Sees the Elections Results" - in a report "Ukraine:Great Expectations" - where she looks at how Ukraine's partners read the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine. The full publication can be accessed here http://prismua.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Ukraine-Great-expectations-Site.pdf

"After the presidential and parliamentary elections, Ukraine
is believed to have obtained a historic chance to push forward
the much-awaited reforms. Ukraine’s Western partners have
continuously expressed their expectations that a strong mandate that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Servant of the People party have received will be translated into palpable and resolute reforms. Zelenskyy’s seemingly sincere resolve and boldness to make ground-breaking transformations within the country and human-centred rhetoric on Donbas have resonated well in the West. The new government has been commended as the most reformist, capable, and technocratic Ukraine has ever had. Yet their record, and that of the new president, after the first months in power has been perceived as a mixed one and the concerns about monopolisation of power pile up. It is being watched closely if Zelenskyy’s charisma is converted into
workable policies and genuine progress.

http://prismua.org/en/2019-12-2/

After the presidential and parliamentary elections, Ukraine is believed to have obtained a historic chance to push forward the much-awaited reforms. Ukraine’s Western partners have continuously expressed their expectations that a strong mandate that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Servant...

11/11/2019

The next edition of the Ambassadorial Lecture Series has just started! This time we are welcoming H.E. Mr. Markku Virri, Ambassador of Finland to Hungary.

30/10/2019

Last week our researcher Maryna Vorotnyuk was speaking at the CEU's event "Local elections in Hungary: Change or Standstill?". She was giving an insight on the Turkish local elections last March - since it is often argued in Hungary that the pattern of the local elections in two countries is somewhat similar. In particular, the elections in Budapest have been likened to elections in Istanbul - as a case when opposition managed to gain control over the key city. The conference was covered by Index.

"Maryna Vorotnyuk, a CEU kutatója sok egyéb mellett arról beszélt, hogy Törökországban Erdogan elnök és pártja, az AKP szerint minden biztonsági kérdésnek számít. A 2019-es önkormányzati választásokat ennek megfelelően bizalmi szavazásnak állították be, ahol az ellenzék mögött áruló nyugati erők állnak. Az ellenzéki pártok viszont felismerték, hogy félre kell tenniük a nézetkülönbségeiket, mert csak együtt győzhetnek, és ennek érdekében még a kurd pártokkal is koordinálták az indulásukat. Vorotnyuk emlékeztetett rá, hogy a választás előtt Karácsony Gergely Isztambulban járt, ahol az új ellenzéki polgármester, Ekrem Imamoglu azt tanácsolta neki, hogy kampányában békülékeny és befogadó hangot üssön meg.

Izmir már az ellenzéké volt, de most Ankarában és (a megismételt választáson) Isztambulban is győztek. A fő kérdés Törökországban is az, hogy megismételhető-e az összefogás sikere nemzeti szinten. Az AKP és Erdogan legyőzhetetlenségének mítosza mindenesetre megdőlt. Erdogan viszont egyebek mellett a mostani szíriai akcióhoz hasonló katonai lépéseket is tehet, hogy népszerűsítse magát, ha az infláció és a munkanélküliség miatt a választók kezdenének elfordulni tőle."

Az ellenzéki pártoknak közös miniszterelnök-jelöltet kell találniuk, a Fidesz pedig közben át fogja rajzolni a választási térképet. Eltűnik az LMP és a Kutyapárt, jönnek a megszorítások. Tudósok beszélgettek a választásról a CEU-n.

29/10/2019

CENS Director Mr. Péter Balázs spoke at the Eastern Partnership Reflection Forum (EaP Reflection Forum) held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova on 21-23 October 2019. Over 50 European scholars, experts and officials participated at the third edition of the Forum. The event was organized by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), in partnership with the Austro-Frech Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (Vienna) and the Analytical Center “Expert-Grup”, with the support of the Central European Initiative (CEI), Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The Forum aims strengthening the cooperation among the expert community from EU and the six EaP countries to reflect and develop policy recommendations on the future of the Eastern Partnership. Photo tribute Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE).

28/10/2019

Recent commentary by CENS researcher Maryna Vorotnyuk for the Jamestown Foundation.
“No to Capitulation” protests have swept Ukraine after the country’s delegation to the Minsk Contact Group agreed, on October 1, to the implementation of the so-called “Steinmeier Formula” for the resolution of the Donbas conflict and the withdrawal of forces in two frontline locations (Zolote and Petrivske). Initial information on what exactly was signed was notably sparse, and the government’s belated attempts to shed light on the issue failed to prevent thousands of Ukrainians from coming out into the street to denounce the Steinmeier Formula as a disguised capitulation and surrender plan.
Contrary to the frequent (and overstated) characterization in the international media that the current protests have been hijacked by far-right groups and nationalists, the demonstrators’ concerns about the future peace plan span the social spectrum.

“No to Capitulation” protests have swept Ukraine after the country’s delegation to the Minsk Contact Group agreed, on October 1, to the implementation of the so-called “Steinmeier Formula” for the resolution of the Donbas conflict and the withdrawal of forces in two frontline locations (Zo...

10/10/2019

The guests of October 9's Prague European Summit debate, organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Institute of International Relations and European Commission's Representation in the Czech Republic, were: Péter Balázs, Christian Lequesne, Barbara Lippert and Vessela Tcherneva. The event was moderated by Christian Kvorning Lassen.

07/10/2019

Mr. Péter Balázs, the director of the Center for European Neighborhood Studies - CENS was awarded by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration for his outstanding work at fostering the debate on security and defence in the region. The award was presented by Mugur Isarescu, the president of the Romanian National Bank during the 2019 Bucharest Security Conference. Professor Balázs also participated at the conference in the panel "NATO’s Deterrence and Defence Posture".

03/10/2019

On October 1, 2019 in cooperation with the Political Capital we were honoured to host the discussion "The Lands in Between – Russia vs. the West and the New Politics of Hybrid War" based on the book by Mitchell Orenstein, Professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies, University of Pennsylvania. The discussion featured Jekatyerina Dunajeva, Assistant Professor, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Péter Krekó, Director, Political Capital, Europe’s Futures Fellow, IWM, Maryna Vorotnyuk, researcher, CEU Center for European Neighborhood Studies (CENS) and Dorka Takácsy, Political Capital.