In Hungary, Orbán’s system is entrenched in all institutions. In Slovakia, things are happening that are not compatible with European values or with democracy as such, but they have been happening for only two years, says MEP Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová in an interview.

Former Czech EU Commissioner Věra Jourová describes in an interview Fico’s willingness to change draft laws to avoid losing EU funds. She also denies that Michal Šimečka went to Brussels to beg for Slovakia to lose money. “It was an absolute lie,” she says.

There are more women than men in Slovakia, yet we often talk about them as a minority – from whom disproportionately higher expectations are placed. For a small country like Slovakia, however, it is a luxury not to utilize half of its potential, agreed the women from the Slovak diplomatic and academic community.

The Director of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, Olesia Bodnar, explains Ukraine’s progress in gender equality through the systematic and long-term development of related policies. A separate chapter is the impact of the Russian invasion, which forced many women to become independent overnight.