Refugee crisis and far-right: What does it mean for European politics?

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) just doubled its votes form 2009 in a state election. In general, is the refugee crisis inevitably going to boost far-right parties across Europe and should mainstream parties be really worried? Read few comments.

Putin meets Obama? Or Obama meets Putin? Who knows and what to expect anyway

What do you expect from the Obama-Putin meeting and for whom is this meeting more important? Read few comments.

Will election in Catalonia (and election in Spain) lead to some compromise?

There is a good chance that the pro-independence parties will win the election in Catalonia. If this really happens where this could lead and how will Madrid react? Read few comments.

US-China relations? It’s complicated (and interesting)

Allies, partners, adversaries… China-US relations probably defy all simplistic descriptions, but maybe a bit more on a personal personal level, in you opinion how does President Barack Obama see China and how does President Xi Jinping see the US? Read few comments.

Refugee crisis: Is the EU moving forward?

Except of refugee quotas which still an issue for some countries (prominently for Slovakia), do you think that now we see more unity in the EU re refugee crisis, or not? After yesterday’s informal EU summit it seem that the members states agreed on things like need for strengthening external borders or helping countries like Turkey. Is this the step into the right direction, or much more must be done? Read few comments.

Corbyn’s greatest strength and his greatest weakness

We cannot be sure if Jeremy Corbyn will lead the Labour Party in the elections in 2020 and we also do not know who will lead Tories, but in the longer terms what is Corbyn’s greatest political strength, and why, and what about his greatest weakness, and why?

Dragoon Crossing: A show of force? An exercise? Both?

There is the US Army convoy just crossing Slovakia, see e. g.  So called Dragoon Crossing has many supporters, but also very loud opponents. Could you please shortly comment on my question how do you see such exercises? Are they (un)necessary in the situation we have in Europe, is it a show of force or just a mere exercise? Read few comments.

Soldiers and vehicles of 2nd Cavalry Regiment visiting Slovak MoD during Dragoon Crossinf. Credit: Andrej Matisak

EU: Have quotas completely hijacked the debate about refugee crisis?

We are witnessing more border controls in the EU as the EU stalls on refugee quotas. The discussion is ongoing, so no immediate action. It pretty much looks like a continued mess to me. How do you read the situation? It seems that the quotas debate has completely hijacked the discussion and I would say it it very problematic that we might not able to move with other initiatives because of quotas. Read few comments.

Refugee quotas: How should/will relocation mechanism work?

The refugees quotas are just part of the discussion re refugee crisis, but at this moment probably the most visible one. But if countries will agreed on quotas, do you see any challenges related to relocation of refugees to various countries, basically how this mechanism should work? Read few comments.

Can Slovakia learn something from Romania’s anti-corruption efforts?

Slovak officials are interested in knowing more about Romania’s anti-corruption approach. In general, what do you think about what is going in Romania on the field of fighting corruption, do you think that some transfer of Romanian anti-corruption know-how would be helpful also for other countries? Read few comments.